La Route Buissonnière
Comparison · vs Waze
La Route Buissonnière vs Waze: what's the difference?
« In short: Waze puts you into the fastest flow; La Route Buissonnière takes you out of it. One follows the traffic, the other follows the lovely road. »
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We'd rather take the long way round.
The real difference (often misunderstood)
Waze is a remarkable traffic tool: it reroutes everyone onto whatever shortcut is fastest at that moment, often through the middle of cities and along main routes. La Route Buissonnière does the opposite: it plots, in advance, a calm and beautiful route that goes around the cities, whatever the traffic. One puts you into the flow, the other takes you out of it.
In short: the two verdicts
👍 Strengths
- Live traffic and community alerts
- Free, ideal at rush hour
👎 Weaknesses
- Reroutes you into the flow, through the middle of cities
- Advertising and data exploitation
👍 Strengths
- Goes around big cities, plots the lovely road in advance
- Discovery and quiet, no advertising
👎 Weaknesses
- No live traffic; France first
- A young app, still being built
The table at a glance
| Waze | La Route Buissonnière | |
|---|---|---|
| Goal | The fastest route | The most enjoyable route |
| Live traffic | Yes | No |
| Avoids big cities | No | Yes (the heart of it) |
| Favours back roads | No | Yes |
| Built for | Everyday journeys | Road trips & holidays |
| Avoid one specific city (your choice) | No | Yes (the heart of it) |
| Discovery layers (villages, viewpoints) | No | Yes |
| Turn-by-turn voice guidance | Yes | Yes |
| Offline maps | Yes | Yes (Premium) |
| Ad-free, independent | No | Yes |
When to use which
Waze is ideal for arriving fast, especially in town and at rush hour. La Route Buissonnière is made for when you want to keep clear of the big cities and enjoy the drive: a weekend, a road trip, the drive down on holiday.
When to choose Waze
- Arriving as fast as possible, especially in town and at rush hour.
- Getting round a jam in real time.
- Being warned about incidents on the road (accidents, hold-ups).
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.
- Leaving the flow behind and enjoying the back roads.
A concrete example
On a Friday getaway, Waze sends you onto the same saturated road as everyone else. La Route Buissonnière takes you around Paris through the Vexin and the forests west of the city — see how to drive around Paris. You leave the herd, and you find the road again.
In all honesty: La Route Buissonnière does not use live traffic data. It is not competing with Waze on speed — it is another way of travelling.
Frequently asked questions
Waze looks for the fastest route using live traffic; La Route Buissonnière plots routes that avoid big cities and favour back roads.
It is an alternative for a different purpose: road trips and enjoyable drives, rather than speed in town.
No. It does not use live traffic data: it avoids big cities and main routes, but not traffic jams.
For driving away on holiday, La Route Buissonnière is built for the pleasure of the journey: it goes around the big cities and favours back roads. Waze remains the best way to arrive quickly in traffic.
Yes, the heart of La Route Buissonnière is free. Premium only adds comfort, and the project stays independent, with no advertising and no selling of your data.
La Route Buissonnière · an independent project, made in France, with no advertising.