Road Trip Planning Websites or Tools

[christhreadgill]

Hi all,

My company is looking to organise a charity European road trip next year to celebrate our 10 year anniversary, and as the "office car guy" I've been tasked with getting a high level itinerary / route proposal together to confirm the viability of such a plan. Think of it as our very own Gumball event with clients, suppliers, and even competitor companies already lined up with a view to raise £250k for charity.

My MD thinks heading to Nürburgring would be good, but I think that the risk and insurance viability will be a non starter. I'm more aligned with a cross-Alps trip to Monaco and back, similar to the Circuit Days Alpine Grand Tour event would be a much better selection.

So - other than Google and Maps - is there any form of website etc. that I could use to plug various destinations in to get an idea of driving time between hotels, mileages, toll information etc.? Push comes to shove I'll inevitably revert to an Excel document and input individual data from Google, but if there was something out there which streamlines the process it would be well received.

I guess - also open to ideas from the PH collective on the whole event really!

[P675]

Google Maps is such a powerful tool, and streetview, it's hard to beat for planning. When I do my trips I enter them into Basecamp for my Garmin satnav but I'm checking tons of stuff with Google Maps too, and making a list of stops and towns I pass through, to remind myself what I'm doing that day but also in case I have an issue with the satnav.

I prefer to use the satnav with a route where I put in every point because it will follow that route exactly rather than Google Maps optimisation.

[Robertb]

I found the Via Michelin site decent for route planning. Does the things youre looking for I think, and it also shows you the scenic roads (though that element is a bit hit and miss)

https://www.viamichelin.co.uk/routes

[sixor8]

I used to use viamichelin a lot, I used it for directions to Spain and back 10 - 15 yrs ago several times. You could select a route other than the binary shortest or fastest most planners provide.

It was a compromise or combined economical route that was excellent but the option seems to have gone. You can save enough from not using toll motorways to pay for a hotel stop, AND burn less fuel. The quickest route is often 100 miles or more further! The website is now a plethora of pop-up ads you have to watch it seems and prompts to other websites.

[Robertb]

I do recall certain annoyances with Via Michelin, but on the whole it was OK.

Guys I know who plan routes for vintage tours seem to use osmand maps. I tried it and it was a bit fiddly, but it has various advantages.
https://osmand.net/

[blueg33]

I plan lots of road trips - Googlemaps is the go to tool every time. You can insert way points, drag to specific roads and use street view to check whether the remote lane you have just chosen is suitable for a Lamborghini with 1 inch of ground clearance and a £20k carbon splitter

[Robertb]

blueg33 said:

I plan lots of road trips - Googlemaps is the go to tool every time. You can insert way points, drag to specific roads and use street view to check whether the remote lane you have just chosen is suitable for a Lamborghini with 1 inch of ground clearance and a £20k carbon splitter

Is there a way of sharing the exact route you've planned for others to follow in the google maps carplay app?

The problem we've had previously is that while you can share a route generated from google maps, we can't find a way of following it in turn-by-turn nav mode. Operator error probably...

[blueg33]

Robertb said:

blueg33 said:

I plan lots of road trips - Googlemaps is the go to tool every time. You can insert way points, drag to specific roads and use street view to check whether the remote lane you have just chosen is suitable for a Lamborghini with 1 inch of ground clearance and a £20k carbon splitter

Is there a way of sharing the exact route you've planned for others to follow in the google maps carplay app?

The problem we've had previously is that while you can share a route generated from google maps, we can't find a way of following it in turn-by-turn nav mode. Operator error probably...

Yes. You have to put way points along the preferred route then use the tool in google maps to create a link to send by email. If you don't put in enough waypoints it will default to the fastest routes when people open the link. You can then use the Google maps app on a phone for turn by turn directions.

Alternatively, a bit laboriously, you can enter the way points into your car nav, or go more techy and create a GPX file that uploads to satnav. Thats more complex as you have to use googlemymaps. I tend to manually enter the waypoints into my car nav

Step-by-Step Guide

Step 1: Create a Map in Google My Maps
Go to google.com/mymaps on your computer
Click Create a New Map
Click the "Add Directions" icon (Y-shaped arrow)
Enter your Start and End points
Drag the blue route line to customize your path
Step 2: Export as KML
Click the map menu (three dots next to map title)
Select Export to KML/KMZ
Check the box "Export as KML instead of KMZ"
Click Download
Step 3: Convert KML to GPX
Now you have a file, but it's in Google's format. GPS devices need GPX.

Open the KML to GPX Converter
Upload your exported KML file
Click Convert
Download your new GPX file
Step 4: Transfer to Device
Copy the GPX file to your GPS device (usually the NewFiles or GPX fol