The Gemini feature inside Google Maps is the sleeper AI upgrade of the year. Ask Maps for “three days in Kyoto with a five-year-old and a stroller-friendly hotel,” and it drops a real itinerary onto the map, complete with walk times and open hours. XDA called this the best Gemini feature nobody talks about, and they are right. But Maps is not the only AI trip planner on Android in 2026, and it is not the best pick for every kind of trip. Some are better at multi-city routing, some at pulling flights and reservations into one board, and some at giving you a curated recommendation instead of an infinite list.
We tested eight Android apps over five real trips (a weekend in Lisbon, a long weekend in Delhi, a two-week loop through Japan, a family week in Costa Rica, and a business swing through Berlin and Warsaw). These are the best apps for AI trip planning on Android in 2026, ranked by how quickly they get from a rough prompt to a saved, shareable plan.
What to look for in an AI trip planner
The “AI trip planner” category is crowded with wrapper apps that pipe your prompt to GPT-4 and hand back a paragraph. That is not what a trip is. The tools that actually work do four things well:
- Turn a free-text prompt into a map with pins and times, not just a list of places.
- Handle multi-city routing with realistic transit and drive-time estimates between stops.
- Import real reservations from Gmail or a screenshot, so the AI is planning around your existing flights and hotels.
- Let you edit the plan after the AI drafts it, without rewriting from scratch.
Being on Android also matters. Some of the strongest planners on iOS still ship a broken Android build; we skipped those.
Quick comparison
| App | Best for | Platforms | Free plan | Starting price | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Google Maps (Gemini) | Ask-and-map with real open hours | Android, iOS, web | Fully free | None | 4.4 Play |
| Wanderlog | Multi-day boards with real reservations | Android, iOS, web | 5 trips free | ~$5/mo | 4.7 Play |
| Layla AI | Chat-first itineraries with images | Android, iOS, web | 10 chats/mo | ~$10/mo | 4.4 Play |
| Curiosio | Multi-city road trips with routing | Android, web | Fully free | Optional donate | 4.3 Play |
| Roam Around | One-shot city itineraries | Android, iOS, web | 3 trips free | ~$7/mo | 4.4 store |
| Kayak | Flights, hotels, and stitching them together | Android, iOS | Fully free | None | 4.7 Play |
| TripIt | Reservation inbox that becomes a plan | Android, iOS | Fully free | Pro ~$49/yr | 4.7 Play |
| Rome2Rio | Point-to-point transit between cities | Android, iOS, web | Fully free | Ad-free ~$3 | 4.5 Play |
The apps
1. Google Maps (Gemini) — Best for turning a prompt into a real map
Google Maps with Gemini enabled is now the shortest path from “I have three days and no plan” to “I have a saved list of places on a map.” Ask for a two-day art walk in Berlin under 20 kilometers total and Maps returns pinned galleries with current open hours, walking times, and coffee-stop suggestions between them. Save the plan and it becomes a real list you can navigate to.
Where it falls short: No reservation ingestion; Maps does not know about your flight or hotel unless you type them in.
Pricing:
- Free: Everything. Gemini rolled out to Maps at no extra cost.
- Paid: None.
Platforms: Android, iOS, web.
Download: Aptoide · Google Play
Bottom line: Start here. The map-first output is what makes the AI actually usable on the road.
2. Wanderlog — Best multi-day board with real reservations
Wanderlog is what Google Maps could be if it thought about entire trips. You paste a hotel confirmation, an Airbnb link, or a Gmail booking, and Wanderlog builds a day-by-day board with map, times, and travel between stops. The AI tab suggests fillers based on what is nearby and open. Reservations, expenses, and a shared trip link with a partner all live in one place.
Where it falls short: Free plan caps you at five trips; you hit the wall on year two.
Pricing:
- Free: Up to 5 trips with all planning features.
- Paid: Pro (~$5/mo, annual billing) unlocks unlimited trips and offline maps.
Platforms: Android, iOS, web.
Download: Aptoide · Google Play
Bottom line: The best all-in-one planner on Android. Free tier covers a couple of trips a year.
3. Layla AI — Best chat-first planner with photos in the answer
Layla AI treats trip planning like a chat with a knowledgeable friend. You describe the trip in plain language, and Layla replies with images of hotels and restaurants inline. It can book flights and hotels directly through the chat (via partner APIs), which is closer to the “one interface” experience the AI travel wave was supposed to deliver.
Where it falls short: Free chats cap at ten a month, which one detailed trip will burn through.
