Route Planning can be a daunting endeavor or half the fun of the trip. These 5 route planning apps are essential to getting on the road.

This post may contain affiliate links, which means I’ll receive a commission if you purchase through my link, at no extra cost to you.

Even if you’re doing an historic road trip like RT 66, you’re still doing it in the 21st Century. So, you’re going to want some tried and true route planning apps. These are five that we find essential for actual planning. I’ve added two bonus ones that are helpful for budgeting while on the road.

• Google Maps
• Roadtrippers
• Harvest Hosts
• Allstays and Campendium
• Bonus: GasBuddy and Tollsmart

First, check out The Big Rocks of Route Planning for tips on figuring out where to go. Read on for figuring out how to get there!

Google Maps

This may seem unnecessary to point out in this day and age. But, Google Maps is our go to route planning app for navigation in the US. It allows us to plot multiple points of interest or destinations and shuffle them around as needed. We can add in additional stops to see how much time it would add to our route. We can also save routes for future reference.

Google Maps can be downloaded for offline usage. Depending on your preference, you can look at a map image or the turn-by-turn directions. You can even print out hard copies with or without map images.

The real time traffic is extremely helpful–even if it means that it said it was an hour drive when you left but several accidents happened while you were on the road. At least you’ll know why your one-hour drive turned into three! (And if you’re sitting in traffic you can see the end in sight, even if it’s not “in sight”.)

Also, if the road is “red” around the bend you know to slow down and won’t have to come to an unexpected screeching halt. Extremely helpful when driving a mobile earthquake (aka your RV).

Beware: when driving an RV, there’s “google time” and real time. RV times can add about 20%.

Check out 5 Disaster-Preventing Road Trip Essentials for some important gear for the road

Shabbos Tip:

Since Google Maps has an option to use “walking directions”, I usually print out a few copies ahead of time. I include the written directions as well as map images. This way, we have them and can take them with us when we are in an unfamiliar city. If there isn’t an eruv, we can still reference them before heading out the door. I also like to drive the route ahead of time and take note of any landmarks to reference when walking.

I make sure to do this before leaving home, since I don’t know if/when I’ll have access to a printer. The printouts go in my Trip Notebook (more on this in a future post), so I have them when we need them. Google Maps doesn’t always give the shortest walking directions since it won’t include the “heimishe shortcuts” (ever been to Monsey?). But it will get you to shul or a seuda without having to walk on the highway.

Roadtrippers

I’ve written about Roadtrippers before and it’s a great tool for both ahead of time planning as well as while on the go. It’s a route planning app that can also be accessed from your computer for planning ahead. It allows you to plot stops or points of interest along your route and will automatically put them in the order that is the fastest between your starting point and your ultimate destination. So, if you’re going from Los Angeles to Boston and want to stop in Memphis, Baltimore, and Dallas it doesn’t matter what order you enter those three intervening cities; the default will be Dallas -> Memphis ->Baltimore. Of course, you can change it around if you want.

This routing may be obvious, but if your points of interest are much closer together, you may not figure it out. Also helpful when you randomly add places you want to go. The main feature for which we use Roadtrippers, is for finding things to fill in our route. Once you input your waypoints (let’s say Los Angeles -> Dallas ->Memphis ->Baltimore ->Boston), it’ll give you suggestions for things to do along the way. You can filter based on distance from the route and several categories of interest (anything from attractions, accommodations, outdoors, nightlife, food, shopping, automotive services, etc.). Once you pick what you want, it will add it to your route with turn by turn navigation.

We’ve found some pretty quirky stops through Roadtrippers: World’s Largest Czech Egg in Kansas and the Official Center of the World in California to name a couple. We’ve also used it to find nice parks to stop for lunch and let the kids run around to break up a long drive.

Roadtrippers has several membership options. The free option allows you to add up to 5 waypoints between your start and endpoints, whereas Roadtrippers Plus allows up to 150! You’d be surprised how helpful that is when planning a road trip. Roadtrippers Plus also has live traffic, offline maps, allows collaborative planning (if you share that responsibility), amongst other features. Click here for $5 off Roadtrippers Plus membership when you use promo code BTR5QTP.

Roadtrippers has just added a new premium membership for RVers called Roadpass Pro, which includes everything in Roadtrippers Plus and so much more. It includes GPS customized to your RV, which is of particular importance in the Northeast with many areas of low clearance. It also includes RV maintenance videos, guides, reminders, and discounts as well as full access to many premium RV memberships such as Campendium (see below), OvernightRVParking.com, RVillage Gold membership, lifetime discount on Harvest Hosts membership (see below), customizable checklists, discounts, and more.

In full disclosure, we have not joined Roadpass Pro yet, as it’s new. But we have used many of the included features through other platforms. I am excited to try it and write a full review in the future. I will link to it here at that time.

Harvest Hosts

We joined Harvest Hosts last year and absolutely LOVE it! While its intended use is for people with self-contained RVs to find places to stay, it serves a purpose for non-RVers too. Since the focus of our search for places to stay is those in which our children will learn/experience something unique, I could see that non-RVers could benefit from this as well. We’ve even found certain attractions through Harvest Hosts  that we just stopped at for the afternoon ourselves.

