How to trace (or retrace) a GPX route with Kurviger?
Not all GPX tracks come from a watch. There's the route that doesn't yet exist—that summer road trip, planned evenings dreaming over a map—and the one that no longer exists: the rally driven without recording, the trip from ten years ago, the roadbook left in the glove compartment. In both cases, the solution is the same: a route planner that exports to GPX.
For road trips, our favorite is called Kurviger. Here's how to use it, from the first click to the GPX file—and what you need to know to turn that file into a beautiful piece.
Kurviger, the tool that thinks in curves
Kurviger is a planner originally designed for motorcyclists, and that's precisely what makes it excellent for any proper road itinerary: where a classic GPS looks for the highway, Kurviger knows how to look for the winding road. Its web planner is free, works in the browser without installation, and offers several calculation profiles—from direct routes to very winding tracks that string together mountain passes.
Tracing the itinerary, step by step
- Set the start and end points. On kurviger.com, search for your starting city or click directly on the map, then do the same for the destination. The route is calculated immediately.
- Force passage through your passes. This is the step that transforms a journey into your itinerary: add intermediate points on each pass, each village stop, each road you actually took. To reconstruct a roadbook, follow it line by line—ten minutes are enough for one stage.
- Choose the road profile. Direct, winding, very winding: to accurately retrace an existing route, the profile matters less than your waypoints; to prepare a road trip, that's where the magic happens.
- Visually check. Follow the route on the screen from start to finish: a misplaced waypoint and the itinerary veers into the wrong valley.
Export to GPX—and choose "Track"
In the planner, open the ⁝ menu then Export. Kurviger offers several formats and two GPX variants:
- Track: the file contains the exact trace, point by point—this is the one you need;
- Route: the file only contains the waypoints, and lets the device recalculate between them—practical for navigation, unusable for faithfully reproducing your route.
So, export as GPX Track: you get a .gpx file that precisely describes the route displayed on the screen.
From GPX file to object
Upload this file to the configurator: the actual terrain is built in 3D, your itinerary laid on top in color, and you choose the framing—the queen stage or the entire route (our framing tips). A multi-stage trip? Combine them with our GPX merge tool, or keep up to three tracks, each in its own color.
This is exactly the method we suggest to rally crews who only have their roadbook—we tell you why the road deserves this treatment in our article rally, road trip, and grand touring.
What about hiking, cycling, trail running?
Kurviger thinks in roads; for trails and sports routes, the right tools are elsewhere: your Strava, Garmin Connect, or Komoot history—which also serves as a planner when the outing hasn't happened yet. In all cases, the final format is the same: a GPX, ready to become a relief.
Create my relief · Rally & grand touring: the road as an object