How to find open-now places on the way in Google Maps
On The Way finds grocery stores, coffee shops, bakeries, restaurants and attractions that are open now along your driving route — not just near where you are standing. Paste a start and destination, pick a category, and get every matching open place between the two, sorted by how little it takes you off your way.
Find open stops along your route
- Enter your route. Type where you are starting from and your destination.
- Pick what you need. Choose grocery, coffee, bakery, restaurants or attractions — or type a free keyword such as a brand name.
- Turn on "Open now". Filter to places that are currently open along the way.
- Set how far off-route. Limit results to within 1, 2, 5 or 10 km of your route so stops stay convenient.
- Open in Google Maps. Tap any result to open it directly in the Google Maps app and navigate there.
What you can search for
- Grocery stores and supermarkets open now
- Coffee shops and bakeries
- Restaurants and food
- Attractions and points of interest
- Any free keyword, including specific store or brand names
Who it is for
Built for road trips and travelers hunting for stops along the way, daily commuters grabbing something open on the route home, and truckers, RV and van-life drivers planning convenient stops over long distances — all without leaving the highway.
Frequently asked questions
How do I find open-now places on the way in Google Maps?
Google Maps lets you add a single stop while navigating (tap the magnifying-glass icon for gas, food, coffee or groceries), but it only suggests a few nearby options. To see every open place along your whole route, use a search-along-route tool like On The Way: paste your start and destination, pick a category, toggle Open now, and it lists everything open along the road, sorted by how far it is off your route.
Can Google Maps search for places along an entire route?
The Google Maps app only surfaces a handful of stops near your current position. The underlying Routes and Places APIs support a true "search along route" over the full polyline — which is what On The Way uses to return all matching, currently-open places between your origin and destination.
How do I find gas, coffee or groceries open now on my route?
Enter your route, choose the category (or type a free keyword like a store brand), and enable Open now. On The Way returns the open options along the way and lets you filter out anything more than a chosen distance off the route, then open any result straight in Google Maps.
How can I find stops without leaving the highway?
On The Way shows how far each place is off your route and lets you cap it (e.g. within 1–2 km), so you only see stops that need a short detour — useful for road trips, commutes and long-haul driving.