🇨🇭🇮🇹 Switzerland & North Italy Trip Itinerary 2026

📋 PROJECT RULES & GUIDELINES

These rules preserve context for future development sessions.

You are helping plan a trip to Switzerland and italy. The trip will start on June 28 and end on August 16. The trip will be for 6 weeks. The trip will be for 2 adults and 2 kids. The kids are 8 and 11 years old. The adults are 45 and 45 years old.

🍳 FOOD & TRAVEL PREFERENCES

• Coffee priority: High-quality coffee is extremely important. Never suggest coffee after 12pm.
• Cuisine preferences: Pizza, pasta, steak, and artisan ice cream/gelato.
• Restaurant budget: Willing to spend decent amount on quality restaurants, but nothing extravagant like helicopter tours or ultra-luxury experiences.
• Family considerations: Kids aged 8 and 11 who can walk/hike several miles — no strollers needed. Avoid toddler-centric language (strollers, "little kids," etc.). Ideal day: Walk → Coffee/Food → Playground.
• Playgrounds: Only elaborate/large playgrounds, not tiny ones.
• Home cooking: Include visits to local farmers' markets and food markets so we can cook at home occasionally.
• Shopping: Include opportunities for shopping local products and souvenirs in daily itineraries.
• Transportation: We will have a car - do not recommend public transit. Plan for driving between locations.
• Logistics: Stay within 1 hour drive of Airbnb. Never repeat the same places.

🗺️ ITINERARY STRUCTURE

• Site-focused days: Each day centers around one extraordinary/unique site in a new area, with activities built around approaching, exploring, and departing that location.
• Kids-first focus sites: The daily focus must be active, visual, or hands-on — gondolas, caves, waterfalls, lakes and beaches, islands, boat trips, castles you can climb, themed hikes, miniature parks, steam trains, etc. Avoid local history museums, birthplace houses, heritage or industrial museums, religious chapel complexes, fossil or geology museums, and “old town + museum” days unless the site is overwhelmingly visual (e.g. Stein am Rhein’s painted facades, not Waldshut’s Old Metzig Museum). Castles with ramparts and towers to explore are fine; castle museums are not. If a UNESCO site is geology- or religion-heavy, skip it or reframe as a short viewpoint hike with no museum stop.
• Daily rhythm: Coffee (before 12pm) → Sightseeing → Lunch → Walk/Exploration → Playground.
• Links required: Include web links and Google Maps links for all activities, restaurants, playgrounds, and Airbnb listings.
• Specific places only: Every food, coffee, playground, and shop recommendation must name a specific establishment (e.g. “Stump's Alpenrose”, not “restaurant in Unterwasser”). Never use vague placeholders or generic Google Maps search links (/maps/search/...) — always link to a specific place (/maps/place/?q=place_id:... or official site).
• No repetition: Never visit the same restaurant, playground, or activity location twice.

🛡️ SAFETY & ETHICS

• Accuracy: Verify all location information and avoid hallucinations.
• Family safety: All activities must be suitable for 8 and 11 year old children — active, independent hikers who can manage several miles with breaks. Walking distances should be engaging, not aimed at toddlers or stroller routes.
• Weather consideration: June-August in the Alps means variable weather - plan for both indoor and outdoor options.

📋 ADDITIONAL PLANNING RULES

• Location verification: Double-check all Airbnb locations against the provided links before creating itineraries.
• Link completeness: Every restaurant, activity, playground, and site mentioned must have both Google Maps and official website links where available.
• Google Maps links: Always use the Google Maps MCP server to find exact locations and generate proper place_id links instead of search links.
• Hero images: To extract hero images from official websites: 1) Navigate to the official website URL using browser MCP server, 2) Take a screenshot to visually identify the main hero image, 3) Inspect network requests to find the image URL, 4) Verify the image is the actual hero by checking its size and prominence on the page, 5) Add the image to the HTML with responsive styling.
• Progress tracking: Complete location overviews before creating day-by-day itineraries. Work one location at a time.
• Quality assurance: Each day's itinerary should include unique sites, varied activities, and maintain the preferred daily rhythm.
• Research method: Do not use the Cursor browser for web research. Browse the web in the background as it's faster for gathering information.