Maurits, CT is already inclined to avoid urban areas. However if we ask it to plot a route from A to B and city Z is in the middle...... 

What part of the world are you in? Can you offer up an example? Sometimes there is no alternative, at least based on the 'preset' options (paved, routes etc.) 

In case you don't know, you can add a viapoint to a route and drag it away from the urban area - that will reroute you away - but may have an impact in terms of distance, climbing, or scenery. 

Here's an example from my dim and distant past

I add a viapoint (as above) and drag it away from the city as below....

The second option is about 5km (10%) longer. In other parts of the world it may mean more climbing too. 

Hi Hobbes. I am in the same area as you... I am aware of the via points. The thing is with the possibility to avoid built up areas automatically as an option for route planning it would make the app so much better. Avoid built up areas and remain in the countryside.

Maurits, I have moved on to warmer climes :-)

The options we have (gravel, paved, routes etc) are all we have for the moment, explained in the FAQscycle.travel/advice/map/faq. 

Personally, I always found it slightly irritating in NL to be routed around the edge of small towns. 

When selecting gravel riding the cities should be avoided. As this is the nature of gravel riding. Small towns are charming and they have bakeries. 

Routing options are very hard to do with the way the route-planner works, I’m afraid. c.t does apply a small routing penalty for big cities, but it also likes traffic-free cycleways and cities in the Netherlands have lots of those…

I would say, though, that the ‘Find alternatives’ button is very definitely your friend here. If I plan a route from Breda to Oirschot, although the default suggestion goes through Tilburg, clicking ‘Find alternatives’ finds three other routes that avoid it. Hopefully at least one of them goes past a bakery!

Thank you Richard.

The route planner is the best I have used. So your work is very much helpful and appreciated.

If avoiding cities is too complicated then it would be best to have the ‘Find Alternative’ option available in the app. It would change things significantly.

This is how I use the app: When on a three week cycling holiday I will go from small campsite to the next, planning from day to day as situations are unpredictable. The start is let’s say on a farm campsite in the French countryside to another one. But to get there I need to check the whole route if the planner doesn’t send me to the chaos that is urban cycling. All cycling route planners don’t take into consideration that you might not want to go through a city the get somewhere. Things are different if the shortest route is selected, then it would make sense.

So if not at all possible to avoid urban cycling then it would be best to have the find alternative option in the app.

Thank you and I will let you know how I got on with the app as it is only recently that is has been the go to cycling route planners.

Maurits

If you access the website on your smartphone (browsing for <cycle travel route planner> gets it as the top result for me), you will be able to create routes using the "find alternatives" feature, then save them and open them in the app. That addresses what you are after, I think? 

(The website has other powerful functions to assist route creation, too.)  

Can't you simply look on Google maps. see where you would like to go, mark the conurbations and plot a route around them? I think expecting any app to know what your preferences are is a bit over the top? 

Simon

Thanks that works really well. I didn't realise the planning via the website on the phone works well. It is also handy that the maps can be changed while planning the route. Very convenient for checking forest/countryside/elevation/citeis.

As I am new to the app. It will take some getting used to and I have to try the route suggestions. With this I am pretty sure the cycling trips will get better.

Ken,

I can imagine that cyclist either don't mind or really do mind to cycle through cities. The same goes for elevation I think, which I don't mind.

These two things can be a major obstacle people would like to avoid.

The suggestion for a feature in the route planner is to make a better route planner. I am impressed with route planner so I would like to bring an idea to make it even better.

Assuming a cyclist doesn't mind cycling through cities is a major shortcoming of all the apps.

Maurits, I was merely offering  as an alternative that if you want to avoid cities (and who wouldn't?) just go to a way point away from the urban areas and plot around the urbanity. 

Some examples.

Imagine drawing a straight line, the route would end up south of Eindhoven (shortest).

1st image: How it should be (Gravel, manually added via point)

2nd Image: Gravel automatic planning, straight through Eindhoven.

3rd Image: Any automatic planning. Straight through Tilburg and other urban areas. Notice the empty space around the urban areas.

It must be said when changing the route manually a better result is achieved really quickly.

Maurits, Simon's advice on using the website on your phone is on the money. In my view, the app (no offence intended) is fine for a quick route from A to B. It's search capability (for shops etc.) is superior but for anything longer, complicated or to meet specific needs the power of the website is unsurpassed in my experience. I'd imagine that an app with all the features of the website would be a complicated thing. 

You don't say if you use the app for navigation or not, but any route saved on the website is available on the app. 

It's good that you finally shared an example of what you are experiencing. Unfortunately, I cannot make out the detail in your images but I think you're looking at a gravel route between Breda & Roermond?

On gravel: it avoids Eindhoven, automatically.

On any it also avoids Eindhoven automatically

Even on Paved it does a very good job of avoiding the big places.

I'm confident that as you become more familiar with CT you'll find ways to adapt it to your needs. For instance, I'll often use a start point outside the town where I live.  

The 'Suggest a ride' feature was very useful when I was in that part of the world. If there are specific gravel routes you want to follow they can be imported into CT. 

On a side note, I am amused that a 120km route does not exceed 80m of climbing :-) I have one road I can take that will not involve climbing at least that in the first km! :-) 

This is a really useful thread – thank you all. I think there’s probably a little adjustment I can do, especially on gravel mode. 

Every little bit helps.

The route shown in the images is from Breda train station to Swalmen.

For anyone who wants to have a detailed look.