# The best order to visit multiple addresses

Last updated: 2026-08-12

Five addresses can be visited in 120 different orders. Ten addresses: over 3.6 million. Somewhere in that pile is the sequence with the least driving — and the one you'd pick by eyeballing the map usually isn't it.

## Why “nearest place next” backfires

The instinctive strategy — always drive to the closest unvisited stop — is a famous trap. It works beautifully for the first few stops, then strands you: the far-away stop you kept postponing is still out there, and now it costs a long, lonely drive at the end instead of folding neatly into the middle of the route. Mathematicians call the general problem the traveling salesman problem, and it's hard enough that “just pick the nearest” is often measurably worse than the best route.

## The by-hand method (fine for a few stops)

If you'd rather plan on paper, this gets close with a short list:

1. Drop all your addresses on a map so you can see them at once.
2. Group stops that cluster in the same area or neighborhood.
3. Sweep the clusters in one direction — clockwise or counterclockwise from your start — instead of jumping between them.

Past six or seven stops this breaks down: clusters stop being obvious, and straight-line closeness stops matching driving time. A stop across the river can be “near” on the map and twenty minutes away by road.

## The fast way: let a route optimizer solve it

SortStops is a free route optimizer that finds the best order automatically, using real driving times from Google's routing engine — the same one behind Google Maps:

1. Paste or type up to 25 addresses.
2. Choose round trip (loop back to the start) or one-way (end at your last stop).
3. Sort, and open the finished route in Google Maps for turn-by-turn directions.

[Try the free route planner](https://sortstops.app/) — no account, no install, and the whole thing takes under a minute.

## Fastest order or shortest order?

SortStops optimizes for the least total driving *time*, which is usually close to the shortest distance too — but not always, and time is almost always what you actually care about. A route that saves two miles by cutting through downtown traffic isn't a better route.

## Planning a bigger trip?

If your list is a vacation rather than a day of stops, see the [road trip planner with multiple stops](https://sortstops.app/guides/road-trip-planner-multiple-stops) guide — and if you've been fighting Google Maps' own limits, [here's how to get past its 10-stop cap](https://sortstops.app/guides/google-maps-more-than-10-stops).

## Frequently asked questions

**How do I find the best order to visit multiple addresses?**

For a few stops, group addresses that cluster together and sweep the clusters in one direction from your start. Past six or seven stops, use a route optimizer: SortStops sorts up to 25 addresses by real driving time for free and opens the result in Google Maps.

**Why is going to the nearest address next not the best order?**

Nearest-next works for the first few stops, then strands you: the far stop you kept postponing costs a long drive at the end instead of folding into the middle of the route. Straight-line closeness also does not match driving time once rivers, highways and one-way streets are involved.

**Does the best order mean shortest distance or fastest time?**

SortStops optimizes for the least total driving time, which is usually close to the shortest distance but not always. A route that saves two miles through downtown traffic is not a better route.

Source: https://sortstops.app/guides/best-order-to-visit-multiple-addresses