What website/software/Sat Nav for route planning?
Discussion
I'm getting stuck in with planning an Alps road trip this summer. Chosen the rough route and started booking hotels but want to start planning the detailed route.
What do you all use for this? For example - day 1 is London - Baden-Baden. How do you guys plan the best route taking into account distance, time (road speeds), tolls etc? Once you've chosen how do you get this onto your Sat-Nav or do people work off paper maps still? Don't have a nav at the moment as the now sold Z4 had built-in.
It would be nice to setup waypoints along the route so I can switch off and not rely on pax for navigation, its far nicer to be able to enjoy the view than be worried if you're heading in the right direction.
Thanks,
Dave
What do you all use for this? For example - day 1 is London - Baden-Baden. How do you guys plan the best route taking into account distance, time (road speeds), tolls etc? Once you've chosen how do you get this onto your Sat-Nav or do people work off paper maps still? Don't have a nav at the moment as the now sold Z4 had built-in.
It would be nice to setup waypoints along the route so I can switch off and not rely on pax for navigation, its far nicer to be able to enjoy the view than be worried if you're heading in the right direction.
Thanks,
Dave
dgowenlock said:
I'm getting stuck in with planning an Alps road trip this summer. Chosen the rough route and started booking hotels but want to start planning the detailed route.
What do you all use for this? For example - day 1 is London - Baden-Baden. How do you guys plan the best route taking into account distance, time (road speeds), tolls etc? Once you've chosen how do you get this onto your Sat-Nav or do people work off paper maps still? Don't have a nav at the moment as the now sold Z4 had built-in.
It would be nice to setup waypoints along the route so I can switch off and not rely on pax for navigation, its far nicer to be able to enjoy the view than be worried if you're heading in the right direction.
Thanks,
Dave
On line I think Michelin is great, www.viamichelin.co.uk. You can elect to make preferences , it'll tell you about toll costs etc and it gives the best , most comprehensive , most reliable information about hotels and restaurants en route.What do you all use for this? For example - day 1 is London - Baden-Baden. How do you guys plan the best route taking into account distance, time (road speeds), tolls etc? Once you've chosen how do you get this onto your Sat-Nav or do people work off paper maps still? Don't have a nav at the moment as the now sold Z4 had built-in.
It would be nice to setup waypoints along the route so I can switch off and not rely on pax for navigation, its far nicer to be able to enjoy the view than be worried if you're heading in the right direction.
Thanks,
Dave
In the car, if you have a smart phone Co-pilot is good as are the TomTom apps for a phone.
BUT, buy yourself a proper Michelin map of France and either Michelin or suitable large scale maps of other countries en route. The best way to plan is still to get a map out and work it out first.
Sat Navs just do not work as atlasses. You need to be able to see the route in total not just slavishly follow a dis-emodied voice giving instructions.
Sometimes I have found working out which towns you are going to go through and just picking up signs of the appropriate colour, green in france for N roads etc,,,is more fun and getting a bit lost can actually be good.
Have fun.
I start with a mix of online tools such as google or via michelin with an actual michelin atlas to help give a broad overview. Once settled on the route(s) I print from google so have paper notes available then enter them into a free download called TYRE (Trace Your Route Everywhere) which is an excellent tool. Save the TYRE files then send them to the rest of your group for them to download to their satnavs 
Tyre is a very good programme, you just have to make sure you put your waypoints exactly where you want them, else the sat nav can try and send you down a street for 30 yards or so 
Has anyone else found that when you try and plot a route,say from Chur to Andermatt that it sends you the long way rather than over the Oberalp pass as its a road that is generally closed at this time of year?
Has anyone else found that when you try and plot a route,say from Chur to Andermatt that it sends you the long way rather than over the Oberalp pass as its a road that is generally closed at this time of year?
Allyc85 said:
Tyre is a very good programme, you just have to make sure you put your waypoints exactly where you want them, else the sat nav can try and send you down a street for 30 yards or so
Has anyone else found that when you try and plot a route,say from Chur to Andermatt that it sends you the long way rather than over the Oberalp pass as its a road that is generally closed at this time of year?
Thats exactly the sort of thing that made me want to physically harm the sat nav in my car last year, in a Basil Fawlty fashion Has anyone else found that when you try and plot a route,say from Chur to Andermatt that it sends you the long way rather than over the Oberalp pass as its a road that is generally closed at this time of year?
"Right , that's it, I,ve warned you!!!"
NO SUBSTITUTE FOR A GOOD MAP
I use Google maps to save my route, sticking a start point and destination in, then tweaking the route to go the way I want it to. To actually drive it, I tend to add lots of waypoints on the TomTom as favourites and make sure the route I end up with is the same as I've planned so that I can go from one to the other and drive the roads I want to.
