Planning a road trip should be fun, not frustrating—and that’s where Roadtrippers comes in. Whether you’re heading out for a weekend getaway or a cross-country adventure, the Roadtrippers app and website make mapping your route, finding quirky stops, and discovering unforgettable destinations a breeze. In this guide, you’ll learn how to get started, make the most of its features, and plan a memorable journey tailored to your interests.
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Getting Started with Roadtrippers
Start by entering your starting point and destination. You’ll be offered two planning options:
Autopilot ON: Let Roadtrippers’ AI-powered trip planner suggest stops, lodging, and routes. (Available to Premium members only; a free trial is available.)
Autopilot OFF: Manually build your trip using the interactive map and suggested waypoints.
Once your route appears, you can click and drag the route to different roads or add custom waypoints to adjust it. Roadtrippers will show driving hours, mileage, and fuel estimates—you can even tweak your vehicle’s fuel efficiency to customize cost predictions.
Adding Stops to Your Trip
Click “+ Add to Trip” or use the (+) icon to enter cities, addresses, or attractions. Roadtrippers will organize your route in the most efficient order, but you can manually rearrange stops however you like.
Near the top of your itinerary, you’ll see mileage, drive time, and fuel cost estimates. If you aren’t planning a round-trip, remember to factor in your return journey!
Explore Tab: Discover Along the Way
This can be used to filter the map by categories and find places to add to your trip. There are two parts to the Explore tab: searching for places and browsing categories.
Categories– One of our favorite parts of a road trip is discovering new places along the way, and this feature will help you find some new places to check out by using the categories to explore places on the map. Whether you want to look for quirky attractions, want to find a place to spend the night or a place to grab a meal, you can use categories to find all the best spots near your route or near your current location. Places on Roadtrippers are assigned categories, making it easy to discover and find new places.
If you’re using the website, you can browse categories in the Explore tab. The Explore tab is the first option in the tool dock on the left of your screen.
If you’re using the app, you can browse categories from the map view by tapping the Search & Explore bar at the top of the map.
You can browse categories with or without a trip loaded on the map. If you explore with a trip loaded, Roadtrippers will look for places within a radius of your route. If you explore without a trip loaded, Roadtrippers will look for places in the location in view on the map.
Search– If you already know some of the places you’ll be visiting, you can use the search tab to add those to your trip. Search is best used when you know the name of a place, such as Monument Valley. Categories are best for discovering types of places along your route.
Pro Tip: Zoom in to reveal more options! Roadtrippers limits the visible pins based on your zoom level to avoid clutter.
Waypoints and Filters
Use the toolbar to select popular categories like:
-Food & Drink
-Camping & RV Parks
-Outdoors & Recreation
-Attractions & Culture
You can refine these categories with filters (price, type, rating) and narrow your results to a set radius off your route (5–30 miles).
Roadtrippers Autopilot: Let AI Do the Planning
Available with Premium membership, Autopilot helps plan your trip based on: Travel dates, Daily drive limits, Vehicle type, Group size, Accommodation & food preferences and Activity Interests. Answer a few simple questions and Autopilot builds your itinerary—complete with stops, stays, and suggested eateries.
Just Browsing? No Problem!
You don’t need a trip planned to explore. Use the “Explore Destination” option on the homepage to browse any area. Pick a location, zoom around the map, and check out nearby attractions using category filters.
Getting Started is Easy
Getting started with Roadtrippers is easy, starting with a 7-day free trial. During the trial period you’ll have access to all the features of our highest membership level, Roadtrippers Premium. This trial membership can be used across all platforms and on multiple devices. If you start a trial on our website, you can install the Roadtrippers mobile app on your phone and access the same great features in both places – just make sure you’re logged into the same account across devices.
After the trial period you will have your choice of 3 memberships:
Basic ($35.99/year): Great for short trips
Pro ($49.99/year): Includes 5 saved trips and up to 50 stops per trip
Premium ($59.99/year): Full access to Autopilot, filters, and longer trips
* To sign up for Roadtrippers, use this link and the referral code BTR5QTP for a $5 discount!
Final Thoughts
Not only can Roadtrippers help you plan that trip you’ve been wanting to take but it will give you great ideas for even more places to visit! I like the fact that you can put in filters to fit what you’re looking for. For us, the important things are the quirky places to stop or scenic places, so this is very helpful. Once you get your perfect trip itinerary, remember to review and confirm details about your trip such as visiting hours, booking availability, pet restrictions, and road closures before you hit the road.
We want to pass on tips and information that we learn along the way to help planning your trip easier and less stressful. We hope to inspire you to find your adventure, have fun and make lots of memories. Safe travels and happy Roadtripping!