Travel route plan. How to plan a travel route. Chat with locals
Due to the devaluation of the ruble and the virtual closure of transit through Ukraine, difficult times have come for Russian motor tourists. However, there will always be people who are not afraid of these (hopefully transitory) difficulties; This post is for them - here we will focus on a more fundamental problem: adequate trip planning, in particular route selection. The universal availability of navigators and online tools from the route planners category creates a harmful illusion of ease of solving this problem, which is often dispelled in real life in the form of lost time, money and nerves during a precious vacation.
So, the window to Europe (with the exception of Scandinavia and the Baltic states) for the Russians has narrowed to four narrow loopholes on the Belarusian-Polish border, represented by the international border crossing points (IBP) Bruzgi, Berestovitsa, Warsaw Bridge and Domachevo. Does the almighty Google know about them? In general, Google Maps is another ugly product from Evil Corporations. Its creators neglected all the principles of cartographic science: maps are poorly readable, generalization is inadequate, the main thing is indistinguishable from the secondary, there is no hierarchy of objects (including the road network). Maybe it can at least pave the way? I remember that just a couple of years ago Google routed all routes from Russia to Europe exclusively through Brest. Now he copes better with crossing the border, but has gone to the other extreme.
For clarity, let’s take the situation to the point of absurdity by defining a trip from the Belarusian city of Lida to the Polish Olsztyn. And this is what the vaunted Internet giant came up with:
Rice. 1. A typical incident with online road route planners.
We are invited to cross the border through the Sofiyevo-Lipshchany checkpoint, which was closed 20 years ago. I believe that after such an embarrassment, every self-respecting navigator should stop collaborating with Google Maps due to loss of trust. However, let’s check how Google’s commercial competitors cope with this quest: theaa.com, Bing, TomTom, ViaMichelin, and Nokia’s here.com. Let's face it: they're doing a bad job. The first one repeated Google’s mistake, the last one did not know the city of Lida, and the rest had a vague idea of the road network of the CIS countries and only for this reason they were not mistaken. The only one who was able to take into account the nuances of crossing borders is Yandex maps, but I will refrain from recommending them: the product is clearly unfinished (does not allow you to enter intermediate points, does not provide alternative routes, poorly details the stages, etc.), and the cartographic basis is ugly.
This is such nonsense, kids: the tools on the Internet are worthless. To use an analogy, would you keep a hammer with a loose head in your kit? The result is a little predictable: sooner or later, you will break off your fingers.
Is this really a failure, thought Stirlitz, but he decided to change the platform. There is an excellent open source project - OSM(OpenStreetMap.org), and various (paid and free) search engines are built on it. With the first click, googling the subject yielded the desired result: the site http://openrouteservice.org/?lang=en lays out routes better than anyone else. There is even an interface in Russian and a very interesting and useful Avoid Areas feature: you can outline the territory that is better to avoid - large agglomerations, war zones, hostile states (as part of our test, I sent the whole of Ukraine there), and the engine will exclude it from consideration. The new service did an excellent job in our test, not only drawing a path through the existing Bruzgi crossing, but also finding the recently built ring road around Grodno.
It is with this engine - OpenRouteService- we will use it in further research (attention: this is not a panacea, but only one of the tools, not without its shortcomings). Let's practice and create a virtual route from Default City to, say, the Montenegrin resort of Budva.
First of all, you should break the journey into stages. Do not overestimate your strength: if there is only one driver in the car, he cannot drive for more than 10 hours without risk and harm to health. This means that the daily journey should not exceed 800 km when driving on highways and 400 km on ordinary roads. Under this regime, the first overnight stay will inevitably end up in Belarus, which in principle should be avoided: there are few hotels, they are unreasonably expensive, and having dinner is a problem. However, there is no escape: booking a motel on the Polish side is risky due to unpredictable delay times when crossing the border. By the way, God forbid you get to the checkpoint from Friday afternoon to Saturday morning, because at this time thousands of Belarusians go shopping to Poland, and you are guaranteed to stand in line for many hours. Thus, it would be best to leave Moscow in the afternoon (not on Thursday!), spend the night in the Smolensk region, drive through Belarus without stopping in 7-8 hours the next morning, cross the border and complete the stage in Poland.
