Drupal is an amazing tool for mapping. It integrates with a lot of libraries, technologies and third party services. There are solutions for simple maps but also for complex mapping needs.

There isn't one ideal solution, because it depends of the project. Although, there is always a path: input > storage > process > output, some modules may provide more than one of these steps.

If you're beginner, there is possibility to make simple-to-intermediate maps without any coding. This documentation section contains a description of main modules to help you on your selection.

Widely used approaches

There are several approaches:

• Location (D6, D7) & Gmap (D6, D7)
• Geofield & OpenLayers or Leaflet (all D7)
• Get Locations (Google Maps v3 solution for D6, D7), either by itself or with Geofield (D7) or Geolocation field (D7)