A vehicle navigation system providing for navigational instructions as well as the ability to provide an elevated view of surroundings at a destination for a user, wherein the vehicle navigation system comprises: a processor and a non-transitory data storage on which is stored computer code which, when executed on the processor, causes the vehicle navigation system to: obtain a route between an origin and a destination , wherein the route includes instructions for navigation to the destination; means for selecting vantages and timing for a three-dimensional animated preview of the destination specified in the vehicle navigation system and for retrieving the three-dimensional animated preview, wherein the three-dimensional animated preview illustrates an elevated view of surroundings at the destination in a 360 degree rotation around the destination; and a display for displaying the three-dimensional animated preview to the user that shows the 360 degree rotation around the destination; wherein the means for selecting vantages and timing includes a timing controller that computes timing data to guide creation of three-dimensional animations using three-dimensional image data and computes timing data to determine relative speeds of different portions of the three-dimensional animated preview; wherein the means for selecting vantages and timing includes a vantage controller and wherein the timing controller computes the number of different camera orientations to accomplish the 360 degree rotation around the destination; characterized in that the means for selecting vantages and timing computes camera parameters by setting tilt and range angles for the animated preview, retrieving a last vertice of the route and the destination from a navigation server, computing an initial heading to the destination based on the destination location and the last vertice on the route and computing a camera heading for each camera orientation by increasing the initial heading by a number of degree per second between each camera movement, wherein the system queries a three-dimensional image service, wherein the query includes position, orientation, and field of view information computed by vantage controller , and timing data computed by timing controller . obtain a route between an origin and a destination , wherein the route includes instructions for navigation to the destination; means for selecting vantages and timing for a three-dimensional animated preview of the destination specified in the vehicle navigation system and for retrieving the three-dimensional animated preview, wherein the three-dimensional animated preview illustrates an elevated view of surroundings at the destination in a 360 degree rotation around the destination; and a display for displaying the three-dimensional animated preview to the user that shows the 360 degree rotation around the destination; wherein the timing controller computes the number of different camera orientations to accomplish the 360 degree rotation around the destination; characterized in that the means for selecting vantages and timing computes camera parameters by setting tilt and range angles for the animated preview, retrieving a last vertice of the route and the destination from a navigation server, computing an initial heading to the destination based on the destination location and the last vertice on the route and computing a camera heading for each camera orientation by increasing the initial heading by a number of degree per second between each camera movement, wherein the system queries a three-dimensional image service, wherein the query includes position, orientation, and field of view information computed by vantage controller , and timing data computed by timing controller . <EOS>