[netsharc]

Is there an app that suggest "Popular places near your route" while I'm planning a day? Or not just popular, but spots that've been mentioned in e.g. Lonely Planet, or some travel blog (sourcing the data would be a fascinating engineering exercise). It'd be great if the app recommends a spot, and when the user clicks "Squeeze it in", it would adjust the times accordingly. Or using your example of Tokyo, if I'm booked to see a Sumo match at 2 pm, and there's not enough time beforehand to squeeze it in, the app could even suggest an alternative time. (Hah this is turning to a travelling salesman problem...)

Yeah yeah, "popular" equals touristy, but just like Pumpkin Spice Latte in September, maybe I don't mind being a "basic tourist".

When Instagram's API was more open, someone did a heatmap of places that are tagged a lot in photos.