diff --git a/themes/intotheeast/blueprints/trip.yaml b/themes/intotheeast/blueprints/trip.yaml
index 1ff7576..37c8e00 100644
--- a/themes/intotheeast/blueprints/trip.yaml
+++ b/themes/intotheeast/blueprints/trip.yaml
@@ -68,16 +68,15 @@ form:
                 type: bool
 
             header.autoconnect:
-              type: toggle
+              type: select
               label: Connect markers
-              help: 'Draw connector lines between all location markers in chronological order'
-              highlight: 1
-              default: 1
+              help: 'Controls connector lines between location markers'
+              default: 'on'
               options:
-                1: 'Yes'
-                0: 'No'
-              validate:
-                type: bool
+                'on': 'On — always connect all'
+                'manual': 'Manual — force connect only'
+                'intelligent_gpx': 'Intelligent GPX — suppress where route is covered'
+                'off': 'Off — no connections'
 
         publishing:
           type: tab
diff --git a/themes/intotheeast/js/maplibre-utils.js b/themes/intotheeast/js/maplibre-utils.js
index 4db9c57..fe53b40 100644
--- a/themes/intotheeast/js/maplibre-utils.js
+++ b/themes/intotheeast/js/maplibre-utils.js
@@ -152,21 +152,65 @@
     return el;
   }
 
+  /* Haversine distance in km between two [lat, lng] points */
+  function haversineKm(lat1, lng1, lat2, lng2) {
+    var R    = 6371;
+    var dLat = (lat2 - lat1) * Math.PI / 180;
+    var dLng = (lng2 - lng1) * Math.PI / 180;
+    var a    = Math.sin(dLat / 2) * Math.sin(dLat / 2) +
+               Math.cos(lat1 * Math.PI / 180) * Math.cos(lat2 * Math.PI / 180) *
+               Math.sin(dLng / 2) * Math.sin(dLng / 2);
+    return R * 2 * Math.atan2(Math.sqrt(a), Math.sqrt(1 - a));
+  }
+
+  /* Extract [[lat, lng], ...] from a toGeoJSON output (flips GeoJSON [lng,lat] order). */
+  function extractTrackpoints(geojson) {
+    var points = [];
+    (geojson.features || []).forEach(function (feat) {
+      var coords = [];
+      if (feat.geometry.type === 'LineString') {
+        coords = feat.geometry.coordinates;
+      } else if (feat.geometry.type === 'MultiLineString') {
+        feat.geometry.coordinates.forEach(function (line) { coords = coords.concat(line); });
+      }
+      coords.forEach(function (c) { points.push([c[1], c[0]]); });
+    });
+    return points;
+  }
+
+  /* True if [markerLat, markerLng] is within thresholdKm of any point in trackpoints [[lat,lng],...]. */
+  function isNearTrack(markerLat, markerLng, trackpoints, thresholdKm) {
+    if (!trackpoints || trackpoints.length === 0) return false;
+    var degLat = thresholdKm / 111;
+    var degLng = thresholdKm / (111 * Math.cos(markerLat * Math.PI / 180));
+    for (var i = 0; i < trackpoints.length; i += 10) {
+      var pt = trackpoints[i];
+      if (Math.abs(pt[0] - markerLat) > degLat || Math.abs(pt[1] - markerLng) > degLng) continue;
+      if (haversineKm(markerLat, markerLng, pt[0], pt[1]) <= thresholdKm) return true;
+    }
+    var last = trackpoints[trackpoints.length - 1];
+    return haversineKm(markerLat, markerLng, last[0], last[1]) <= thresholdKm;
+  }
+
   /*
    * Build journey line segments from entries.
    *
-   * entries: [{lat, lng, force_connect?}, ...] in chronological order
-   * opts.autoconnect (bool, default true):
-   *   true  → connect every consecutive pair (simple chronological line)
-   *   false → connect only entries where force_connect:true
+   * entries:           [{lat, lng, force_connect?}, ...] in chronological order
+   * opts.connectMode:  'on' | 'off' | 'manual' | 'intelligent_gpx' (default: 'on')
+   *   'on'             → connect every consecutive pair (force_connect irrelevant)
+   *   'off'            → no connectors, force_connect is also ignored
+   *   'manual'         → only entries with force_connect:true draw a connector
+   *   'intelligent_gpx'→ suppress connector where GPX covers both endpoints;
+   *                       force_connect always overrides
+   * trackpointsPerFile: [ [[lat,lng],...], ... ] — required only for intelligent_gpx
    *
    * Returns array of segments [[lng, lat], ...] in MapLibre coordinate order.
    * Segments with < 2 points are omitted.
    */
-  function buildJourneySegments(entries, opts) {
-    var autoconnect = !opts || opts.autoconnect !== false;
-    var segments    = [];
-    var current     = [];
+  function buildJourneySegments(entries, opts, trackpointsPerFile) {
+    var mode     = (opts && opts.connectMode) || 'on';
+    var segments = [];
+    var current  = [];
 
