I love planning road trips, and I think adding lots of stops is the way to go. Even if you must cover a lot of distance in a short period of time, it is worth it to plan in some stops.
Road trip stops are an affordable way to take your vacation to the next level. Plan to stop about every 200 miles to keep stress low and smiles wide.
How often should you stop on a road trip?
If you ask my dad, you should only stop when you get there. I disagree.
Three main things determine how often you should stop:
Time of Day
If you are driving through the night, and your driver is comfortable doing so, frequent stops are impractical.
Driving through the night is best done with 2 or more drivers, with stops only to use the bathroom and switch drivers.
If you are driving during the day, stopping for meals will help reduce mess, stress and boredom. Even if you are packing meals, pull over to eat, get out and throw around a frisbee over those PBJs.
Think about your normal day and the types of things that you normally do, do you always nap at 3? Do not try to drive through your nap time.
Age of Passengers
Speaking of nap time, if you have very young passengers, frequent stops are a matter of safety. I found some really important information about how often babies need to stop on a road trip. It is all the way down in the last paragraph.
The general rule is that children need to stop every 2 hours to encourage proper breathing posture. More frequently with younger kids and less with older kids.
Older passengers may also need to stop more frequently for circulation, posture or pain.
Be sure to be very alert to the needs of your passengers.
Needs of Passengers
When I had my gallbladder removed, a kind nurse warned me that I might not want to eat fast food more than 45 minutes from home. It was an odd warning until the first time it happened. I will not share details here, but just Google Dumping Syndrome, or don’t.
Make sure to keep an open dialogue about any bathroom needs on the trip and be careful not to shame young children who need to stop frequently. It is just a biological reality.
We do keep a potty seat, like this one on Amazon, in our car. I have found it incredibly convenient and easy to keep clean.
There can also be concerns about blood sugar, smoke breaks or personal phone calls that your passengers may have. Make the road trip about the trip, not just rushing to the destination.
How to decide when to stop?
Plan to stop every 2 hours. Give everyone at least 30 minutes to eat at each food stop and make sure everyone knows when to expect the next stop. If you are driving through the night this can be stretched to every 3 to 4 hours.
This is a great spacing for all the needs mentioned above, but still allows you to cover plenty of miles each day of your trip.
If you are doing long stretches of open highway in the US or Canada, you may have nowhere to stop. There are areas where you need to be sure to fill up at every gas station you see to avoid running out of gas. Please use an app like TollGuru, Roadtrippers or Google Maps to plan ahead on these more adventurous road trips.
If you are planning a months long road trip, plan to spend 2 nights in one location every few days. You will really feel the reprieve if you do.
Where should I stop on a road trip?
YES! You have decided to stop! Here are my best ideas:
Bathroom
State Rest Stops are a really great place for a quick stop, but make sure to browse the brochures. There might be some really interesting local history or attraction that might lure you off the highway. You can find these in Google maps, I show the screenshots here.
Truck Stops
Truck stops are great roadside stops. They are more robust than a gas station and have clean bathrooms and often showers available. Truck stops sell tourist gift shop type things and (overpriced) electronics and gadgets for your car.
Look out for:
Loves
Flying J
Pilot
TA
My husband, the truck driver, says this is the definitive list.
Food
Food brings people together! Take the time to make the food stops worth it.
I recommend looking for a place that has been featured on Diners Drive ins and Dives.
If you don’t want to sit down, I love finding local chains:
- White Castle
- St. Louis Bread Company
- In and Out
- Jack in the Box
- Culvers
- Biscuitville
- CookOut
- Whataburger
- Shake Shack
- Bojangles
- Raisin Cane’s
- Sheetz
The best thing about stopping at one of these places is the hype. You have been told that you must eat at one of these places. People talk about it, its cravable.
On our last trip we tried out Raisin Cane’s and it was such a great experience. We do not have one close to our house and I had never tried it. It was one of our favorite parts of our last road trip.
Entertainment
Serious road trippers go slow. If you have the luxury of time (probably the most luxurious of luxuries) stop just to see and hear things.
The best place that I have found to discover these stops is the roadtripper website. Here you can enter your route and they will show you interesting things along your route. Most of the travelers I have talked to like to use this for planning, but not real time navigation.
