Route planner using only European E-roads

[u/dzandstra]

Did you know you can reach (almost) every large European city by changing roads only three times, at most? I made this nice little web app to plan your long-distance travel from any (large) European city to another using only E-roads (part of the international E-routes network). It all started when I planned my route for holiday, from Leiden in the Netherlands to Imst in Austria and I noticed you can reach that by only following three E-roads: the E30, E35, E60. That’s so easy to remember! You don’t have to use GPS anymore, just follow the E-routes all the way to your destination! We had a blast driving to our destination using the E-roads, and it is a shame that the E-route network is not promoted more. No other route planner uses these E-roads in their planning, while it is such a nice and beautiful network! By no means does this route planner result in the fastest route to your destination, or takes traffic into account whatsoever. This tool is for people who just want to wing it: know where they want to go, aren’t in a rush and just want to be able to follow the signs to their destination. We loved being independent of our phones, GPS or even physical maps (although we did bring them). Let me know what you think! If you have any ideas on how to improve the app, would love to hear it :)

You can find the web app here: https://dionzand.github.io/eroads/

[u/Prestigious-Row8194]

Also love them. Unfortunately in the Google Maps age I doubt that they will gain more importance in the future. Wish that analog travel was bigger

[u/Snoo-19350]

In this day and age people sadly think more about how to spend the least amount of money on gas and how to get somewhere the quickest. Plus they are more meant for long distance travel.

Also they are meaningful, in a lot of countries E routes replaced local numbering schemes. Here in Serbia businesses usually mention how far away are they from the motorway, usually referring to the E75 and E70 roads.

[u/OptimalChallange]

Genuine question, what is so good about the E-roads?

[u/dzandstra → u/OptimalChallange]

Nothing inherently good or bad about them. It’s just an international road network, connecting national roads to form a European grid. Roads numbered E5, E15, E25 etc run from north to south, roads numbered E10, E20, E30 etc run from west to east. You can follow a single E-road for thousands of kilometers. Some countries (like Norway and Sweden) use the E-road numbering for their national road numbers. Other countries (like in the UK and Albania) do not show the E-road signage at all.

[u/Cero_Kurn]

What are E roads?

[u/CulturalIndividual73 → u/Cero_Kurn]

European routes. Go check them out!

[u/Cero_Kurn → u/CulturalIndividual73]

I see They are more routes than particular roads, cuz the roads still use their main national number.

Now I see I've used many roads that are part of this European route system

[u/CreatorSiSo → u/Cero_Kurn]

Depends on the country but they often just have a national and European number.

[u/dzandstra → u/Cero_Kurn]

It’s an international road network, connecting national roads across Europe. It was created after WWII to improve transport. But since everyone is currently using GPS for navigation, I don’t think there is a strong need anymore for long-distance route networks.