Nearby places

A nearby places API for Great Britain: points of interest around a location or within a map viewport, filtered by category — restaurants, bars, hotels, EV charge points, transport and more.

Overview

GET /nearby returns points of interest around a point (or within a map viewport), filtered by category. It answers "what’s around here" by proximity — for search-as-you-type by name, use /search instead. Authenticate with a key scoped to "nearby". Responses are near-static and edge-cached.

Request

Anchor by a point + radius, or by a bounding box (great for loading exactly what’s on the map as the user pans).

bash

# around a point (radius in km, default 5, max 25)
curl "https://api.goggleplaces.com/nearby?lat=53.4808&lng=-2.2426&radius=2&categories=restaurant,bar&key=gk_live_pk_..."

# within a map viewport (bbox = minLng,minLat,maxLng,maxLat)
curl "https://api.goggleplaces.com/nearby?bbox=-2.26,53.46,-2.20,53.50&categories=lodging,charging&key=gk_live_pk_..."

Response

hits[] nearest-first. Each has id, category, subcategory, display_name, geo_point, distance and an inline icon — plus opening_hours, website, phone, cuisine and wheelchair where OpenStreetMap has them.

json

{
  "categories": ["lodging", "charging"],
  "total": 42,
  "hits": [
    {
      "id": "osm:n456",
      "category": "charging",
      "subcategory": "charging_station",
      "display_name": "Source London",
      "geo_point": { "lat": 51.51, "lon": -0.12 },
      "distance": 0.3,
      "distance_unit": "mi"
    }
  ]
}

Data

POIs come from OpenStreetMap (Great Britain, ODbL). "© OpenStreetMap contributors" attribution is mandatory wherever this data is shown — the SDK and widget render it by default.

What is a nearby places API?

A nearby places API answers "what's around here?" You send a location and a radius, or the bounds of the map the user is looking at, and get back the points of interest inside it, nearest first. It's the engine behind store locators, "near me" pages and map layers showing restaurants, hotels or EV charge points. Use /nearby when the user is browsing by location. When they're typing a name, use /search instead.

Common uses

"What's near me" features: show restaurants, pubs and cafés around the user's location. Map layers: use a bounding box to load exactly what's on screen as the user pans. Travel and hospitality: list attractions, transport and places to eat around a hotel. EV and driving apps: find charge points, fuel stations and public car parks near a route or destination. Property listings: show the supermarkets, transport links, hospitals and pharmacies around an address.

Migrating from Google Places Nearby Search

The model is the same: a location plus a radius (or a viewport), filtered by type. Google's place types map to the categories listed above, passed as a CSV in categories=. Results come back in hits[], nearest first, with a distance on each hit, so a "closest to you" list needs no extra sorting. Use a key scoped to "nearby", and because the data comes from OpenStreetMap, replace Google's attribution with "© OpenStreetMap contributors". The SDK and widget display it by default. Each hit's geo_point can be passed straight to /directions to route to the place.

Nearby lookup pricing

Every account includes 30,000 free nearby requests a month. After that, requests cost £2.96 per 1,000, falling to £2.37 per 1,000 beyond 5 million. Overage is billed per service at the end of each month, and you're only charged if you go over the free allowance.

Frequently asked questions

Can I load only the places visible on my map? Yes. Pass a bounding box instead of a point and radius, and /nearby returns what's inside the current viewport, which is ideal for refreshing results as the user pans.

Which categories can I search? Restaurants, bars, supermarkets, shopping, cinemas, fuel, lodging, attractions, EV charging, transport, hospitals and parking. Pass one or more in a single request.

Where does the data come from? OpenStreetMap, covering Great Britain under the ODbL licence. "© OpenStreetMap contributors" must be shown wherever the data appears.

Do results include opening hours and accessibility? Where OpenStreetMap has them, yes. Hits can include opening_hours, website, phone, cuisine and wheelchair access.

What's the difference between /nearby and /search? /nearby finds places by proximity and category, like "restaurants around here". /search finds places by what the user types, like "Nando's" or "Premier Inn York".