Map, Schmap

Jetting off to Paris, but don't want to be unfurling cumbersome travel maps on the Champs-Elysées? Maybe it's time to ditch your oldfangled maps for a handy new schmap. This innovative, free travel software, downloadable from schmap.com , lets travelers of both the armchair and globetrotting variety build their own custom destination guides to any of more than 150 cities in the U.S., Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Canada.

Co-founded by Britons Paul Hallett and Nick Fletcher in 2004, Schmap boasts a sophisticated mapping engine that combines comprehensive local listings with zoomable, interactive city plans. Locations such...