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Best Trip Planner?

samuraitowd
Explorer
Explorer
I have been researching trip planners. There are several IOS apps, the Good Sam planner (lapsed member so cannot check it), google trips, RV Trip Wizard, etc that I've looked at and none seem to provide this basic feature:

If I plan to travel between Point A and Point B but will stop for lunch for 1.5 hours in between, how do I plug in that layover to plan my arrival time at Point B?

I have not seen that offered in any of the above apps. For instance, I looked at the RV trip Wizard Demo Stop Details screen and it only gives you the option to stop in days.

Other apps also only calculate driving time but not total travel time.

What trip planner allows you to plan real travel time? Am I missing something?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rick n Andi

Rexhall American Clipper 29': 2005
Suzuki Samurai; 1994
Jeep Wrangler 2005
28 REPLIES 28

mittshel
Explorer
Explorer
Fizz, Been there done that. Betsy.
Betsy

cross21114
Explorer
Explorer
I used to use Mappoint (same as Streets) but it's on an old Windows 7 computer which I don't like to carry with me. It was a great program and I am also disappointed Microsoft discontinued it. I have Garmin Mapsource (ok but doesn't work well on Windows 10). I agree BaseCamp is terrible. Probably good if you're a real nerd.
I've been using Windows Maps which is an OK program with an aerial view option that only works when on line. The road view works off line if you download the maps on your hard drive. The biggest fault with this is you can't save a route. You can save favorite locations but for some reason I can't save a route. Unless I can't figure it out (a real possibility), this is a major flaw.
Chris
2018 Nexus Ghost 36DS
360 Cummins, 3000 Allison
2016 Ford Expedition

one_strange_tex
Explorer
Explorer
pcarlin wrote:
I'm looking for a trip planner that will advise me roads to avoid with a 34 ft travel trailer. I subscribed to CoPilot because it had the best reviews by truckers, input all my vehicle information, put in a destination and it promptly gave me the same route as google maps that almost caused my husband to sell the trailer last year! We came around a tight corner with a cliff on our side and a drop off on the opposite side. We met a semi coming from the opposite direction and we could not both navigate the corner at the same time. Fortunately, the semi was able to eek forward off the road just enough that he was able to get by but with only about 4 inches (literally) to spare before his trailer would have taken out the front corner of our pickup. Neither of us couldn't back up due to the line of cars behind us.

So obviously, I'm either not using CoPilot properly or it's not very good. Do any of the planners in this thread advise to avoid such roads?

I should clarify that we don't have a Garmin or other GPS. Just ipad or phones. Not opposed to Garmin or other GPS...just don't have one yet


You know your situation better than I. If you do plan to upgrade to a GPS from phones or tablets, you may want to get a Garmin RV 770 or similar device. As I said on a post above, you put the dimensions of your trailer or RV in it and it tries to keep you off roads you shouldn't be on and out from under low clearances you shouldn't try. The BaseCamp software also allows you to put in dimensions for the same purpose.

Whether Garmin RV GPS's are fool-proof, I cannot say with certainty. It has certainly not misled me yet on highway & road choices and has routed me successfully around low clearances.

Be sure and and get a Garmin device with the "RV" in the model designation to get the features I am talking about. In addition, you can get an LMT version which includes lifetime map upgrades in the price. They issue map upgrades about 2x a year.

Keep in mind that the BaseCamp software can be downloaded free once you purchase the Garmin.

Maybe someone familiar with CoPilot can help you troubleshoot what caused your wrong road experience. I cannot.
one_strange_texan
Currently between RV's
Former 5th wheel owner (Montana 3402RL)

pcarlin
Explorer
Explorer
I'm looking for a trip planner that will advise me roads to avoid with a 34 ft travel trailer. I subscribed to CoPilot because it had the best reviews by truckers, input all my vehicle information, put in a destination and it promptly gave me the same route as google maps that almost caused my husband to sell the trailer last year! We came around a tight corner with a cliff on our side and a drop off on the opposite side. We met a semi coming from the opposite direction and we could not both navigate the corner at the same time. Fortunately, the semi was able to eek forward off the road just enough that he was able to get by but with only about 4 inches (literally) to spare before his trailer would have taken out the front corner of our pickup. Neither of us couldn't back up due to the line of cars behind us.

