Creating a Komoot route? It's a piece of cake! Whether you're an avid hiker looking for the best routes or just starting out in hiking, the app Komoot is a must-have. With this app, you can not only find new routes and save your favourites, but also create your own routes and share them with friends. In this blog, Lisa, Birgit and James share all about the features of Komoot. Read on soon to discover more!
What is Komoot?
Komoot is an app that lets you find, plan and share walking, or cycling routes. You can choose short routes in your area or multi-day trips, Komoot offers something for everyone. The app is free to download for both Android and iOS.
Discover all features of Komoot
Komoot is specially designed for hikers and cyclists and offers a host of features and functions. You can customise the app to suit your needs. For instance, you can filter by distance, height differences, difficulty level and duration to find a route that suits you perfectly. But in addition, you will find many more filter options! This makes the app suitable for beginners but also for fanatic hikers and cyclists.
Creating a Komoot route? Here's how to do it!
Once you have found your route, you can easily save it and share it with your friends. Ideal if you go hiking with larger groups. But what if you want to create your own komoot route? Fortunately, you can do that too! It's a handy and simple feature in the app that lets you plan a route specifically tailored to your needs.
Step-by-step guide (Komoot route creation)
The process of creating your own route is simple. To best explain how to create your own route, we have written out the steps for you.
- Open the app or the website and click on the ‘Plan a Tour’ button. This opens the map, where you can then create your own Komoot route. You can start from your current location or another location of your choice.
- Define your starting point
- Choose which city or region you want to plan a route in.
- If you do not want to plan a route from your current location, we advise you to make all parking spaces visible. You do this by clicking once in the ‘search by city or address’ bar and expanding the drop-down menu. Tick the option ‘parking spaces’.
- Zoom in on the map so you can see all the parking spaces and click on where you want to start and choose ‘start here’.
- Create waypoints
- From the car park, you can plot a route via black footpaths. Click on a point where you want to change direction and choose ‘set as destination’ or ‘new destination’.
- To add a highlight to your route, right-click and choose ’add to hiking route’.
- Each piece you add to your route creates a new waypoint.
- Add as many waypoints as you like to plan your ideal route. While creating the route, you can also take into account the terrain and difficulty level. This way you can be sure that your route suits your level.
- Adjust the length of your route
- The number of kilometres of your route is added up in the left-hand column.
- To adjust the length of the route, you can add or remove hiking trails and waypoints.
- This can be done in two ways:
- Drag & Drop: click on the blue line and drag it to another hiking path.
- Add forgotten highlights: Below the start point and destination, click the plus sign to ‘add waypoint’. Tick all the boxes you are interested in along the way and select possible points to add to your route.
- Share your route. Once you are happy with your route, you can save it and share it with the Komoot community or with your friends and family. You can also view the details of your route, such as the distance, altitude profile and duration of the tour.
- Download your route or use the Komoot app directly. You can choose to download the route as a GPX file and upload it to a GPS device. But you can also easily use the Komoot app itself.
What makes Komoot unique?
There are several ways to follow walking routes, including signs, booklets, posts, junctions and apps. But why is Komoot the best navigation tool for us? Below, we list its advantages:
- To be used via the website and app
- Easy to use and you can use the comprehensive help guides if you can't figure it out
- Find inspiration for areas and hiking routes
- Don't miss any special point by using the highlight option
- Create your own Komoot route. Useful if you want to plan a multi-day hike route or see multiple sights, for example.
- Follow hiking trails offline
- Share Komoot routes easily with friends or acquaintances
- Follow other hikers such as experts, pioneers and friends/acquaintances
Hiking with the Komoot app: our experience and tips
We used the existing Komoot routes in the app. We searched by our location and the hiking routes appeared automatically. We then used the filter to look at distance, difficulty and duration.
Komoot's navigation easily shows you the way and each route is different. While walking, you simply follow the blue line and as soon as you deviate from this, you will see it immediately on the map. It works very conveniently and we don't want to be without it now!
We do recommend that you make the Komoot route suitable for offline use. The app is free, but if you want to save the maps offline it costs a few euros. In our opinion, this is highly recommended as it will make your phone battery last a lot longer.
Tip: Prefer to test the app online first? At the bag of Thousandtravelmiles there is a separate compartment for a power bank. In addition, you can easily charge your phone, via a USB port on the side of the bag, and view the route at the same time. This way, you can use the map online and don't have to worry about your phone breaking down!
