Teleportation is a widely used virtual locomotion technique. However, its discontinuous motion disrupts continuous spatial updating. Alternative locomotion techniques with varied viewpoint transitions have been shown to improve spatial orientation. Our work explores the effectiveness of viewpoint transitions for cognitive mapping while navigating a large-scale environment. We conducted a study comparing three fundamental viewpoint transitions – instant, pulsed, and continuous – during selection-based locomotion to evaluate user’s acquired cognitive map and spatial orientation over the course of virtual navigation. Our results indicate that cognitive maps can be developed in more detail using supplementary visual cues, like in continuous or pulsed motion. However, these visual cues do not necessarily lead to significant differences in the retention proficiency of the developed cognitive map. Additionally, spatial orientation estimates of environmental landmarks worsen as one navigates farther away for all three viewpoint transitions, with the overall spatial disorientation being significantly worse with instant transition than the others. Our findings provide insight into the selection of an optimal locomotion technique for cognitive mapping in VR exploration and offer design considerations for navigational experiences.