Waze for International Driving: Why I Always Install It for Rental Car Trips

When traveling abroad, renting a car can give you much more freedom. But there is always one question before the trip:

Which navigation app should I use?

Google Maps? Waze? A local navigation app?

As someone traveling overseas from Korea, I don’t want to install and learn a different navigation app for every country.

So I keep it simple.

I install Waze first.

Why I Prefer Waze When Driving Abroad

Google Maps is still my go-to app for finding restaurants, hotels, tourist attractions, and reviews.

But when I actually start driving, I prefer Waze.

The biggest reason is real-time road information.

Waze is powered by its community of drivers, known as Wazers. They can report accidents, traffic jams, road construction, hazards, stopped vehicles, and other situations on the road.

That means Waze does more than simply tell you where to turn.

It can also tell you:

“Something is happening ahead.”

That is extremely useful when driving in a country you’ve never visited before.

Waze or Google Maps for a Rental Car?

For me, there is no need to choose just one.

I use them for different purposes.

What I need	My choice
Restaurants & hotels	Google Maps
Tourist attractions	Google Maps
Reviews & places to visit	Google Maps
Walking around a city	Google Maps
Driving a rental car	Waze
Real-time road alerts	Waze

This simple combination works well for international travel.

Google Maps helps me find where I want to go.
Waze helps me get there by car.

What About Japan and MAPCODE?

Japan is one country where you may hear about MAPCODE, especially when planning a rental car trip to Hokkaido.

MAPCODE is simply another way to enter a destination into a Japanese navigation system.

So I don’t think you need to completely change your navigation setup just because you’re visiting Japan.

My approach is simple:

Use Waze as your main navigation app, and keep MAPCODE or the destination address as a backup when necessary.

Why Waze Is Useful for International Road Trips

Driving abroad already requires enough attention.

You have to deal with unfamiliar roads, signs, speed limits, tolls, parking rules, and different driving habits.

The last thing I want is to spend the first day of my trip learning a completely different navigation app.

That’s why I like having one familiar app that I can use in different countries.

Waze may be especially useful in places such as the United States and Canada, where driving is a major part of many trips. It can also be a convenient option for road trips in Europe and Australia.

Of course, no navigation app is perfect everywhere. Local apps can sometimes provide better information, so it’s always worth checking the destination before you travel.

My Simple Setup for Overseas Driving

If I’m renting a car overseas, my setup is basically this:

Google Maps → Find the place

Waze → Drive there

MAPCODE → Extra backup for Japan

That’s it.

For me, Waze is more than a navigation app.

It feels like another driver sitting next to me and telling me what is happening on the road ahead.

So if you’re preparing for an international rental car trip, you don’t necessarily need five different navigation apps.

Install Waze first and give it a try.

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• 🇰🇷 한국어판 → 해외여행 내비게이션 추천｜렌터카 여행은 Waze 하나면 충분한 이유