Way back in time, there weren't so many roads. And they were mostly straight ones. Getting somewhere wasn't such a faff, but since modern Britain has come to look like some gluttonous deity has stuffed its face at an inter-dimensional Italian, felt unwell and then vomited tarmac spaghetti over our fair country, it's not so easy. It's no wonder route finders have become popular.

This one is endorsed by the AA, and is Vista compatible. However, it seems that this means 32-bit Vista only, as when we installed it on Vista 64-bit Home Premium it stubbornly refused to work, citing some manner of COM class error. We had to install it on our Windows XP machine to get it going.

Route Planner Deluxe provides street level maps for the UK and Ireland. You can search across them by road name, town, postcode and more interestingly by landmarks; type in "Angel of the North" and the map will zoom to just outside Gateshead. Upon finding any city, local landmarks are displayed so it's possible to plan a route directly to the train station, football stadium or museum, which is quite handy.

We tested the program with a number of journeys we're very familiar with, and the maps proved up to date, plus the journey times were pretty accurate (erring on the generous side, but with the state of traffic these days that's probably wise). The routes given were the shortest - as far as we're aware, anyway - and the directions themselves are clear.

Signpost information is given with every turn and roundabout exit instruction, so you're never in any doubt where you're heading. Traffic black-spots are also flagged up, and the program provides an AA road-watch number to phone to check the latest traffic reports from these dodgy roads. It'll cost you 60p a minute for the privilege, though.

Route Planner Deluxe's presentation is a touch bland, but perfectly functional, with some useful touches such as colour coding the route information to clearly show what sort of roads you're travelling on (motorway, A-road and so on). Zooming the map is easy as the zoom tool lets you draw a box, then displays a close up of that area; the only drawback is the map's very slow and jerky when scrolling around these enlarged streets.

A useful extra feature is the inclusion of a costing and expenses tab. This works out the cost of your petrol and mileage expenses and keeps a running total of logged trips, which could be helpful for those who don't just drive occasionally but spend much of their working life on the road.

It's worth noting that there's a budget (non-deluxe) version of the program, although this lacks the detailed street level maps and merely gives town to town directions. However, at only £10 this might be a more palatable option for thrifty travellers.

The AA Route Planner is a competent trip planner with basic expenses tracking built in. The street maps are accurate but sluggish to scroll, and the program seems to have issues with 64-bit Vista.