Pricing:
- Free: 10 AI chats per month.
- Paid: Plus (~$10/mo) unlocks unlimited chats and priority booking.
Platforms: Android, iOS, web.
Download: Aptoide · Google Play
Bottom line: The best chat-first pick, especially for photo-driven trip inspiration.
4. Curiosio — Best multi-city road trip planner with real routing
Curiosio is the road-trip AI. Give it a start, an end, a rough length, and preferences (scenic, coastal, avoid highways), and it drafts a full multi-day route with waypoints. The routing engine handles time zones, border crossings, and the reality that driving times online are optimistic.
Where it falls short: UI is unglamorous. Weak on urban-only trips.
Pricing:
- Free: Everything.
- Paid: Optional donation.
Platforms: Android, web.
Download: Google Play
Bottom line: The best planner if the trip is measured in kilometers between cities.
5. Roam Around — Best one-shot city itineraries
Roam Around is designed for a single question: “I have X days in Y city, what should I do?” You get a saved itinerary with pins, times, and short blurbs in about thirty seconds. Perfect for a layover or a last-minute weekend add-on to a work trip.
Where it falls short: Not built for multi-city planning; you make one trip at a time.
Pricing:
- Free: 3 trips.
- Paid: Explorer (~$7/mo) unlocks unlimited trips and hotel booking.
Platforms: Android, iOS, web.
Download: Aptoide
Bottom line: For quick, single-city plans when you do not need a full board.
6. Kayak — Best for stitching flights, hotels, and cars into one trip
Kayak is the app to open once you have a rough plan and need to price it. It searches flights, hotels, and rental cars in one shot, and its “Trips” tab pulls reservations from your Gmail so the plan builds itself as you book. Ends up doing a lot of what TripIt used to do, for free.
Where it falls short: No AI itinerary generation; Kayak assumes you know where you want to go.
Pricing:
- Free: Everything.
- Paid: None.
Platforms: Android, iOS.
Download: Aptoide · Google Play
Bottom line: The workhorse for the booking half of trip planning.
7. TripIt — Best reservation inbox that becomes a plan
TripIt does one thing very well: forward it every booking email and it builds a chronological itinerary you can share with anyone. When you land somewhere and need to know which hotel your family is at, TripIt is faster than opening five confirmations.
Where it falls short: No AI planning; consumes plans instead of generating them.
Pricing:
- Free: Auto-import and basic itinerary.
- Paid: Pro (~$49/yr) adds real-time flight alerts and seat tracking.
Platforms: Android, iOS.
Download: Aptoide · Google Play
Bottom line: The airport-day sidekick to whichever AI planner you use.
8. Rome2Rio — Best point-to-point transit between cities
Rome2Rio answers the boring question none of the AI planners handle well: “How do I actually get from A to B?” It shows every combination (train, bus, ferry, drive, fly) with times and prices in one screen, and drops a deep link into the appropriate booking site.
Where it falls short: Not a full planner. One-shot query per question.
Pricing:
- Free: Everything, with ads.
- Paid: Ad-free (~$3/mo) removes the banner.
Platforms: Android, iOS, web.
Download: Aptoide · Google Play
Bottom line: The transit fallback for every trip that crosses more than one city.
How to pick the right one
- If you want a single free tool to start with: Google Maps with Gemini. It is on your phone already.
- If you take more than one big trip a year: Wanderlog. Free tier lasts about a year; the Pro price is fair.
- If you like a conversational planner with images: Layla AI.
- If you drive across multiple cities: Curiosio for the route, Rome2Rio for spot checks.
- If your problem is not planning, it is keeping every booking straight: TripIt.
- If you also want to book flights and hotels in the same app: Kayak.
FAQ
Is Google Maps with Gemini free? Yes. Gemini prompts inside Maps do not cost extra. Google is subsidizing this to keep the map the default AI travel surface.
What is the best free AI trip planner on Android? Google Maps with Gemini for one-city plans, and Curiosio for road trips. Both are fully free with no monthly cap.
Can I share an AI-generated itinerary with a group? Wanderlog and Google Maps both give you a shareable trip link. Wanderlog is the better collaboration tool; two people can edit the same board.
Do these apps work offline? Google Maps and Wanderlog cache trip data for offline use once you download the area. The rest need a signal.
Can I trust the AI’s recommendations? Treat them like a curated first draft. Cross-check open hours (Google Maps is best for this), read one recent review of each restaurant, and confirm any timed booking. AI planners still hallucinate the odd closed venue.
