This article was published on September 19, 2016

Google’s new Trips app takes the stress out of planning vacations


Vacations are great. Planning them? Not so much.

Fret not though: Google wants to make your life easy though with its new Trips app.

It’s basically a giant travel guide and itinerary maker for trips to various locations around the world. Tell the app where you want to go, download the guide for offline use, and start planning. The app can also pull information like flight itineraries and hotel reservations right from your Gmail.

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The app features various sample itineraries for the ‘top 200’ cities in the world, including popular sights and attractions deemed interesting by other travelers. Of course, you can make custom itineraries too; tap the ‘+’ button on the ‘day plan’ tile to select attractions from a map view. Trips will number each location on the map so you have everything neat and organized.

There’s also ‘magic wand’ button that will automatically add nearby sights if you’re in too much of a hurry investigate and plan ahead on your own, and you can even specify what times of the day you’re free to wander.

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Each trip guide is divided into numerous sections. For instance, a ‘Getting around’ section provides information such as how to leave the airport once your flight lands, public transport, and local taxi, ridesharing and rental options.

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Meanwhile ‘Things to do’ shows popular locations, tailored suggestions, indoor and outdoor events. There’s also a selection of “farther away” places should you be willing to travel a bit more, as well as an alphabetical list of highlights. Other sections include ‘Reservations,’ ‘Food & Drink,’ and ‘Need to know.’

I can’t tell you how many hours I’ve spent planning out sightseeing for various trips, so having all the information I need in a single app sounds like a godsend. Heck, I might even use the app for discovering new places right here in my hometown of New York City.

If you want to give it a go, the app is available now on Android and iOS now.

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