I spent three weeks planning a two-week trip to Japan the old-fashioned way. Spreadsheets, browser tabs everywhere, conflicting reviews, and a growing sense that I was missing something obvious. When I finally had my itinerary, I felt exhausted before the trip even started.
Last month, I planned a comparable trip to Portugal in about 90 minutes using AI travel tools. The itinerary was better, more personalized, and I actually enjoyed the planning process.
That experience made me curious: which AI travel planners are actually worth using in 2025? I tested seven different tools by planning the same hypothetical trip – a 10-day journey through Italy for two people with a $3,500 budget. Here's what I found.
How I tested these tools
Before diving in, let me explain my approach. I gave each tool the same basic parameters:
- 10-day trip to Italy (Rome, Florence, Amalfi Coast)
- 2 travelers, moderate budget ($3,500 total)
- Interested in food, history, some hiking
- Prefer local experiences over tourist traps
- Need hotel recommendations and restaurant suggestions
I evaluated each tool on:
- How accurate and useful the recommendations were
- Whether it understood context and preferences
- Ease of use and interface quality
- Ability to adjust and refine suggestions
- Value for money (for paid tools)
- Whether it felt like something I'd actually use
I'm not affiliated with any of these companies. I paid for the premium versions where necessary, and I'm sharing honest opinions based on actual use.
1. Layla AI
Price: Free with optional $7/month premium
After testing everything, Layla is the one I'd recommend to most travelers. It's not perfect, but it hits the sweet spot of being powerful enough to be useful without being overwhelming.
The interface is conversational – you literally chat with it like texting a friend who's traveled everywhere. I started with "Help me plan 10 days in Italy" and it asked clarifying questions: What's your budget? What pace do you prefer? Any dietary restrictions? Do you want to rent a car?
What impressed me: Layla understood context. When I mentioned wanting "authentic food experiences," it suggested specific markets and family-run restaurants, not just highly-rated tourist spots. It knew that driving on the Amalfi Coast in summer is stressful and suggested alternative transportation.
The itinerary it generated was realistic. Day one in Rome wasn't crammed with the Colosseum, Vatican, Trevi Fountain, and six other things. It grouped nearby attractions logically and included buffer time for meals and getting lost (which I always do).
The premium features ($7/month) add collaborative planning, unlimited itinerary saves, and better hotel booking integration. The free version is honestly sufficient for most trips.
Where it struggled: Layla occasionally gave outdated information about opening hours or seasonal closures. I had to verify details independently. It also tends toward mainstream recommendations – you won't discover hidden gems nobody knows about.
Best for: First-time travelers to a destination, people who want a solid itinerary without obsessing over details, anyone planning a relatively straightforward trip.
My verdict: This is the tool I'll actually use for my next trip. It's intuitive, fast, and produces genuinely helpful results without requiring a tutorial.
2. Roam Around
Price: Free
Roam Around is impressively simple. You enter a destination, number of days, and interests – that's it. Within seconds, you get a day-by-day itinerary.
For my Italy test, it generated a complete 10-day plan in maybe 15 seconds. The speed is genuinely impressive. The itinerary was more generic than Layla's but still useful as a starting framework.
Each day had 3-4 activities with brief descriptions and rough time allocations. It suggested logical routing – not sending me across the city multiple times unnecessarily. The recommendations were solid if conventional: major museums, famous restaurants, popular viewpoints.
What I liked: The speed and simplicity. When I'm in the early stages of planning and just want to see if a trip is feasible, Roam Around gives me a framework immediately. It's also completely free with no upsells or premium features.
The limitations: You can't really have a conversation with it. You input parameters, get an itinerary, and that's it. Want to adjust something? You basically start over. It also doesn't help with bookings or provide much detail beyond "visit this place."
The suggestions were safe and mainstream. Nothing wrong with them, but nothing surprising either. Every "3 days in Rome" itinerary includes the Colosseum and Vatican – Roam Around won't suggest that incredible little osteria in Trastevere that locals love.
Best for: Getting a quick outline to work from, travelers who plan to do heavy customization anyway, people on tight budgets who want something free and functional.
My verdict: Great as a starting point but not comprehensive enough to be your only planning tool. I'd use this to generate a basic framework, then flesh it out with other research.
3. Trip Planner AI (Tripnotes)
Price: Free with $10/month premium
Tripnotes felt like it was built by someone who actually travels obsessively and wanted specific features.
The free version lets you create itineraries with decent AI suggestions. The premium version adds real-time updates, offline access, budget tracking, and collaborative features. I tested the premium since that's where it really shines.
What sets Tripnotes apart is customization depth. You can specify not just interests but also pace (relaxed, moderate, fast), accommodation style, dietary restrictions, and accessibility needs. It understood when I said I wanted "slower mornings" and didn't schedule anything before 9 AM.