     for (var i = 0; i < entries.length; i++) {
       var e      = entries[i];
@@ -174,7 +218,30 @@
 
       if (i === 0) { current.push(lngLat); continue; }
 
-      var connect = e.force_connect || autoconnect;
+      var connect;
+      if (mode === 'off') {
+        connect = false;
+      } else if (mode === 'on') {
+        connect = true;
+      } else if (mode === 'manual') {
+        connect = !!e.force_connect;
+      } else { /* intelligent_gpx */
+        if (e.force_connect) {
+          connect = true;
+        } else if (!trackpointsPerFile || trackpointsPerFile.length === 0) {
+          connect = true; /* no GPX present → connect all */
+        } else {
+          var prev    = entries[i - 1];
+          var covered = false;
+          for (var f = 0; f < trackpointsPerFile.length; f++) {
+            if (isNearTrack(parseFloat(prev.lat), parseFloat(prev.lng), trackpointsPerFile[f], 10) &&
+                isNearTrack(parseFloat(e.lat),    parseFloat(e.lng),    trackpointsPerFile[f], 10)) {
+              covered = true; break;
+            }
+          }
+          connect = !covered;
+        }
+      }
 
       if (connect) {
         current.push(lngLat);
@@ -202,15 +269,16 @@
 
   /*
    * Fetch GPX files and render their raw tracks, then draw journey connector
-   * lines between entries per opts.autoconnect / force_connect.
+   * lines between entries per opts.connectMode / force_connect.
    *
    * gpxUrls:         array of GPX file URLs to fetch (empty → no tracks, connectors only)
    * entries:         [{lat, lng, force_connect?}, ...] in chronological order
    * gpxSourcePrefix: source/layer ID prefix for raw GPX tracks (e.g. 'gpx', 'home-gpx')
    * journeySourceId: base source ID for connector segments (e.g. 'journey', 'home-journey')
-   * opts:            forwarded to buildJourneySegments (opts.autoconnect)
+   * opts:            forwarded to buildJourneySegments (opts.connectMode)
    */
   function renderGpxJourney(map, gpxUrls, entries, gpxSourcePrefix, journeySourceId, opts) {
+    var needsTrackpoints = opts && opts.connectMode === 'intelligent_gpx';
     Promise.all(gpxUrls.map(function (url, idx) {
       return fetch(url)
         .then(function (r) { return r.text(); })
@@ -224,10 +292,12 @@
             layout: { 'line-join': 'round', 'line-cap': 'round' },
             paint:  { 'line-color': ACCENT, 'line-width': 2, 'line-opacity': 0.7 }
           });
+          return needsTrackpoints ? extractTrackpoints(geojson) : [];
         })
-        .catch(function (err) { console.warn('GPX load failed:', url, err); });
-    })).then(function () {
-      var segments = buildJourneySegments(entries, opts);
+        .catch(function (err) { console.warn('GPX load failed:', url, err); return []; });
+    })).then(function (allTrackpoints) {
+      var valid    = needsTrackpoints ? allTrackpoints.filter(function (tp) { return tp.length > 0; }) : [];
+      var segments = buildJourneySegments(entries, opts, valid);
       addJourneySegments(map, segments, journeySourceId);
     });
   }
diff --git a/themes/intotheeast/templates/dailies.html.twig b/themes/intotheeast/templates/dailies.html.twig
index 5948e02..83c3943 100644
--- a/themes/intotheeast/templates/dailies.html.twig
+++ b/themes/intotheeast/templates/dailies.html.twig
@@ -44,7 +44,8 @@
 <script src="{{ url('theme://js/maplibre-utils.js') }}"></script>
 <script>
 var FEED_ENTRIES = {{ map_entries|json_encode|raw }};
-var AUTOCONNECT  = {{ trip_page.header.autoconnect ?? true ? 'true' : 'false' }};
+{% set _ac = trip_page.header.autoconnect ?? 'on' %}
+var AUTOCONNECT  = "{{ _ac == 'intelligent_gpx' ? 'on' : _ac }}";
 
 var feedMap = new maplibregl.Map({
     container: 'feed-map',
@@ -79,7 +80,7 @@ feedMap.on('load', function () {
         feedMap.fitBounds(bounds, { padding: 60, maxZoom: 11 });
     }
 
