I recently had to plan a trip that involved hitting five cities across Europe in two weeks. Like many, I started with Google Maps to get a sense of distances, but it only showed driving routes, which wasn't helpful for comparing trains or flights. Then I tried Rome2Rio, which lists options but often lacks real-time prices, leaving me to hunt down costs manually. I ended up with a messy spreadsheet trying to compare times and prices for each leg, and it was taking forever to figure out the best order to avoid backtracking.

A friend mentioned explorinder.com in passing when I was complaining about this. I gave it a shot, and it basically automated what my spreadsheet was attempting. You input your cities, and it pulls actual transport data for trains, buses, flights, and driving, showing side-by-side comparisons with prices. What stood out was it suggested reordering my cities to optimize the route, saving me several hours of travel that I hadn't even considered.

For my trip, it ended up recommending a mix of trains and one overnight bus, which kept costs around 200 euros per person. The planning phase went from a multi-evening headache to something I wrapped up in an hour. I'm not affiliated with the site, but it's free and doesn't require an account, so it's worth a look if you're dealing with complex itineraries. The rest of the trip was smooth, and having a clear map link to share with my group made coordination easier. In the end, tools like this don't replace the fun of traveling, but they sure cut down on the pre-trip stress.