Unlike Google and others like it, the smart engine did not even try to capture part of Ukraine along the Moscow-Budva route without clarification. (And I would gloat over those who, trusting Google or Yandex, would go to test the Kovel-Lviv section). It is proposed to cross Poland along the shortest route: along rural roads, from Domachevo to the exit to Kosice. From extensive personal experience, we will define this option as an amateur: in Poland and Slovakia, you will have to find yourself on bad sections of roads, wade through an endless series of towns and villages, drive in a ragged rhythm due to the striped speed limits, sometimes drag for a long time behind tractors and other slow-moving creatures. In a tiring day, you will cover a maximum of 400 km at an average speed of 51 km/h and will not advance further than the middle of Slovakia. Moreover, in Hungary you will have to buy a vignette to compensate for the delay in driving on highways. This route is shown on the map on the left (let's call it route A).
Rice. 2. The optimal way to transit through Poland is by personal car
a) on the way to Romania and Bulgaria; b) on the way to other countries of Southern Europe.
In general, transit in Poland is akin to art. True mastery comes only with time, and no electronic assistant can replace it. It’s better to talk about this rich topic separately, but for beginners I can give two pieces of advice: 1) be sure to get a paper road map of Poland; and 2) try to reach highways as quickly as possible, bypassing major cities if possible. Implementing the second principle in our test case leads to the option shown in the map on the right ( route B): we get to the Warsaw-Katowice highway closest to the eastern border and rush along it to the south. An important nuance is to enter the highway not in the Warsaw area (you will spend two hours crossing the metropolitan agglomeration), but to the south - in the outskirts of the city Tomaszow Mazowiecki. Do you see how radically different are the routes laid automatically (even with the best tool) and those laid by a person based on practice and experience?
Route B is optimal not only for the Montenegrin direction, but also for all other countries south of the Czech Republic and Slovakia (with the possible exception of Romania and Bulgaria - for these directions, unfortunately, there is no alternative to route A). Having followed route B to Katowice, for further travel to Budva you will have to choose between a longer and more expensive (but fast and relaxed) route along the highways through Ostrava and further through the Czech Republic - Austria - Croatia, and a shorter and cheaper one - through Tychy-Cieszyn and further across the Czech Republic - Slovakia - Hungary - Serbia. Transit of Hungary and Serbia are two separate complex topics (to which I may return later), but there you can simplify the task by using toll roads that go almost from the border itself.
Create a route. How to get from and to. Calculation of distances between cities by car, car. Get directions on the map from and to between cities. Create a route by car using points on the map from several points. Fuel calculator. Calculation of the route on foot or by bicycle.
