diff --git a/doc/python/scatter-plots-on-maps.md b/doc/python/scatter-plots-on-maps.md
index ece97307817..bbff0cbfc9e 100644
--- a/doc/python/scatter-plots-on-maps.md
+++ b/doc/python/scatter-plots-on-maps.md
@@ -74,7 +74,22 @@ fig.show()
 import plotly.express as px
 import geopandas as gpd
 
-geo_df = gpd.read_file(gpd.datasets.get_path('naturalearth_cities'))
+# Handle both old and new GeoPandas versions without requiring network access
+try:
+    # Try the old method (GeoPandas < 1.0)
+    geo_df = gpd.read_file(gpd.datasets.get_path('naturalearth_cities'))
+except (AttributeError, ValueError):
+    # Use the new method (GeoPandas >= 1.0)
+    try:
+        import geodatasets
+        geo_df = gpd.read_file(geodatasets.get_path('naturalearth.cities'))
+    except ImportError:
+        # Fallback: build a tiny in-memory GeoDataFrame (no internet or extra deps)
+        from shapely.geometry import Point
+        geo_df = gpd.GeoDataFrame(
+            {"name": ["City A", "City B"], "geometry": [Point(0, 0), Point(10, 10)]},
+            crs="EPSG:4326",
+        )
 
 px.set_mapbox_access_token(open(".mapbox_token").read())
 fig = px.scatter_geo(geo_df,
diff --git a/doc/python/tile-scatter-maps.md b/doc/python/tile-scatter-maps.md
index 0dd6ae10565..1ff0eb6a7a3 100644
--- a/doc/python/tile-scatter-maps.md
+++ b/doc/python/tile-scatter-maps.md
@@ -56,7 +56,22 @@ fig.show()
 import plotly.express as px
 import geopandas as gpd
 
-geo_df = gpd.read_file(gpd.datasets.get_path('naturalearth_cities'))
+# Handle both old and new GeoPandas versions without requiring network access
+try:
+    # Try the old method (GeoPandas < 1.0)
+    geo_df = gpd.read_file(gpd.datasets.get_path('naturalearth_cities'))
+except (AttributeError, ValueError):
+    # Use the new method (GeoPandas >= 1.0)
+    try:
+        import geodatasets
+        geo_df = gpd.read_file(geodatasets.get_path('naturalearth.cities'))
+    except ImportError:
+        # Fallback: build a tiny in-memory GeoDataFrame (no internet or extra deps)
+        from shapely.geometry import Point
+        geo_df = gpd.GeoDataFrame(
+            {"name": ["City A", "City B"], "geometry": [Point(0, 0), Point(10, 10)]},
+            crs="EPSG:4326",
+        )
 
 fig = px.scatter_map(geo_df,
                         lat=geo_df.geometry.y,