# Where and When to Go: Destinations and Dates Compared (`zaiq/where-when`) Actor

Name up to six destinations, or a region, plus a window of start dates, nights, who is going, the budget and the style. It compares each place and date on five years of weather, stay prices for your party, flights from your city, holidays and top-rated places for your style, and ranks them.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/zaiq/where-when.md
- **Developed by:** [Zaiq](https://apify.com/zaiq) (community)
- **Categories:** Travel, AI
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $2,392.00 / 1,000 trip comparisons

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.
Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## Where and When to Go: destinations and dates compared for your trip

Name up to six destinations (or a region and let it suggest them), a window of start dates, the nights, who is going, the budget and the kind of trip. For each destination and start date it reads five years of weather for those days, prices the stays for your party on those dates, finds the cheapest flights from your city, checks public and school holidays and counts the top-rated places for your style.

It ranks every option with the reasons in plain words (warm and dry, cheaper stays, more top-rated beaches) and returns a comparison page, a PDF and data.

### What you get

| Field | What it holds |
|---|---|
| Ranked options | Destination × start date, best first, with a score and its parts. |
| Weather | Typical highs, lows, rain and wind for those days from five years of records. |
| Cost | Stays for your party from and typical, flights from your city, against your budget. |
| Holidays | Public and school holidays in the dates. |
| Style evidence | How many top-rated places each has for your style, with examples. |

### What people use it for

- **Families choosing a holiday:** Which coast, which week.
- **Couples:** The warmest, best-value city break in a window.
- **Travel content:** Data-backed "best time to go" comparisons.

### How to use it

1. Name destinations or a region.
2. Set the window of start dates, nights, party, budget and style.
3. Run it: every option ranked with its reasons.

### Input

| Field | Example | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Destinations | Cape Town; Durban; Plettenberg Bay | Up to six, or a region. |
| Earliest / latest start | 2026-12-05 / 2026-12-19 | At most 120 days apart. |
| Nights | 5 | 1 to 14. |
| Budget | 40000 ZAR | Stay and flights together. |
| Flying from | Johannesburg | For flight prices. |

### Output

Each result is one row in the run's dataset (download it as JSON, CSV, Excel, XML or HTML, or read it through the API). An example row (values shortened):

```json
{
  "kind": "option",
  "rank": 1,
  "destination": "Example coastal city",
  "start": "2026-12-19",
  "end": "2026-12-24",
  "score": 87,
  "scores": {
    "weather": 89,
    "cost": 71,
    "style": 70
  },
  "weather": {
    "highC": 24.9,
    "lowC": 16.5,
    "rainDays": 13,
    "windKmh": 25
  },
  "stayTypical": 20590.5,
  "estimatedCost": 37250.5,
  "currency": "ZAR",
  "why": [
    "usually 25° by day and 16° at night, rain on about 13% of days",
    "stays for the party typically ZAR 20,591 for 5 nights",
    "flights from ZAR 16,660"
  ]
}
```

Example from a real comparison on 19 October 2026 (three South African coastal destinations × two start dates, flights from Johannesburg, 56 requests); the destination name was replaced.

### Pricing

- **$2.99 per completed comparison** (at least two options, page and PDF delivered).
- Suggesting destinations from a region uses a little model time, billed by Apify at cost.

What typical jobs cost at the list price:

| Job | Cost |
|---|---|
| Three places × three dates | $2.99 |
| Region, six suggested places | $2.99 plus a cent of model use |

On Apify's Scale and Business plans the per-event prices are lower (Store discounts). Set **Maximum cost per run** and the Actor stops cleanly when it is reached: you never pay more than that.

### Tips

- Two or three start dates show how much a week changes prices and weather.
- Turn off flights if you will drive.

### Use it through the API

**Python**

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN>")
run = client.actor("zaiq/where-when").call(run_input={"region": "Mediterranean islands", "earliestStart": "2027-06-01", "latestStart": "2027-06-30", "nights": 7, "adults": 2, "budget": 3000, "currency": "EUR", "tripStyles": ["beach", "relaxing"], "origin": "London", "includeFlights": true})
for row in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
    print(row)
```

**JavaScript**

```js
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

const client = new ApifyClient({ token: '<YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN>' });
const run = await client.actor('zaiq/where-when').call({"region": "Mediterranean islands", "earliestStart": "2027-06-01", "latestStart": "2027-06-30", "nights": 7, "adults": 2, "budget": 3000, "currency": "EUR", "tripStyles": ["beach", "relaxing"], "origin": "London", "includeFlights": true});
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
```

**HTTP (one call, results back)**

