How long to drive each day on a multi-stop trip

Map apps give a driving time for each leg, and it is tempting to fill a day up to some round number of hours. The estimate assumes no stops, no wrong turns and no one asking for a toilet. A realistic daily limit depends on the road, the people in the car and what you want to do when you arrive.

Start by padding the map estimate

Treat the app's figure as a minimum. On ordinary roads, adding around a quarter covers fuel, food and a chance to stretch your legs. Add more for mountain roads, unfamiliar cities, heavy summer traffic or a car with small children. A leg the app calls three hours can easily take four.

Write the padded figure into your plan, not the original. It is the number you will actually live with.

Set a daily limit before you plan the days

Decide on a ceiling for the whole trip and hold to it. Many people find that three to four hours of padded driving still leaves room to enjoy the destination. Beyond that, the drive becomes the main event of the day.

Things that should lower your limit:

• Only one person can drive.
• The route uses narrow roads, switchbacks or unpaved sections.
• You are travelling in winter and want to arrive in daylight.
• The point of the trip is walking, swimming or long meals rather than covering ground.

Alternate long and short days

Two long driving days in a row are tiring even when each one is within your limit. On most multi-stop trips it helps to follow a long transfer with a short day, or with a day where the car stays parked. If a long day is unavoidable, put it early in the trip while everyone is fresh, not on the last day before a flight.

Use the morning for driving

Leaving early gets the transfer done before the heat and the traffic, and you arrive with an afternoon ahead of you. It also gives you slack: if the road is closed or slower than expected, you still arrive before dark.

Count stops as well as hours

Every stop costs time beyond the visit itself: parking, finding the entrance, getting everyone back in the car. Two or three stops plus the drive make a comfortable day for most groups. If a day has five stops and three hours on the road, something will get cut on the day, so you may as well cut it now.

Where to go next

A daily limit works best with some spare time in the plan; see building buffer days. A planner app such as Wanderlog can show estimated drive times between stops as you build the days, which makes it easier to spot a day that runs over your limit. Pad those estimates the same way.