Thinking about setting off on a road trip? You’re gonna want to have it organised before you set off, so we’ve rounded up our picks of the very best road trip planner tools.
The idea of a road trip has been a great way to explore the world since the early 1900s, with certain routes becoming iconic vacations for seeing landmarks, visiting cities, and simply enjoying the open road. What you don’t want however, is to get lost, run out of gas or drive right by any must-see destinations.
We all know how to plan a road trip with Google Maps, but these are tools and apps you need to become the ultimate driving trip planner.
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The Essential Road Trip Planner Tools
How do these rankings work?
1. GasbuddyÂ
What it does: Gasbuddy is a US, Australia and Canada-only road trip planner tool that helps you find gas station convenience stores based on fuel prices, locations, ratings, and reviews. It’s perfect for finding the cheapest gas stations on your route.
There’s also a super handy trip calculator, where you can judge exactly how much money you will spend on gas during your road trip.
2. Google MapsÂ
What it does: Google Maps allows you to create a static map that you can then download to your phone offline during your road trip. You can add all the destinations you want to see on your route, and check it for real time traffic updates.
3. Instagram
What it does: Technically not a road trip planner app, but Instagram is amazing for inspiration. Search nearby geotags to drill down to your location, hotel, restaurant, beach or any location that you are hitting up on your trip.
Use the photos and stories to see what looks good and what people have discovered.
4. Roadtrippers
What it does:Â This road trip app helps people discover the world around them in an entirely new way. Basically, it streamlines discovery, planning, booking and navigation into one handy app. The route planner includes instant fuel cost estimation and a function to explore places within a set distance from your route.
5. Allstays
What it does: Allstays is perfect if you’re planning a road trip on a budget. The site has information about where to sleep for the night across America. Choose from paid motel rooms to free wilderness sites in the forest and camping locations.
6. Furkot
What it does: This road trip planner literally plans your entire trip for you. Choose your destination and Furkot will calculate how much time you need to get there. You can add stops along the way if you want to go off track, too. Input how long you want to drive every day, and it will show you where to stop for the night.
7. Waze
What it does:Â Waze is the ultimate traffic app. It’s the world’s largest community-based traffic and navigation app, which means local users add in real-time information. The app tells you instantly about traffic, construction, police cars, crashes, & more.
