detourit

detour.it is an online travel planning platform that allows users to create, discover, and share customized itineraries for road trips, bike rides, and walking adventures. Founded in 2011 by entrepreneur Gianni Ferretti, the service was originally launched as a catalog of curated travel routes but quickly evolved into a collaborative tool where travellers can design their own journeys in a modular format.

Users upload individual activities—such as scenic viewpoints, restaurants, accommodations, museums, or hiking trails—into a database that can be filtered by distance, duration, category, and peer ratings. Each activity is accompanied by a map location, a short description, optional photos, and user-generated comments. The platform’s main innovation is its “itinerary builder”: a drag‑and‑drop interface that arranges chosen activities into a logical sequence, taking into account travel time and minimising backtracking. The resulting itineraries can be exported to Google Maps, emailed to other users, or printed as a printable PDF.

Over the years detour.it has grown to partner with tourism boards, travel agencies, and local service providers. These partnerships enable the inclusion of promotional offers, dynamic pricing, and real‑time updates such as closures or weather alerts. The website also offers a social layer, where users can follow other travellers, bookmark itineraries, and leave reviews. A mobile app in both iOS and Android versions extends access to on‑the‑go planning and offline map support.

Critics have praised detour.it for democratising travel design, especially for niche travelers who prefer unconventional routes or thematic tours. However, some users note that the platform’s database is heavily biased toward European destinations, and that the quality of the activity listings can vary. The company continues to expand its coverage to other continents while focusing on user experience improvements and data-driven recommendations.