The direction to a destination expressed as an angle clockwise from north, between 0° and 360°. It removes the ambiguity of compass words like northeast.

What is the difference between bearing and heading?

Bearing is the direction to the thing you are aiming at. Heading is the direction your vehicle is actually pointing, which differs when wind or current pushes you off course.

Why is the initial bearing different from the final bearing?

Because a great-circle route curves relative to the meridians. They coincide only for a route running exactly along a meridian or the equator.

How accurate is this?

It is exact for a spherical Earth, and differs from the true ellipsoidal bearing by well under a degree at ordinary distances.

What does the compass direction mean?

It is the nearest of the 16 named compass points to the calculated bearing, so 288° reads as WNW. Use the degrees when precision matters.

Does the bearing depend on which direction I travel?

Yes. Reversing the two points gives a bearing roughly 180° different, but not exactly, because the initial bearing in one direction is not the final bearing in the other.

Can I use this for sailing or flying?

It is a reasonable planning aid, but for navigation use a tool that models the ellipsoid and magnetic variation. This gives the true bearing on a sphere.

What is the difference between true and magnetic bearing?

True bearing is measured from geographic north; magnetic bearing is measured from where your compass points, which differs by the local magnetic declination. This tool reports true bearing.

Why does the route look curved on the map?

Because web maps use Mercator, which distorts direction at high latitudes. The curve is the accurate great-circle path; a straight line on a Mercator map is not the shortest route.

Can I measure several bearings at once?

Not on this page. Measure them one at a time, or use the distance matrix tool if you need many point pairs.

Bearing Calculator

Quick answer: Click two points on the map to get the initial compass bearing from the first to the second, in degrees and as a compass direction.

How to use bearing calculator

Enter the starting city or coordinates in From.
Enter the destination in To, or click two points on the map.
Read the initial bearing in degrees and a 16-point compass direction. Copy or download the result.

Worked example

Input: New York (40.7128, −74.0060) → London (51.5072, −0.1276)
Expected result: Initial bearing about 51.2° (NE); great-circle distance about 5,570 km.

The shortest path initially heads northeast. It does not keep a constant compass bearing throughout the trip.

Calculation method and accuracy

The calculator uses the spherical forward-azimuth formula atan2(sin Δλ cos φ₂, cos φ₁ sin φ₂ − sin φ₁ cos φ₂ cos Δλ). The result is normalized to 0°…360°. Compass sectors are 22.5° wide. Distances use a mean Earth radius of 6,371,008.8 m.

Common mistakes and edge cases

This is a true bearing, not a magnetic compass bearing.
Reversing From and To is not generally the same as adding 180° to the original initial bearing.
Coincident points and exact antipodes have no unique initial direction. A road route may start in an entirely different direction.

Sources and verification

Reviewed by GeoDataViewer · 2026-09-22. Examples are rounded; the interactive result uses your selected inputs.

What a bearing tells you

A bearing is an angle measured clockwise from north, so 0° is due north, 90° is due east, 180° is due south, and 270° is due west. It answers the practical question a map is usually asked: which way do I go from here?

This tool reports the initial bearing, which is the direction at the moment you set off. On a sphere, that is not the same as the direction you arrive from.

Why the bearing changes along the route

A great-circle route between two distant points curves relative to the meridians. The bearing you start with and the bearing you finish with are different, and the difference grows with distance and with how close the route passes to a pole.

Following the compass direction in the sky rather than the changing bearing is what produces a rhumb line — a path that keeps a constant bearing, and is longer than the great-circle route.

Where bearings matter

Navigation, surveying, and radio work all use bearings to describe direction unambiguously. A compass direction like "northeast" covers 90° of ambiguity; a bearing gives one number with no room to misread it.

Limitations to keep in mind

The bearing is true, not magnetic, and assumes a spherical Earth. Add the local magnetic declination before comparing with a hand compass, and check your charts before relying on it for navigation.

Related tools

Crow-flies distanceStraight-line distance between any two points.
Halfway pointThe great-circle midpoint between two places.
Antipode finderThe point on the exact opposite side of the globe.
Horizon distanceHow far you can see from a given height.
Geographic centreThe centre of several points you pick.

Frequently asked questions

What is a bearing?: The direction to a destination expressed as an angle clockwise from north, between 0° and 360°. It removes the ambiguity of compass words like northeast.
What is the difference between bearing and heading?: Bearing is the direction to the thing you are aiming at. Heading is the direction your vehicle is actually pointing, which differs when wind or current pushes you off course.
Why is the initial bearing different from the final bearing?: Because a great-circle route curves relative to the meridians. They coincide only for a route running exactly along a meridian or the equator.
How accurate is this?: It is exact for a spherical Earth, and differs from the true ellipsoidal bearing by well under a degree at ordinary distances.
What does the compass direction mean?: It is the nearest of the 16 named compass points to the calculated bearing, so 288° reads as WNW. Use the degrees when precision matters.
Does the bearing depend on which direction I travel?: Yes. Reversing the two points gives a bearing roughly 180° different, but not exactly, because the initial bearing in one direction is not the final bearing in the other.
Can I use this for sailing or flying?: It is a reasonable planning aid, but for navigation use a tool that models the ellipsoid and magnetic variation. This gives the true bearing on a sphere.
What is the difference between true and magnetic bearing?: True bearing is measured from geographic north; magnetic bearing is measured from where your compass points, which differs by the local magnetic declination. This tool reports true bearing.
Why does the route look curved on the map?: Because web maps use Mercator, which distorts direction at high latitudes. The curve is the accurate great-circle path; a straight line on a Mercator map is not the shortest route.
Can I measure several bearings at once?: Not on this page. Measure them one at a time, or use the distance matrix tool if you need many point pairs.