The budget tracking is legitimately useful. As you add activities and restaurants, it estimates costs and tracks against your budget. By day 5 of my Italy itinerary, it warned me I was trending high and suggested some free alternatives for later days.
The map integration is excellent. Everything in your itinerary appears on an interactive map, color-coded by day. You can immediately see if your plans make geographic sense or if you're zigzagging unnecessarily.
Where it fell short: The interface is a bit cluttered. There are so many options and features that it felt overwhelming at first. I spent more time learning the tool than I wanted to.
Some suggestions felt repetitive. Multiple days included "visit a local market" without much differentiation between markets. The AI is comprehensive but not always imaginative.
Best for: Detail-oriented planners, people traveling with specific requirements or restrictions, groups who need to collaborate on planning, anyone who wants serious budget tracking.
My verdict: Powerful but requires investment to learn. If you travel frequently and want one tool that does everything, worth the learning curve. For occasional travelers, probably overkill.
4. Wonderplan
Price: Free
Wonderplan's angle is budget optimization. You set your total budget, and it builds an itinerary that maximizes experience while staying within limits.
For my $3,500 Italy trip, it allocated specific amounts to accommodation, food, transportation, and activities. The breakdown was thoughtful – it didn't just divide evenly but allocated more to accommodation (because Italy hotels are expensive) and less to transportation (because Italian trains are affordable).
The suggestions reflected the budget tier. Instead of Michelin-recommended restaurants, it suggested excellent local spots with reasonable prices. Instead of luxury hotels, it recommended well-located mid-range options and even a couple of highly-rated hostels with private rooms.
What impressed me: Wonderplan found deals I wouldn't have found manually. It suggested traveling between cities in the morning (cheaper train tickets) and recommended accommodations just outside tourist zones (significantly cheaper, still convenient).
It included free activities – specific parks, walking routes, free museum days. The itinerary didn't feel "budget" in a negative way; it felt smartly economical.
The downsides: Less flexibility in itinerary style. The focus on budget optimization sometimes overshadowed other preferences. When I mentioned wanting a "special anniversary dinner," it suggested a nice but not spectacular place because it was budget-conscious.
The interface is basic. No fancy features, minimal customization, straightforward but not exciting to use.
Best for: Budget-conscious travelers, backpackers, students, anyone who needs to make a fixed budget stretch as far as possible.
My verdict: If budget is your primary constraint, Wonderplan is excellent. If you have more flexibility and want a richer experience regardless of cost, other tools might suit better.
5. Maya AI
Price: $15/month (7-day free trial)
Maya positions itself as the concierge for upscale travel, and it delivers on that promise.
The same Italy trip planned through Maya looked completely different from the budget-focused tools. Five-star hotels with rooftop pools, private cooking classes, reserved tables at Michelin-starred restaurants, helicopter transfer to Capri.
The total cost estimate was roughly double my stated budget, which was... not great. But when I adjusted parameters to indicate I wanted "luxury within a moderate budget," it recalibrated effectively.
What Maya does well: It knows the high-end travel space intimately. Restaurant recommendations included specific dishes to order. Hotel suggestions noted which rooms have the best views. It mentioned that booking a private Vatican tour for 7 AM means experiencing the Sistine Chapel essentially alone.
The level of detail was remarkable. For a suggested beach club in Positano, it noted: "Request a front-row sunbed, arrive before 10 AM or reserve in advance, try the seafood pasta, and stay for sunset."
Maya also handles logistics that other tools ignore. It suggested where to store luggage between hotel checkout and evening flights, recommended reliable car services by name, and even noted which museums offer coat check.
The problems: The $15 monthly cost is steep if you only travel occasionally. The suggestions, while excellent, skewed expensive even when I tried to moderate them. And honestly, some recommendations felt like they came from affiliate partnerships – not necessarily bad recommendations, but I wondered about objectivity.
Best for: Luxury travelers, special occasions like honeymoons or anniversaries, business travelers with flexible budgets, anyone who values convenience and quality over cost.
My verdict: If you're planning a special trip and budget isn't the primary concern, Maya is worth the cost. For everyday travel, it's probably overkill.
6. GuideGeek (Chat with AI via WhatsApp)
Price: Free
GuideGeek has a unique approach – it's a WhatsApp chatbot. You add their number and chat directly through messaging.
I was skeptical but ended up impressed by how convenient this was. No app to download, no account to create, just message like you're texting a knowledgeable friend.
I messaged: "Help me plan 10 days in Italy, Rome to Amalfi Coast, $3500 budget, love food and history." Over the next hour, we had a genuine back-and-forth conversation. It asked questions, I clarified, it made suggestions, I said "that restaurant looks too touristy," and it suggested alternatives.
