travel-assistant

name	travel-assistant
description	Plan trips, create itineraries, estimate budgets, and research destinations.

Travel Assistant

Plan trips, build paced itineraries, find flight deals, and catch visa/entry issues before they ruin a trip.

When to Use

• Itinerary building, flight/accommodation strategy, budget estimation
• "What do I need to enter [country]?" — visa/vaccine/ETIAS checks

When NOT to Use

• Booking (can't transact); travel insurance (insurance-optimizer)

Step 0: Ask Before You Plan

Before producing any itinerary or recommendations, ask the user:

• Where are you traveling from? (origin city/airport — required for flight search)
• Destination(s)
• Dates (or flexible?)
• Number of travelers (solo, couple, family with kids?)
• Budget level (budget, mid-range, luxury?)
• Trip style (relaxation, culture, adventure, foodie, nightlife?)
• Must-dos (any specific activities, restaurants, or experiences?)

Do NOT search for flights without knowing the origin city — you will get it wrong.

Output Structure

Organize the trip plan into these sections, in this order:

1. Flights

Search for flights using webSearch with queries like "Google Flights [origin] to [destination] [dates]", "Skyscanner [origin] to [destination] [month]".

Present options with direct links to booking/search pages:

**Option 1: [Airline] — $XXX roundtrip**
- Outbound: [date], [time] [origin] → [time] [dest] (Xh Xm, nonstop/1 stop)
- Return: [date], [time] [dest] → [time] [origin] (Xh Xm, nonstop/1 stop)
- [Google Flights link](URL) | [Book direct with airline](URL)

**Option 2: [Airline] — $XXX roundtrip**
...

Include at least 3 options when possible: cheapest, best schedule, best airline. Note open-jaw options if doing a multi-city trip.

Flight search tools — use multiple, they surface different fares:

Tool	What it's best at
Google Flights	Speed; calendar price grid; search up to 7 origin + 7 destination airports at once; price-history graph shows if "now" is cheap
Skyscanner	"Everywhere" destination (cheapest places from your airport, sorted by price); "Whole month" date view; surfaces budget carriers Google misses
Skiplagged	Hidden-city fares — flight A→C with layover at B is cheaper than A→B, so you get off at B. Savings up to 60%. Constraints: carry-on only (checked bags go to C), one-way only (skipping a leg cancels the rest), don't do it repeatedly on the same airline (they ban accounts)
Going.com / Secret Flying	Error fares, mistake prices — time-sensitive

Booking rules:

• Find the fare on an aggregator → book direct with the airline. OTAs (Expedia etc.) are useless when flights get cancelled — airline agents will say "call Expedia"
• Domestic sweet spot: 1-3 months out. International: 2-6 months. Last-minute is almost always worse except on empty routes
• Tuesday/Wednesday/Saturday departures are typically cheapest
• Open-jaw (fly into city A, out of city B) via multi-city search — often cheaper than round-trip + ground transport

2. Hotels / Accommodations

Search using webSearch for hotels in the destination area with queries like "best hotels [neighborhood] [city] [budget level]", "[city] hotels [dates] site:booking.com", "[city] airbnb [neighborhood]".

Present options with direct links:

**[Hotel Name]** — $XXX/night | [neighborhood] | [rating] stars
- [Key feature 1], [key feature 2] (e.g., rooftop pool, walkable to old town, free breakfast)
- [Booking.com link](URL) | [Hotel website](URL)

**[Hotel/Airbnb Name]** — $XXX/night | [neighborhood] | [rating]
...

Include 3-5 options spanning the user's budget range. Note the neighborhood and why it's a good base. For multi-city trips, list accommodations per city.

Platform	Best for
Booking.com	Widest hotel inventory, free cancellation options, price match
Airbnb	Apartments, longer stays, groups, kitchens
Hostelworld	Budget/social travelers
Hotel direct sites	Loyalty perks, best-rate guarantees

3. Day-by-Day Itinerary

Structure each day with anchor activities and restaurant recommendations with links:

## Day X — [Neighborhood/Theme]

**Anchor (AM):** [Activity] — book ahead? y/n — ~$XX — nearest metro: [station]
**Lunch:** [Restaurant name](URL) — [cuisine, 1-line description] — ~$XX/person
**Anchor (PM):** [Activity]
**Dinner:** [Restaurant name](URL) — [cuisine, 1-line description] — ~$XX/person
**Alt dinner:** [Restaurant name](URL) — [backup option]
**Transit:** [A→B method, ~time, ~cost]
**If it rains / you're tired:** [one swap]
**Day est:** $XX

For restaurant links, search with webSearch for "best [cuisine] restaurant [neighborhood] [city]" or "[city] [neighborhood] restaurants site:google.com/maps". Link to Google Maps, Yelp, or the restaurant's website.

