Instead of waiting in line to see the view from the Eiffel tower, fly straight to the top in Google Earth and get a 360-degree view of Paris. You can also see the Sacré-Cœur Basilica without having to climb the 237 steps to get there. With Google Earth’s “3D Buildings” layer turned on (or by using the Google Earth plug-in for Google Maps) you can wander the streets of the Montmartre district made famous by artists like Picasso, Van Gogh and Dalí from your living room. Now all of these sites – and the many, many others that make Paris special – are available to tour in 3D in Google Earth. Often considered one of the top destinations for world travelers, Paris is known for landmarks like the Notre Dame Cathedral and the Arc de Triomphe, world-famous museums like the Louvre and the Musée d’Orsay, and hundreds of little bistros with French pastries so good they make your heart pop (literally and figuratively). His helpful elves kept everything at the North Pole on schedule while folks from Google and NORAD attended the Closing Bell ceremony, and stood alongside Santa from Macy’s going over last minute details about tomorrow’s big ride. Over the years, other Google teams have also joined in the holiday fun ( YouTube, Google Voice’s and Google SketchUp).Īs we approach this year’s Christmas Eve adventure, Santa was able to take a break from the preparations to visit the New York Stock Exchange this past Monday. Then in 2004, Google started tracking Santa on Google Earth as a 20% project, which in 2007 grew into a partnership with NORAD, adding the mapping technology of Google Maps and Google Earth to the NORAD experience. Embracing the spirit of the season, NORAD used its satellite and radar capabilities to offer callers sleigh-location updates, and has tracked Santa’s whereabouts on Christmas Eve ever since. NORAD (North American Aerospace Defence Command) first began to track Santa in 1955 when a misprinted advertisement in a Sears & Roebuck catalogue mistakenly led callers expecting a Santa-hotline to the NORAD commander-in-chief’s telephone.
Now that you know how to follow Saint Nick on Christmas Eve, it’s our tradition to tell the story of how this all started…
Get real-time information about Santa’s location: Use Google’s Realtime Search to get updates from social networks, news and micro-blogs like Twitter at and keep up with news about his journey on this Facebook page.įor any techie questions you might have, we’ve also put together some helpful tips and tricks about all the cool ways you can experience Santa’s journey.That’s where you can find videos from his journey throughout the night. Subscribe to his YouTube channel: Santa’s home on YouTube is at.Follow Santa on your phone: Track Santa from your mobile phone by opening Google Maps for mobile and searching for.If you don’t have the Google Earth plug-in, you can get ready by downloading it ahead of time. You’ll see Santa steering his sleigh right on the webpage.
Watch Santa fly with the Google Earth Plug-in: From click on the link Track Santa in Google Earth.Click the video icons to watch “Santa Cam” videos, and click the gift icons to learn more about each city. You’ll see a large Google Map on the page displaying Santa’s current location and his next stop. See Santa on a Google Map: On your home computer or laptop, visit and choose your preferred language.
There are a few different ways to find the jolly old man in his unmistakable red suit over the course of the day, so feel free to track him using any of the following methods: Starting tomorrow, December 24 at 2:00am EST, visit to follow Santa as he journeys around the world delivering presents to children in more than 200 countries and territories. Thanks in part to recent advances in warp-speed GPS technology and some very clever elves (elveneering?) NORAD Tracks Santa is once again prepped and ready to go. There’s one timeless question that we’re proud to say we can help answer: Where in the world is Santa at this very moment? Every Christmas Eve, children all over the world ask themselves-and their parents-questions about Santa’s magical journey: How does Santa visit so many children in one night? Will he eat the cookies I left out? How does he fit all those presents into his sleigh? These childhood mysteries are part of what makes the Santa tradition so special.