Welcome to the Routenet users guide with brief instructions for the Routenet European route planner and map service.

The route planner and map service can locate any address in 42 European countries. The more information you provide (post code, street and number, city and country), the more accurately Routenet can plan your journey or offer you a map.

The route planner can provide directions based on post codes or addresses, or both. To plan a route follow these steps:

• enter the post code and/or the address of your destination in the ‘Destination’ box
• enter the post code and/or the address or your point of departure in the ‘Departure’ box
• click on ‘Plan route’
• Routenet will show you a list of destinations and points of departure that best match your entered data
• click your addresses of choice and click ‘Plan route’
• Routenet will give you detailed directions for your journey, a high-level map of your entire route, and a detailed map of your route from the motorway to your destination.

TIP: Click ‘Print route’ for a print-out of the directions.
TIP: Click ‘Mail route’ to send the directions via e-mail

Routenet offers several options to personalise your directions. The options are:

vehicle: choose your means of transport. The options are: car, car with trailer, lorry with 20 ton lorry or 40 ton lorry, and moped. This option determines the average speed and calculates the estimated duration of your journey.

optimisation: choose your type of route: 'Shortest' covers the least distance. 'Fastest' gets you there in the least amount of time.  ‘Optimal’ takes both distance and time into account, with an emphasis on time. 'Scenic' takes you off the beaten track. For moped riders the scenic routes would generally be most suitable. Motorways are only included in this route if there is no alternative.

detail: your choice determines the amount of detail offered in the directions. You can choose between ‘short’, ‘normal’, ‘extensive’. The more detailed, the more actions are included in the directions.

plan return journey: clicking this button shows you directions for your return journey. This is the route from your destination to your point of departure.

The map service can provide directions based on post codes or addresses, or both. To get a map of a particular address follow these steps:

- enter the postcode and/or the address of your destination in the ‘Destination’ box
- click on ‘Show map’
- Routenet will show you a list of destinations
- click on the destination of your choice   and click ‘Show map’
- Routenet will display a map of your destination

By scaling and moving the map you can explore a wider area. The map service offers you several tools:

Scaling
The easiest way to scale the map is by clicking the buttons ‘zoom in’ and/or ‘zoom out’. You can also choose from fixed levels of scaling. For example, by selecting the fixed level ‘streets’ a map with the actual street names is shown. Clicking the ‘zoom in’ button gives even more detail.

Moving
The grey buttons around the map allow you to explore a wider area. For example, to explore the area north of the current map, click the middle button above the map. The scope of the map moves 50% upwards.

Navigation on the map
The map itself can also be used for navigation by choosing one of two options. The ‘zoombox’ function allows you to zoom in on a defined area of the map.   Left click and drag diagonally to specify a particular area of the map. The specified area is shown as soon as the mouse is released.

The ‘centre’ function works by left clicking a specific point on the map. This point is the exact centre of the new map shown.

Resetting the map
Clicking the ‘reset’ button centres the map back to your initial destination.