Carta Volta categories – turning any trip into an adventure

Carta Volta organises every map into four types of recommendations: functional, intuitive, valuable, and unforgettable. Functional recommendations cover practical needs like ATMs, pharmacies, and transport. Intuitive recommendations highlight the essential landmarks a destination is known for. Valuable recommendations span curated categories, from food and culture to nature and nightlife, based on what a creator genuinely enjoys. Unforgettable recommendations surface local gems: traditions, quirks, and stories that rarely appear on standard travel lists. Together, these four categories are what turn a Carta Volta map from a simple list of places into a trusted, locally curated guide to a destination.

Published: 25-08-2025Updated: 30-07-2026

• Functional recommendations
• Intuitive recommendations
• Valuable recommendations
• Unforgettable recommendations

When you're creating a map for travellers, it's tempting to only focus on the prominent landmarks, but the best maps don't just guide people from one "must-see" to the next. Great maps give visitors a more profound sense of the city, from hidden parks and quirky stories to timeless local traditions.

At Carta Volta, we've defined a set of categories to help creators showcase their cities from different aspects. Some are practical, while others capture the hidden magic that only a few people know. Together, they make sure your map is functional, intuitive, valuable, and unforgettable!

Functional recommendations

Travel is about discovering places, meeting new people, and seeing the wonders of the world, but to do all that, you need to get from A to B, more often than not have cash on you, and we usually like to do all of that without a rumbly tummy. It's the less romantic part of the trip, but we've all been in that situation when we needed something badly, and we needed it now. On a Carta Volta map, anything practical is hidden by default, but when a traveller looks for help, it's only one filter click away.

Intuitive recommendations

We want to make our own discoveries, but that doesn't mean we want to miss the places that make a destination famous. Whether it's the city's main square or that viewpoint everyone has a photo of, some sights earned their reputation for a reason. Carta Volta isn't built around those obvious highlights, but we know they're part of the journey. That's why we always ask to include essential landmarks, to help travellers tick off the classics, and to make it easier for them to find their way around the city.

Valuable recommendations

Every trip is made up of dozens of little decisions about where to eat, what to visit, or how to spend the day. Some people spend hours wandering through museums, others are happiest in a park, a cosy coffee bar, browsing independent shops, and most trips are a mix of all those moments. That's why Carta Volta invites creators to share the places they genuinely enjoy across every category, helping travellers build an itinerary around recommendations they can trust, rather than endless lists of options.

Unforgettable recommendations

The best travel memories often come from the things locals are most proud of. Whether it's a family-run bakery, a centuries-old tradition or an unexpected story hidden on a street corner, these are the experiences that make a destination unlike any other. They don't always make the top ten lists, but they're the recommendations we share with friends and family. That's why Carta Volta puts these hidden gems at the heart of every map, so travellers discover the places that give a destination its true character.