-    var segments = MapUtils.buildJourneySegments(FEED_ENTRIES, { autoconnect: AUTOCONNECT });
+    var segments = MapUtils.buildJourneySegments(FEED_ENTRIES, { connectMode: AUTOCONNECT });
     MapUtils.addJourneySegments(feedMap, segments, 'feed-journey');
 });
 </script>
diff --git a/themes/intotheeast/templates/home.html.twig b/themes/intotheeast/templates/home.html.twig
index 42d2ec1..f24f343 100644
--- a/themes/intotheeast/templates/home.html.twig
+++ b/themes/intotheeast/templates/home.html.twig
@@ -152,7 +152,7 @@
 var HOME_ENTRIES  = {{ map_entries|json_encode|raw }};
 var HOME_GPX_URLS = {{ home_gpx_urls|json_encode|raw }};
 var USE_GPX       = {{ trip and trip.header.use_gpx is not null ? (trip.header.use_gpx ? 'true' : 'false') : 'true' }};
-var AUTOCONNECT   = {{ trip and trip.header.autoconnect is not null ? (trip.header.autoconnect ? 'true' : 'false') : 'true' }};
+var AUTOCONNECT   = "{{ trip ? (trip.header.autoconnect ?? 'on') : 'on' }}";
 
 var homeMap = new maplibregl.Map({
     container: 'home-map',
@@ -194,7 +194,7 @@ homeMap.on('load', function () {
 
     setTimeout(function () { homeMap.resize(); }, 100);
 
-    MapUtils.renderGpxJourney(homeMap, USE_GPX ? HOME_GPX_URLS : [], HOME_ENTRIES, 'home-gpx', 'home-journey', { autoconnect: AUTOCONNECT });
+    MapUtils.renderGpxJourney(homeMap, USE_GPX ? HOME_GPX_URLS : [], HOME_ENTRIES, 'home-gpx', 'home-journey', { connectMode: AUTOCONNECT });
 });
 </script>
 {% endif %}
diff --git a/themes/intotheeast/templates/map.html.twig b/themes/intotheeast/templates/map.html.twig
index cecd355..7a8a9f7 100644
--- a/themes/intotheeast/templates/map.html.twig
+++ b/themes/intotheeast/templates/map.html.twig
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@
 var ENTRIES     = {{ map_entries|json_encode|raw }};
 var GPX_URLS    = {{ gpx_urls|json_encode|raw }};
 var USE_GPX     = {{ trip_page.header.use_gpx ?? true ? 'true' : 'false' }};
-var AUTOCONNECT = {{ trip_page.header.autoconnect ?? true ? 'true' : 'false' }};
+var AUTOCONNECT = "{{ trip_page.header.autoconnect ?? 'on' }}";
 
 var map = new maplibregl.Map({
     container: 'trip-map',
@@ -94,7 +94,7 @@ map.on('load', function () {
     }
 
     /* ── GPX tracks + journey segments ─────────────────────────── */
-    MapUtils.renderGpxJourney(map, USE_GPX ? GPX_URLS : [], ENTRIES, 'gpx', 'journey', { autoconnect: AUTOCONNECT });
+    MapUtils.renderGpxJourney(map, USE_GPX ? GPX_URLS : [], ENTRIES, 'gpx', 'journey', { connectMode: AUTOCONNECT });
 });
 </script>
 {% endblock %}
diff --git a/themes/intotheeast/templates/trip.html.twig b/themes/intotheeast/templates/trip.html.twig
index c1ec930..06b3342 100644
--- a/themes/intotheeast/templates/trip.html.twig
+++ b/themes/intotheeast/templates/trip.html.twig
@@ -300,7 +300,7 @@
 var TRIP_ENTRIES = {{ map_entries|json_encode|raw }};
 var GPX_URLS     = {{ gpx_urls|json_encode|raw }};
 var USE_GPX      = {{ page.header.use_gpx ?? true ? 'true' : 'false' }};
-var AUTOCONNECT  = {{ page.header.autoconnect ?? true ? 'true' : 'false' }};
+var AUTOCONNECT  = "{{ page.header.autoconnect ?? 'on' }}";
 
 var tripMap = new maplibregl.Map({
     container: 'trip-map',
@@ -351,7 +351,7 @@ tripMap.on('load', function () {
     }
 
     /* ── GPX tracks + journey segments ─────────────────────────── */
-    MapUtils.renderGpxJourney(tripMap, USE_GPX ? GPX_URLS : [], TRIP_ENTRIES, 'gpx', 'trip-journey', { autoconnect: AUTOCONNECT });
+    MapUtils.renderGpxJourney(tripMap, USE_GPX ? GPX_URLS : [], TRIP_ENTRIES, 'gpx', 'trip-journey', { connectMode: AUTOCONNECT });
 });
 setTimeout(function () { tripMap.resize(); }, 100);