```bash
curl -X POST 'https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/zaiq~where-when/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=<YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN>' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"region": "Mediterranean islands", "earliestStart": "2027-06-01", "latestStart": "2027-06-30", "nights": 7, "adults": 2, "budget": 3000, "currency": "EUR", "tripStyles": ["beach", "relaxing"], "origin": "London", "includeFlights": true}'
```

### Integrations and schedules

- **Schedules:** run it every hour, day or week from the Apify Console (Schedules) and keep a history of results.
- **Make, Zapier, n8n, Google Sheets, Slack, Airtable:** connect it through Apify's integrations, or send each finished run to a **webhook**.
- **Datasets:** results stay in the run's dataset; export them or read them by API whenever you need them.

### Use it with AI agents (MCP)

Add Apify's MCP server (`https://mcp.apify.com`) to Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, VS Code or any MCP client. The agent can find this Actor and run it for you: ask it for "Where should a family of four go for five nights in December: Cape Town, Durban or Plett, flying from Joburg?". AI agents can also pay for runs directly through Apify's agentic payments.

### Limits

- No login, CAPTCHA solving or forged challenge tokens; a source can withhold public data, and the run says so.
- Prices are public snapshots for your dates and party, not held reservations; check again before booking.
- Weather is typical for the dates, not a forecast.
- Stay prices sample the first listings Google Hotels returns, enough to compare, not the whole market.

### FAQ

**Is the weather a forecast?**

No. It is five years of records for those days; a forecast only exists two weeks out.

**Why these weights?**

Weather, cost and style lead; holidays count against busy dates except for families.

### Related Actors from Zaiq

- [holiday-planner](https://apify.com/zaiq/holiday-planner): the whole holiday in one run: stays, days, car hire, experiences and a budget

### Support

Questions, a site that changed, or a field you need? Open an issue on this Actor's **Issues** tab: we answer there, usually within a day.

***

Also found as: where to go on holiday, best time to visit, destination comparison, holiday destination finder, when to travel, trip comparison.

# Actor input Schema

## `destinations` (type: `array`):

Up to six, each as Town, Country. Leave empty and fill in Region to have them suggested.

## `region` (type: `string`):

Instead of destinations: for example South African coast or Mediterranean islands.

## `earliestStart` (type: `string`):

The first day you could leave. Leave empty for 30 days from today.

## `latestStart` (type: `string`):

The last day you could leave (at most 120 days later). Leave empty for two weeks after the earliest.

## `nights` (type: `integer`):

How long you go for.

## `dateOptions` (type: `integer`):

Spread evenly across the window, 1 to 3.

## `adults` (type: `integer`):

Everyone 18 or older.

## `childrenAges` (type: `array`):

One age per child, for example \[7, 10].

## `budget` (type: `number`):

For the stay and flights together.

## `currency` (type: `string`):

Three-letter code, for example ZAR, EUR, USD or GBP.

## `tripStyles` (type: `array`):

Beach weighs warm, calm days; nature and adrenaline mild dry ones; every style counts the top-rated places for it.

## `origin` (type: `string`):

Your city or airport, for flight prices.

## `includeFlights` (type: `boolean`):

Cheapest flights from your city for each option.

## `language` (type: `string`):

Language of the written reasons and notes.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "destinations": [
    "Cape Town, South Africa",
    "Durban, South Africa",
    "Plettenberg Bay, South Africa"
  ],
  "nights": 5,
  "dateOptions": 3,
  "adults": 2,
  "childrenAges": [
    7,
    10
  ],
  "budget": 40000,
  "currency": "ZAR",
  "tripStyles": [
    "family",
    "beach"
  ],
  "origin": "Johannesburg",
  "includeFlights": true,
  "language": "English"
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

Dataset: the results.

## `summary` (type: `string`):

What each input returned, and notes.

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "destinations": [
        "Cape Town, South Africa",
        "Durban, South Africa",
        "Plettenberg Bay, South Africa"
    ],
    "nights": 5,
    "adults": 2,
    "childrenAges": [
        7,
        10
    ],
    "budget": 40000,
    "currency": "ZAR",
    "tripStyles": [
        "family",
        "beach"
    ],
    "origin": "Johannesburg",
    "includeFlights": true
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("zaiq/where-when").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {
    "destinations": [
        "Cape Town, South Africa",
        "Durban, South Africa",
        "Plettenberg Bay, South Africa",
    ],
    "nights": 5,
    "adults": 2,
    "childrenAges": [
        7,
        10,
    ],
    "budget": 40000,
    "currency": "ZAR",
    "tripStyles": [
        "family",
        "beach",
    ],
    "origin": "Johannesburg",
    "includeFlights": True,
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("zaiq/where-when").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "destinations": [
    "Cape Town, South Africa",
    "Durban, South Africa",
    "Plettenberg Bay, South Africa"
  ],
  "nights": 5,
  "adults": 2,
  "childrenAges": [
    7,
    10
  ],
  "budget": 40000,
  "currency": "ZAR",
  "tripStyles": [
    "family",
    "beach"
  ],
  "origin": "Johannesburg",
  "includeFlights": true
}' |
apify call zaiq/where-when --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,zaiq/where-when"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/OUEQSGAQbBI663gTu/builds/CRXtBpho9OJ52REin/openapi.json