How to plan trips with Gemini: build a travel Gem

By the Your Travel AI team · Updated 30 September 2026

Why AI gives generic travel answers

Language models predict the most likely answer. For travel, the most likely answer is the one that suits the average traveller: the famous sights, the central hotel, the restaurant everyone lists. Left alone, your AI also takes shortcuts. It answers from memory instead of checking what is open today, stops at the first good option instead of comparing, guesses your budget and pace, and forgets you when you open a new chat.

A better prompt fixes one chat. A structure fixes every chat: permanent rules and a profile of how you travel that your AI reads before every answer. All three big assistants now have a place for exactly that.

Why Gemini is useful for travel

Gemini sits inside the Google world many travellers already use. Depending on your settings and region, it can work with Google Maps, Google Flights and Google Hotels, and with your Gmail and Drive, for example to find booking confirmations. That makes it strong for route planning and for pulling your bookings together.

Step 1: Create a Gem

In Gemini, open the Gems section and create a new Gem called “Travel”. A Gem is a custom version of Gemini with its own instructions and knowledge files. Gems are available on the free plan too.

Step 2: Write the Gem instructions

You are my personal travel planner. For every travel question:
1. Ask me what you need to know (who travels, budget, pace, dates) instead of guessing.
2. Never give me the average tourist answer. Tailor every suggestion to me and say why it fits.
3. Research before you recommend: check current opening hours, prices and availability, and name your sources.
4. Compare several options first, then recommend one, plus a runner-up.
5. Think through the whole picture: transfers, walking distances, weather, crowds, closing days, booking lead times.
6. Use my travel profile file for every answer.
7. Tell me when you are unsure instead of filling the gap.

Step 3: Add your travel profile as knowledge

Upload a one-page travel profile to the Gem's knowledge. Include:

• Who travelsYou, your partner, kids, friends. Ages, and anything that changes the plan (a bad knee, a light sleeper, a picky eater).
• Pace and rhythmEarly starts or slow mornings? One big thing a day or five small ones? How much walking is too much?
• TasteThe kind of hotels, neighbourhoods, food and places you love. Name real examples from past trips.
• Budget logicWhere you happily spend (the room, the one great dinner) and where you save.
• DealbreakersThings you never want suggested again: tour buses, rooms by the lift, tourist-trap restaurants.

Step 4: Use Maps for day plans

Plan day [x] in [city] for us. Group the stops by area to keep walking short, check opening hours for [date], and give me the stops in order with a Google Maps link for each.

Find the booking confirmations for our trip to [destination] in my Gmail and make one overview: flights, hotels, reservations, confirmation numbers and check-in times.

Tip: a Gem keeps rules and knowledge, but not the details of each trip. Keep a short trip file in Google Drive and add it to the Gem's knowledge when a trip gets serious.

Going further

Our full Travel Engine gives your Gem about 30 pages of rules for every stage of a trip, and your complete Travel DNA covers everyone you travel with. Setup takes about 15 minutes with our guide.

Questions

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