Create a route by car using points and print it out. The online navigator will help you create a route, calculate the walking distance on the map, plot the route from and to, you will find out how much walking you need to walk from point A to point B or calculate the distance of the route from point A to point B, you can also plot the route through one additional point , through which your route may possibly pass. You will be able to map the route, calculate the distance and time and see the data of this route directly on the map, it will also show you the weather at the place of arrival, the fuel calculator will calculate gasoline consumption per 100 km. After clicking on the "Calculate" button, a description of the route will appear on the right, essentially a text navigator: if you selected an additional route point, the navigator will divide its sections and calculate the distance in each section, and also calculate the total distance (kilometers) from the point of departure to the point destination will also display travel time. The online navigator will show you how to get from and to by car in Moscow, St. Petersburg, St. Petersburg, Vladivostok, Ufa, Chelyabinsk, Kazan, Novosibirsk, Nizhny Novgorod, Omsk, Yekaterinburg, Perm from point A to point B. You can create a route several types, depending on the method of transportation, for example, on foot, by car, by transport (bus, train, metro), by bicycle (this method does not work well in Russia due to the lack of bicycle paths). To do this, you need to select a method from the drop-down list and you can easily get directions and find out how to get to your destination. Here you can find out how to get there by car, get directions and calculate the distance
How to get directions by car to Moscow, St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Kazan, Chelyabinsk, Omsk, Samara, Rostov-on-Don, Ufa, Krasnoyarsk, Perm, Voronezh, Volgograd, Saratov, Krasnodar, Tolyatti, Tyumen, Izhevsk, Barnaul, Irkutsk, Ulyanovsk, Khabarovsk, Vladivostok, Yaroslavl, Makhachkala, Tomsk, Orenburg, Novokuznetsk, Kemerovo, Astrakhan, Ryazan, Naberezhnye Chelny, Penza, Lipetsk, Kirov, Tula, Cheboksary, Kaliningrad, Kursk, Ulan-Ude , Stavropol, Magnitogorsk, Sochi, Belgorod, Nizhny Tagil, Vladimir, Arkhangelsk, Kaluga, Surgut, Chita, Grozny, Sterlitamak, Kostroma, Petrozavodsk, Nizhnevartovsk, Yoshkar-Ola, Novorossiysk
How to choose a travel route? Go to one place and stand there? Or move from place to place? What to see? How not to overdose on impressions? Of course, it all depends on where exactly you are going. And each trip has its own goals and objectives, there are priorities.
If you are traveling with a small child to a beautiful place where it is already good, then it is better to sit in one place and enjoy the peace. You can go somewhere 1-2 times during your entire vacation, but not a bus tour with a crowd of people. It’s better to go on your own. With family or with friends.
For kids, fewer excursion sites and more walks are better. Therefore, do not adapt to others, it is better to adapt to your child.
It's good if you can rent a car. If this is not possible, then you can take a ride on local transport. But here you need to carefully think about where exactly to go, how long the journey will take and how you can get back - by what and at what time.
If everything is completely inconvenient, then maybe it’s better not to go?
If you are traveling with children aged 4-5 years and older, then you can already think about a more interesting route. For example, you come to one city (town), live there for a week or two, then go to another and live there for a week or two.
You can even do it by day: 3-4 days in one place, then 5-6 days in another. But you definitely need to live longer in one place in order to take a break from the previous trip and want to go to the next one.
When choosing a route, planning a trip, of course, it is better to read a guidebook or even two or three in advance, because each guidebook has its own characteristics. One will better describe museums, and the other will better describe transport problems. You shouldn't always trust reviews on the Internet - most of them are overly emotional. If a person liked it, he will over-praise it. If he didn’t like it (even some little thing), then he will scold everything. Therefore, if you read reviews, then read different ones and calculate something in between.
Having read in advance about what you can see on the trip, you will definitely know what exactly you want to see, and what you are definitely not interested in, despite the touting heralds. And vice versa, you will not miss something very important, fundamental. For example, we almost missed the Medici Chapel in Florence. Our dad insisted that we could live without her, they say, we would rather go further to Giotto’s bell tower. And when I later read a book about Italy, I was simply horrified that we could easily pass by...
Some people read travel guides all year long so they can make all their dreams come true in the summer. Usually men do this. It is difficult for women to make such distant and global plans. But we, mothers, should also follow the example of men and at least read on the Internet about the places where we are going to go. And it’s better to do it together - one head is good, but two are better.
Make a list of desired attractions, evaluate their remoteness and value, evaluate the capabilities of your children (children cannot walk around the city or museums for more than three hours in a row).
Plan your route of travel and travel so that you capture everything you can along the road in one direction, rather than rushing around in zigzags. That is, first of all, the route must be rational. And most importantly, plans are not dogma. You must be ready to change them, or rather, adjust them as necessary.
If we talk about trips around Russia, then everything is easier to plan, if only because it is one country, one language. And you can call both hotels and excursion sites in advance. Things are a little more complicated with trips to other countries.
