Everyone who owns a computer and drives knows Mapquest.com is the place for driving directions. You simply type in your starting address, ending address, and viola, turn-by-turn driving directions that are pretty darn accurate. But did you know that Map Quest offers more than just driving directions? You can use route builder to add stops to your trip, get a detailed street map of your destination, and even find the lowest gas prices along the way. Map Quest even works in Europe as well as the USA. With the features Map Quest offers planning a trip is easier than ever.

With the innovative route builder feature you can add up to ten stops to your trip and get driving directions that include every stop. If you are planning a trip somewhere unfamiliar but want to stop off along the way and see the worlds largest ball of string, you can plug the info right into Map Quest and get driving directions with the stop included. This makes it easy to plan a trip with multiple destinations. Just input each destination into the driving directions box and Map Quest will build the best route for you to take.

Another feature Mapquest.com offers besides driving directions is its detailed maps of any destination. Before you arrive you can look at where you will be traveling to and plan your itinerary and activities. You can view maps in either street or aerial view to get a detailed look at where you are going. Map Quest Maps let you see hotels, museums, parks, anything of interest once you reach your destination. You can then plan you driving or walking route once you arrive.

Most travelers are always trying to find the best gas prices. Mapquest.com makes finding the lowest gas prices easy because they let you track prices anywhere you go. This feature is easy to use and compliments driving directions everywhere you go. Gas prices are as easy to find as driving directions, just type in the location you want to search and prices at stations in and around your location will be displayed. Now you don’t have to search as you drive for the best price, they are included with your driving directions.

If you frequently need driving directions finding them is easier at Mapquest.com because they let you save place settings. You can save your home, work, or other address and it will be there for you every time you perform a search saving you time. Map Quest also saves the searches you perform when looking for driving directions. That way if you need to see a search you have already preformed you can quickly bring it up by clicking on the “saved and recent” button on their homepage.

Map Quest’s features allow you to find much more than just driving directions. They give you what you need to get to your destination quickly and efficiently and offer more than just driving directions. Route builder, maps, and gas price locator make traveling easy by giving you more options, detailed information and saving you money.

I realize I am probably dating myself just a little… but web based map services like G-Maps or MapQuest just astonish me. Whoever found out how to map any block on the planet in 5 seconds has got to be rich… if not they should be.

Take a look at maps.google.com. Although they got into the map business just a few years ago, they are now the 1,000 lb gorilla when it comes to maps and driving directions.

I have been using G-Maps for a quite awhile. Their technology constantly advance, and alongside with it, the detail of the maps has improved substantially. There are other key web properties that employ geo mapping with great success as well. The big 3 are Google, MapQuest and the granddaddy of them all, Rand McNally.

I will do a quick overview of these three, which with any luck will save you some exploration time when you get to the websites.

I switched to G-Maps after using MapQuest for almost nine years (more about MapQuest below). What changed my loyalty after all those years, was studying the instructions at G-Maps. You know, when all else fails read the instruction?

It is an astonishing bit of technology which will present you with both maps nearly anywhere in the world and detailed driving instructions in many countries.

G-maps is very feature rich and their tutorial does a way better job of teaching than we can. With that in mind, let’s cover the main features, you will find plenty more when you delve into the site.

You can see earth satellite images all over the world and superimpose streets on those satellite images, it’s very cool. All the major map categories are available to view.

You can see people wandering around Marienplatz in Munich or read the home plate logo at Coors field in Denver. In many parts of the world, you can also get point to point driving directions.

Another unique tool of G-Maps is that it lets you to amend the route it has laid out for you, simply by dragging the route marking to a different place. We often know alternate routes, learned by experience that we want to stick to. All other services won’t let you change the path… with G-Maps it’s easy.

Rand McNally has been making maps and road atlases for a long time. Word has it that Fred Flintstone used their atlas. They still favor the printed map or atlas and publish a lot of them. Next time you stop at a large fuel stop check by the register, it’s a safe bet you’ll find Rand McNally maps for sale. Now, having said that, they have outstanding e-maps and driving directions. I find them very effective for comparing routes with Google or MapQuest as a double check kind of thing.

MapQuest has been around since the good old days of the internet… 1996… so by e-standards, it’s very old if not antique. AOL bought it in 2000 and remains in charge.

I have used Mapquest plenty of times and they always deliver. They have great maps for the US, Canada and Europe but are weaker in the rest of the world in their quality and detail. US driving directions are totally detailed and usually quite accurate. In some growth areas they can be a little behind, simply because of trying to stay current with new growth can be difficult.

The last key goodie on MapQuest, is that it will search for the least expensive gas or diesel no matter where you are in the US. It’s a great way to keep an eye on your fuel budget and it only takes 30 seconds.

Between the three of these websites, you should be able to find your way around anywhere on the planet.