RV Trip Wizard for Planning RV Trips

Lll5955 · 07-02-2021, 01:13 PM

Good Afternoon, I have a question about Rv Trip Wizard for planning trips. Is this the best? Is it good, or is there better. What does everyone use. Wife and I bought Signature 8288sb this year and can't wait to get out there and use it. So basically long for suggestions. Thank You Lll5955

SeaDog · 07-03-2021, 07:49 AM

welcome to the forum its a great place to get your questions answered. I don't use a device to plan my adventures I find part of the fun of using my rig is not planning specific routes or having tight schedules. Lots of RVers use these aids with great success.

Csbadvisor · 07-03-2021, 08:04 AM

I use RV Trip Wizard for planning trips with multiple stops. I like the feature to plan route and research camping options all one one app. Lots of Trip planning options available but I’m happy with RV Trip Wizard

cboss · 07-03-2021, 08:25 AM

Welcome from Upstate NY. Great info here, SEARCH is your friend.
Here's a few of the Internet sites I use:

https://www.reserveamerica.com/
https://www.recreation.gov/
US AND CANADA CAMPGROUNDS - FORMAL AND DISPERSED PUBLIC CAMPING LOCATIONS - Home

And Google Maps for route planning.

DougW · 07-03-2021, 09:11 AM

I use RV Trip Wizard and am quite happy with it. I like that it will show you a driving range based on how far you want to travel in a day and it estimates fuel stops so I can research gas stations that have room for a motor home towing a pickup. The only pain is when you transfer the route to a Garmin GPS you have to jump through a few hoops to load it.

NECamper · 07-03-2021, 10:55 AM

Works great for me. I like planning out my gas stops in advance, and RVTW takes a lot of guess work out of navigating gas stations, as well as avoiding potential non-RV-friendly roads. Helps searching for campgrounds at the destination and along the way.

PhilFromMaine · 07-03-2021, 11:28 AM

I bought it and used it for one trip. It has it's good points and bad points. I probably should use it more before I make a comment, but I found it a little clunky. Too much on the screen, other than maps and the gas station search left out many local stations in my area of New England.

Like all software, you need to really use it to understand it for it to work properly. This demands your study time. My go to program is Google Maps which seems very intuitive to me.

RGrimm · 07-03-2021, 11:47 AM

When I started RV Traveling back in 2011/12 I used Microsoft's Streets and Trips to plan my trips and a Garmin RV GPS for navigation. For me it was easy to used and worked well for my needs. But, in 2013 Microsoft stopped updating it. I look a number of different RV trip planners, most were Web Based and not a program I could load/install on my computer (would be my preference). In 2018, I started using RV Trip Wizard and have been using it ever since. Over the past few years RV Trip Wizard has had a number of improvements that has made it even better. I have planned many multi-stop trips, the longest being a 7200 mile trip out West from Florida, 69 day trip with all my CG stops and Fuel stops and the Web-Based Trip Planner worked great.

Since my F150 has Apple CarPlay, I will enter my next destination in the morning into WAZE (free app) on my phone that I use for my GPS and with my truck's Apple CarPlay running the directions will display on my Truck's dash display and the Turn by Turn directions will play thru my truck's audio system. I know that WAZE does not navigate safe RV routes, so I have a turn by turn printout (easy to do with RV Trip Wizard) that my DW will follow along with to verify that the WAZE route is the same as the RV Trip Wizard safe route. So far I have not had any problems using WAZE and verifying the router.

I'd love to have an up-to-date Microsoft Streets and Trips program, but since it is gone, RV Trip Wizard has fit the void for my Trip Planning.

Not everyone wants to plan their trips, preferring to travel more spontaneously. I enjoy the 'planning' part of our travels and like to know where I'm parking each night, so having a good Trip Planner is important for me. RV Trip Wizard has worked great for my travel planning needs.
-Russ
Sample Trip

GFD47 · 07-03-2021, 01:37 PM

Have used RVTW for three years and like its features. I find it meets my needs sufficiently that I haven't even bothered to look for any similar tools.