The conversational aspect is GuideGeek's strength. It felt natural and collaborative. When I mentioned being interested in hiking, it asked about fitness level and suggested specific trails with difficulty ratings.
It also answers random travel questions excellently. Mid-planning, I asked "Do I need cash in Italy or is card fine?" and got a detailed, practical answer. It's like having a travel agent available 24/7.
The limitations: Itinerary organization is messy. You're scrolling through a WhatsApp conversation instead of viewing a structured plan. I ended up copying information into my own notes to make sense of it.
No visual elements – no maps, no photos, just text. For visual planners (like me), this was frustrating.
And because it's through WhatsApp, there's a mild privacy concern. You're sharing travel plans with Meta's infrastructure, which some people are uncomfortable with.
Best for: People who prefer conversational planning, travelers who want quick answers to specific questions, anyone comfortable living in messaging apps.
My verdict: Fantastic as a supplementary tool for answering questions and getting suggestions, but not great as your primary planning interface. I'd use it alongside another tool.
7.Tripti
Price: Free
I wanted to like Tripti. The marketing promised AI that "understands you like a friend" and creates "truly personalized itineraries."
In practice, it felt like the AI hadn't fully woken up yet.
I entered my Italy parameters and got... a generic Italy itinerary that could have been copy-pasted from any travel blog. Rome: Colosseum, Vatican, Spanish Steps. Florence: Uffizi, Duomo, Ponte Vecchio. Nothing about my specific interests, pace, or budget seemed to influence the output.
When I tried to refine it – "I mentioned I like food experiences, can you add some?" – it added "visit a restaurant" to several days without specific recommendations. Not helpful.
What went wrong: The AI felt like a template-filler rather than an intelligent assistant. It wasn't analyzing my preferences; it was matching my destination to pre-written content.
The interface was slow and glitchy. Multiple times, it seemed to be generating a response and then just stopped, leaving incomplete sentences.
To be fair, Tripti is free and might improve. But in its current state, I'd rather use Google and piece together my own itinerary.
Best for: Honestly? I'm not sure who this is best for right now.
My verdict: Pass on this one unless you're just curious. Other free options (Roam Around, Wonderplan) are significantly better.
What I learned from testing all these tools
After planning the same trip seven different ways, some patterns emerged.
AI travel planners are genuinely useful, not just hype. The time savings are real. What took me weeks for Japan took 90 minutes for Portugal, and the result was arguably better. These tools aggregate information faster than humanly possible.
But they're not magic. Every tool made mistakes or outdated recommendations. Opening hours were wrong, some suggested restaurants had closed, distance estimates were occasionally way off. You still need to verify important details.
The best tool depends on your travel style. There's no universal "best" – it depends whether you prioritize budget, luxury, simplicity, or customization. I tested with one scenario, but results would vary with different trip types.
Most tools excel at conventional trips, struggle with unusual ones. Planning Rome, Florence, and the Amalfi Coast? AI tools are fantastic. Planning a multi-country overland journey with specific visa requirements and unusual destinations? You'll still need significant manual research.
The conversational ones feel more natural. I preferred tools like Layla and GuideGeek where I could iterate through conversation rather than filling out forms and getting static output.
My actual recommendations for different travelers
If you're planning your first international trip: Start with Layla. It's approachable, helpful, and won't overwhelm you. Use the free version and supplement with YouTube or blogs for specific questions.
If you're on a tight budget: Wonderplan, definitely. It's built for maximizing experience while minimizing cost. Pair it with Roam Around to get a quick framework, then let Wonderplan optimize your budget.
If you're planning a honeymoon or special occasion: Maya. The cost is worth it when you're planning a once-in-a-lifetime trip and want everything to be perfect. The detailed recommendations and logistics help are invaluable.
If you're a frequent traveler who wants one comprehensive tool: Tripnotes premium. The learning curve pays off if you're planning multiple trips per year and want features like budget tracking, collaboration, and offline access.
If you just want something quick and free: Roam Around. Five minutes, you have a skeleton itinerary, done. Flesh it out with your own research from there.
If you like chatting through planning: GuideGeek via WhatsApp. The conversational interface is genuinely pleasant, and having an AI travel assistant in your messaging app is weirdly convenient.
The things AI still can't do (and probably won't soon)
Through all this testing, I identified gaps where human knowledge still wins.
- Cultural context and timing. AI knows that the Uffizi is popular but doesn't know that locals avoid Florence in August because it's overwhelmingly hot and crowded. It suggests visiting Naples without mentioning that the city is chaotic and overwhelming if you're a nervous traveler.
- Genuine hidden gems. These tools recommend places that are already well-known. They're trained on existing data, so they surface what's already popular. That tiny family trattoria with no online presence? The viewpoint locals love but tourists never find? AI won't tell you about those.
