It’s the start of a long-anticipated summer
family holiday. You’ve been on the road for hours when you realise you’re lost. It’s hot. The kids are grumpy. Your partner rifles through the glove box looking for the map — oops, someone left it on the kitchen table. Little Timmy in the back seat starts to chant: “Are we there yet?” You pull into the next service station. The attendant smugly announces you missed the turn-off an hour ago and you’ll have to go back.

Ever been there? Want to make sure you
never lose the plot on a drive holiday again? NRMA’s new online Travel Planner will help you plan and design drive holidays anywhere in Australia.

ABOUT NRMA’S TRAVEL PLANNER
Travel routes can be designed anywhere in Australia, so whether you’re travelling across town, the State or country, you can find the best route to suit you. Simply log on to the NRMA Travel Planner to design a drive route from say, Sydney to Adelaide via Broken Hill. All you need to do is type in your starting point and your destination and the directions will be provided for you.

As well as mapping your trip, the Travel Planner will produce detailed turn-by-turn driving directions, including estimated travelling times.

You can also research places of  interest, attractions and special events along your route, and locate and book hundreds of NRMA star-rated accommodation properties across Australia. After you’ve planned your route, you can print it out for easy reference on the road.

 “This is web-based travel planning that is different from the others that are out there,” says Mick Baber, NRMA Travel Planner Project Manager. “Nobody else has got such rich motorist-based content and an integrated booking system, which will really benefit our Members. They can use this as a one-stop shop for all their touring needs.”

WHO CAN USE THE TRAVEL PLANNER?
Members and non-members will have access to the site, which has been designed especially with the touring motorist in mind. With everything on one site, users needn’t spend unnecessary time and money on the internet. The Travel Planner is also useful for anyone who dreads the role of ‘map reader’.

The Automobile Associations (AA) in the UK and New Zealand have similar sites and NRMA expects the Australian version to be just as popular. There are plans to expand the Australian site, one idea being to add traffic report information.

The Travel Planner is a free service now available on the NRMA website.