Harvest Hosts has a network of vineyards, museums, farms, golf courses, distilleries/breweries, and other attractions that allow self-contained RVs to stay the night for free. In exchange, the Harvest Hosts Code of Conduct expects that you will “participate” in some way (i.e. spend at least $20 on the products/services/experiences).

When planning, I put our route into Harvest Hosts search and filter for distance/type/etc. and get a list of hosts. If I am looking for a place to stay, I can look at the ones in the general vicinity of how far we want to make it that night. Then, I look at the options and see if there’s a place that would be beneficial for our kids as opposed to just a place to stay (although that’s nice sometimes too). I also look at the descriptions, reviews, and pictures.

Even though I can book directly through the app, I contact the host to get a feel for things. I found a lotion place once, but they said they aren’t set up for classes or demonstrations just sales. A hand-hewn log cabin place had never done tours before, but was glad to accommodate. There was a forger I contacted and was excited to do a knife making workshop, but it was too far out of the way and there was nothing nearby for the younger kids to do.

We’ve done beekeeping, bison feeding, olive oil bottling, learned about police dog training, gin distilling, desert irrigation, lavender farming, alpacas, soap making, oil refining, potatoes, and so much more!

Amazing Lasting Family Memories Game

The annual membership fee is about the equivalent of 1-2 nights in an RV park. But it more than pays for itself with the free places to stay and the other options. Even if you’re not RVing and will still need to pay for accommodations elsewhere, there are so many options you’ll come across through Harvest Hosts that you wouldn’t find elsewhere. Click here to save 15% off Harvest Hosts membership.

Kosher Tip:

While you may not want to stay at a vineyard or restaurant, you’ll be surprised what other locations are open to you. It’s worth clarifying your kashrus standards for yourself ahead of time as there are many products that may not require certification. Fresh produce and chicken eggs is an option to purchase at most farm stays. And many locations have other merchandise available. There are some hosts that even prepare dinner for their guests, so be sure to communicate ahead of time that you won’t be joining. Most hosts are happy to learn and accommodate when possible. They’ve had minimal exposure to kosher keeping Jews and think it has to do with being “blessed by the rabbi”. Above all, be sure to make a Kiddush HaShem!

Allstays and Campendium

Allstays and Campendium are great route planning apps when you need a place to stay. These apps have a wide variety of accommodations. They also include many other services and information that would be beneficial to RVers (propane fill, dump stations, maintenance, truck stops, etc.). As far as places to stay, you can search anything from BLM land (Bureau of Land Management) and Walmart parking lots to ritzy private RV parks and anything in between.

They have reviews, photos, contact information, and you can connect directly to your navigation app. I don’t really favor one over the other and usually toggle between the two.

We use them for planning on the go and don’t usually use either for any advance planning. If we need a place to stay tonight (or maybe tomorrow night), these are our go to. When we want to ensure reservations at a specific destination (ex: Yellowstone in July), then I use one of these route planning apps ahead of time–especially if I didn’t find anything on Harvest Hosts.

GasBuddy and Tollsmart

These are not route planning apps per se. However, while on the road, we use them to save money.

GasBuddy helps us find the best priced gas. With an 80 gallon tank, a 10-cent variation adds up over multiple fills. But, sometimes the fluctuation can be as much as $1.50 or more (and this was true even years ago). We once saw that if we continued along our route, only 3 minutes past the gas station we had planned to stop at, we would save $1.73 per gallon! We thought it was too good to be true. But, we figured we had nothing to loose and over $100 to gain. It was true. It was a gas station on an Indian Reservation.

Another tip: If you’re going to be crossing a state line, check if it’s cheaper to fill-up before or after, as state gas taxes can vary greatly. We live in California, so we know that we should only fill up enough to get to Arizona/Nevada.

GasBuddy also has a gas card that can save you up to 25-cents per gallon. We haven’t tried it yet. Maybe soon.

Being from California, we aren’t accustomed to paying tolls. However, especially in the northeast, we know to expect them. So, Tollsmart helps us know ahead of time what we’ll pay. It also gives us less expensive (although usually more roundabout) options. Premium features include toll tracking and setting your vehicle (axels, commercial status, etc.) amongst others.

If I put in my address in CA and my sister-in-law’s in NY, it calculated $119.22 in tolls. But, it tells me that I could unlock an alternate route to save $61.50 if I drive an extra…2 minutes!

With these five route planning apps you’ll be on the road in no time and have flexibility to plan as you go as well.

Share your route with me. I’d love to hear where you’re headed!

Check out these great offers for wherever your travels take you:

Anything you need for your journey on Amazon.

Join Fare Drop to access personalized airfare deals and say goodbye to paying full price for flights.

Get great custom travel accessories at Etsy.

Explore flight options on Kayak.

Book activities and sightseeing excursions with Viator and Get Your Guide.

Want to ship your luggage? Get a 5% discount when booking with Luggage Forward.

Use promo code BTR5QTP to get $5 off when you join Roadtrippers Plus to find off-the-beaten-path destinations.

Save up to 25% on your travel costs by booking an RV through RVshare.

Save 15% when you join Harvest Hosts to find great experiences and places to stay.