Price a Multi-City Trip Leg by Leg — Free, With Distance, Fuel and Time
A multi-city route looks reasonable on a screen and becomes eight hours of driving on the third day. Adding distances, a real cost per unit and a realistic average speed turns the same route into a schedule you can commit to.
The proof surface
Free path: the tool computes locally in this browser with no key and no account. Where an AI step helps, any free chat assistant works — free tiers exist (Google AI Studio, Groq), but plans and limits change, so check the provider's own page. No third-party service is claimed here as verified: UNCONFIRMED — model has no browsing access this session.
Why the flat version breaks
Map applications show total time in ideal conditions and no cost at all. Entering each leg's distance with your own running cost and an average speed that includes traffic produces a plan where the long day is visible before it happens.
How to use the multi-city route chart in four passes
Including the return and the local driving at each stop. The same stops in a different order produce a different total, and the order is usually the thing being decided.
Map distance is checkable by everyone travelling. Average speed should include the stops you will actually make, not the motorway limit.
Fuel spend divided by distance from recent tanks is the honest number. If you include servicing and tyres, use a published running-cost figure and say so.
One leg usually carries most of the driving and most of the fuel. Naming it lets you move it to the first day, split it, or book the overnight stop on the right night.
SAMPLE DATA, NOT A VERIFIED CLAIM: the starter record is a four-day trip with five legs including a 410-mile return, costed at 17 cents a mile. Replace these values with your own source before you rely on anything.
What breaks first
Planning on ideal journey times
Map times with no stops, no traffic and no roadworks produce a route that is two hours longer in reality. A realistic average is what makes the daily plan survivable.
Counting only the outbound legs
The return is often the longest single leg of a trip and is the one that gets driven tired. It belongs on the sheet.
Forgetting the local driving at each stop
City driving, parking and short hops add up, and they are the part that turns a four-hour day into six. Add them as their own leg.
What you pay otherwise
| The usual route | What it leaves out | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| An unplanned extra night | Hotel and meals because the longest leg could not be driven as planned | a night away |
| A long-distance train alternative | Often cheaper than driving alone once wear and parking are included — compare it on this sheet | the fare |
| A route-planning subscription | Monthly fee for cost arithmetic you run once per trip | $5–$15 a month |
| This page + the free multi-city route chart | Computed in your tab, result on screen before you type anything | $0 |
Try the free multi-city route chart right here
Load the starter route and raise the average speed to 65 to see the drive times collapse.
FIRST-LOAD · sample record filed
Take it into the free multi-city route chart
The companion app runs the same logic with a numbered intake, three starter records, a stateful share link, the one-time printable layer, and the local history shelf.
Open the free multi-city route chart →Keep the work if you will use it again
The full chart: every leg with distance, running total, cost and drive time, plus the longest leg and the fuel budget, unlimited re-runs.
The on-screen result is free and complete. The one-time layer adds a tangible file you keep and the saved history that comes with it.
Boundary: This costs a route from distances you enter; it is not a mileage or tax record and it does not verify road conditions, tolls or driving regulations. Speed limits, rest requirements, tolls and vehicle requirements differ by country — check the rules for the roads you will use and plan rest stops on any long day.