I just use Via Michelin to work out a rough cost of the tolls on the motorways
I just use Via Michelin to work out a rough cost of the tolls on the motorways
I find TYRE absolutely invaluable - other than the web browser it's probably the important programme that I use on my PC.
Just check on the satnav device that the route when exported matches the route as shown on TYRE, and you won't have any problems.
Planning on Google Maps and then replicating the route in itinerary planning on the satnav device also works, but TYRE makes it so much easier to do.
Just check on the satnav device that the route when exported matches the route as shown on TYRE, and you won't have any problems.
Planning on Google Maps and then replicating the route in itinerary planning on the satnav device also works, but TYRE makes it so much easier to do.
.Diamond blue said:
Thats exactly the sort of thing that made me want to physically harm the sat nav in my car last year, in a Basil Fawlty fashion
"Right , that's it, I,ve warned you!!!"
NO SUBSTITUTE FOR A GOOD MAP
I have found myself going back to maps more often, just so I dont end up relying on the sat nav too much and getting into bad habits! "Right , that's it, I,ve warned you!!!"
NO SUBSTITUTE FOR A GOOD MAP
But ive never actually had a problem with my sat nav sending me down funny routes or any thing like that, just me making a mess of things when manually setting the waypoints on Tyre
john TYRE works with certain TTom's and as far as i know many garmins,although the format for Garmin files is different to TT the YRE program will output in the right way.....
Personally i wouldnt be without TT/TYRE....a TT can allow for 48 waypoints on a single route. I plan all our local runs using TYRE and send them out to teh other drivers, same for the 4/5 day road trips that we do. All that's needed is a little nouse it terms of where to put a waypoint to 'force' the device to follow the route that you had plotted on the pc. Given that a device can hold a ton of routes, its no hardship to have sep routes for morn/afternoons and easy enough to wander off track if desired during teh trip and knock a few waypoints out manually.
Can't help with the planning of European trips tiemwise, i find that for the UK teh usual google type estimates are often way out and i just use a degree of common sense and experience, based on distance, type of road and how often we'll want to stretch our legs/have a ciggie etc....
have fun....
Personally i wouldnt be without TT/TYRE....a TT can allow for 48 waypoints on a single route. I plan all our local runs using TYRE and send them out to teh other drivers, same for the 4/5 day road trips that we do. All that's needed is a little nouse it terms of where to put a waypoint to 'force' the device to follow the route that you had plotted on the pc. Given that a device can hold a ton of routes, its no hardship to have sep routes for morn/afternoons and easy enough to wander off track if desired during teh trip and knock a few waypoints out manually.
Can't help with the planning of European trips tiemwise, i find that for the UK teh usual google type estimates are often way out and i just use a degree of common sense and experience, based on distance, type of road and how often we'll want to stretch our legs/have a ciggie etc....
have fun....
there's a relatively recent thread in sat nav devices forum on here that gave the tt's that have itinerary planning as at a month or two ago.....there's still a fair few models that have it, or grab a second hand unit.....
TYRE+ tt has to be for me the best accessory i've got for the car.....wouldnt wnat to be without it.
TYRE+ tt has to be for me the best accessory i've got for the car.....wouldnt wnat to be without it.
plenty said:
I find TYRE absolutely invaluable ........ Just check on the satnav device that the route when exported matches the route as shown on TYRE, and you won't have any problems.
Planning on Google Maps and then replicating the route in itinerary planning on the satnav device also works, but TYRE makes it so much easier to do.
Yeah, it pays to put in a few extra waypoints sometimes as Tomtom can plot a different route between points than you choose on Tyre. But as a tool Tyre is superb. I spend many an hour plotting driving loops, in conjunction with Google Streetview to check the road width and surface quality.Planning on Google Maps and then replicating the route in itinerary planning on the satnav device also works, but TYRE makes it so much easier to do.
I always start with a proper atlas though, mark down the major waypoints, plot it out on Tyre and save as an .itn file for Tomtom.
Allyc85 said:
Tyre is a very good programme, you just have to make sure you put your waypoints exactly where you want them, else the sat nav can try and send you down a street for 30 yards or so
Agreed! Worth zooming in on each waypoint just to check as from a distance it has a habit of putting the waypoint just off from the road you thought you were going to be on...Also, I find that if I have sent a GPX file to my Garmin, it gets a bit stressed out if you stop along your route and then turn the unit on again. It seemed to want to send me back to the start of the route... It got there in the end, but agreed, no substitue for a proper map also!
Matt UK said:
Agreed! Worth zooming in on each waypoint just to check as from a distance it has a habit of putting the waypoint just off from the road you thought you were going to be on...
Especially if you've clicked on the wrong side of a dual carriageway which isn't always obvious unless you zoom in a bit. Don't as me how I know this... 
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