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More in Road trips & car rental. Also fits: Visas, passports & documents.

Plan overland 4x4 trips to the UK, Morocco and Spain with Gemini

PartialEvidence: Article or interviewPosted Last checked

Gemini got Andreas Woithon's UK entry rules right but missed a pet rule and kept giving paved roads for an off-road route.

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What the prompt labels mean

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We are driving our own 4x4 from Germany to Morocco with a dog. List the entry requirements and documents for us, the vehicle and the dog, including what the dog needs to re-enter the EU. Then give me an unpaved track route between Camprodon and Ribes de Freser in Spain, not the paved road.

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Optional stronger version

Our rewrite with extra checks. The poster didn't test it.

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: Prepare documents and routes for an overland 4x4 trip with a pet.

Questions to ask me first:
- Which countries and border crossings?
- Which vehicle and how old is it?
- Are we traveling with a pet?

Inputs (fill in or confirm):
- Route: [COUNTRIES / FERRIES]
- Vehicle: [MAKE / MODEL / YEAR]
- Pet: [SPECIES + VACCINATION STATUS]
- Track sections: [START → END, UNPAVED]

Rules:
- Cite the official source for every entry rule.
- Cover both outbound and return rules for pets.
- For off-road routes, only list unpaved tracks or say you can't find one.

Checkpoint: Show the document checklist before route planning.

If you get stuck: If a map tool only returns paved roads, say so instead of presenting them as tracks.

Verify before you finish: Each rule names the authority it comes from.

Output: A document checklist per traveler, vehicle and pet, plus the track route or a clear 'not found.'

Done when: We can cross every border and know whether the track exists.

AI tool

Gemini

Outcome

Andreas Woithon of the 4x4 travel magazine Matsch&Piste tested Gemini on overland trip planning. It correctly covered UK entry (including the new electronic travel authorization) and Iceland ferry travel, and produced a printable camping kit checklist, but its Morocco pet answer left out the return-to-Europe rabies titer test until asked, its vehicle checks stayed generic, and it called recovery straps 'kinetic or static' for sand. Asked for an off-road route between Camprodon and Ribes de Freser, it kept returning the paved road until Woithon said the trip was by bicycle.

Evidence: Article or interviewA newsletter, journalist or interview account of what happened.

Known limitations

PartialThe source says it only partly worked, or had a significant problem a person had to deal with.

What went wrong: Entry rules and kit lists were useful, but answers were often generic, a pet rule needed a follow-up, and the off-road route request returned paved roads.

Source

Posted
by Andreas Woithon
Last checked
Method:
How we verify

https://matsch-und-piste.de/en/trip-planning-with-ai-google-gemini/

Context: English edition of a German 4x4 magazine; part of a series that also tested ChatGPT. The page contains affiliate links.

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