Top five driving directions websites

Whether you are looking for maps or driving directions, use online mapping services to help you to plan your route. Get your journey pre-calculated for you in distance and time before you actually take that travel. The article below gives an overview of the top five driving directions websites.

Maps.google.com

How to use Google maps 1. Key in the 'Start address' and 'End address' 2. Optionally, add one destination (address) or more 3. Select your method of travel 4. Click on 'Show options' to filter your travelling 5. Click on 'Get directions' Adding destinations You have to add at least two destinations; one for 'Start address' and the other for 'End address'. You can add as many destinations as you want. Travel in four ways Get directions in four ways: 1. By car 2. By bus 3. By foot 4. By bicycle If you click on 'Show options' for car travel, you can select to 'Avoid highways' and or 'Avoid tolls'. For a bus ride, you can choose to 'Leave now', 'Depart at' or 'Arrive by' a date and time of your choice. By foot or bicycle, you can choose your route to be calculated in either miles or kilometres. Getting your directions As soon as you click 'Get directions', you get: 1. The total distance of the route 2. The total time for travelling 3. A series of instructions from the first to the last destination. Remember to scroll down to view the instructions. Using the map Your route is also illustrated on the map, which you can rotate and enlarge. Additionally, you can select the option for photos, videos and so on. If you like, view your map in 3D, which requires the Google Earth plug-in installed into your browser. This can be downloaded for free from Google.com. Saving your information Sign in to your Google account to create and share your maps, star and save places and even rate them.

Other websites

Maps.yahoo.com This bears resemblance to Google Maps but with less features. Mapquest.com Again, the site is similar to Google Maps but with less features. Mapnation.com You can start your search for either maps or driving directions here. Freetrip.com You begin by filling up a form that starts from 'Step 1' to 'Step 7', all on one webpage. At the end of it, click 'Submit' (or 'Reset form' if you want to change your information).