diff --git a/server/src/services/placeService.ts b/server/src/services/placeService.ts
index 21a91ea5..0f8c51a8 100644
--- a/server/src/services/placeService.ts
+++ b/server/src/services/placeService.ts
@@ -719,6 +719,11 @@ export async function importGoogleList(tripId: string, url: string, opts?: ListI
   }
 
   if (!listId) {
+    // A single-place share link (…/maps/place/…) carries no list id — point the user at
+    // the place search box instead of a cryptic "could not extract list ID" (#1304).
+    if (resolvedUrl.includes('/maps/place/')) {
+      return { error: 'That link points to a single place, not a list. To add it, paste the link into the place search box instead of using the list import.', status: 400 };
+    }
     return { error: 'Could not extract list ID from URL. Please use a shared Google Maps list link.', status: 400 };
   }
 
diff --git a/server/tests/unit/services/placeService.test.ts b/server/tests/unit/services/placeService.test.ts
index 2fc0b2d0..ad0b0016 100644
--- a/server/tests/unit/services/placeService.test.ts
+++ b/server/tests/unit/services/placeService.test.ts
@@ -416,6 +416,15 @@ describe('importGoogleList', () => {
     expect(result.status).toBe(400);
   });
 
+  it('PLACE-SVC-026b — a single-place link gives a guiding error instead of the generic one (#1304)', async () => {
+    const { user } = createUser(testDb);
+    const trip = createTrip(testDb, user.id);
+    const url = 'https://www.google.com/maps/place/Eiffel+Tower/@48.8584,2.2945,17z/data=!3m1';
+    const result = await importGoogleList(String(trip.id), url) as any;
+    expect(result.status).toBe(400);
+    expect(result.error).toMatch(/single place/i);
+  });
+
   it('PLACE-SVC-027 — returns error when Google Maps API responds with non-ok status', async () => {
     const { user } = createUser(testDb);
     const trip = createTrip(testDb, user.id);