My family takes frequent road trips and we have a formula for when to stop. I grew up doing long long drives with only one bathroom break, and I like my way better.
Break up a road trip by stopping every 2 or 3 hours, this is about every 200 miles. This will keep everyone comfortable and give you lots of opportunities to explore along your route. You can use any navigation app to divide the trip into 400 mile legs. Plan each leg with 2 chunks of driving with a stop in the middle.
If you are used to just pushing through long drives without stopping, give this method a try. Enjoy the journey, don’t miss the opportunity to see things along the way.
I grew up in a family that NEVER stopped on a road trip, we pushed through till we arrived at our aunt’s house. I have driven past NYC countless times, like probably 200 times, and I have never been. What a waste!
A stop can be as simple as a fast food chain or playground, or as complex as an overnight in a new town.
We recently took a trip and tried Raisin’ Cain for the first time. Easily a highlight of the trip. Minimal effort, but we embraced the trip and found something unique to our location. Totally worth it.
So what does this look like in a navigation app?
Let’s plan a trip from Los Angeles to Austin Texas.
This is a 19 hour drive, I will need to divide the trip into at least 4 legs, each about 5 hours.
I zoom into the map until I see the major cities. I add them to the trip and see how well that divides up the trip.
Here it works pretty well.
| Los Angeles to Phoenix | 6hrs |
| Phoenix to El Paso | 6hrs |
| El Paso to Austin | 8 hrs |
Then, I take each leg of the trip and plan any stops I want to make along the way.
I use a tool called withinhours.com to find cities that might not show up on the map. I honestly don’t know why more people don’t talk about Within Hours, I think it is incredibly useful.
There are other apps that work to do this. Roadtrippers, Furkot, Waze etc, but I use Google Maps. I think it is just easier to plan in the app you will already be using.
See this small phone icon. You can plan the trip on your laptop and send it to your phone.
Easy.
What is the best road trip planner?
The best road trip planner is the navigation app that you are already using. You do not need to download new apps to plan a road trip. By breaking your trip up into legs, and writing out your plan you can keep storage space free on your phone and use the normal maps app you know and love.
I use Google Maps when I drive to new places, so I like to use it when I am on a long road trip.
There are popular apps among road trippers, like Roadtrippers, Waze, TollGuru, and Furkot, but every seasoned traveler I talk to only uses those to plan, then uses their regular navigation tool when they are on the road.
So I keep it simple. I plan with the same app I use daily.
There are plenty of cool features in Google Maps that help you plan and explore new areas in the app. I list them here. Number 6 is not super well known, but really convenient.
If you want to use other apps, consider writing a physical copy of your plan for each leg so you are not trying to save a large trip on your phone. It is also an easy way for other people to see what is ahead.
How do I create a road trip itinerary?
As a general rule the first step in creating a road trip itinerary is to divide your trip into legs. A leg should be no more than 500 miles. Unless you have two drivers, you should not plan to cover more than 500 miles in a single day. By dividing the trip up into legs, you will have a clear picture of lodging and food needs for your trip.
Once you have your trip divided into legs, use an app like Roadtrippers or Google Maps to plan stops along the way.
This post goes into detail about how I plan my road trips and there is a free printable planner to help keep you organized.
If you enjoy the luxury of time, plan to stop every two hours and explore for a while.
Find a local coffee shop, museum, park or landmark and soak up the journey.
If you need to get there fast, you can probably stretch that to 3 hours without a stop during the day and up to 5 at night.
I have a secret system for using Google Maps to explore a new location and I give all those tips in this post.
Using Google Maps to Plan a Road Trip with Stops
How many times should I stop on a road trip?
Every road trip should include at least one stop along the way. Plan to stop every 2-3 hours, with at least one point of interest before arriving at your destination. Plan to find a major city along your route and see the highlights.
If you drive directly to your destination without exploring your route, you missed a great opportunity.
Stopping for gas does not count.
When you choose to stop for gas you can plan to explore the area to find a playground, free park or grab a snow cone. Make the stop slow and joyful.
Apps like GasBuddy can help you explore more gas station locations so you are not just always pulling off the highway and stopping at the first station you see.
If you want all my tips and tricks for how many miles you should drive in a day you can check out a more in depth post here.
Plan the Next One
When visiting family, or a child in college or taking a trip that you know you will repeat, pay attention.
Write down the city names and road signs that show things off the exits. Make a note in your phone so you will have some ideas to help you plan the next one!
My family spent years driving from Virginia to Maine twice a year, every year, and we never stopped. Well, we never stopped except to go to the bathroom at the gas station.
Well we are all grown up now and my parents are making the trip alone now. For the first time since their honeymoon they stopped in the Poconos. I was so proud of them, how magical.
Make your own magic on a monotonous trip, stop and see things! Get out there, it is going to be great.
Kids and the Road Trip Plan
If you are traveling with kids, print out lots of pictures of places you plan to visit. This will help them get an idea of what to expect.
Get them a printed map of the trip route that they can follow along with on the drive, consider giving them a notebook they can write or draw their favorite memories of the trip.
In my family we use a Family Journal where everyone can write their thoughts and memories.
You can see ours and read a bit more about it in this post about how to document a road trip.
