Try these tips to plan a trip with Canvas in AI Mode
General summary
If you need help planning your next vacation, try the Canvas tool in Search's AI Mode. After opting into the AI Mode experiment in Labs, describe your ideal trip and Canvas will generate a customized itinerary with flights, hotels, restaurants and attractions. You can refine the itinerary with follow-up questions, add images for inspiration, save your progress, and share your plans with others.
Summaries were generated by Google AI. Generative AI is experimental.Bullet points
- "Plan a Trip with Canvas in AI Mode" offers tips for using AI to plan your dream vacation.
- Start with "help me plan" and describe your ideal trip, including who's going and what you want to do.
- Refine your itinerary with follow-up questions; Canvas updates as you tweak your travel plans.
- Upload images to find destinations matching your vibe, perfect for visualizing your dream vacation.
- Share your Canvas itinerary with friends for easy collaboration and trip planning together.
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If you’re itching for vacation but need some planning assistance, Search is more helpful than ever with the Canvas tool in AI Mode. It gives you a place to build travel plans customized to your needs, including flight and hotel options as well as daily itineraries with recommended restaurants, attractions and more. First, make sure you’re opted into the AI Mode experiment in Labs for cutting-edge features. Then simply head to AI Mode, describe the type of trip you’re planning and select the option to “Create Canvas” in the initial response.
Here are some tips and prompts to get the most out of travel planning with Canvas.
1. Start with “help me plan” and describe what you’re looking for
Start your query with “help me plan” to let AI Mode know that Canvas would be a great option for your needs and describe the type of trip you want to take, with all your constraints and preferences. They don’t have to be formatted any certain way, just give the full brain dump. You can include details like who’s going on the trip (whether that’s kids, dogs or a large group), what you’ll want to do (maybe outdoor activities, shopping or eating out), how far you’re willing to travel (road trip or plane) and on and on. The more information you provide, the more dialed in the suggestions will be!
2. Refine with follow-ups and watch your itinerary change
Don't worry about changing your mind or adding more information: You can tweak as you go and your plan will update in the Canvas side panel. Say you began by telling AI Mode you wanted to travel on a budget, but then decided you were willing to spend a little more — just describe what you’re looking for in the search box and you’ll see new suggestions in the updated plan.
You can even ask to reorder the whole itinerary to better suit your pace, or get help comparing different options for a specific activity — like weighing the pros and cons of two different tours for the same attraction — to ensure every part of your trip is exactly how you want it.
3. Ask for help with a pre-planned trip
Canvas is also helpful if you have part of a trip planned but want ideas for what to do. Just start with what you’ve already got and then ask for input on the rest. For example, you could say: “Help me plan the rest of my 5 day trip to Olympic National Park. I’m staying at the lodge on the coast and visiting in two weeks. Considering the weather and the time of year, give me an itinerary with a few hikes as well as nearby day trips to small towns with coffee shops and restaurants.” Or, if a friend passed along some recommendations from their recent trip, you can share those with AI Mode and ask it to incorporate them into your plan!
4. Add images to your conversation
Maybe you’re in the early stages of travel planning and want to find places that match a certain vibe — but you’re not quite sure where you want to go. With AI Mode, you can upload images by tapping the plus icon in the search box; then ask something like “Help me plan a 10-day trip somewhere like this.” This option is perfect if you’ve been saving images from the web or social media for your dream vacation.
5. Take a break and pick up where you left off
Travel planning usually doesn’t happen all in one go. If you need to take a break and come back later, AI Mode will save your Canvas itinerary, so you can jump back in without having to start from scratch. Just open your AI Mode history (look for the clock icon on the left) and select the corresponding thread to pick up where you left off.
6. Share your Canvas-created itineraries
If you’re traveling with others or want to keep someone up to date on your plans, it’s very easy to share itineraries from Canvas. Just click the share button and it will create a public link (which you can delete at any time). Whoever you share it with can hit “Customize Canvas” to tweak the itinerary and send it back to you — perfect for collaboration. You can even pull up past trips from your history to share recommendations. For instance, here’s a look at a winter Scandinavian trip I recently created in Canvas.
Now I just need to shop for a parka I can fit in a carry-on…