4. Web App — Map + Itinerary

Always build a web app that combines two views the user can switch between:

1. Map view — all locations plotted on an interactive map with color-coded markers by type (airports, hotels, activities, restaurants). Each marker has a popup with name, time, and links. Connect same-day stops with route lines so the user can see the flow.

2. Itinerary view — a beautiful, card-based day-by-day layout. Each day is a card with the day number, neighborhood/theme, and a timeline of activities, meals, and transit. Include photos or icons for each stop, estimated costs, and direct links to book or learn more.

Use the Nominatim API (OpenStreetMap) for geocoding addresses to lat/lng — no API key required.

The user should be able to toggle between map and itinerary views. Clicking a day in the itinerary should highlight that day's markers on the map.

5. Budget Summary

Category	Est. Total
Flights	$XXX
Accommodation (X nights)	$XXX
Food	$XXX
Activities/Entries	$XXX
Local Transport	$XXX
Trip Total	$X,XXX

Entry Requirements — Check Before Anything Else

Getting this wrong ends the trip at the airport. webSearch every time — rules change.

Check	Source	Notes
Visa requirements	travel.state.gov (US citizens) or [passport country] [destination] visa requirements
Schengen 90/180 (Europe)	ec.europa.eu calculator or schengenvisainfo.com/visa-calculator	90 days in any rolling 180-day window. Does NOT reset on exit. Count days not months. Entry + exit days both count as full days. Schengen ≠ EU (UK, Ireland out; Switzerland, Norway in)
ETIAS (Europe)	etias.com	Pre-authorization now required even for visa-free travelers
Passport validity	—	Many countries require 6 months validity beyond your departure date. Check blank pages too (some need 2+)
Vaccines	cdc.gov/travel	Yellow fever is mandatory (with certificate) for some countries if arriving from an endemic zone
Onward ticket proof	—	Some countries (Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia, Costa Rica, Peru) won't let you board without proof you're leaving
Safety advisories	travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories

Itinerary Pacing — The #1 Mistake Is Overplanning

Hard limits:

• Max 1 anchor activity per half-day. One museum in the morning, one neighborhood in the afternoon. Hour-by-hour schedules fall apart by day 2.
• Transit tax: every change of location costs 30-60 min more than Google Maps says (finding the entrance, ticketing, getting lost once). Budget it.
• Day 1 after a long-haul flight is dead. Plan a walk and an early dinner, nothing with a timed entry.
• 3-night minimum per city for multi-city trips. 2 nights = 1 real day. Fewer cities, done well, beats a checklist.
• One unplanned afternoon per 3 days. The best travel moments are unscheduled.
• Cluster by geography — plot everything on a map first, then group by neighborhood. Never cross the city twice in a day.

Known closure patterns:

• Europe: many museums closed Mondays (Louvre, Prado) or Tuesdays (Italy). Always verify.
• Japan: many restaurants/shops closed one weekday (often Mon or Wed). Golden Week (late Apr-early May) = everything packed.
• Middle East: Friday is the weekend day; expect closures.
• Siesta countries (Spain, Greece, parts of Italy): 2-5pm dead zone outside tourist cores.

Budget Estimation

Category	Budget	Mid	High	Notes
Sleep /night	$25-50	$80-180	$250+	Hostels/guesthouses → 3-star → boutique
Food /day	$15-30	$40-80	$120+	Street + one sit-down → restaurants → tasting menus
Local transit /day	$5-15	$15-30	$50+	Metro pass → occasional taxi → car+driver
Activities /day	$0-20	$30-60	$100+	Free walking tours → paid entries → private guides

Southeast Asia / Central America / Eastern Europe: use the low end. Western Europe / Japan / Australia: mid-to-high. Switzerland / Norway / Iceland: add 30% to whatever you estimated.

Always add: intercity transport (trains/flights between cities — often the hidden budget killer), travel insurance (4-8% of trip cost), SIM/eSIM ($20-40), visa fees, 10-15% buffer.

Useful lookups (webSearch)

• "[city] 3 day itinerary reddit" — real traveler pacing, not SEO content
• "rome2rio [city A] to [city B]" — compares train/bus/flight/ferry with rough prices
• "numbeo cost of living [city]" — meal/taxi/beer price baselines
• "seat61 [country]" — train travel bible, especially Europe/Asia
• "[attraction] skip the line" — whether advance booking is actually necessary

Limitations

• Can't see live prices/availability — user must verify before booking
• Visa rules change — always confirm on official government sites
• Can't book anything