5 travel planner apps with live maps to draw your travel itinerary

While it’s fine to write down all the places you plan to visit on your next trip, plotting your itinerary on a map can help you optimize your routes, coordinate with your travel buddies, and navigate in real time.

Luckily, mapping out your itinerary is now easier than ever with these travel planner apps.

1. Scout (Web): The best trip planner for cities with a detailed map

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When you plan a trip to a new city, either alone or as a group, you usually list many places you want to visit. In Scout, you can add them to different sections and see them on the live map, making it easier to see which places are nearby and create an itinerary.

When you start a new trip in Scout, you’ll first need to select the city you’ll be visiting and set your arrival and departure dates. By default, you get sections for attractions, food, and lodging. However, you can always add more custom sections. Each section has its own colored pin (for example, all places with food will appear as blue pins). You can add a location by searching or typing the full address. It is based on Google Maps so it will be easy to find any place.

After adding points of interest, open the itinerary view and see your data. Drag and drop places from the first lane to any day’s itinerary. As you add more places to a day, the map will automatically create a route for that day and connect all the places. You can arrange them to find the best path.

You can also share your scout trip with others so they can add their own points of interest and update the itinerary to create a group plan. It’s also a useful way to get tips from locals, as they’ll be able to add recommendations directly to your map.

Scout also lets you publish your map or itinerary to your directory so others can discover your helpful recommendations. And of course you can browse the directory to find what others have recommended.

2. Wanderlog (Web, iOS, Android): Comprehensive trip planning app with map

Wanderlog is a feature-rich app for creating detailed itineraries. You can start planning your trip by choosing a destination, selecting dates and inviting friends.

Once you create a trip, Wanderlog will show you different places to visit in your chosen city. You can add them to your itinerary or search for additional locations. You can also add a section for restaurants or other activities and color code all these places.

If you want to jot down some details, Wanderlog offers the ability to create notes and checklists, so you don’t need a separate note-taking app for your trip.

Wanderlog also allows you to create a daily itinerary. You can add places manually or let Wanderlog automatically fill in your day. Within Wanderlog, there is a separate travel planning chatbot to help you plan the perfect trip.

The map on the right side of the screen shows all the places you’ve added to your trip, along with routes/routes. If you’ve subscribed to Wanderlog Pro, it can even optimize your route and export the map to Google Maps.

In addition, Wanderlog has an expense tracker that keeps track of all your expenses and can split the costs among your travel partners. Within Wanderlog, you can save details of your flights, accommodation, rental cars or other bookings.

Download: Wanderlog for iOS | Android (free, paid)

3. Sygic Maps (Web, iOS, Android): Maps built for travelers

Created especially for travelers, Sygic Maps can help you plan your perfect trip. Using OpenStreetMap technology, it highlights restaurants, markets, parks, cinemas and other tourist attractions around you.

To create a route, you will need to create an account and log in. Click on profile icon in the upper right corner and select My Trips > Plan a new trip. Select destination, dates and trip name.

After creating a trip, you can add places to your itinerary. Either search for sites you want to visit and add them to your itinerary, or explore Sygic Maps to find and save tourist spots. Based on your selected destinations, Sygic Maps will display the route and travel time. You can organize the places to optimize your route and set the time you spend at each place.

Sygic Maps also allows you to invite participants and share a trip itinerary. If you’re willing to pay for Sygic Premium, you can download offline maps in the mobile app and export your routes.

Although it doesn’t offer as many features as Wanderlog, Sygic Maps is a great choice if you’re looking for a simple and intuitive app to plot your route on a map.

Download: Sygic Maps for iOS | Android (free, paid)

4. Travel Mapper (Web): Google Sheets Travel Itinerary with Live Map

When you plan the itinerary of your next trip, you usually want to visualize it on Google Maps as well. Travel Mapper is a custom Google Sheets template that lets you create a travel itinerary, share it with friends, and instantly add places to Google Maps.

Travel Mapper is easy to use. After downloading the add-on, open a new Google Sheet and go to Extension > Travel mapper > Start here > Generate template. Add date, time, activity, location, links, cost and any other notes to the sheet. The sidebar displays a Google map for your itinerary that you can update as you make any changes.

The map is customizable. You can add color codes for different elements and filter activities to see your map differently. Google Maps in the sidebar can also be used to discover other points of interest near any location. It is one of the best Google Maps hacks for travel.

Travel Mapper also includes a to-do list, packing checklist, and favorites list so you don’t forget anything. You can also share your newly created sheet with friends who can add their own locations to the map.

5. Plip (Web, Android, iOS): Mobile-first Collaborative Trip Planner with Maps

Plip is a mobile trip planning app that you can use to plan your entire trip on your phone or tablet. It also has a web app for use on your laptop.

Register an account as soon as you create a new trip; otherwise your trips will not be saved. You can keep the trip private or share it with a group by adding others’ emails.

When you want to add a new listing, you have eight plan types to choose from: Plan (General), Flight, Reservation, Accommodation, Restaurant, Event, Car Rental, and Transit. The default details to fill in for any entry are title, location, start and end date and time, and any notes. Some plans have additional entries such as “Provider” in Events or “Confirmation Number” in Accommodations.

You can quickly filter records by plan type and view them in a list. Otherwise, switch to map view to view all points of interest marked on the map and browse the panel at the bottom.

Download: Plip for Android | iOS (free)

These apps will help you plan your entire trip and give you a clear idea of ​​when and where you will be. But don’t rush to book everything.

The travel and hospitality industry offers many last minute deals on flights, hotels and tourist attractions. You should try to check different travel apps to save money and take advantage of deals where you can.