What You'll Learn
How to use AI as a personal travel planner — building complete, personalised itineraries, researching destinations, estimating budgets, and generating packing lists — in a fraction of the time it would take to do it yourself.
Why This Matters
Travel planning is time-consuming. Hours of switching between TripAdvisor, Google Maps, travel blogs, booking sites, and airline schedules to piece together a coherent trip. AI pulls this all together in minutes — and unlike a travel blog written for a generic traveller, it tailors everything to your specific preferences, travel style, group size, and budget.
Step-by-Step Guide
Step 1: Give AI the full context of your trip
The more you share, the more personalised the result:
Help me plan a trip with the following details:
Destination: [city/country]
Duration: [number of days]
Travel dates: [approximate dates or month]
Who's travelling: [e.g. couple, family with two kids aged 7 and 10, solo]
Budget: [rough daily budget or total budget]
Interests: [e.g. history, food, hiking, beach, art, nightlife]
Pace: [relaxed / moderate / packed]
Accommodation style: [hotels / Airbnb / budget hostels / luxury]
Anything to avoid: [e.g. very touristy spots, long drives, early mornings]
Step 2: Generate a day-by-day itinerary
Based on the above, create a detailed day-by-day itinerary. For each day include:
- Morning, afternoon, and evening activities
- Suggested restaurants for lunch and dinner
- Rough travel times between locations
- Any bookings I should make in advance
Step 3: Use Perplexity AI for current, sourced information
For specific recommendations — restaurant reviews, current entry requirements, transport options — switch to Perplexity AI which searches the live web:
What are the current visa requirements for a UK citizen visiting [country]? What vaccinations are recommended?
What are the best-reviewed local restaurants near [neighbourhood] in [city] right now? Not tourist traps.
Step 4: Generate a packing list
Create a packing list for this trip. Consider:
- Weather in [destination] in [month]
- Activities planned (hiking, swimming, formal dinners, etc.)
- Duration of trip
- Travelling with [children/elderly parent/etc.]
Tips for Better Results
- Iterate the itinerary. Your first draft is a starting point. Say "Day 3 looks too rushed — spread it across two days" or "Add a half-day cooking class somewhere."
- Ask for alternatives. "What if it rains on Day 2? Suggest indoor alternatives for the outdoor activities."
- Check AI's restaurant and hotel recommendations. AI training data has a cut-off date. Verify specific restaurant recommendations on Google Maps or TripAdvisor before booking.
Tools That Work Best for This
- ChatGPT or Claude — excellent for building detailed, personalised itineraries through a conversational back-and-forth. Claude handles very detailed, long itineraries particularly well.
- Perplexity AI — use it for anything time-sensitive: current visa rules, recent reviews, live prices, transport options, and local events during your travel dates.