Read more | The Malerweg, one of the top 10 most beautiful hikes in Europe.
Read more | Top 5 things to do in Saxon Switzerland.
Hike tips for beginners
Created or chosen a Komoot route? Then it's time to hit the road. Let's go! Or maybe not right away? After all, good preparation is half the battle. Especially if you are going hiking for the first time, it is useful to read our tips first.
For us (Lisa, Birgit & James), it was our first time hiking so we took good advice on hiking boots, among other things. But what else should you consider?
Hike shoes
Doing a hike on your trainers and balking considerably at yourself along the way? Recognisable! Trainers are fine for short hikes with few altimeters but as soon as you go on a real hike, you'd better buy a pair of good shoes. Because a few sprained ankles are not very conducive to the atmosphere.
Go for hike shoes with high quality and comfort. So don't buy the first and best hike shoes but get advice from shops such as Beaver. Bever often has great promotions and online you can then easily compare prices and see all available colours.
Hiking clothing
While you're on the they Bever website, check out the Clothing selection guide from Bever. They tell you all about the famous layering system here.
What does the Komoot app cost?
Good news! Because the app is free to use. Once you create an account, you can view and create routes. With the free account, you can use the maps when you are ‘online’. If you prefer to use the maps offline or export them to a GPS device, it will cost you a few euros.
There are also paid packages here. After the first free region, do you want to be able to hike in other regions as well? Then you have these options to choose from:
- Unlock additional individual regions - €3.99 per region / one-off*
- Unlock a region package - €8.99 per region package / once*
- Unlock a world package - €29.99 for the world package / one-off*
* The amounts quoted are current at the time of writing this article.
Are you a fan of Komoot after some time? Understandably, then you can also go for the premium package. More information on this can be found on Komoot's website.
Want to know which Komoot routes Birgit, Lisa and James did via the Komoot app? Check out their blog: Top 10 things to do | Harz National Park!
Frequently asked questions about the Komoot app
We at Thousandtravelmiles have been using the Komoot blog more and more, and over time we have kept adding new insights and answers to frequently asked questions. Below are practical tips we regularly get from other travellers, from adjusting settings to exporting routes. Hopefully it will help you get even more out of this handy app.
1. How do I change miles to kilometres in the Komoot app?
Would you rather see kilometres instead of miles? That's easy to do:
1. Open the Komoot app on your phone.
2. Go to your profile via the icon at the bottom right.
3. Tap the cog to go to your settings.
4. Find the ‘Units’ or ‘Distance units’ section.
5. Select ‘Kilometres’.
In most cases, the change is saved automatically.
2. Where are routes stored on your phone?
When you create or save a route in Komoot, it is automatically saved within the app itself. You can find your routes under ‘My travels’ or ‘My routes’.
Want to download the route as a file? Then you can export it in GPX, TCX or FIT format. These files usually end up in the download folder of your device and can be opened with external navigation apps
3. Can you use Komoot for free?
Sure! You can download Komoot for free and get started right away. A free account lets you use one region completely. This allows you to test the app extensively before deciding whether to upgrade to a paid package. For more information, see above under ‘What does the Komoot app cost?’.
4. Is Komoot linkable to Strava?
Yes, you can link Komoot to Strava. Open the activity you have completed in Komoot. At the top right, you will see three dots, tap them and choose ‘Export as GPX’. Then manually upload the GPX file into your Strava account.
5. Can Komoot automatically generate routes?
Absolutely. Komoot is so popular precisely because it allows you to build your own routes based on your requirements, such as sport type, distance and surface. In our blog, we explain step by step how that works.
Fixed routes are also available. Just tap on this and go!
6. Can I use Komoot on multiple devices?
Yes, that is possible. You can log in on multiple phones or tablets with the same account. Just keep in mind that push notifications go to each device. If you don't want that, you can log out on certain devices.
7. Is Komoot terminable on a monthly basis?
No, Komoot works with an annual subscription for the Premium package. You pay once a year, and in your settings you can stop the automatic renewal whenever you want. There is currently no monthly cancellation option.
Want to know more about creating a Komoot route or has anything changed from the text above? Let us know at [email protected]. Need more travel inspiration? Take a look at our landing page.
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