This Website Will Help You Find a Halfway Point to Meet At

Sometimes the best travel tools are the simplest ones. Whether you’re meeting up with friends or family who live a few hours away, planning a road trip or just trying to find a fair place to meet someone, there’s no reason one person should have to do all the driving.

Instead of staring at a map and guessing which town is halfway—or relying on someone else’s suggestion—there are free online tools that will do the work for you.

One of my favorites is whatshalfway.com.

Just enter your starting point and the other person’s starting point, then choose the type of place you’re looking for. The site finds the halfway point and helps you find somewhere nearby to meet, eat or take a break.

You can search for restaurants, cafés, accommodations and other places of interest, or enter your own keyword if you’re looking for something specific.

What’s especially useful is that Whatshalfway isn’t limited to two people. Its Meeting Planner lets you enter multiple starting locations and find a central place for everyone to meet.

It’s also handy for road trips. The site’s Journey Planner lets you enter your origin and destination and plan stops along the way. You can even add multiple stops to break a long drive into more manageable sections.

That could come in handy if you’re driving across the country and want to figure out where to stop for lunch, spend the night or simply stretch your legs.

And it’s not just for U.S. road trips. Whatshalfway says its service works in more than 120 countries. 

Another website you can use try is meetways.com.

MeetWays has a similar premise: Enter two addresses or ZIP codes and it will calculate the halfway point. You can also enter what you’re looking for—such as pizza, coffee or a hotel—and it will suggest places around the midpoint.
MeetWays can provide driving directions and local reviews, and you can adjust your trip based on your mode of transportation and whether you want to avoid highways or toll roads.

It’s a clever tool for meeting friends and family, planning a business meeting or breaking up a long road trip. And if you’re looking for an overnight stop, enter “hotel” as the point of interest and it can find hotels around the halfway point.

Of course, before heading out on any long drive, check current traffic, weather and road conditions. A location that’s technically halfway by distance isn’t always halfway by driving time, especially when traffic, construction or mountain roads are involved.

But the next time someone says, “Why don’t we meet halfway?” you don’t have to pull out a map and start guessing. Let technology figure it out for you.