TL;DR: I used ChatGPT to help me plan my week-long trip to Italy. It saved me hours of research. Here’s how you can use it too:
Should Travel Agents Be Scared?
In case you’ve been living under a rock, ChatGPT is the hottest new AI program right now. It’s basically like Google, except instead of spitting out a list of website results, it simply answers your questions directly.
Yes, welcome to the future.
In this post, I’ll share my experience of using ChatGPT for planning my trip to Italy, and show you how it can help you plan your dream vacation with ease.
Whether you’re looking for destination recommendations, transportation help, or foods to try, I was pleasantly surprised with ChatGPTs output and its usefulness in planning my trip abroad.
Hey ChatGPT, where should I visit?
My plan for this trip to Italy was to fly into the city of Florence, and then explore different parts of the Tuscany region. But beside that, I had no knowledge of what else to even ask, as I’d never been to Italy.
So to start, I used ChatGPT to narrow down the different popular towns that I could consider visiting in close proximity to Florence.
I also told GPT that I was specifically interested in photography and food, since those were my top interests for this trip.
Here’s what it came up with:
I was quite impressed with these results, as it gave me several top town recommendations, and also sprinkled good photo spots and local foods to try throughout.
Upon doing an accuracy check with other sources, it looks like everything included in ChatGPTS output here was accurate (although that’s not always the case with AI answers). Either way, the results can serve as a good jumping off point for your own further research.
In what order should I visit?
After the initial response that recommended a few famous Tuscany towns like Siena, San Gimignano, and Pienza, I was curious if ChatGPT had the ability to think critically about the path between different locations and what order made the most sense to travel.
As far as I know, the software doesn’t have any built-in standalone GPS navigation system (yet), but the answer it provided was surprisingly accurate (I confirmed with a few Google Maps searches).
The only thing that I wasn’t 100% onboard with was ChatGPTs claim that you can use public transportation such as trains and buses. While that is true between some of the listed locations, I don’t believe all of them (especially the smaller towns) have much public transit — and I’ve been told by friends that renting a car to explore Tuscany is usually the right move.
What should I eat?
Last but not least, I didn’t want to be the guy who traveled to a foreign country only to miss out on the most famous foods and drinks. So I decided to see what ChatGPT had to say about famous Italian dishes and drinks in the Tuscan region.
The list was pretty decent and agreed with others blogs I had read when doing my own research.
Other potential ChatGPT uses for travel planning:
Translation – ask it to translate any phrase into another language
Personalized itinerary planning – input your interests and budget and it can help suggest activities
Local Recommendations – input a destination and ask it what to do. ChatGPT will give you restaurants, bars, festivals, nature spots, and other attractions
Final thoughts
By leveraging the power of ChatGPT for travel planning, you can easily get personalized recommendations for your trip, saving time while enjoying a more fulfilling travel experience.
It’s not a perfect tool, and I’m sure it will keep improving. But in my test when compared to information found in blog posts and other resources, it was accurate enough and gave me a great jumping off point for my Italy trip travel plans.
So why not give it a try on your next trip and see how it can enhance your travel experience? Happy travels!