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When we set out on our first American road trip 3 years ago I definitely didn’t take my role of road trip planner seriously… In fact,  didn’t plan a single thing! We just hopped in the car with a vague idea of a few things we wanted to see and figured we’d sort it out as we went.

Unfortunately that resulted in some missed opportunities. Turns out, some places have closing times and days that vary from what I’d like them to be! Some activities also required previous bookings, which can put a kink into plan. This also meant that every evening was dedicated to searching for things to do on the route the next day. Not TOO big of a deal… But it held me back from truly enjoying every minute of the experience! Since that first year we’ve set out on a few more road trips- including Route 66 last year- and I seem to become a better road trip planner each trip.

Since we started travelling 4 years ago, we’ve put about 100,000km (62,000miles) on our little Echo across 4 major road trips. This has allowed me to evolve my road trip planning game, and really figure out how to make the most of our time on the road. So I put together this guide

Now that I’m focused on planning these upcoming trips I’m noticing more people asking just how one goes about planning a road trip like this. So I’ve put together this list of steps I take while planning, so you can see exactly how to plan the ultimate American road trip of your own this summer!

6 Steps for Planning the Ultimate American Road Trip

1. Think about what you want to see… Remember, it’s about the journey, not the destination!

Do you have an end point in mind? Or a few places you want to see on the way? Maybe even a route you want to take?

First step in planning an epic American road trip is to decide on a general goal. You can pick a few things you want to see or places you want to visit and create a road trip itinerary that encompasses those stops, choose a specific area you want to explore thoroughly, or just pick a single highway and plan your stops along that line. We’ve used all of these options as guidelines. Last year we planned a trip along Route 66, the year before that we set out to tour as many decommissioned war ships as we could. This year we’re combining breweries, factory tours and US-20 to plan our American road trip.

Whatever method you choose, there will be no shortage of cool stops along the way. Keep reading to find out how I find those stops!

2. Get familiar with Roadtrippers.com

This is a cool site that lets you punch in your start and end points, any specific stops along the way, and it plots your route and shows you hundreds of cool stops. You can set your radius so that you don’t get shown stops too far off your route, and you can choose which interests you want it to show you. So say you love abandoned places and museums, but hate breweries and hiking.. You can customize your interests so that you see only the things you’re interested in!

Don’t get too invested in adding stops on Roadtrippers though.. From here we’re actually going to jump over to Google.mymaps to add our stops and plot our route. Roadtrippers is a great tool for finding cool stops and activites but it does have some limitations. The biggest one for me is that it only allows a limited number of waypoints on each trip. When I’m planning a trip I like to add any possible stops we’ll make so I find that Roadtrippers maxes out too early for me. (Full disclosure, I can’t actually remember the number it maxes out at… I think 100? The first time that happened it sent me running to find a different solution and I haven’t looked back!) You CAN sign up for Roadtrippers Plus for $30/year to get up to 150 waypoints per trip, but that’s not something I feel pulled to pay for, personally.

All that being said, if you think you’ll have less than 100 stops you can definitely continue plotting your route on Roadtrippers while following these steps to plan an epic summer road trip, but don’t say I didn’t warn ya- those stops add up quickly!

Roadtrippers does come with some cool features like calculating your total mileage and gas costs, so I do tend to plot my basic route to make use of these estimates.

3. Create a map in Google MyMaps

Google My Maps is my favourite road trip planner. I love that I can customize the icons by colour and shape so that I can see all the categories of stops in a quick glance and that I can add different layers. Food on one layer, fun on another. If you like to plan a trip by the day you can use these layers to organize each days activities, or if you’re planning a cross country American road trip like we are, you can use the layers to divide stops by state.

You can also add notes for each stop. This is where I’ll put any information about tour times, prices and date or age restrictions so that it’s accessible without more google searching when we’re on the road. Be sure to do a search on Groupon for any deals on admissions and post the link here if it’s too soon to buy! We’ve often saved money doing this, but Groupons are only valid for 80-180 days so you’ll want to be careful you don’t buy it too early.

One major drawback that MyMaps users have been complaining about for years is the inability to easily navigate your created map. You can pull up your map on your mobile device and see each stop, and even navigate from one point to another with a few extra steps, but when it comes time to simply navigate your route there’s no way to just click ‘start’ and be on your way. This is a minor inconvenience because the benefits outweigh this drawback for me, but you might feel differently.

4. Research the stops you find on Roadtrippers.com

I mentioned Roadtrippers has a couple limitations… the second big limitation I’ve found is that many of the stops it suggests are out of date, so they may no longer be operational or may have different hours and the links to the websites can be broken. Because of this I’ve learned to use Roadtrippers as a tool, but not as the complete toolbox.

Once you find stops you like on Roadtrippers you’ll want to investigate them a bit further. Here’s my process for that:

#1- Open the webpage for the business/stop from Roadtrippers listing. Make sure it actually opens! I’ve found many a broken link on here, and I often realize too late when I no longer have any idea what page I was trying to open. (Queen of opening multiple tabs at once, right here)

#2- No webpage listed on Roadtrippers? Google it!

#3- Determine operating days, hours and costs.

#4- Check Yelp &/or Tripadvisor for reviews. Often a stop that looks cool on Roadtrippers actually seems very overrated once I’ve read some reviews on TA & Yelp. I don’t usually check both sites for reviews, though. TA is my first choice. If they don’t have much information, THEN I go to Yelp. And if there still isn’t much information I either walk away because it’s probably not that cool. Though if I’m still not convinced I’ll do a Google search for reviews.

Exploring the USS Alabama in Mobile. We found it on TripAdvisor!

5. Find your foodie stops

If you’re a foodie you no doubt have your own methods for finding places to grab a bite so go on ahead and skip this step.
Or don’t and maybe you’ll learn something new!

There are 5 ways I find great places to stop for food…

Yelp

Punch in whatever town or city you’ll be in and you’ll get a listing of the top however many places to eat in the area. You can then sort by price category, style of food, area or many other filters. You’ll also be able to find reviews and photos submitted by real customers so you can get a good feel for whether you want to check it out or not. As a budget traveller I usually search these photos for a shot of the menu to get an idea of pricing.

Google ‘best (food/tacos/perogies/mexican/bar food/happy hour/etc) in _______’

Bloggers are great at writing about niche eateries, so you’ll want to see what they recommend!

TvFoodMaps.com

Fan of the Food Network? Check out this site to find the eateries featured on your favourite shows!

Groupon

There are some great deals to be found on Groupon, and they can open you up to some great dining options that you might not come across otherwise.

Roadtrippers.com

Along with finding funky attractions, Roadtrippers.com is also a great place to find places to eat. You can filter to suit your cravings, then use Yelp to vet them before adding to your map.

A tasty fried onion burger at Sid’s Diner on Route 66 in El Reno, Oklahoma

6. Line up your audio

The true basis for every great American road trip! I’m constantly getting sick of my music, so leave me a comment below with your favourite songs so I can add them to my playlist!

When I do get sick of music I’ll often switch to Audible and listen to a book for awhile. From fiction to self help, I’m a huge fan of listening to books, especially while driving.

And now you’re ready to grab some snacks and hit the road!

Any true road trip planner knows that stocking up on good snacks is imperative for an epic summer road trip. I’ve recently started the shift from a ‘chips and crackers’ lifestyle towards more of a lower carb, healthier choices menu. So snack selections have gravitated to include more cheese, nuts, fruit and granola bars than what you’ll see here! We also bring a cooler and grab ice from gas stations every day to keep our water and anything else cold.

Road trip snack hack: keep a dedicated box for snacks! Choose a box that fits nicely on your back seat and store all nibbles in this box for easy grabbing!

Now that you have all the steps for planning a road trip, I hope you can use the road trip planner to create your ultimate American road trip! Leave me a comment with your summer plans, and let me know if you’ll use any of these steps during your planning!

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