How do you use mapping apps to explore an area

I have used a variety of navigation apps to find out where I am when walking or riding. I also use them regularly to learn about places I'm passing.
But the skill I'm not so good at is finding out where I am in relation to streets. Here's an example: I want to go to a Dennys and I have its address. I also have the intersections of several bus stops that are less than a mile away. But where are they in relation to this Dennys? I can get an app to plan a route from any of these bus stops: go two blocks turn left, go 3 blocks and turn right, but that's not the same as looking at a map for an overview of where each stop is in relation to the place. In figuring out which bus to take and where to disembark, I don't want to mindlessly follow directions; I want an overview of how the streets in the neighborhood connect.
Here's another example: I am at 10th and Main. But I'm in a strange city so I have no idea where that is in relation to my hotel. My question to readers on Applevis is what techniques do you use to figure out what the map looks like and how the nearby streets are laid out. This is a skill I need to brush up on and I am curious how VO users do this with different apps.