So obviously, I'm either not using CoPilot properly or it's not very good. Do any of the planners in this thread advise to avoid such roads?

I should clarify that we don't have a Garmin or other GPS. Just ipad or phones. Not opposed to Garmin or other GPS...just don't have one yet

cliffy49
Explorer II
Explorer II
one_strange_texan wrote:
OK, I will add my vote. It is a repeat of information I have shared on other posts.

I use BaseCamp coupled with my Garmin. Both have the dimensions of my trailer as well as my predicted speed on various roads to route me around roads I probably shouldn't take and low clearances. You can plan a whole trip, with stops and it and the Garmin will pretty accurately predict driving times, unless you hit a bad traffic snarl, though Garmin can route you around those.

I see some of the frequent criticisms of BaseCamp. It does have a learning curve. However, I like the idea of planning my exact route and loading it directly into my GPS. I use it along with some other tools and import POIโ€™s and travel advisor information from other applications to locate campgrounds and fuel stops. I often export the individual stops to Google Earth to look an overhead view & street level view to assess getting in and out. I can also export the entire route and stops and text them to my wife so she can open them and follow along on her iPad to aid me while Iโ€™m driving. I use inRoute on the iPads, which can also give you the overhead satellite views.

My experience in the computer world is that seeking the one application that can โ€œdo it allโ€ is not practical. My method may sound like a lot of work, but I feel it is less work and less stressful that handling it โ€œon the flyโ€ while in route. I find even with a lot of planning, you often have to improvise due to unforeseen circumstances, such as a truck stop that has gone out of business since the POI list was developed or the satellite picture was taken.

One of my main sources of POIโ€™s is the internet site โ€œPOI Factory.โ€ It is free to join and, like I said, you can download various POI files you can then import into BaseCamp. BaseCamp has its own POI file, but it has gaps. It is pretty good on interstate rest stops.


While Base Camp may well be a very good trip planner, the only problem there may be is the fact that if one has a Rand-McNally GPS,you may not be able to load the trip into it.

For our 3 month trip out west last year, I used a combination of RV Parky and R-M tripmaker. May have been a little more labor intensive but it was something I actually enjoyed doing. The hardest part of the whole thing was finding a point that was within the mileage window I wanted to drive each day. Just took a little more time but I was quite happy with the results. I used RVParky to map the trip and find campgrounds or overnights and then just transferred the data to the Rand-McNally RVND7 Only issue I had was when I put in the mailing address instead of the physical address of the campground. Other than that, I had no problems.
cliffy49
2016 F150 Ecoboost & max tow (Gone)
2021 Silverado Custom 2500HD
2018 Catalina TH26 Toy hauler

one_strange_tex
Explorer
Explorer
Alan_Hepburn wrote:
Question on Base Camp: will it run on a linux laptop, or is it a Windows-only program? I currently have to keep a Windows partition available so I can run the venerable Streets & Trips, but if I can find an off-line program that will run in linux I would be happy! So far, I've been unable to find a way to run S&T in linux...


I have no personal knowledge, but I note the Garmin BaseCamp site only mentions Windows and Mac. I run BaseCamp on a Windows laptop.
one_strange_texan
Currently between RV's
Former 5th wheel owner (Montana 3402RL)

Alan_Hepburn
Explorer
Explorer
Question on Base Camp: will it run on a linux laptop, or is it a Windows-only program? I currently have to keep a Windows partition available so I can run the venerable Streets & Trips, but if I can find an off-line program that will run in linux I would be happy! So far, I've been unable to find a way to run S&T in linux...
----------------------------------------------
Alan & Sandy Hepburn driving a 2007 Fleetwood Bounder 35E on a Workhorse chassis - Proud to be a Blue Star Family!
Good Sam Member #566004

one_strange_tex
Explorer
Explorer
OK, I will add my vote. It is a repeat of information I have shared on other posts.

