How to Plan an Alternate Route With Google Maps (2024)

This article explains how to use Google Mapsto plan an alternate route instead of the default one Google Maps gives you automatically. These instructions apply to both the desktop and mobile versions of Google Maps.

How to Make an Alternate Route in Google Maps

The first method involves making your own route:

1. After you enter a location and Google provides a route for you, click anywhere on the blue path to set a point.

2. Drag that point to a new location to change the route.When you do this, other suggested alternate routes disappear from the map, and the driving directions change.

   The estimated drive time and distance changeas you adjust the route, which is helpful if you're trying to stay within a certain time frame.Monitor these changes as you make an alternative route and adjust your plan accordingly.

   

   Google Maps automatically "sticks" the new path on the road for you, so you don't need to worry that it's sending you through forests or neighborhoods that you can't drive in. The path it gives is a legitimate way to get to the destination.

3. After you complete your alternate route, it locks in.

How to Choose One of Google Maps' Suggested Routes

If you'd rather use one of the routes suggested by Google, follow these steps:

1. Click an alternate route in gray. Google Maps changes the highlight color to blue to show that it's now the new preferred route, without removing the other possible routes.

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   You may also see alternate routes as a light blue color.

   

2. Edit the newly highlighted route by hovering over the path and dragging the path to a new location. When you make a change, the other routes disappear, and your driving directions change to reflect the new route.

   This is a powerful tool for adjusting a Google Maps route, but it's easy to overdo it. If you find that you've changed your route too much or have paths going ways you didn't intend, use the back arrow in the browser to undo the damage or restart with a new Google Maps page.

How to Add Multiple Destinations to a Route

Another way to plan an alternate route on Google Maps is to add multiple destinations to a suggested route.

1. Enter a destination and starting point.

2. Click or tap the + Add destinationbutton underneath the destination you entered to open a third field where you can input an additional destination or click on the map to enter the new destination.

   

3. Repeat the process to add additional destinations.

Using Route Options

Fine-tuning the routes that Google Maps offers is possible through theOptions button in the route panel. Use it to avoid highways, tolls, and ferries.

Depending on the route you choose, it may experience heavy traffic or delays, in which case you canselect an alternate route to reach your destination faster.

If you're using the mobile app, turn on live traffic from Layers > Traffic. You can also change the route options to display transit or biking options.

Google Maps on Mobile Devices

Selecting an alternate route on mobiledevices works the same way as it does on a computer, only instead of clicking the alternate route,you tap it to highlight it.

However, you can't click and drag on a route to edit it on a mobile device. If you need to add a destination, tap the menu button (three stacked lines) at the top right of the screen and chooseAdd stop.Arranging the route order works by dragging stops up and down on thelist.