Plan a five-country family trip with Gemini, despite some wrong tips (partial)
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Plan a day-by-day itinerary for two weeks through France, Germany, Luxembourg, Belgium and the Netherlands for several families with little kids. We're vegetarian and use strollers. Keep drives short.
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Before you start, ask me 1–3 short questions about the details below and wait for my answers. Once I've answered, confirm the plan in one line and run the whole task start to finish. Goal: Plan a realistic multi-country family trip that works for young kids and gets updated as plans change. Questions to ask me first: - Which countries and how many days, and are we driving, taking trains or both? - How many adults and kids, and how old are the kids? - Any food needs, nap times, stroller or accessibility needs? Inputs (fill in or confirm): - Countries and dates: [COUNTRIES / DATES] - Group: [ADULTS / KIDS AND AGES] - Transport: [CAR / TRAIN] - Food and access needs: [NEEDS] - Must-sees: [MUST-SEES] Rules: - Keep travel days short and plan around naps and meals. - For every restaurant, attraction or lift, tell me to check the official site or Google Maps for opening hours on the day; don't present hours as certain. - Give a backup option near each main stop in case something is closed. - Group things by area so we're not crossing a city twice. Checkpoint: Show me the route and the nights in each place first, and wait for my OK before filling in each day. If you get stuck: If you can't confirm something exists or is open, label it 'unverified' rather than recommending it. Verify before you finish: Check the day-by-day plan matches the dates, the drive times are realistic, and every stop fits our food and stroller needs. Output: A day-by-day itinerary with drive times, one backup per day, and a list of places to double-check before we go. Done when: We have a plan the whole group agrees on, with backups for anything that might be closed.
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Outcome
Manish Kurse planned a family trip through France, Germany, Luxembourg, Belgium and the Netherlands with little kids and several families, testing Gemini and ChatGPT along the way. A detailed prompt in Gemini Canvas, covering needs like vegetarian food and kids in strollers, produced a day-by-day itinerary that saved hours and was updated as plans changed. On the road, the AI helped with a lost parking ticket at an Amsterdam P+R, Brussels metro tickets and questions at the Louvre. But a highly recommended Paris creperie was closed, a pizza tip 'didn't sell pizza', and a chairlift in Cochem was shut. Google Maps mostly had it right; 'even Gemini gave the wrong answers.'
Evidence: Described by posterThe person describes what happened in words, without screenshots or video.
Known limitations
PartialThe source says it only partly worked, or had a significant problem a person had to deal with.
What went wrong: The itinerary and on-trip help worked well, but several recommendations were wrong or out of date, and Google Maps was more reliable for live details.
Source
- Posted
- by Manish Kurse
- Last checked
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- How we verify
https://manishkurse.substack.com/p/travel-with-ai-companions
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