There's A Google Maps Easter Egg That Tells You To Travel By Dragon

    The Welsh dragon will be calling at Brecon Beacons and Snowdon only.

    Patrick Smith
    by Patrick Smith

    BuzzFeed News Reporter, UK

    You may have seen the occasional humorous suggestion in directions on Google Maps – like when it used to tell people to swim across the Atlantic Ocean.

    maps.google.com

    Or jet ski across the Pacific Ocean.

    maps.google.com

    And now Google has hidden a few surprises across the UK. For example, if you say you want to go from Brecon Brecons to Snowdon, it suggests you travel by dragon.

    google.co.uk!3m1!4b1!4m14!4m13!1m5!1m1!1s0x486e3157111665a7:0x9ea6bc18439910a2!2m2!1d-3.4333333!2d51.8833333!1m5!1m1!1s0x4865098216d283bd:0x7fe2ceeb3aa47434!2m2!1d-4.0762766!2d53.

    If you can catch a friendly local dragon, it will take you just 21 minutes to complete the 122-mile journey. Or you could drive it in three hours, 30 minutes.

    This is all designed to draw attention to Google Maps's new rollout of local and national transport times in its direction results.

    Somewhat slower is the Loch Ness Monster which can take you from Fort Augustus, on side of the Loch, to Urquhart Castle on the other in 28 minutes.

    google.co.uk!4m15!4m14!1m5!1m1!1s0x488f210df41b3beb:0x12170f9721af3cd0!2m2!1d-4.679817!2d

    That's not that much quicker than driving around the loch – and there is no information on monster departure times, which is hardly convenient.

    The next time you're in Cambridge, you can now check how long it would take you to punt across town.

    google.co.uk!4m15!4m14!1m5!1m1!1s0x47d870bf15616801:0xdd5a8565e3676144!2m2!1d0.11

    Answer: it takes ages. It might be idyllic on a summer's day, but 45 minutes is quite a journey.

    Same deal in Oxford. This is why punting hasn't taken off as a serious mode of transport.

    google.co.uk!4m15!4m14!1m5!1m1!1s0x487b8b572e92f737:0x249413262e2524c2!2m2!1d-1.247093!2d51.7

    And if you're a monarch in a hurry, you can now work out how long it will take to go from Windsor Castle to Buckingham Palace via royal carriage.

    google.co.uk!4m15!4m14!1m5!1m1!1s0x48760520cd5b5eb5:0xa26abf514d902a7!2m2!1d-0.14189!2d51.50

    It might be nice and fancy but the carriage option is only ONE MINUTE faster than taking the train to Waterloo, according to this probably-not-100%-accurate estimation.

    youtube.com