You cannot fly to Cairo, San Francisco, Istanbul and Tokyo in one evening. You can, however, look at their most famous sights from above and, where coverage exists, from the street. Exploring world landmarks from a phone is a lovely way to plan future trips, revisit places you have been, or simply see how the world fits together.
Here is a starting route across four continents, and tips for getting the most out of each view.
How to explore a landmark well
Each landmark tells you something different depending on how you look at it.
From above, with satellite and 3D views, you see the layout: how a monument sits in its city, where the river runs, how big it really is compared with the streets around it.
At street level, where coverage exists, you see what a visitor sees: the approach, the scale from the ground, the details on the facade.
Lite Maps does both. Its 3D city and satellite views include day-to-night lighting, and street-level imagery is shown where it is available. Remember that this imagery was captured at an earlier time; it is not a live view.
A route across four continents
These landmarks are all named among the more than 60 that Lite Maps covers across every continent. Use them as a starting point.
The Pyramids of Giza, Egypt
Start from above. In 3D and satellite view, the three main pyramids and the smaller ones around them form a clear pattern on the edge of the desert, with Cairo's suburbs pressing right up to the plateau. That contrast between ancient monument and modern city is one of the most striking things you can see on a map.
Hagia Sophia, Istanbul
Hagia Sophia sits on a hill near the tip of Istanbul's historic peninsula, with the Blue Mosque across a square and the Bosphorus beyond. From above, you can see how the domes stack, and how the building fits into the old city between two bodies of water.
The Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco
Look at the bridge in 3D from the side, then from above. You will see how it spans the narrow entrance to the bay, with the city on one side and green headlands on the other. Day-to-night lighting gives it a different mood as the view moves into evening.
Mount Fuji, Japan
Fuji is best appreciated in 3D. Its near-perfect cone rises on its own above the surrounding land, with lakes at its northern foot. Viewing it from different angles shows why it is visible from so far away on clear days.
Use one-tap exploring
If you do not know where to start, tap Explore a place in Lite Maps. It takes you to a world landmark you have not seen yet, so you keep discovering new places rather than returning to the same favourites.
Follow along in Download Lite Maps on the App Store
Free on the App Store for iPhone and iPad.
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Compare the view from above and below
For each landmark, try the same small exercise. Find it from above and note what is around it. Then, if street-level coverage exists, find the spot where most visitors would first see it and look from there. The difference is often surprising. A monument that looks huge from above can be hidden by trees from the road, and a square that looks small on a map can feel vast from the ground. Doing this for a few landmarks teaches you to read maps in a new way.
Use collections to go further
Once you have looked at a few famous sights, collections help you explore by region. Lite Maps groups its landmarks into:
- Wonders of the World
- Arab World
- Europe and Türkiye
- Americas
- Asia and Oceania
- Africa
Working through one collection at a time builds a picture of a region: how cities are laid out, what the landscape looks like, how architecture changes as you move across it.
Save what you want to visit
As you explore, save the places that catch your eye. Lite Maps keeps saved and recent places so you can jump back to them later. Over time, that list becomes a travel wish list, ready for when you plan a real trip.
When you do plan one, you can search any place or address and get a route, and share a spot with friends who are coming along.
Make it a habit
Lite Maps has an optional Landmark of the day notification in the evening, with a new place to visit. It is a gentle way to see somewhere new every day, and it takes only a minute or two.
You can also test what you have learned with Guess the Place, a geography quiz built on real street imagery. Recognising a region's road signs, plants and buildings gets much easier once you have explored it.
A note on what you will see
Satellite, 3D and street-level imagery is captured at particular times and updated periodically. Seasons, construction and crowds may look different from today. Street-level coverage also varies: busy city centres are often well covered, while some remote sites have little or none. That is normal, and it is part of why looking from above and from the street together gives the fullest picture.
Quick answers
Can I see world landmarks at street level on my iPhone?
Yes, where street-level coverage exists. Some remote landmarks have little or no coverage, so try the 3D and satellite views as well.
Is the imagery in Lite Maps live?
No. It is imagery captured at an earlier time, not a live view.
How many landmarks are in Lite Maps?
More than 60 landmarks on every continent, grouped into curated collections.
Where to get it
Lite Maps lets you explore world landmarks in 3D, from satellite and at street level where coverage exists, with collections, saved places and a daily landmark. Download Lite Maps on the App Store for iPhone.
Pick a continent, tap a landmark and start exploring.