Create a perfect road trip itinerary, and you set yourself up for an unforgettable travel experience.
Last updated: August 15, 2025
Planning a Detailed Road Trip
We often wonder how some travelers seem to know every beautiful spot in the area they visited just once. Are they natural at being on the road? Is going on a road trip a gift that sadly not everybody inherits? How in the world do they create the most perfect road trip itinerary that you want to borrow again and again.
The answers to these questions are very simple. It takes time and lots of research to create the ultimate road trip itinerary. There is no way around it, especially if you decide to do it yourself without relying on numerous preplanned guided tours.
Here are 9 simple steps I follow to create my ideal road trip itinerary.
10 STEPS TO CREATE YOUR PERFECT ROAD TRIP ITINERARY
1. Create a Big Picture
First thing first, you need to pick a place where you want to go on a road trip. Whether it’s a state, region, or even a small country, you need to get at least a vague idea of what you want to see and do there. You can talk about going on a road trip for ages and never succeed unless you put actions behind your words.
2. Set Aside Time for Your Road Trip
Once you decide on the area for your future road trip, the next step is to choose the right time. First, you need to be specific on how many days to devote to your adventure. Somebody can spend from seven to ten days and even a few months on the road. Others can spare only a few days to go on a road trip. Even if all you have is one day, don’t let it discourage you from a short, but impactful road trip adventure.
Second issue to consider here is the time of the year. Create a road trip itinerary that suits your interests and activities. Clearly, you can’t go on a trip to see cherry blossoms in winter. Same thing goes for hiking. This activity can easily suit all seasons. But going up the mountainside in spring or fall is much easier than conquering the same distance when it’s covered with snow.
READ MORE: 16 Best Orchards, Wildflower and Flower Fields in California
3. Choose Where to Start and End Your Road Trip
Road trips itineraries to explore your so-called backyard are easier to create due to the fact that you can jump in the car and go. If your travel adventure includes a faraway place, you need to choose the right destination to start and end your road trip.
Do you need to take a bus or fly to another state or country? Can you fly to a city a few hours away from your initial destination? Since you plan to drive anyway, adding a few additional hours to your road trip itinerary normally doesn’t make any difference. But choosing where you start and end your road trip can have a massive impact on your budget and experience.
The majority of our road trip itineraries may not make sense. So, for example, instead of flying into Kalispell, a getaway city to Glacier National Park, we started our summer adventure in Spokane, Washington, adding about 4 hours and numerous lesser-visited destinations in Washington, Idaho, and Montana to our itinerary.
4. Select the In-Between Places
After you come up with the right time and area, it’s time to be more specific. Create a list of all the potential places you want to see and things to do during this road trip. Don’t worry neither about the distances between these destinations nor what parts of the country or state they are. You can draw your travel inspiration from books, magazines, social media, or other travel blogs.
5. Mark All Your Potential Destinations on a Map
Now mark all your potential destinations on Google Map. An old-fashioned map or globe can work, too. I personally prefer Google Map. On top of giving you estimated time to get from point A to point B, it provides the best routes to get there.
If needed, rearrange the items on your road trip itinerary to create a straightforward route. Now remove from your road trip itinerary all those destinations that are located too far away from this route.
6. Check Road Conditions and Open Statues of the Destinations
If you’re happy with your current road trip itinerary, do another research and create a short list of things to know about the places you plan to visit. Find out if there are any road closures, what is the best time to visit, and any other travel and safety tips. Don’t skip or rush through this step. Some of the national parks and lakes are closed in winter. Make sure to check it before hitting the road.
7. Choose Where to Stay Overnight
By this time your road trip itinerary should look pretty set. To complete it you need to pick destinations where you would want to stay overnight. Calculate how much time you want to spend on the road in one day. Then find the nearest city on the map and check if they have available accommodations that you can call home for the night.
8. Be Realistic
The biggest advantage of a road trip is the ability to be spontaneous and flexible. Yet being in charge of your own road trip itinerary and time may create the illusion that you can explore the whole country in just a few days.
Be realistic and don’t exhaust yourself. What may seem like just an hour here and two hours there can end up being a more than 10-hour day on the road. Take it easy, travel slower and deeper for more memorable experiences.
Now you may want to look at your road trip itinerary one more time and remove one or two destinations from it.
9. Book Flights, Cars, and Hotels
If you are satisfied with your road trip itinerary, then it’s time to book your flight(s), cars, and places you will be calling homes away from home. Enjoy your road trip!
Read Next
- CALIFORNIA ROAD TRIPS: 3 Best California Road Trips
- CENTRAL AND NORTHERN CA: 3-Day Road Trip across Central and Northern California
- DAY TRIPS FROM AMSTERDAM: 5 Day Trips from Amsterdam to Explore Dutch Culture
- NATIONAL PARKS ROAD TRIPS: 6 National Parks Perfect for a Day Trip from Los Angeles
