Explorer AI gives you 20 personalised ideas that actually match how you travel. It starts with those 20 profile questions about your budget, pace, food, nightlife, outdoors stuff, whatever. Then it pulls from a hand-curated list of 1,800+ real spots across 250+ cities so nothing feels generic or made up.
But until now the ideas were still just a list. The new map fixes that.
The second you save a trip, every idea pops up as a coloured pin straight on a proper Google Map, all plotted around where you're staying. Add your hotel or any address and it turns into the bright green anchor pin. You instantly see distances and how things cluster together. Drag ideas into days in the itinerary builder and the map updates live - it only lights up that day's stuff so you can actually see the route taking shape. It plots both our hyper-personalised ideas for you as well as any custom ideas you might add as long as Google Maps can find a match.
I used it on my own Rome trip last month staying in Ponte and it completely changed the game. Everything just clicked into place spatially instead of living in some random text list I never looked at again. A couple of mates have tried the new version too and they're stoked - it finally feels like a real plan you can take out on the street.
Explorer AI is still totally free. I've been building it in public and we're getting roughly 30-50 new people trying it every day. The map was the missing piece that turns decent recommendations into something you can actually use.
Keen to hear what you think if you give it a spin. Does the map feel useful on the ground? Any bits that feel clunky? Just try it and let me know - happy for any feedback.