Here’s a nice bit of news for anyone either planning a vacation or, due to the economy, canceling all trips farther than 15 miles from your home: Street View spread again this morning. Imagery’s now available for 25 cities in the UK and the Netherlands, and the service’s coverage of France, Italy, and Spain has been expanded, too.
The UK move, in particular, is an important one for Google. Camera cars have been photographing the region for a long time, but local privacy advocates objected to the idea of technology that might wind up being a burglar’s tool. The release of these images (with face- and license plate-blurring filters running full power, of course) seems to indicate that Google feels safe from lawsuits.
So Street View users can now check out Big Ben, the spot at which the Beatles skipped across Abbey Road, or any number of sights in Aberdeen, Belfast, Cambridge, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Nottingham, Oxford, and York (for starters). Plus Amsterdam and Rotterdam.
And let’s not forget Cannes, the Amalfi Coast, and Zaragoza, too.
If you need a little help to get started exploring, Googler Kenzo Fong Hing wrote on the LatLong Blog, “With some help from our friends at fancyapint.com I can use Street View to find the best watering holes in London, and the Tate museum helps me get a better sense of British culture by showing how the world has changed since the likes of J.W. Turner were painting back in the 18th century. Other partners such as the Mayor of London show the highlights of the city, VisitBritain shows me where to go in the United Kingdom, and the Dutch tourist organisation VVV shows me what’s what in Holland.”
