Google Maps has been about a while now, and over time has seen a number of updates to improve on what was already a great online usable map service. The Key thing is that it is so user friendly scrolling and zooming in out on the map is not only done with ease but also feels so natural to do. Because of this finding points on the map or working out routes is simple and effective.

I'm going to talk a little about getting the best from not only a route planning point of view but how you can use it to plan your next trip. The easiest way for me to do this is to take you through step by step how I use it myself to plan a trip.

First off all you need to have a basic idea of the location you intend to visit. for this example I'm going to The Lake District and Central London as a starting point (this normally being your home)

Having decided on The Lake District you need to pin point exactly at what part you intend to travel to. So we need to find a campsite. From Google maps centre view on The Lake District, easiest way to do this is simply type "the lake district" into the search field. Ignoring the map highlight points at this time (They are little red pointers with letter in the centre more about these later).

Delete the lake district from the search field and replace it with campsite and search the map again. The map view will remain the same but will replace those markers with known sites in that area (occasionally you will get shops listed as well these can be ignored as were only interested in a place to pitch) I now inspect these highlighted points in more detail clicking on either the larger pointer or the smaller red circle will bring up information on that point, Those with web links are most useful allowing you to right click and select open in new window or open in new tab depending on your browser. All I do at this point is look through the sites found until I find one that I think is suitable (usually you can find the same sites in one of the many campsite books available to check its rating)

Having decided on a location you could just take the post code put it on your satnav and be done with it. I prefer to look a little deeper than that checking the route and what is around in the area. For example on the same map view you could change the search string to say "Restaurant" to find local Restaurant's you can do the same for theme parks, country parks, bait shops or whatever you may need. The nice thing is if you zoom in the map closer to your chosen site the current search will update as you do showing further options as you zoom in.

Having found out all I need I like to take a look the route and I have found that Google maps are pretty accurate with estimated travel times if you take traffic issues out of the loop. Not only that but my satnav tends to select a route that is almost the same as Google in most cases.

Right click on the point of the map you intend to travel to and select directions to here. The panel on the left will change to the directions view, you can at this point enter your home post code into the A field or type the village or town name. Click get directions.

You will receive a few routes from which you can choose. Google will default to the route that it thinks is best, but mouse over on alternative routes will display the alternate route on the map over the existing defaulted route so you can compare. You also get total mileage and estimated travel time.

If the mileage is shown in kilometres. then just click on show options and change to miles, you can also at this point select to either avoid motorways or toll roads (that's a useful one!).

You have step by step instructions on the left and full map view on the right with the selected route highlighted in blue. This blue highlighted route is what makes Google map so great in my opinion. the default route from London to The lake district takes us through Birmingham I would prefer to avoid this, add to the fact that's almost a halfway point so may want to stop for a break. You can left click and hold on any part of the blue highlight and then drag it to any other point on the map. (I normally zoom in on the area at this point so I can see more of the local area. For example I would perhaps drag the route over to Derby which then recalculates my route and adds Derby as Via point. You can add as many Via points as you wish. This I find most useful when planning a big trip that has many stops. Lets say you are planning a tour of Europe with two stops in Germany, one stop in Italy and one in the south of France.

I'll work out each route so using the image as an example. Calais to Point 1 Germany. I then do a separate route from Point 1 Germany to Point 2 Germany and so on. I then do a Final route from Calais to Calais with each point as Via option providing me with an estimated total mileage. I can also look at the route at this point to see if it flows well and make changes as I please. Taking the route again as an example the route from the south of France back to Calais is just to long and needs to be broken down I.e. add another stop.

So as you can see using Google maps even when you have a satnav can greatly improve on your overall planning of trip and really comes into its own on those longer trips especially when you are taking in multiple stops. Easy and Brilliant.

If you have any questions then please post your comments here or jump onto http://www.thecampingforum.co.uk more than happy to answer them or provide further advice