If you have never been abroad anywhere before, then start not with an independent trip, but buy a ready-made trip from a travel agency. This way you can get a “taste” of a trip abroad. The main thing you will already have is tickets, visas, and a hotel. And already on the spot, you can try your hand at it by arranging a separate excursion, not planned in the tour conditions. It's actually much simpler than it might seem. Especially if you speak English. And if you don’t speak it, then urgently start learning English. It is indispensable for travel. Of course, there are countries where few people speak English, this is not very relevant. But the probability of finding an English speaker is always greater than finding a person who speaks Russian.
As an example, I’ll tell you about our trips.
For example, one of our trips around Russia (summer 2010).
At that time we lived near Krasnodar in our house. We traveled around the region very often on different trips. And then one day we came up with such a trip for ourselves: we went to two seas (Azov and Black) and not only. We thought through the route in advance, but of course, we left ourselves options for the number of days spent at each point on the route. The places were all familiar in advance; we had been there before.
We drove our own car - large, roomy and comfortable. First, to the Sea of Azov in the village of Golubitskaya for a campsite with a tent. The tent stood about 50 meters from the water's edge. We spent three days there. We shopped desperately! The children swam for several hours a day!
After that, we moved near Gelendzhik, to the forest near the village of Vozrozhdenie. There are waterfalls, dolmens and the forest is always full of positive people. The tents are sometimes in groups, sometimes scattered. Those who want can settle in solitude, like us; those who want can live on a “collective farm.” The place is unique! Festivals of positive creativity are held there every year, various interesting people from all over the country gather there: masters, psychologists and trainers, dance teachers and gardeners, in general, a lot of interesting things! You can learn everything and almost everything is free!
We stayed there for two weeks and then went to Utrish (our favorite) and stayed there for another five days. After which they returned home.
The trip turned out to be surprisingly interesting and memorable. There were also surprises (there is no trip without surprises).
The whole trip, as I already wrote, was planned in advance. We knew exactly the places we would go. We had been there more than once before.
But we also had trips where we could only imagine what we would see in reality.
For example, this was our Manta-Baños-Quito-Manta trip during our trip to Ecuador.
This was our first visit to Ecuador. We lived in Manta and never left it. But sometimes they made such “crawbar” trips. This one was the first.
Why dray? Because they “plowed through”, having only a map in their hands (there were no navigators then), knowing little about the customs of life in the country and knowing little about the language.
But a certain amount of caution and rationality - and any crazy undertaking will later be remembered as one of the most powerful impressions in life!
It was worth it that we accidentally ended up in Banos when there was a volcanic eruption there! It happens once every few years! Then the whole of Ecuador talks about it, they write about it on Wikipedia, but we accidentally came and saw it, without expecting it ourselves.
In 2012 we were only 12 days in Goa. Me, Sasha and Vasya. The first three days we just sat on the beach. Of course, we swam a lot, played in the sand, rode boards on the waves, and Sasha even rode a jet ski - not alone, but with an adult (it was the dad of one of her friends).
Then we went to the ancient city of Hampi for two days. I can write about this separately - that trip was so incredible.
After Hampi we returned, sat for a day and went to the north of Goa for a visit. From there, on the way, we stopped at an elephant farm, accidentally ended up at the Shivaratri festival, stopped at the temples of old Goa and returned, crowded and happy, to the beach, where we sat for the rest of the trip.
A little? In fact - a lot!
In the summer of that year we went to Italy. At first it was planned that we would go for a month and a half and live in a small village on the coast near Naples. At the same time, we had to go to Naples, to Pompeii, to see Vesuvius. And then continue to sit on the shore. The village has a school and summer programs. You could go there and not worry about anything.
The second version of the plans was this: to sit on the shore for two weeks and travel around the area (see above). Next, go on a voyage: Rome, Florence, Venice (2 weeks for everything). Return back exhausted and lie on the shore for the rest of the trip.
Option 3: start as in the second option, then a trip to Rome (2-3 days) and back. Rest for a week. Trip to Florence and back. Another pause and Venice. Next, immediately fly from there to Naples and transfer to a plane to Moscow.
