About Keys & Miles
We're a couple, we both work in IT, and we plan road trips for people who'd rather enjoy the drive than race through it.
Our story
In 2020, soon after Covid hit, we drove from Pune to Jaipur in one go. It wasn't a time for stopping anywhere, so it was just the highway and the clock. We reached, and that's about all we can say for that trip.
In 2022, with things open again, we had to drive back, and neither of us wanted to do that again. So we thought: if it's going to take longer anyway, let's make the in-between days count. We broke the drive at Udaipur, Vadodara and Daman.
It was a completely different trip. Shorter driving days, time to actually walk around, proper meals, and we reached Pune without feeling wrecked.
But planning it was painful. We spent evenings jumping between maps, blogs and hotel sites trying to answer simple questions. How far can we really get in a day? What's worth stopping for on the way? Where do we eat? Where should we be by evening?
Nobody had put those answers in one place. So we kept doing it ourselves, trip after trip, and somewhere along the way we realised other people must be stuck on the same questions.
One long push in the Covid year. We got there, and remembered nothing in between.
Shorter days, real meals, places we actually saw. This is the trip that became Keys & Miles.
Why we do this
Keys & Miles started with a frustration we kept running into while planning our own family drives: itineraries that look great on paper and fall apart on the road. Six stops in a day when three is realistic. Drive times that ignore ghat sections, toll queues and lunch. Hotel suggestions with no thought to where you'll be when it gets dark.
So we plan routes the way we'd want them planned for our own family: day by day, with honest drive times, and only as much as a day can hold.
What we offer
Every road trip on Keys & Miles follows the same structure, so you always know where to look.
How far to drive each day, and where to stop for the night.
Stops worth making, with how much time each one needs.
Breakfast, lunch and dinner, around the time you'll be hungry.
A few places at different budgets, and the best areas to stay in.
What the drive will cost you in tolls and fuel, one way.
Winter, monsoon and summer compared, and when to avoid the road.
The few things on that road you'd regret driving past.
The full route on a map, plus day-wise tips and common questions.
See it on a real route
Our method
We're IT people, so we can't help checking things twice.
Stop by stop, with real driving time, not best-case time.
Tolls for the whole route, and fuel from current state prices.
India Meteorological Department data for the best and worst months.
Hotels and restaurants against current listings, timings and recent traveller reviews.
Planning guides and blog posts that support each trip, from packing to car prep.
And if we get something wrong, tell us. We'll fix it.
Who we are
Co-founder, Route Planning & Research
Hi, I'm Poonam. I plan every route you see here: the stops, the day splits, the food breaks and the stays. I work in IT, so I check the numbers, then check them again.
My rule is simple: if it doesn't fit in the day, it doesn't go in the plan.
Co-founder, Product & Technology
Hi, I'm Sunil. I build and run the site: the design, the maps and the speed. I also work in IT.
My job is to make sure a route is easy to read on your phone at a fuel stop.
On the road with us
Planning a trip and stuck on something? Driven one of our routes and want to tell us how it went? It's just the two of us, and we read every mail.
