Google says it knows best times to visit places like coffee shops, pharmacies, grocery stores, restaurants and parks if you want to avoid crowds.
The data is pulled from Google Maps, which can already show you how busy a place is before you visit. It’s pretty general and will vary depending on where you live and the store or restaurant you’re planning to visit. But, here’s when Google says is the best time to visit certain places if you don’t want to be around a lot of other people:
- Coffee shops: Least busy on Tuesdays at 4 p.m., most busy on Saturdays at 10 a.m.
- Pharmacies: Least busy on Mondays at 9 a.m., most busy on Fridays at 3 p.m.
- Grocery stores: Least busy on Mondays at 8 a.m., most busy on Saturdays between 12 p.m. and 3 p.m.
- Restaurants: Least busy on Tuesdays at 3 p.m., most busy on Fridays at 6 p.m.
- Parks: Least busy on weekdays at 7 a.m., most busy on Saturday at 4 p.m.
You can see how busy a specific place is on Google before you visit by following these steps:
- Open Google Maps on your phone.
- Search for where you’re planning to go, like a pharmacy.
- Tap it.
- Scroll down past the description and phone number.
- Stop where it says “Popular times.”
- You’ll see a chart of how busy that place is right now and how busy it typically is at various points throughout the day.