But it was not possible to get a visa for a month and a half - there were only two weeks. And the route was planned even before departure like this: arrival in Naples, a few days on the shore, then Pompeii (on the way from the shore back to Naples), a trip to Rome, and, if possible, to Venice with a stop in passing cities. In general, this is what happened. Only it was even better - there were much more cities that we visited in a rented car than had been expected in advance.
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The main advantage of traveling by car is that you are absolutely free in your decisions: you can make a stop, admire the scenery, take a different route, or visit friends. So many possibilities! How to plan your trip to the USA so that you have time to see as much as possible and not waste time on trifles? The ZagraNitsa portal knows! Our material about this is below
Plan your route
If you don’t have any clues and don’t know where to start your journey, you can use ready-made paths. We have already written. So why not start with one of them? If you really want to pave your own path, you can use the services Route XL or RoadTrippers. It wouldn’t hurt to take a regular paper map with you so you can draw, draw and mark your favorite places on it. And at the end of the trip, you can hang this treasure on the wall as a souvenir. And the card will also be a good safety net if something happens to your gadget.
Mark “useful” places on the route
Think in advance at what points on your route you will make stops. This will save time and help you plan your trip effectively. Also pay attention to the places where you will spend the night, where you can have a snack or refuel your car. Arrange an overnight stay in advance: this will save you from unpleasant surprises and unplanned overnight stays under the starry sky. Help in finding key places will be provided by the mobile applications WorldMate (booking airline tickets and rooms in nearby hotels, searching for a car), HotelTonight (searching and booking hotel rooms), CityMaps (an interactive map with places where you can rent a hotel room, eat, relax and etc.).
We traveled more than 2000 km in 5 days. We visited three states: Arizona, Utah, Nevada. It is better to extend this route for another 3-4 days. I felt that we were in a constant race: we woke up at 7-8 o’clock in the morning, had breakfast and were already leaving at 9. Every day about 400 km on the road. Because of this, we checked into the motel after sunset. And they simply passed out from fatigue, not even having time to review what photos they had taken that day. Based on my experience, 200 km per day is the most ideal option. If you are going in a group of 4 people, you will save a lot on car rental and national park passes. And motels have standard rooms with two double beds, so pay as for a double. You can rent a car for $30-40, gasoline - less than a dollar per liter. For 5 days of travel we spent about $1000 for two.
Take care of the technical side of the issue
It would be a good idea to find out in advance where along your route there are service stations, gas stations or offices where you can rent a car (if something happens to yours on the road). And, of course, don’t forget to check the car before your trip. Apps for your smartphone can help out here. GasBuddy (will help you find fuel at low prices), (a map with places where you can get your car repaired or get technical assistance), and iExit (will tell you where the nearest gas station is) will be useful.
Photo: shutterstock 4 Don't take on too much
Once you have your list of stops and key places you want to visit, take a good look at it again. Find out where crowds of tourists may be waiting for you. You don't want to waste time in hours-long queues, do you? For convenience, you can also divide the list of places you want to visit into two parts: along the way “there” and “back”.
Photo: shutterstock 5 Make sure you have a comfortable trip
Traveling in itself is a pleasant and relaxing experience. However, do not forget that you will sometimes have to spend 5-6 hours in the car. And little joys in the form of a comfortable pillow under your head, your favorite music, a small cooler with drinks or a bag of candy will not be superfluous.
