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Plan a trip

Guides by goal 4 min read Beginner Updated

On this page
  1. Check the weather at your destination
  2. Look for alerts before you leave
  3. Plan the route
  4. Find places along the way
  5. Save what you need
  6. Common questions

This guide takes you through a trip from start to finish with Weather and Maps: the forecast where you are going, any alerts before you leave, the route with its stops, the places along the way, and a list of the places you want to keep.

Weather and Maps run on the same sites of the 4 Network. If your site has no Weather or Maps tab, see Which sites have which services.

#Check the weather at your destination

  1. Select Weather in the tab row and type a ZIP code or a city, for example Boston. Pick the place from the suggestions.

    The Weather search box with bos typed in and a list of places below it: Boston, Massachusetts first, each with its county or country and a Place label

    Suggestions list matching places with their state or country.

    1. 1Type a ZIP code, city or place
    2. 2A place, with its county or country
    3. 3Whether it is a place or a ZIP code

  2. On the place's page, read Today for conditions now and the forecast in words.

  3. Open 10-Day for the days of your trip, or Hourly for the day you travel.

For U.S. places, the first seven days are the National Weather Service's forecast and days 8 to 10 are an Extended outlook, a computer model's view with no forecaster's review. Places outside the United States have Today, Hourly, 10-Day and Radar pages. See Read a place's forecast page and Hourly and 10-day forecasts.

#Look for alerts before you leave

Colored bars under a place's tabs name each alert in effect there, with when it ends, and the Alerts tab shows them in full. For a whole state, open Alerts in the row of Weather pages and choose the state.

The alert banners at the top of a place's page: one coloured bar for each alert in effect, with the kind of alert and how long it lasts, and a tab count on Alerts

Each bar names an alert and opens it in full on the Alerts tab.

  1. 1An alert in effect here, with how long it lasts
  2. 2The Alerts tab shows how many

Alerts come from the National Weather Service and cover U.S. places only. See Weather alerts.

#Plan the route

  1. Select Maps, then Directions in the ribbon under the tabs.

  2. Choose Drive, Walk or Bike, then fill in the start (A) and the destination (B).

    Directions from Fenway Park to the Boston Public Library: Drive, Walk and Bike buttons, boxes for the start and the destination, Reverse, Add stop and Options, three route choices with times and distances, and the chosen route drawn in blue on the map

    The fastest route is drawn in blue; select a grey one, or another choice in the list, to switch.

    1. 1How you travel: Drive, Walk or Bike
    2. 2The start (A) and the destination (B)
    3. 3Reverse, Add stop and Options
    4. 4Route choices: time, distance and the roads used
    5. 5The chosen route in blue; other choices in grey

  3. Select Add stop for each place on the way. A trip can have up to ten places in all.

  4. With four or more places, select Best order to reorder the stops in between for the shortest trip.

  5. To skip tolls, highways or ferries, open Options and tick what to avoid.

Travel times assume normal traffic and no delays. See Get directions by car, on foot or by bike.

#Find places along the way

Type a kind of place with a place name, such as coffee near cambridge, or use a button over the map such as Gas or Hotels. Tick Open now to hide what is closed, by the place's own local time.

The side panel for the Boston Public Library: its name, an Open or Closed line with the next opening time, buttons for Directions, Save, Nearby, Share and Call, then address, hours, website, phone and a Details list

The line under a place's name says whether it is open now.

  1. 1Open now or Closed, and when that changes
  2. 2Directions, Save, Nearby, Share and Call
  3. 3Address, hours, website, phone and email, when the map has them
  4. 4Details: what the place offers

A place's page shows its hours, address, website and phone when the map has them, with Directions, Save and Call buttons. A city's page has a Weather button that opens its forecast. Opening hours come from OpenStreetMap volunteers and can be out of date, so check before a long drive. See Find places and addresses and Place pages.

#Save what you need

  1. On a place's page, select Save. The first time, select Allow and save to turn on Saved preferences.

  2. Open Saved in the ribbon. New places go into Starred places; use the menu beside a place to move it to Want to go, Favorites, Home or Work.

    The Saved page listing four places in three lists (Starred places, Favorites, Want to go), each with a list menu and a trash button, and below them Show all on the map and Download (GeoJSON); the ribbon shows a count of 4 beside Saved

    Your places, grouped in lists, with Show all on the map and Download.

    1. 1How many places you have saved
    2. 2Your places, grouped in lists
    3. 3Move a place to another list
    4. 4Remove a place
    5. 5Show all on the map, or download them

  3. When you plan a route, select an empty box: your saved places are offered as the start or the destination.

  4. In Weather, select Follow on your destination's page to see it beside your other places on My places.

To take the route with you, select Share under the steps: it copies a link with every stop and option, which opens the same route on your phone. See Save places and Follow places.

#Common questions

Can I get public transit directions?

No. Directions are for driving, walking and cycling. The Transit map shows rail and subway lines to help you plan a transit trip yourself.

Will my saved places be on my phone?

No. Each browser keeps its own list. Send yourself the route with Share, or download your places from Saved as a file.

How far ahead can I see the weather?

Ten days. The last days of the list are an outlook and are less exact than the first few.

Read next

Weather Read a place's forecast page A place's Today page shows conditions now, the forecast in words, the next hours and days, radar, air quality, sun and moon, an almanac and local news. Weather Weather alerts, watches, warnings and advisories See the National Weather Service's watches, warnings and advisories for a place, a state or the country, most urgent first, with the full text and what to do. Maps Get directions by car, on foot or by bike Plan a route with up to ten stops by car, on foot or by bike, compare alternatives, avoid tolls or highways, and follow the turn-by-turn steps. Maps Find places and addresses on the map Search Maps for a city, an address, a landmark or a kind of place such as coffee or gas, keep only what is open now, and search where you moved the map. Maps Save places and keep your own lists Save places to lists such as Favorites, Want to go, Home and Work, use them in directions, or download them. They stay in your browser. Weather Follow places and see them together Follow places with a star and see them side by side on My places: conditions now, today's high and low, the next five days and any alerts.