Place categories

We are currently updating the pages to include all regionally different guidelines. If you find inconsistencies, please refer to the English page. Thank you!

Place categories

The Place categories used in Waze are not always directly applicable to the BeLux, for they are global categories. At this time, it is not possible to adapt these categories to local customs. Waze has several major categories, which includes quite a number of subcategories.

If you choose a main category within WME, you automatically get to see the sub-categories to choose from. It is also possible to directly type in a category. If you cannot find an applicable sub-category, just use the main category. Categories that require special handling are described briefly in this section. A complete list can be found in the table below. It also lists the keywords that can be used in the app to search for the category.

This overview shows the categories used for the Waze Places. It shows examples, lock levels and search strings (scroll to the right of the table). Also, there is an indication to the use of a Point or an Area Place. Area Places should have a minimum area size of 500 m2 (e.g., 50m x 10m) to be visible in the client's display.

Parking Lot

Sub-category	Type	Locking	Name	Remarks
Parking Lot	area	2	Name

Car Services

Gas Stations	area	3	VL: {Brand} {Name} WAL: {picto} {Brand} {Name}	Example (not real): Main name: ⛽️ Shell VanPé (this name can be found on the brand's website) as an alternative ⛽️ Shell Nandrain (locality name if different from the official name). Attention, to obtain all the available stations of a brand, use only the main brand in the "sign" box of WME and not the easy, express or other: this info will be found in the encoded name. If you have a petrol card, you will be able to obtain all of the brand's stations ;-). If a shop is present and has different opening hours of the station, please create a 2nd POI category "local trade" with the name of the store chain, for example: "Welcome" for total and possibly in alternative " Welcome - Total ".
Garage / Automotive Shop	point		{Brand} {Name}	Technical inspection, Tire center, Independent garage, Body Shop. Official brand, choose dealer
Car Wash	point		{Name}
Charging Stations	point	2	{Provider} {MaxPower} ({Amount}

Transportation

Airport	area	3
Bridge	area			Use only to represent a named road bridge with local or navigational significance.
Bus Station	area		{Location} {Name}	Liège - Terminus STIB
Ferry Pier	area
Junction / Interchange	area		Junction {Name}	Place du Tilleul
Seaport / Marina / Harbor	area
Subway Station	point		{City} {Station Name}	Amsterdam Sloterdijk
Taxi Station	point
Train Station	area		Station + station name	Station RAI, Station Rotterdam Centraal
Tunnel	area		{Tunnel Name}

Professional and public

For public buildings or services such as fire departments, town halls and the like, we set the location of the name after the name, e.g., Stadhuis Antwerpen. For Organisations that have several locations, specify the location after a hyphen, after the general name of the organisation, e.g., UZ leuven - campus Gasthuisberg.

Cemetery	area
City Hall	area	{Municipality}	local name use
College / University	area
Conventions / Event Center	area
Courthouse	area
Doctor / Clinic	point		Use this category for non-urgent medical care. See for urgent medical care Hospital / Medical Care
Embassy / Consulate	point
Emergency shelter	point
Factory / industrial	area
Fire department	area	{City} {department}
Government	point		Only large ones are Area
Hospital / Urgent Care	area		Hospitals, First Aid Posts and other places that offer emergency aid. Use Doctor / Clinic for non-urgent medical care.
Information point	point
Kindergarten	point
Library	point	{City} {location}
Military	area
Offices	point
Organization or Association	point
Police Station	area	{City} {department}
Prison / Correctional Facility	area
Post Office	point
Religious Center	point		Churches are often well recognisable and can be drawn as Area
School	area

Shopping and services

Arts and Crafts	point
ATM	point	Geldautomaat {Brand}	Geldautomaat SNS Bank, Geldautomaat ING Bank, Geldautomaat ABN Amro
Bank / Financial	point	{Brand}
Bookstore	point
Car Dealership	point	{Brand} {Name}	In case there is a gas station, use Gas Station as the primary category
Car rental	point		Rental-car facilities and returns, including at airports, should be marked as a Point with the “Rental Car” Place category. If the return location is a normal Parking Lot, then mark it with the Parking Lot category and the building with the Car Rental category
Convenience Store	point		AH to Go, Kiosk
Currency Exchange	point
Department Store	point		De Bijenkorf
Electronics	point
Fashion and Clothing	point
Flowers	point
Furniture / Home Store	area
Gifts	point
Gym / Fitness	point
Hardware Store	point		Gamma, Karwei
Jewelry	point
Laundry / Dry Cleaning	point
Market	area	{City} {Location}
Music Store	point
Personal Care	point
Pet Store / Veterinarian	point
Pharmacy	point
Photography	point
Shopping Center	area
Sporting Goods	point
Supermarket / Grocery	point	{Brand} {Location}	Albert Heijn, Arkendonk, Lidl, Aldi
Swimming Pool	point		solely public swimming pools
Toy Store	point
Travel Agency	point

Food and Drink

Bakery	point
Bar	point		Note : a "Plaza" is not a Place (in French) but a food court/food market.
Coffee shop	point
Dessert	point
Fast Food	point		McDonald's may include drive-thru, then draw Parking Lot Road
Food Court	point		Can be used for a caterer or a wholesaler
Ice Cream	point
Restaurant	point	{Name}

Culture and Entertainment

Art Gallery	point
Casino	point
Club	point
Game Club	point
Movie Theater	point
Museum	point
Music Venue	point
Performing Arts Venue	point
Racing Track	area
Stadium / Arena	area
Theme Park	area
Theater	point
Tourist Attraction / Historic Site	point	If the place functions as a landmark it may be represented as an Area Place.
Zoo / Aquarium	area

Other

Construction Site

area

Construction sites are not necessariliy mapped but it may be useful for editors checking roadworks under way. Ask your Country Manager in case of doubt.

Lodging

Bed & Breakfast	point
Camping / Trailer Park	area
Cottage / Cabin	point
Hostel	point	F1 hotel Waalwijk; Used for Motels and Inns in the BeLux.
Hotel	point

Outdoors

Beach	area
Golf Course	area
Park	area
Playground	point
Plaza	area
Pool	area
Promenade		Probably not used in the BeLux
Scenic Lookout / Viewpoint	point
Ski Area	area
Sports Court	area

Natural features

Farm	point	Farmlands should never be mapped as areas. Editors should remove farmland areas immediately.
Forest / Grove	area
Island	area
River / Stream	area	Use only if water itself is visually obvious to drivers on nearby roads. Do not map if not visible from nearby roads. Features under approximately 20 meters wide will not be visible in the app.
Sea / Lake / Pool	area	Use only if water itself is visually obvious to drivers on nearby roads.
Canal	area
Swamp / Marsh	area
Dam	area

Tools

• WME Split POI script This script adds a button to the WME that allows you to split or cut Places from the category Natural Features into two, keeping the specifics. Can be used for all Natural Features like Island, Sea/Lake/Pool, River/Stream, Forest/Grove, Farm, Canal, Swamp / Marsh, Dam

Description and discussion on the forum

Install

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