Marina Gritsenko, traveler, author of the Columbus-Chocolate project:
Over the course of 5 years of traveling around the USA, I managed to visit and get to know 10 states well. The routes were completely different, as were the trips themselves. Sometimes these were spontaneous ideas with friends: “Listen, let’s fly to Miami right now!” Sometimes trips are thought out, meaningful and planned in advance, like my West Coast road trip. I drove a car twice in the sunny state of Florida and once took a ride along the west coast of the United States. If we talk about road trips, they are very affordable and convenient. You can even rent a car for $20 a day; the cost of gasoline is not much different from its cost in Ukraine (in my opinion, even cheaper). In a week and a half of travel, I spent about 300-350 dollars, while traveling around 3 states, stopping wherever and whenever I wanted, traveling in a comfortable car... I won’t continue, I think everyone has long been familiar with the delights of traveling by car. What did I miss? ? Before the trip, I didn’t know that when crossing the California state border, the car might be stopped and asked if we were bringing fruits and vegetables into the state. Simply because, according to the law, these products cannot be imported into the state and then, accordingly, exported. They say that a real traveler is a person who does not plan his trip. I agree and disagree with this at the same time. I can’t say that spontaneous trips were brighter and cooler than those that were carefully planned. Why am I doing all this? I recommend planning! If you have 3 months to travel, of course, you can trust fate and just hit the road. But if you only have 2-3 weeks and you don’t want to miss some attraction, spend half a day trying to find the right road, or get lost and then spend a long time looking for the right path, but want to enjoy the trip and get the most out of it - for I recommend that you plan it carefully!
Prepare a realistic budget and backup plan
Realistically assess future expenses and the cost of renting a car. On average, you will have to spend about $30-80 per day on rental vehicles. And it is better to use the services of large international companies (for example, Hertz, Avis or Sixt) - this way the risks of additional problems and expenses will be significantly reduced. Be prepared to have a plan B in case of force majeure. An alternate route, money for a “rainy day” or for an emergency return home may not be needed. But it is better to avoid unwanted delays and troubles.
Photo: shutterstock 7 Chat with locals
Advice on the Internet makes life a lot easier for a novice traveler. But some things can only be learned empirically. Therefore, do not be afraid to try and deviate from your plan. Talk to the locals, find out from them where the food is tastier, where the sleep is softer and the rest is more fun. It may happen that the guidebooks missed something important, but the “natives” will tell you, show you and, who knows, maybe even treat you. The whole world knows that Americans are very sociable and friendly. It would be foolish not to take the opportunity to check it out in person.
Photo: shutterstock 8 Get some company
An equally important condition for a successful trip is company. Cheerful and positive people will make any trip an unforgettable adventure. If you have Napoleonic plans and want to visit as many interesting places as possible, you should take care of your slow or absent-minded friends. Getting delayed because someone left their charger in their motel room won't make your vacation any better.
Marta Trotsyuk, traveler, photographer:
It's always difficult to fully plan everything. There are many different factors that influence the final outcome of a trip. When I travel, I always leave some “wiggle room” and tend to think that there is no need to deprive the trip of romantic and spontaneous things. And it’s always important to remember that spending on such an adventure usually ends up being a little more than you planned. You just need to have 30% of your total budget in reserve. And there are often unplanned meetings that can radically change the route. I saw a friend, took the car and drove in the opposite direction! I usually travel about 6 months a year and I don't have a set schedule. I can be flexible in my planning. But I know that even on a two-week trip something spontaneous can happen. I usually take little clothes with me - for about a week. Then I put it in the wash and buy something new from time to time. I love shopping! I also always have a notebook, a laptop (I work remotely, so this is my office), a camera (where would a photographer be without it) and a phone. I would like to have fewer gadgets, but with my “digital” lifestyle this is unrealistic. The most important thing is not to forget about insurance (it is mandatory when traveling). And, of course, it is important to know about the behavioral culture of the country where you are going. But in the USA everything is much simpler than in Ukraine, so there shouldn’t be any problems.
Don't research your stops in advance and don't be afraid to take risks.
If you know everything in advance, what kind of adventure will it be? Therefore, when preparing your travel plan, do not get carried away with studying the details. Let the road itself lead you, and any knowledge gained, any interesting information will be a joy to you. Despite all the warnings and risks, don't be afraid to get lost. The most memorable moments and magical places are discovered after a “wrong turn”.
And most importantly, don’t forget to take photos!
Yes, the advice may seem rather banal. But sometimes there are such crazy moments and beautiful views when you fall into a stupor with delight. So keep your camera handy and don't forget to click! And then be sure to share your results with us.
So enough of the boring planning and preparations. It's time for adventure!
Photo: shutterstock