December is one of the busiest months of the year for travel, with people all over the country driving, flying, and snowmobiling across the U.S. to visit friends and family. According to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (the most exciting government agency, obviously), the number of long-distance travel increases by 23 percent during the Christmas/New Year’s holiday.

The average long-distance trip over the holidays is 275 miles, with a length of about four nights away from home.

That is plenty time to get bored sitting in front of the fireplace, but when a shrug is your family’s only response to the question “What do you do for fun around here?” most people are at a loss for things to do.

Luckily there are a few tools that can help you get the most out of your holiday trip, and they can even help you discover new adventures in your own back yard.

Can’t someone just plan my day for me?

If you would rather leave your day planning up to the robots, Utrip.com is the tool for you. With Utrip you enter your destination and length of stay, then set your preferred activities and let the site handle the rest. You can either build your own set of preferences or choose from a pre-selected travel type like “The Backpacker” or “The Luxury Traveler.”

Utrip plans out each hour of your day, providing maps and itineraries to the outings it selects. The site’s algorithms are designed to make the most of your time, so expect to have no shortage of things to do.

It has options for food, entertainment, and even lodging. You can view your schedule by day or by week, moving activities around as you see fit.

Unfortunately, Utrip only covers a few select cities in the U.S. (mostly on the West Coast), but it includes many destinations outside the U.S. such as Madrid, Paris and Rome, making it great for planning holiday getaways.

Utrip is available on the web as well as on iTunes and Google Play.

Road trip!

91 percent of holiday travel in the U.S. is not by plane or bus, but by car. There are hundreds of tools that help you figure out what to do once you reach your destination, but what if you want to find things to do on the way? RoadTrippers.com and its associated app solve that problem and then some.

RoadTrippers does more than get you from point A to point B. It lets you plan out every stop along the way, allowing you to set how far off your route you are willing to drive, as well as filtering attractions by multiple categories like “Wineries, Breweries, & Distilleries,” “Filming Locations,” “Quirky Shops,” and more.

RoadTrippers also allows you to view curated trips created by experts, and you can even save your trips and share them with friends.

Within the first few miles of the test trip I entered, RoadTrippers recommended “The Cockroach Hall of Fame.” Sounds like a treat!

RoadTrippers is available on the web as well as on iTunes and Google Play.

I’m a free spirit. I don’t need itineraries

If random discoveries are a little more your style, Trover.com offers a Pinterest-like image board showcasing local features and attractions. All images are user submitted, which creates a more eclectic view of a city’s attractions.

Trover lets you browse nearby sites visually, and users can write as little or as much as they want with their images, allowing them to include reviews, guides and tips to help other travelers.

Trover is more social network than guidebook, but while it doesn’t offer quite as much customization or step-by-step planning as Utrip or RoadTrippers, it makes up for this with an organic process of exploration and random discovery.

Since Trover’s content is user-generated, finding worthwhile people to follow is the best way to discover quality information.

Interestingly, Trover also featured the Cockroach Hall of Fame.

Trover is available through the web as well as on iTunes and Google Play.

Where can I eat like a local?

There is nothing wrong with sticking to tried and true chain restaurants, but travelling offers the opportunity to try new things and expand your palate. LocalEats.com is a search engine for locally owned restaurants with customizable search options and a wealth of information.

You can filter your results by price range, cuisine, neighborhood, and other features like non-smoking, kid-friendly, and patio seating. LocalEats also has a “Best of” category for larger cities, showcasing the best restaurants for certain foods in a city like ribs, sushi, steak, and so on.

LocalEats lists various types of restaurants, from hole in the wall dives to five star luxury dining and everything in between. The catalog only covers restaurants in the U.S., but unlike Utrip it is not limited to the big city. Even small diners in the middle of nowhere are included.

Fortunately, LocalEats did not feature the Cockroach Hall of Fame.

LocalEats is available through the web as well as on iTunes and Google Play.