Google has added a YouTube layer to Google Earth allowing users to zoom in on any location on the planet and view YouTube videos related to that place.

For example, a trip to Maui offers videos of surfing, snorkelling and exotic sea life, while users who fly to Chamonix-Mont Blanc in France can watch videos filmed at the highest points of the Alps.

The YouTube layer is available in the Featured Content folder of Google Earth.

Google said that the integration offers a new way to experience destinations as seen through the eyes of YouTube users who have visited them.

The new service enables people to watch, hear and feel what is happening in locations they may never have otherwise visited.

Armchair tourists to Rome can now watch YouTube videos filmed at the Coliseum, for example, providing a "holistic experience and adding a new perspective for users" who enjoy looking at noteworthy locations from above through satellite imagery.

Users need to download the newest Google Earth client to use the functionality.