🗺️ Google Maps Directions API: routes, ETA, and turn-by-turn steps as JSON

The most efficient, reliable, and developer-friendly way to use the Google Maps Directions API.

Actor page: apify.com/johnvc/google-maps-directions-api Input schema: apify.com/johnvc/google-maps-directions-api/input-schema

Call the Google Maps Directions API from Python or from any MCP client and get directions between an origin and a destination as clean, structured JSON: route options for driving, transit, walking, cycling, and flight, with distance, ETA, traffic-aware duration ranges, resolved place coordinates, turn-by-turn steps, and a direct Google Maps link. Provide addresses, GPS coordinates, or place IDs.

Video Walkthrough

Quick Start

Prerequisites

• Python 3.11 or higher
• An Apify account and API key (get a free key here)

1. Clone the repository

   git clone https://github.com/johnisanerd/Apify-Google-Maps-Directions-API.git
   cd Apify-Google-Maps-Directions-API
   

2. Install dependencies with UV

   # Install UV if you do not have it:
   curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh
   
   # Install project dependencies:
   uv sync
   

3. Configure your API key

   cp .env.example .env
   # Edit .env and add your Apify API key
   # Get your free API key at: https://apify.com?fpr=9n7kx3
   

4. Run the example

   uv run python google-maps-directions-api-example.py
   

Alternative: set the API key directly

export APIFY_API_TOKEN="your_api_key_here"
uv run python google-maps-directions-api-example.py

Explore every input

Once the basic run works, google-maps-directions-api-cookbook.py is a runnable catalog of every feature (all travel modes, coordinates and place-ID inputs, avoidance, units, localization, and transit time and routing). See the cookbook table under "Usage Examples" below.

Why Use This Google Maps Directions API?

Every travel mode in one call. Ask for the best options across modes, or pin a single mode: driving, transit, walking, cycling, flight, or two-wheeler. One request returns every route option Google offers for your origin and destination.

Turn-by-turn detail, structured. Each route option carries distance, duration, a traffic-aware typical duration range, a route summary, route notes (tolls, conditions), and trips broken down into individual turn-by-turn steps. Transit options include stops, lines, operators, and times.

Flexible inputs. Set your origin and destination as an address or place name, exact GPS coordinates, or a Google Maps place ID. Choose units, avoid tolls, highways, or ferries, tune transit routing, and set a departure or arrival time.

Predictable pricing. A single route lookup is one flat charge. No surprise per-step or per-byte billing.

Built for agents. The Actor is MCP-ready, so you can load it as a tool in Claude or Cursor and ask for directions in plain language (see the install sections below).

Features

Core Capabilities

• Driving, transit, walking, cycling, flight, and two-wheeler routing
• Distance, ETA, and traffic-aware duration ranges
• Turn-by-turn steps per leg, with per-step distance and duration
• Transit stops, lines, operators, and departure/arrival times
• Resolved origin/destination addresses, place IDs, and GPS coordinates
• A direct Google Maps link for each route

Data Quality

• Clean, consistent JSON with one row per lookup
• Real units, formatted and raw (meters/seconds plus human-readable strings)
• Country and language targeting for localized place names and instructions

Usage Examples

Basic Example

... [View full README on GitHub](https://github.com/johnisanerd/apify-google-maps-directions-api#readme)