MCP Connector

Plan Travel with Google Maps Data

Travel Planner MCP connects Claude to Google Maps, letting it search places, fetch place details, calculate routes, and look up time zones.

Works with google maps api

91
Spark score
out of 100
Updated Mar 2025
Version 1.0.0
Models

Add to Favorites

Why it matters

Integrate LLMs with Google Maps API to automate travel planning tasks, including location searches, route calculations, and timezone lookups.

Outcomes

What it gets done

01

Search for places using Google Places API.

02

Calculate routes between locations with various transport modes.

03

Retrieve detailed place information and timezone data.

04

Enable LLMs to perform travel-related queries.

Install

Add it to your toolbox

Run in your project directory:

curl -fsSL https://spark.entire.vc/get/vb-travel-planner | bash

Capabilities

Tools your agent gets

searchPlaces

Search places using Google Places API with location binding and radius configuration options

getPlaceDetails

Retrieve detailed information about a specific place using Google Place ID

calculateRoute

Calculate routes between two points with various transportation modes (driving, walking, cycling, public transit)

getTimeZone

Retrieve timezone information for a location using coordinates and optional timestamp

Overview

Travel Planner MCP Server

Travel Planner MCP puts Google Maps behind an AI assistant, so it can search places, pull place details, calculate routes across driving, walking, bicycling, or transit, and resolve time zones for any location. Use it when building a trip-planning or itinerary assistant that needs accurate place and routing data rather than model guesses; it requires your own Google Maps API key.

What it does

Travel Planner MCP Server is a Model Context Protocol implementation that wires an LLM into Google Maps and related travel services. It lets an assistant search for places, pull detailed information about a specific location, calculate routes between two points, and resolve timezone information for any coordinate - all through Google's own Places, Directions, Geocoding, and Time Zone APIs.

When to use - and when NOT to

Use this connector when you want your assistant to help plan trips or itineraries: finding points of interest near a location, comparing travel modes (driving, walking, bicycling, transit) between two stops, or checking what time it is at a destination before scheduling something. It is not a booking engine - it does not reserve flights, hotels, or tickets, and it does nothing without a valid Google Maps API key with the required APIs enabled on your Google Cloud account.

Capabilities

  • searchPlaces: searches Google Places by query text, optionally biased by a lat/long location and search radius.
  • getPlaceDetails: retrieves detailed information for a specific Google Place ID.
  • calculateRoute: computes a route between an origin and destination, with optional travel mode (driving, walking, bicycling, transit).
  • getTimeZone: returns timezone information for a given location, optionally at a specific timestamp.

How to install

Install automatically for Claude Desktop via Smithery:

npx -y @smithery/cli install @GongRzhe/TRAVEL-PLANNER-MCP-Server --client claude

Or run it manually with npx, supplying your API key as an environment variable:

GOOGLE_MAPS_API_KEY=your_api_key npx @gongrzhe/server-travelplanner-mcp

For Claude Desktop, add it to the mcpServers section of claude_desktop_config.json with command: npx, args: ["@gongrzhe/server-travelplanner-mcp"], and the GOOGLE_MAPS_API_KEY environment variable set. The key must have the Places API, Directions API, Geocoding API, and Time Zone API enabled.

Who it's for

Developers and power users building or using an AI travel-planning assistant that needs real Google Maps data - place search, routing, and timezone lookups - rather than relying on the model's own guesses about geography.

Source README

Travel Planner MCP Server (@gongrzhe/server-travelplanner-mcp)

smithery badge

A Travel Planner Model Context Protocol (MCP) server implementation for interacting with Google Maps and travel planning services. This server enables LLMs to perform travel-related tasks such as location search, place details lookup, and travel time calculations.

Travel Planner Server MCP server

Installation & Usage

Installing via Smithery

To install Travel Planner for Claude Desktop automatically via Smithery:

npx -y @smithery/cli install @GongRzhe/TRAVEL-PLANNER-MCP-Server --client claude

Installing Manually

# Using npx (recommended)
npx @gongrzhe/server-travelplanner-mcp

# With environment variable for Google Maps API
GOOGLE_MAPS_API_KEY=your_api_key npx @gongrzhe/server-travelplanner-mcp

Or install globally:

# Install globally
npm install -g @gongrzhe/server-travelplanner-mcp

# Run after global installation
GOOGLE_MAPS_API_KEY=your_api_key @gongrzhe/server-travelplanner-mcp

Components

Tools

  • searchPlaces

    • Search for places using Google Places API
    • Input:
      • query (string): Search query for places
      • location (optional): Latitude and longitude to bias results
      • radius (optional): Search radius in meters
  • getPlaceDetails

    • Get detailed information about a specific place
    • Input:
      • placeId (string): Google Place ID to retrieve details for
  • calculateRoute

    • Calculate route between two locations
    • Input:
      • origin (string): Starting location
      • destination (string): Ending location
      • mode (optional): Travel mode (driving, walking, bicycling, transit)
  • getTimeZone

    • Get timezone information for a location
    • Input:
      • location: Latitude and longitude coordinates
      • timestamp (optional): Timestamp for time zone calculation

Configuration

Usage with Claude Desktop

To use this server with the Claude Desktop app, add the following configuration to the "mcpServers" section of your claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "travel-planner": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["@gongrzhe/server-travelplanner-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "GOOGLE_MAPS_API_KEY": "your_google_maps_api_key"
      }
    }
  }
}

Alternatively, you can use the node command directly if you have the package installed:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "travel-planner": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["path/to/dist/index.js"],
      "env": {
        "GOOGLE_MAPS_API_KEY": "your_google_maps_api_key"
      }
    }
  }
}

Development

Building from Source

  1. Clone the repository
  2. Install dependencies:
    npm install
    
  3. Build the project:
    npm run build
    

Environment Variables

  • GOOGLE_MAPS_API_KEY (required): Your Google Maps API key with the following APIs enabled:
    • Places API
    • Directions API
    • Geocoding API
    • Time Zone API

FAQ

Common questions

Discussion

Questions & comments · 0

Sign In Sign in to leave a comment.