La Route Buissonnière
Comparison · vs Google Maps
La Route Buissonnière vs Google Maps: what's the difference?
« In short: Google Maps gets you there quickest, La Route Buissonnière gets you there loveliest. One optimises the minute, the other the pleasure of the drive. »
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We'd rather take the long way round.
The real difference (often misunderstood)
Google Maps does offer an "avoid motorways" option — but the route still goes through the cities and still aims for the shortest way. La Route Buissonnière does the opposite: its whole point is to go around the cities and look for good secondary roads, not merely to leave the motorway.
In short: the two verdicts
👍 Strengths
- Worldwide coverage and live traffic
- Unbeatable for everyday journeys, for arriving fast
👎 Weaknesses
- Routes through cities, aims for the shortest way
- Advertising and data exploitation
👍 Strengths
- Goes around big cities, favours the lovely road
- Discovery (villages, viewpoints), no advertising
👎 Weaknesses
- France first; no live traffic
- A young app, still being built
The table at a glance
| Google Maps | La Route Buissonnière | |
|---|---|---|
| Goal | The fastest route | The most enjoyable route |
| Goes around big cities | No | Yes (the heart of it) |
| Favours back roads | No (shortest way) | Yes |
| Good places along the way | Not highlighted | Villages, viewpoints, detours |
| Built for | Every journey | Road trips & holidays |
| Avoid one specific city (your choice) | No | Yes (the heart of it) |
| Discovery layers (villages, viewpoints) | Not highlighted | Yes |
| Turn-by-turn voice guidance | Yes | Yes |
| Offline maps | Yes (Premium) | Yes (Premium) |
| Live traffic | Yes | No (by design) |
| Ad-free, independent | No | Yes |
When to use which
Google Maps is still unbeatable for everyday journeys and for arriving fast. La Route Buissonnière is made for when you want to keep clear of the big cities and enjoy the drive. See also: vs Waze and the app in detail.
When to choose Google Maps
- Getting to work, arriving as fast as possible.
- Dodging a jam in real time, at rush hour.
- Finding your way around an unfamiliar city, day to day.
When to choose La Route Buissonnière
- A weekend away, a road trip, the drive down on holiday.
- Going around a big city — for instance around Paris or around Lyon.
- Enjoying the back roads, the villages and the viewpoints.
A concrete example
You are heading south: Google Maps drops you into Lyon through the Fourvière tunnel. La Route Buissonnière goes around Lyon through the Beaujolais and the Pierres Dorées — see how to drive around Lyon. Same start, same finish, an entirely different experience.
In all honesty: La Route Buissonnière covers France and does not use live traffic data.
Frequently asked questions
Google Maps aims for the fastest route; La Route Buissonnière goes around big cities and favours back roads for a more enjoyable drive.
Google Maps can avoid motorways, but it still routes through cities. La Route Buissonnière goes around big cities and their built-up areas.
It is an alternative for a different purpose: road trips and enjoyable drives, rather than the fastest way to work.
For a road trip where the drive matters as much as the destination, La Route Buissonnière is built for exactly that: it goes around the cities and favours back roads. Google Maps remains the best for getting there quickly day to day.
Yes. The heart of La Route Buissonnière is free (routing around a city, voice guidance, GPX export). Premium only adds comfort, with no advertising and no selling of your data.
La Route Buissonnière · an independent project, made in France, with no advertising.