- Reading between the lines. A human travel agent picks up on subtle cues. When you say you want "adventure" but mention being nervous about safety, they know what you actually mean. AI takes your words literally.
- Handling complexity and edge cases. Planning a trip that involves multiple countries with different visa requirements, specific religious or dietary needs, and complicated group dynamics? AI will get some of it right, but you'll spend as much time correcting its mistakes as if you'd planned manually.
- The intangible gut feelings. Sometimes experienced travelers just know a place will be perfect for someone based on instinct and years of experience. AI doesn't have instinct.
Should you use AI for travel planning in 2025?
Yes, but not exclusively.
The best approach I've found is using AI for the heavy lifting – generating frameworks, finding options, organizing logistics – while applying human judgment to refine and verify.
Let AI create your initial itinerary. Then research the specific suggestions to verify they're current, read recent reviews, check if recommendations align with your actual preferences. Adjust pacing based on how you actually travel, not how the AI assumes people travel.
Think of these tools as extremely well-traveled friends who've been everywhere and remember everything but might occasionally misremember details or suggest things that don't quite fit your vibe.
For my upcoming Portugal trip (the one I mentioned at the beginning), I used Layla for the framework, GuideGeek for specific questions, and then verified everything through recent blog posts and reviews. The combination worked brilliantly.
The future of AI travel planning
Based on watching these tools evolve over the testing period (some pushed updates during my three weeks of testing), here's where I think this is heading:
- Real-time integration with booking platforms. Currently, most tools suggest hotels but you book elsewhere. Integration with booking engines will make this seamless.
- Better personalization through learning. Tools that remember your past trips and learn your preferences over time. After a few trips, the AI knows you prefer smaller hotels, always want balconies, and never wake up early for sunrise activities.
- Voice and image integration. Show the AI a photo of a restaurant and ask "What's similar to this in Barcelona?" Or voice-plan entire trips during your commute instead of typing.Group planning features. AI that helps groups with different preferences find compromises and build itineraries that work for everyone.
- Dynamic replanning. Your flight is delayed, throwing off day one? The AI instantly adjusts your itinerary and rebooking suggestions in real-time.
Some of this exists in beta or early forms. Within a year or two, it'll be standard.
FAQ
Which AI travel planner is the best overall in 2025?
Layla AI is the best overall option.
It combines a conversational interface with smart context awareness, realistic itineraries, and flexible trip customization. It’s free to start and easy enough for first-time users.
What’s the best free AI travel planner?
Roam Around and Wonderplan are the best free options.
Roam Around is great for quick outlines, while Wonderplan focuses on maximizing your trip experience within a fixed budget.
Which AI travel planner is best for budget travelers?
Wonderplan is built specifically for budget-conscious travelers.
It allocates your money wisely, suggests affordable hotels and restaurants, and even finds free or low-cost activities without sacrificing experience quality.
What’s the best AI travel planner for luxury trips?
Maya AI is the best pick for luxury or special-occasion travel.
It provides concierge-level planning, private experiences, and high-end hotel and restaurant recommendations tailored to your preferences.
Which AI planner works best for group or detailed trip planning?
Trip Planner AI (Tripnotes) is ideal for group trips and detailed planners.
It offers budget tracking, map visualization, and collaboration features — perfect for frequent travelers or families planning complex itineraries.
Are AI travel planners accurate?
They’re accurate for the most part, but not flawless.
AI tools save time and generate solid itineraries, yet it’s smart to double-check opening hours, recent reviews, and transportation details before booking.
Can AI replace human travel agents?
Not entirely.
AI is amazing for efficiency and idea generation, but it still lacks human intuition, cultural context, and emotional understanding. The best trips come from mixing AI’s speed with your personal judgment.
What’s next for AI travel planners?
Future AI tools will include real-time booking, personalized learning, voice and image integration, and dynamic itinerary adjustments when plans change — making travel planning even more seamless.
Wrap up
Three weeks ago, I was skeptical about AI travel planning. I thought it would be gimmicky, generic, and require more work to correct than it saved.
I was wrong.
The tools aren't perfect, but they're legitimately useful. Planning a trip that would have taken me 10-15 hours now takes 2-3 hours and produces better results. That's not hype; that's my actual experience across multiple tests.
Would I trust AI to plan my dream trip without any human oversight? No. But would I start with AI and refine from there? Absolutely.
For the Italy trip I tested seven ways, I'm probably going to use Layla's itinerary as my framework, check GuideGeek for specific questions, and verify details through recent reviews and blogs. That hybrid approach gives me the best of AI efficiency and human judgment.
Travel planning used to be either exhausting research or paying for a travel agent. AI tools have created a middle path that's accessible, affordable, and surprisingly effective. They're not replacing the joy of discovery and planning – they're removing the tedious parts so you can focus on the exciting parts.
And honestly? That's exactly what technology should do.
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