Gizmosmom · 07-03-2021, 01:54 PM

I still use my 2011 Microsoft Streets and Trips along with Google and Bing maps. I also use RV Parky.

I, too, wish that Microsoft still had S&T software.

Trawlerphil · 07-03-2021, 02:09 PM

I hated it when Microsoft dropped Streets & Trips like a $2 suitcase. I still use my S&T 2013 for some planning.

camaraderie · 07-03-2021, 03:15 PM

I use trip Wizard after having used about every free app out there. IMO...nothing compares...but I think not everyone needs it. If you are gonna be out on trips doing multiple stops and want to SELECT your route and investigate the campgrounds...you can do everything you need never leaving the app. Now that you can also download it into google maps...you have a complete navigation system.
If your needs are more basic trip planning...you might thing about signing up for Good Sam for the discounts and get their trip planner for free...it is QUITE a nice piece of work and NOW lets you download your route to Garmin GPS's. You can also CHOOSE to see only GoodSam or Private or Public campgrounds or all three. I find the GS membership pays for itself in camping discounts so would suggest trying the TripPlanner if you don't go on super long trips with dozens of stops.

grport · 07-03-2021, 03:25 PM

There seemed to be more positive reviews than negatives, so it might just be me unable to master the app. However, I found it quite cluttered and difficult to navigate. A navigation app shouldn't be difficult to navigate, lol.

Dirt Sifter · 07-03-2021, 03:49 PM

Like RGrim, I used S&T with a GPS for years when traveling. I now use RVTW. Have to play with it a little to get the most out of it and keep up with the good changes. After we come up with a destination, I put together a trip to get an idea of time, miles and costs. Then the wife sits down and we make adjustments. Everything is flexible once we hit the road, but have a framework to work with. I refuse to use Waze for all the information they want to access on my device, but have no need for.

markb422 · 07-03-2021, 04:06 PM

Agree with all the Streets and Trips users. Still use a 2013 version with gps. It was actually a logistics software program that came with MS Office. I like that it is off line. I make adjustments along the way and Its great to go back to review your trip later. I would like to know what logistics software UPS and Fed Ex uses.

Cyote61 · 07-03-2021, 04:25 PM

Welcome. We use Trip Wizard and we use All Stays Pro a lot.

CurtPutnam · 07-03-2021, 04:56 PM

Welcome from SoCal!

I have RV Trio Wizard which we purchased for a trip that got blown out by the pandemic, Being 55' long and gas powered, we have to plan our fuel stops. We used to plan for and reserve our major stops. Now, post-pandemic, it seems that every campground is full all the time, which requires careful planning and advance reservations.

We also use Allstays and Google and Apple maps

PSUFan1 · 07-03-2021, 06:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DougW

I use RV Trip Wizard and am quite happy with it. I like that it will show you a driving range based on how far you want to travel in a day and it estimates fuel stops so I can research gas stations that have room for a motor home towing a pickup. The only pain is when you transfer the route to a Garmin GPS you have to jump through a few hoops to load it.

Yes I agree getting the info to the GPS is a PITA.

Wish you could click and drag a route instead of creating waypoints

nikita · 07-04-2021, 09:21 AM

The summer of 2019 we decided to take our 50th Anniversary trip to Mount Rushmore, SD. We have been a member of Good Sam for ages, so decided to use their "trip planner" on their website. It was AWESOME!! It lets you find campsites all along the route on the map. Never made reservations until we were about a day ahead and then I would call and make a reservation, had no problem - until our trip back home, we never realized that it would be LABOR DAY WEEKEND!! Had a terrible time finding open campsites - so on any trip you take, check the calendar to see if your trip has any Holiday Weekends in it.

PS: I did all this on my home computer so I could print everything - did nothing on my phone. We are still "old fashioned"!

wjrdmr · 07-04-2021, 10:15 AM

I use RV Trip Wizard in conjunction with other sources. I like to keep trip segments to 200 - 250 miles and planning for that is easy with Trip Wizard driving radius tools. Once I find my target waypoints then i look at Harvest Host / Boondockers as well as the locations identified in Trip Wizard. I find that many HH locations are already in the TW database, you just can't search for them within the TW interface.

You may also like: