What online tools do you use for long (road) trip planning?

[SDDiver5]

I use Onx for everything travel related. Last time I did a long trip, I had it from the meet up point in San Diego going to the desert and north through J Tree and then home. Multiple way points to check out spots if they would be good for future camping. I find it much easier than any other system. Easy to build routes, add waypoints with notes and share with friends.

 

[Herbie]

This is my struggle. Just plotted a route today on Google Maps to ride Alberta oldest road with a couple neat historic pit stops:

View attachment 833618

Saved and then send to my phone / email and open it on my phone and this is what I get:

View attachment 833619

So curious what you are all using to plot the route and send to your device with way points saved.

Apps, devices or something? It's frustrating and there must be a better way...

Ugh. From what I see on your first image, I'd expect that at least the large circles should be respected as waypoints. (The small circles are just anchor points that gmaps uses when doing pathfinding, and those are subject to change based on realtime inputs.)

As an example, here's a short route that I'm usually able to manage without any issue:

I setup four points (start, and 3 destinations):



That gets me this URL: https://maps.app.goo.gl/B7PUhS83WvjSvAnu7

When I share this to my phone, I get a route with all four points plotted out:



(The difference in travel time on the last image because estimates vary depending on which suggested route I select and whether or not I allow tolls, etc.)

Once I start navigating that route, it will basically do realtime guidance to point 'A' until I reach it. Yes, it will try to route me on the fastest or most efficient route, but point 'A' is definitely the target destination. When I arrive there, I can either "Cancel Navigation" or "Continue", at which point it will guide me to point 'B', and so on.

This works well for me, except for the 10-waypoint limit. If this does NOT work for you, then maybe there's some variation in behavior down to app version? (or platform? iOS vs. Android?)

 

[Todd n Natalie]

Ugh. From what I see on your first image, I'd expect that at least the large circles should be respected as waypoints. (The small circles are just anchor points that gmaps uses when doing pathfinding, and those are subject to change based on realtime inputs.)

As an example, here's a short route that I'm usually able to manage without any issue:

I setup four points (start, and 3 destinations):
View attachment 833677


That gets me this URL: https://maps.app.goo.gl/B7PUhS83WvjSvAnu7

When I share this to my phone, I get a route with all four points plotted out:

View attachment 833688
View attachment 833689
(The difference in travel time on the last image because estimates vary depending on which suggested route I select and whether or not I allow tolls, etc.)

Once I start navigating that route, it will basically do realtime guidance to point 'A' until I reach it. Yes, it will try to route me on the fastest or most efficient route, but point 'A' is definitely the target destination. When I arrive there, I can either "Cancel Navigation" or "Continue", at which point it will guide me to point 'B', and so on.

This works well for me, except for the 10-waypoint limit. If this does NOT work for you, then maybe there's some variation in behavior down to app version? (or platform? iOS vs. Android?)

Oh maybe? Never thought of app version. I'm using iOS. (Whatever the latest version is) on a iPhone 14. Are you using iOS or Android?

Either way, unless I'm missing something, I think I need to find another resource for pre planning routes.

 

[Herbie]

Oh maybe? Never thought of app version. I'm using iOS. (Whatever the latest version is) on a iPhone 14. Are you using iOS or Android?

Either way, unless I'm missing something, I think I need to find another resource for pre planning routes.

I'm on Android, version 11.127.0102 of the App (from May 2) when I did the screenshots above. (Looks like there's a new update today, but it's a moving target).

I'm also on a Pixel phone (Google flagship), which sometimes gets me special features, but usually that's limited to stuff like the Camera app or things tied to the Google One ecosystem. (VPN, etc.)