Route planner with advanced options?

[stromdriver]

Hi, was just trying to find an online route planner that for very long trips will let you plan timed stops.
ie, a cross country trip, and wanting to split trip into 2 or 3 days of driving and have it calculate the stops, or tell it to use 13 hour driving days, etc.
tried searching but couldn't find anything relevant, but its late and my search-fu may be failing me

I know I used something like that once, but not sure if it was online or a program on a computer like with old garmin gps receivers.

it isn't a critical or rush thing, was just trying to do some research for a hopefully eventual move

thanks in advance for any help/info.

[Lifemagician]

Hi, and Welcome to the The Great American RoadTrip Forum.

You need to be aware that a cross country trip is a minimum of five full day's driving - not 3. And that is on interstates, by the most direct route, without any sightseeing.

From computer programs you will not get real world times and situations. Maybe that is why you cannot find them. The reality is, that there is much more to a cross country trip, than any computer program can prepare for you. It is merely a rough (very rough) guide.

Lifey

[stromdriver]

its not completely cross country, its central ny to northern az, i'd done the round trip once way back in teh past already and 3 days is reasonable

this would be for a moving trip, not a sightseeing so was just curious about maximizing the drive efficiency

[glc]

Anything over 600 miles a day is not really reasonable, especially if you are moving - driving a truck and/or pulling a trailer.

You weren't specific, but Ithaca to Flagstaff is over 2200 miles - a 4 day drive. My mapping software (Microsoft Streets & Trips) recommends overnight stops in Dayton OH, Springfield MO, and Amarillo TX.

[Midwest Michael]

I can't think of any program that will automatically plot stops like that for you, although if I were to take a guess, the only program that I could think of that might do it would be Microsoft's streets and trips.

Having said that, with online maps its very easy to get the results you are looking for by using just a little bit of brain power. Google maps (and many of the other similar sites) will allow you to plot stops and change your route using the drag and drop feature. Just add in the number of overnight stops you are thinking, and then slide them around until you find the segments that look good to you. Just keep in mind that travel time estimates from all of the online mapping programs don't factor in any of the real world stops you'll make on a trip (for food, fuel, traffic, etc) so you'll want to add about 20% to their estimated times.