What to look for in a scenic route planner

Most map apps are built to answer one question: what is the fastest way? A scenic route planner answers a different one. Here is what to look for.

1. A choice between fast and interesting

The planner should let you pick, and ideally say how much. All the way to twisty is not always what you want, as what makes a road twisty explains.

2. Control over surface

Sealed only, gravel when needed, or prefer unsealed. A planner that cannot tell the difference will eventually send you down a track.

3. Roads, not just routes

A good planner understands the road itself: how twisty, how long a stretch is, and what class of road. That is what turns a list of turns into a good drive.

4. Offline maps

The best roads often have no signal. Check that you can save a route, and that voice directions still work when you do.

5. Stops you can plan around

Fuel, food, lookouts and places to sleep, shown on the map, so you can plan the day around them.

6. What happens when you leave the route

You will, sooner or later. Does the app work out a new way from where you are, or insist on going back? A planner that reroutes smoothly is a much better companion.

7. Honest pricing and privacy

Know what is free and what is not, and what the app does with a record of everywhere you go. Free apps should say how they are funded, as we do in why MotoRidez is free.

Test it in ten minutes

Plan a route on roads you know well. If the app picks the roads you would have chosen, it thinks like you. If it sends you down the motorway, it does not. For why a general map app falls short, see why Google Maps is the wrong tool for a good ride.