Web Sites That Tell You Where to Go

As any avid Internet explorer can attest, making unplanned detours on the byzantine World Wide Web is part of its appeal.

But when real-time journeys demand more structure than serendipity, a growing number of interactive Web sites can both pinpoint your intended location on a map and provide turn-by-turn directions on how to get there. Once you’ve generated a plot by typing in an address, you can zoom in or out and insert icons for nearby hotels, restaurants, automated teller machines or other points of interest.

Without a fast (28.8 kilobits per second or higher) modem, waiting for Internet-based maps to dribble across the screen can be a tiresome proposition. And as several mapping services acknowledge in their disclaimers, glitches are common--from an inability to recognize specific street addresses to sending drivers the wrong way down a one-way street. But if you’re willing to keep an old-fashioned paper version around as backup, here are several mapping sites worth a trip:

* My favorite is GeoSystems’ cutting edge MapQuest (https://www.mapquest.com), which supplies detailed driving instructions between 150,000 points in the United States and border areas of Canada and Mexico, door-to-door directions for 34 U.S. metropolitan areas, and street-level maps for 78 countries and 300 destinations around the globe. I’ve used MapQuest’s new door-to-door feature for several trips around my home base of Washington, D.C., and found its turn-by-turn narratives and time and distance estimates to be consistently accurate.

* Vicinity Corp. provides mapping services for several leading Web sites, including Travelocity, Yahoo! and Lycos. On Vicinity’s own Map Blast site (https://www.mapblast.com), you can view maps using four color schemes that depict sunrise, midday, sunset or late night, then send a version to someone else via e-mail. Destinations are limited to the United States for now, but Map Blast plans to introduce street-level maps of European cities later this year.

* Maine-based DeLorme Publishing, well regarded for its Street Atlas USA and AAA Map ‘n’ Go CD-ROM mapping software, offers a free demonstration on its Web site (https://www.delorme.com). While not as seamless or detailed as the CD-ROM version, DeLorme’s nifty CyberRouter gives directions and a series of easy-to-read maps between most U.S. destinations.

* Lucent Technologies’ just-launched Maps on Us (https://www.MapsOnUs.com) lets users save locations in a personalized “hot list” and plot a trip based on the shortest or fastest route. Business colleagues can even collaborate on an intended journey by making route changes on the same Web page. But expect some bugs: When I tried to plot a Washington-area trip recently, Maps on Us couldn’t locate three of the street addresses I had specified.

* The City Guides section of CNN’s Travel Guide (https://www.cnn.com/TRAVEL/CITY.GUIDES/)is useful not only for its collection of worldwide maps, but for its links to Web sites providing travel information on whatever city, state or country you’re viewing.

Small byte: With such features as real-time flight tracking and frequent-flier account status, Biztravel.com (https://www.biztravel.com) is aimed directly at road warriors tethered to their laptops. Even so, this impressive new Web service offers a plenty of information-with-an-attitude for vacationers as well--like a profile of the Big Easy by Bethany Bultman, author of “Redneck Heaven.”

Electronic Explorer appears monthly. Bly’s e-mail address is Laura.Bly@latimes.com.