Find great food stops on your way
On a long day between towns, it helps to know where the good food is. Iconic Food Stops shows 34 great places to eat on your map. One is a crayfish caravan on the Kaikōura coast road. One is an old gold rush pub in St Bathans. You can see which ones are on your way.
1Open Menu, then Layers
Tap Menu at the top left of the screen. Then tap Layers at the top of the menu. Layers is a list of things the map can show. Each line has its own switch to turn it on or off.
2Switch on Iconic Food Stops
Scroll down to the heading Worth a Stop. The first switch under it says Iconic Food Stops. Tap it to turn it on. The app will remember this next time. Tap it again if you want the food stops gone.
3Close the menu and look
Tap Map at the top left to close the menu. Each food stop is a purple pin with a small burger on it. You can see all 34 at once, even when you zoom out. Zoom out to see both islands. Then zoom in on where you are going.
4Tap a stop for its card
Tap a purple pin to open its card. You will see a photo if we have one. You will see the name, the town and how long it has been open. It says what people go there for, most often a dish. It shows the road it is on, so you know if it is on your way. The date at the bottom is when we last checked it.
5Get directions from the card
In the card, tap Directions to plan a route to it. On a computer, it says Directions to here. If you already have a route, tap Head here next to add the stop. Directions from here starts a route from it. On a phone, pull the card up to find it. Website opens the place's own page. Report a problem lets you email us if something has changed.
Good to know
We picked all 34 places by hand, one at a time. They are not from a list of every cafe. Each one is a simple place that people know well. Each one is on a good road to drive. They are on both islands, so some roads have none. The card does not show opening hours. If a place is only open at some times of year, or for short hours, the card says so. The oyster shop near Bluff is one. Read the card before you drive a long way.
Also in the app: maps that work with no signal, campsites and huts, and Plan with AI. It plans routes for eight kinds of vehicle, from an enduro bike to a motorhome.