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01
Which way should you plan it?
It comes down to two numbers: how many stops you have, and whether you already know the best order. A maps app is fine for a few errands in an order you've already decided. Once you have more than 10 places, or a list in no particular order, a route planner saves real time.
| Method | Stops per route | Finds the best order? | Good for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Google Maps | 10 places (start + 9) | No | A few errands in a known order |
| Apple Maps | About 15 (reported) | No | Short trips on an iPhone |
| Waze | One extra stop | No | A single detour |
| MapQuest route planner | 26 (independent tests) | Optional | One-off trips on a computer |
| EZRoutePlanner | 30 free, up to 200 paid | Yes, one click | Daily work routes from a list or spreadsheet |
02
Before you start: get the list right
Most bad routes start with a bad list. Five minutes here saves the wrong-house moment later.
- One stop per line, with house number, street, city and ZIP. A street with no city can match the same street in another state.
- Units after the street:
412 N Walnut St Suite 200. - No duplicates. Two rows for the same customer means two stops.
- A name for each stop (the customer or business), so you know who's who on the map.
- Your start: the shop, the depot or home.
If your addresses are spread across Street, City, State and ZIP columns, you don't need to merge them first for EZRoutePlanner: its import finds those columns itself. For anything else, the address list cleaner joins them into one line each.
03
Option 1: plan it in Google Maps (up to 10 places)
- 1
Enter the start and the first stop
On a computer, open Google Maps, choose Directions and enter where you're starting and your first stop. On a phone, search for the first stop, tap Directions, then set your starting point.
- 2
Add the other stops
On a computer, click + Add destination under the last stop. On a phone, tap the ⋯ menu and choose Add stop. You can add up to 9 stops, counting the destination.
- 3
Drag them into order
Google Maps drives the stops in the order listed and won't reorder them. Drag stops by their handle to change the order; watch the total time to see if it helped.
- 4
Start
On a phone, tap Start. On a computer, use Send directions to your phone.
04
Option 2: use a route planner (for more stops or the best order)
A route planner takes the whole list at once, finds a short order, and keeps every stop on one map. Here's how it works in EZRoutePlanner, which is free for routes of up to 30 stops.
- 1
Add your stops
Sign up free, then paste your addresses one per line, or drop in a CSV or Excel file. Every address is looked up and shown on a map; anything uncertain is flagged so you can fix it before saving.
- 2
Make a route
Select the stops on the map, by clicking or drawing a lasso around them, and choose Create Route. Set where it starts: your saved base or any address. Turn on Round Trip if you're coming back.
- 3
Press Optimize Route
The stops are reordered into the shortest trip it can find, with your start kept where it is. Every leg's distance is shown, and paid plans add drive times.
- 4
Drive it
Open it in Google Maps (long routes are split into 10-stop links for you), share it as a link or QR code that opens on a phone with no app, or print a PDF route sheet.
05
How to work out the best order of stops
Finding the shortest order is a famous hard problem, the traveling salesman problem: a round trip through just 10 places already has 181,440 possible orders. Route planners use fast methods that find a very short order in a moment. It's worth it: across our 48 example routes of 7–12 stops on real roads in 24 cities, stops that started in a random order drove a median 65% farther than the same stops optimized.
If you're ordering by hand, these rules of thumb get you most of the way:
- Draw a loop, not a star. Sweep around the area in one direction instead of returning to the middle between stops.
- Never cross your own path. If two legs cross on the map, swapping the stops between them makes the route shorter. (That's exactly what optimizers do.)
- Do the far end first or last, not in the middle. Drive out to the farthest stop and work your way back, or the reverse.
- Group by neighborhood. Finish one part of town before moving to the next.
- Put fixed appointments in first. If a stop has to happen at 9 a.m., build the rest of the route around it.
06
Start, finish and round trips
Where the route ends changes the best order. A round trip back to the shop should finish near the shop; a one-way route can end at the far side of town. Tell your planner which you want before you optimize.
- Round trip: start and finish at the same place, such as the depot or home. In EZRoutePlanner, turn on Round Trip.
- Fixed last stop: the day ends at a particular place, like the post office. Pin it as the final stop and the optimizer keeps it last.
- Open end: you don't care where you finish. Leave both off and the route can end wherever is shortest.
More in how to plan a round trip route.
07
Getting the route to your phone, or a driver's
Planning on a computer and driving with a phone is the usual split. Three ways to move the route across:
- Google Maps links. Long routes are split into links of up to 10 places that chain together. Open each in the Google Maps app.
- A shared route page. EZRoutePlanner gives each route a link and QR code. The driver opens it in their phone's browser, with no app or login, sees every stop in order, and taps Navigate to go to the next one in Google Maps, Apple Maps or Waze.
- Paper. A printed route sheet with each stop and the distance of every leg is still the most reliable thing in a glovebox.
Details: how to send a route to a driver's phone.
08
Mistakes that cost the most
- Trusting every pin. Rural roads, new subdivisions and business parks are where addresses land on the wrong spot. Glance at the map before you go.
- Optimizing without a fixed start. If the route starts wherever the first row of the spreadsheet happens to be, the whole order is built around the wrong place.
- Planning the whole week as one route. Split the stops by day or by area first, then optimize each day.
- Forgetting time at the stop. Ten 30-minute visits and an hour of driving is a six-hour day, not an hour.