Its a great discovery tool.
Lodging
Taking the time to stop overnight can change the whole trip. It is a gift to yourself and your family to take a break and rest.
If you are concerned about budget you can sleep in your car, but try to make it a comfortable place to be.
I always regret skimping on bedding when I pack, so don’t try to save space by leaving pillows and blankets at home.
I also love packing a few gadgets. I linked my favorites on Amazon. I am a gear girl and my van is stocked at all times. I keep a lot of stuff like a car air mattress, a car vacuum (I actually carry this one in the car, and this one in the baby bag), a car food warmer (I tell everyone about this thing), and this car air purifier is on my Christmas list.
If you had to pick just one thing, I say go for the Hot Logic, I use mine all the time. My husband has been using it every day for 3 years! I have a great list of meal ideas that we love on the blog.
If you are on a very tight budget or the stay was not originally planned, use HipCamp. It is seriously my secret weapon. It is like AirBnB before it got expensive. You can have a really fun night in a unique space for $25.
Also a great option for larger groups where you would need two rooms in a hotel.
Stopping at a hotel can be a really nice treat for your family as well, plan it in the budget, it will be stress reducing and memorable. Choose one with a pool or extended stay options and you will likely find they are very family friendly.
How often do you need to stop to go to the bathroom on a road trip?
Stopping every 2 hours should give everyone adequate opportunities to go to the bathroom. Bathroom habits change as we age. Here is a handy chart to give you some rough ideas:
| Age | Toddler | 4-6 | 7-13 | Teen | Adult | Mature Adult |
| Pees a day | 4-8 | 4-8 | 5-7 | 6-10 | 6-10 | 7-10+ (1-2 overnight) |
| Every? | 2 Hours | 2 Hours | 2 Hours | 1.5-2 Hours | 1.5-2 Hours | 1.5-2 Hours |
That is right y’all. I made a chart about pee. I just want you to have a good trip, I just want you to stop every 2 hours so that everyone is happy and pee free.
You can use Google Maps to find rest stops, but be sure to use my system to make sure you are stopping at a good one.
Should I split up my road trip over multiple days?
Splitting your road trip over 2 or more driving days will be less stressful and even safer than pushing through more than 8 hours of driving in one day.
When you are planning your road trip, I suggest planning in legs, or driving blocks. This will make it easier to see how many nights of lodging you need to plan.
Consider how many miles you want to drive in one day, there are safety and practical concerns you can read more about here. Once you have decided your max driving distance in a day, use Roadtrippers or Google Maps to split up the trip into legs.
Use a printable planning guide to help you stay organized.
You can use my free printable budget worksheet to make sure you have plenty of money saved to create the best trip possible for your family.
Should I get a hotel on my road trip?
While budget should be considered, getting lodging overnight on a road trip is a good idea in most cases. As a general rule the driver will sleep better in a bed. While cat naps in the car can make the driver feel more rested, restorative sleep is much more likely in a bed.
If your trip involves more than 3 days of drive time, you should undoubtedly stop and find lodging while on the road. Two nights in the car is sure to leave drivers fatigued and at higher risk of an accident.
If you are traveling with your family, you can check out my guide to help you decide if you should camp or hotel. I give some really ninja tips in that post for finding family friendly, budget friendly overnight lodging.
How to Plan a Multi-day Road Trip
Planning a trip with multiple stops across multiple days can be really intimidating. I know as the mom and primary vacation planner, I like having an organized plan.
Short Stops on a Road Trip
When stopping overnight is just not in the budget, take short stops and make them restful.
Instead of driving thru, stop and eat. A picnic will make the trip more restful and give everyone a chance to stretch and change positions.
Stop at a roadside attraction. World’s largest ball of string or fireworks from South of the Border will be memorable stops and great photo opportunities. Do it for the gram!
Why I think you should stop.
I hope I have convinced you to slow down and stop more on your next trip.
We spent our childhood driving 600 miles twice a year along the East Coast of America.
We never stopped.
Well, we stopped once, 300 miles in, to use the bathroom and get some fries at Burger King.
I have driven through New York over 40 times in my life and I have still never seen the Statue of LIberty.
I want you to see the country. Take the time to slow down and see the stuff.
If you do, let me know!
