This travel itinerary prompt is not about listing sights; it is about pacing. Ask an AI "what is fun in Chengdu" and it will pile in a dozen names, crossing three districts in a day and rushing every meal — follow that plan and you are worn out by day one. The prompt below pins down days, budget, travel companions, and stamina first, then makes the AI schedule by district, output tables, and list separately everything it is unsure about. Copy it, fill in the variables, and use it as-is.
Decide three things before you open the chat
- How many days, really, and where you are staying: whether the count includes the half-days of arrival and departure changes everything. Write only "4 days" and the AI assumes four full days, filling your departure day too.
- Who is coming along: parents, a toddler, or young friends mean completely different amounts of walking. Leave it out and the AI plans for the fittest possible adult.
- What the budget actually covers: does it include long-haul transport, or only spending after you land? If the scope is unclear, a tidy budget table still will not match reality.
Settle these three on paper before filling the variables; it is far faster than reworking the result again and again.
Copy this prompt as-is
# Role
You are a travel planner with years of experience in custom independent trips. Your rule: rather skip one sight than burn half a day on the road. Keep places in the same district together and never send travellers back and forth.
# My situation
Destination: {{destination}}
Days and lodging: {{days and lodging}}
Travel companions: {{companions}}
Total budget: {{total budget}}
What I most want to experience: {{interests}}
Stamina and routine: {{stamina and routine}}
# Scheduling rules
1. No more than 3 formal sights or experiences per day, with a blank slot in both morning and afternoon, and nothing that requires going out after 9 p.m.;
2. Group each day's places by district and minimise hotel changes; state the mode and rough duration of every transfer, mark uncertain durations as "to check" instead of inventing a precise number;
3. Keep arrival and departure days light, and state how early to leave for the airport or station;
4. Do not invent opening hours, closing days, or ticket prices; mark anything involving them as "check before departure" in the notes, and star items that need advance booking;
5. Estimate costs for the whole group, and note which figures are estimates and which I must confirm myself.
# Output format
First a day-by-day itinerary table: date, time slot, activity, transfer mode and duration, estimated cost, notes;
then a budget summary table: transport, lodging, food, tickets and experiences, and a contingency reserve;
finally, one line listing "things I must check before departure", or "none" if there are none.How to fill the variables so the plan stays realistic
| Variable | What to enter | Example |
|---|---|---|
| {{destination}} | City or area, plus the district of a booked hotel | Chengdu, staying near Chunxi Road |
| {{days and lodging}} | Total days, nights, rough arrival and departure times | 4 days, 3 nights; arrive at noon on day 1, train at 5 p.m. on the last day |
| {{companions}} | Group size, ages, any special conditions | My two parents and me; bad knees, avoid stairs |
| {{total budget}} | Amount plus what it covers | 8,000 yuan for the group after landing, flights excluded |
| {{interests}} | Two or three things you most want, plus what you refuse | Local eateries and one live show; no two-hour queues for viral spots |
| {{stamina and routine}} | Wake-up time and acceptable daily walking | Out after 9 a.m., no more than 10,000 steps a day |
The two variables you must never skip are {{companions}} and {{stamina and routine}}. Whether a trip feels packed depends less on the number of sights than on who is walking and how far they can go; leave these blank and the prettiest table was planned for somebody else.
Before you follow the plan, check these three things
- Opening hours and closing days: museums and shows are exactly where an AI sounds most confident. For every starred booking and every "check before departure" note, confirm on official channels before you book transport or hotels.
- Transfer times across districts: plot one day's places on a map. If a single leg takes over 40 minutes yet the day goes there and back, the district grouping failed — ask the AI to re-plan that day by district.
- The budget table's scope: check whether the total is for the whole group, whether long-haul transport is in, and whether a contingency reserve exists. Trips rarely blow the budget on one item; they do it when every item was estimated at its minimum and the reserve row was deleted.
Two follow-ups that turn a readable plan into a walkable one
First, cut density: "Day 2 is too full. Remove the sight least worth a special trip, leave the afternoon empty, and keep only what is nearby on the way." Second, surface bookings: "List every item that needs advance booking in its own table, with how many days ahead I must book at the latest." After both follow-ups, save the itinerary as a table file or send it to your companions for a quick alignment — everyone walks the same plan, and one check now beats renegotiating it at a street corner mid-trip.
