How to Find a Car Travel Route
- 1). Find a route-planner website that covers the area to be traveled. For the U.S., the RAC, Mapquest and Freetrip are suitable.
- 2). Enter the start and finish points. Some websites use place names, such as cities, and some offer ZIP codes-route planning. Confirm your selection, if necessary, by choosing the correctly located start point or destination in a site's drop-down window. For example, Lexington, Kentucky instead of Lexington, Tennessee. Addresses can be as specific as the website allows, with some directing straight to the address you are looking for, or even to a particular business on the destination street.
- 3). Enter one or more via points, or places passed through en route, if necessary. The route planner creates a course with the quickest way to get from the start point to via point to destination, without having to fill in details more than once. This feature of route-planning websites allows travelers to take in the sights or stop at a favorite restaurant along the way--without becoming lost while continuing onto their destination.
- 4). Use any advanced-search options to find the shortest route, if that's your preference. The default is usually the quickest route; for example, using a freeway may be faster than a quiet country road, despite the country road offering less distance to be traveled. For some websites, interactive maps are set as defaults, but you may choose simple maps for a less-complex view.
- 5). View a map version of your route or a step-by-step text version, if the website offers that choice. The route planner will detail every turn, intersection and road number, along with estimated travel times on each stretch of highway.
- 6). Print your route for easy reference.