I use BaseCamp coupled with my Garmin. Both have the dimensions of my trailer as well as my predicted speed on various roads to route me around roads I probably shouldn't take and low clearances. You can plan a whole trip, with stops and it and the Garmin will pretty accurately predict driving times, unless you hit a bad traffic snarl, though Garmin can route you around those.

I see some of the frequent criticisms of BaseCamp. It does have a learning curve. However, I like the idea of planning my exact route and loading it directly into my GPS. I use it along with some other tools and import POIโ€™s and travel advisor information from other applications to locate campgrounds and fuel stops. I often export the individual stops to Google Earth to look an overhead view & street level view to assess getting in and out. I can also export the entire route and stops and text them to my wife so she can open them and follow along on her iPad to aid me while Iโ€™m driving. I use inRoute on the iPads, which can also give you the overhead satellite views.

My experience in the computer world is that seeking the one application that can โ€œdo it allโ€ is not practical. My method may sound like a lot of work, but I feel it is less work and less stressful that handling it โ€œon the flyโ€ while in route. I find even with a lot of planning, you often have to improvise due to unforeseen circumstances, such as a truck stop that has gone out of business since the POI list was developed or the satellite picture was taken.

One of my main sources of POIโ€™s is the internet site โ€œPOI Factory.โ€ It is free to join and, like I said, you can download various POI files you can then import into BaseCamp. BaseCamp has its own POI file, but it has gaps. It is pretty good on interstate rest stops.
one_strange_texan
Currently between RV's
Former 5th wheel owner (Montana 3402RL)

Gulfcoast
Explorer
Explorer
My best trip planner is on the Passport America website.... it will show you all the 50% off campgrounds on your route too.

A membership is only $44 a year, but you can save that much in a couple nights of use.


Passport America
RV'ing since 1960
Dodge Cummins Diesel
Mega Cab
Jayco Travel Trailer

Fizz
Explorer
Explorer
Anybody else remember AAA Trip Tic and their Motel & Campground books.
That's how we started out. We would stop at every welcome center and pick up a road map for that state to replace the old ones.

Today that sounds like the old day of treking west in a covered wagon.

Supercharged
Explorer
Explorer
samuraitowd wrote:
I have been researching trip planners. There are several IOS apps, the Good Sam planner (lapsed member so cannot check it), google trips, RV Trip Wizard, etc that I've looked at and none seem to provide this basic feature:

If I plan to travel between Point A and Point B but will stop for lunch for 1.5 hours in between, how do I plug in that layover to plan my arrival time at Point B?

I have not seen that offered in any of the above apps. For instance, I looked at the RV trip Wizard Demo Stop Details screen and it only gives you the option to stop in days.

Other apps also only calculate driving time but not total travel time.

What trip planner allows you to plan real travel time? Am I missing something?

Buy good bottle of wiskey drink it down, take a pen and go to work for 10 mins. It will look like a great trip when your done.
So big a world, so little time to see.

garyp4951
Explorer III
Explorer III
I use Rand McNally trip planner, and my wife keeps google maps, and wayze going on her ipad.

Lauren
Explorer
Explorer
Boy, have not crossed paths with Renee in a long time - good to see you on here.

I do it much the same - go to Google maps and, if needed / wanted, on here to ask questions.

This has worked well for me for many years (in our 21st year part time rv'ing)

Lauren
Barbara-DW 55 years
Sadie-"Aussie" Terrier
06 Mobile Suites 32TK3
06 Chev 3500 4x4 Dmax
20 yrs PT RVing - 190 RV parks; some many times


RPOD
Explorer
Explorer
I've heard good things about Road Trip Planner for the iPhone. There's one for the Mac as well.