Road trip: How to get the most out of your staycation planning this summer

Welcome to Staycation City. Population: you.

And the rest of Ireland. This summer, chances are you won't be going abroad. You, and most people, will be hitting up the glorious Irish countryside and beyond for some delightful travels right on your own doorstep. There's no need to fly when driving is so readily available. It's cheaper, it's more efficient, and you won't be jet-lagged to bits whenever you arrive to your destination. Despite this, a lot of people are put off by the idea of a road trip, purely because it involves driving and can sometimes (sometimes!) involve getting lost. But lads, this is the year 2020: if you've got a phone in your pocket there's absolutely no reason why you shouldn't be able to organise yourself a bangin' staycation - WiFi or not. So, without further ado, here's a comprehensive list of Google Maps tips and tricks to get you across Ireland without a hitch (hopefully).

Planning

Plan activities as a group

With group lists, planning travel with others is simple and efficient, giving you the ability to create an itinerary together by adding places to go and things to do as a group.

Get everyone involved, drum up the hype, add a load of locations that you're gasping to go to, c'mon.

Create lists

Make a list (or two) so you can keep track of your favourite places, share them with friends, and get entirely pumped for your travels.

Plan ahead

Look for restaurants doing takeaway, dine-in or delivery. Coivd-19 has forced many restaurants to change their operating models or even temporarily close, which makes planning ahead even more important.

Google Maps lets you look for local restaurants around that are open, offering takeaway, delivery, or no-contact delivery - all of those good things.

Travelling

Find hidden gems

Use the 'explore' tab find the best restaurants, sights and events happening in the area. You can also find things to do and places to eat based on your unique interests and preferences.

Chances are with Covid still very much among us, there won't be as much happening as usual, but sure it's always worth keeping an eye out.

Go handsfree

Keep your focus on the road (as it should be) by using voice commands. Just say “OK Google, find petrol stations” or “ Show alternate routes” to get the information you need, hands free.

Go offline

No data? No problem. You can still find your way even if you have dodgy reception or an expensive data plan.

In fact, you don’t even need data on a road trip at all. You can download a map of an area so you can see directions and use turn by turn navigation even when you can’t get online - or when you'd prefer to be off the grid.

Park ahead

After navigating somewhere, you can use Google Maps to save your parking location so you never forget where you parked again.

Could've used this last time we were in Dundrum Shopping Centre, but hey listen.

Exploring

Add detours

Search for places along your route while in navigation mode, so you can find the nearest store and get back on the road as quickly as possible. Handy out.

Order in

It’s not always easy to decide what to order when you’re in a new place and you’re less familiar with the menu. With the 'popular dishes' feature, you can quickly find out what the must-try items on the menu are.

Or, you know, just take a guess. You'll enjoy it anyway.

Don’t get lost

If you’re exploring on foot, a beta feature called Live View can help you figure out which way to walk with arrows and directions clearly overlaid on the map. Live View allows you to use augmented reality (AR) to better see which way to walk, while arrows and directions are placed in the real world to guide your way.

Never get lost again. Hopefully.