It’s time to start thinking about where your family is going to go next spring on school vacation. If you are starting to run out of ideas and don’t want to go to Disney World for the 8th time then you should check out this website. If you like to spend part of your summer road-tripping across the states then you really need to check out this website. It’s called Roadtrippers and it is all about planning an awesome roadtrip.

Information

Website: www.roadtrippers.com

About (taken from website):
The open road. That’s what it’s all about. Driving down long stretches of asphalt, pulling over at a local diner for some grub, and discovering the most incredible roadside wonders.

Co-founders James Fisher and Tatiana Parent suffer from an incurable case of wanderlust. So, they decided to design a web and mobile platform that streamlines discovery, planning, booking and navigation into one engaging road trip planner.

Powered by a fleet of local experts and travel writers Roadtrippers features a seemingly infinite database of amazing places (actually 75,000+ to be slightly more exact). We do the hard part, so you can have the adventure of a lifetime. At its core, Roadtrippers aims to inspire and promote awareness for local, offbeat and culturally stimulating experiences. After all, as Emerson’s taught us, it’s all about the journey.

Pros

• Beautifully designed website that is relatively easy to use
• You can put in your start and end locations and they will tell you everything to see on your road trip
• You can find a listing of places with any theme from amusement parks to diners to specific types of accommodation
• There is a huge list of guides with varying themes such as Route 66, Mad Science, Horrorville, USA and many more
• You can make an account and save your trips and even add places to a “bucket list”
• There is a free iPhone app that allows you to sync the trips you have made on the website and explore what’s around you
• When planning a trip, the site defaults to using highways; if you prefer the road less-travelled then you can turn this off
• It’s free!

Cons

• The website only plans your road trip in the USA – there is no Canadian content at this time although they are looking into adding Canada and the UK
• Although there are more than 50,000 attractions, there is much more to see and do in the USA
• The website has a few little bugs that may leave you scratching your head as to how to clear the screen or add/remove items from your trips. You may find that you have saved trips and locations but have no idea how you did it.
• It is not easy to simply search a region as opposed to a road trip which would be a nice feature when you are flying somewhere or want to just explore your own backyard.
• You cannot plan a trip on the iPhone app – you have to plan it and save on the website and sync it to the app
• The guides are not available on the iPhone app
• Apps are not yet available for other devices such as Android or Blackberry

Summary

Overall I rate this website a 7/10. If nothing else, this website is an excellent way to kill some time. We are not big on road trips – we prefer to fly somewhere and see the sights. This sight is lacking in that aspect – you can’t simply explore your own backyard without having a start point and end point. The website is very well designed but still has its little flaws (what website doesn’t?). It’s great that it is free and it features a lot of things you would never find on Google Maps without knowing specifically what you are looking for. The website is great not only for planning trips including where to stay but also for adding things to your bucket list – places you hope to visit someday. I cannot wait until the site includes Canada. As much as I love to see the sights in the USA, I am a big fan of exploring my own backyard. I hope to learn about nifty places to visit on day trips within a relatively short distance from my home. All-in-all, definitely check out this website. It’s amazing the things you will find!

*Please note this review is unsponsored and all opinions are those of the author.