How to Create Your Own Travel Map

Short answer: the quickest way to create your own travel map is to use an interactive online map: tick off each country you've visited, add the cities you've explored, and it colours itself in and counts your countries, continents and share of the world. Physical options like scratch maps and pinboards look great on a wall, but they're harder to update, can't hold dates or stories, and you can't share them with a link.

A travel map is one of the most satisfying ways to see your travels at a glance. Coloured countries show how far you've gone; empty ones hint at where you might go next. There are several ways to make one. Here's how they compare, and how to build a map you'll keep using.

Option 1: A scratch-off map

Scratch maps have a foil layer you scratch away to reveal the countries you've visited. They make a lovely gift and look good framed.

• Good for: a wall display, a gift, a simple country-level record.
• Limitations: scratching is permanent, small countries are fiddly, there's no room for cities, dates or repeat visits, and it stays on one wall.

Option 2: A pinboard map

A world map on cork board with pins (or a push-pin map) lets you mark individual cities, and you can use different colours for places you've been and places you want to go.

• Good for: marking cities, a visual centrepiece at home.
• Limitations: it needs wall space, it's hard to keep tidy as it fills up, and you can't take it with you.

Option 3: A spreadsheet or custom map

Some people keep a spreadsheet of countries and dates, then chart it with a mapping tool, or drop pins on a custom map in a general mapping app.

• Good for: total control, if you enjoy setting things up.
• Limitations: it's slow to set up and maintain, statistics need formulas, and the result isn't designed for sharing.

Option 4: An interactive travel map

A purpose-built travel map app combines the best of the others: you can see your world at a glance, zoom into cities, record dates and stories, and open it anywhere. This is what YouVisited's interactive travel map is designed for.

• Good for: keeping a complete, up-to-date record you can add to from your phone, and sharing it with a link.
• Limitations: it lives on a screen rather than a wall — though many people use both.

How to create your travel map on YouVisited

1. Start with your countries

Tap a country on the map, or search for it by name, and mark it as visited. It turns green straight away. You don't need dates to get started — you can mark a country visited in one tap and add details later. If you'd like to try before creating an account, the countries visited map maker works without signing up, and your selections carry over when you do.

2. Add the cities you've explored

Open a country and add cities from a database of thousands of places worldwide. Each city appears as a pin on your map, and you can record several visits to the same city, each with its own dates and notes. See how city tracking works.

3. Add your trips

Trips group your travels into journeys: "Interrailing 2019" or "Honeymoon in Japan". A trip can include several countries and cities, dates, a cover photo and notes. Adding a destination to a trip doesn't mark it visited automatically — when you're back, you confirm the places you actually went, which keeps your map accurate.

4. Mark the places you want to go

Add countries and cities to your travel bucket list. They appear on your map in amber, separate from where you've been, and they never count towards your statistics.

5. Choose how it looks

Switch between a flat map and a 3D globe, choose a map theme, and use dark mode if you prefer. Your map works the same on a phone, tablet or computer.

6. Share it — or keep it private

Every account comes with a profile at youvisited.uk/@yourname. You choose whether it's public, visible to friends only or completely private. More on that in how to share your travel map with friends.

Tips for a travel map you'll love

• Be consistent about what counts. Pick a rule for layovers and day trips and stick to it. Our guide to tracking the countries you've visited covers this.
• Go beyond countries. Cities and trips are what make a map feel personal.
• Add a photo or two. A map tells you where; a travel journal tells you what it was like.
• Update it as you travel. It takes seconds, and you'll never have to reconstruct a trip from memory again.

Which option is right for you?

If you want something beautiful on the wall, a scratch map or pinboard is hard to beat. If you want a complete record you'll keep for years — with cities, dates, trips, photos and statistics, that you can open on your phone and share with a link — an interactive travel map is the better fit. Many travellers keep both: a physical map as decoration, and a digital one as the real record.