Meridian Dispatch

Send the Meridian Dispatch desk a correction to one of its pages. Use it when the traveller tells you something on a meridiandispatch.com page is wrong or out of date (a place has closed, moved, been renamed, changed its hours or now needs booking). Pass a source_url when the traveller gives one or one supports what they said. Do not use it for opinions, reviews or style. To read a page first, use get_place, get_destination or get_dispatch. Quote current_text exactly as it appears on the page (or in this server's answer about it); a quote that is not found is refused. Nothing changes immediately: the desk verifies every suggestion against its own sources before editing. Returns whether the suggestion was received and its id; the same suggestion sent twice is recorded once. A page that is not on meridiandispatch.com, a quote not on the page, or too many suggestions in an hour (per conversation, per address or per page) returns an error saying which.

Tell the Meridian Dispatch desk that a fact on one of its pages still holds, with the current, independent source that shows it (the place's official website, an operator or government page). Use it when the traveller confirms a fact on a page (they were just there, or asked you to check it and the source agrees). If the fact is wrong instead, use suggest_edit. Quote checked_text exactly as the page (or this server's answer) gives it and pass the source; a quote not on the page, or a source on meridiandispatch.com, is refused. A confirmation is recorded as a signal for the desk to review and counted per page; it does not mark the page verified, change its date or reorder any list, and the page itself does not change. The same confirmation sent twice is recorded once. Returns whether it was recorded.

Generate an itinerary import link: turn a day-by-day travel itinerary into a shareable "Add Itinerary to Meridian Dispatch" link. Use it when the traveller has a day-by-day plan and wants it in the Meridian Dispatch app, or asks for a link to their trip. It is the only tool that creates anything for the traveller; the others read, apart from suggest_edit, which sends the desk a correction. To draft the plan itself, use get_destination, get_dispatch and get_place first and link places with their meridiandispatch.com URLs. Opening the link on an iPhone with the Meridian Dispatch app shows the trip and adds it to the Plan tab as a new plan, after the traveller picks the first day; anywhere else it opens a web preview of the days. Days are numbered (day 1, 2, 3) or dated, and every day needs a hotel stay. A place given with its meridiandispatch.com page URL arrives with that page's field record. Each call creates a new, public, permanent link (not idempotent): booking references, emails and phone numbers are removed. Returns the link, ready-made markdown, counts of days and items, and the places matched and not matched to the guides. An invalid itinerary returns an error listing every problem; too many links in an hour returns a rate-limit error.

Suggest a town, sight, walk, museum, event, ski resort, food area or hotel that Meridian Dispatch has no page for, so the desk can research and add it to this free, shared travel reference. Use it when the traveller asks about, or tells you about, somewhere the guides do not cover (search_guides or get_destination found nothing) and it is real and open. Single restaurants, bars and shops are not listed; a food street, market or bar district is. source_url is required: the place's official website or another current page showing it exists. A place already covered returns its page instead of a suggestion. Nothing is published straight away: the desk researches every suggestion first. The same place suggested twice is recorded once. Returns whether it was received.

Get the best time to visit from the Meridian Dispatch guides, in one of two modes. Give destination (a country, town, trail or ski resort) for its best months, good and avoid months, closures and crowds where known, the guide's own best-time line, and the events held there. Or give month for "where to go in March": up to 40 countries, towns, trails, ski resorts and festivals the guides recommend that month, each with its reason, events first. If both are given, destination wins. For festival dates alone use list_events; for a full planning guide use get_destination. Read-only. An unknown destination, an invalid month or neither parameter returns an error message.

Read the Meridian Dispatch guide to one country or one town, for planning a stay there. Returns: why go, how long to stay, the best months, getting there and around, practical FAQ answers, a structured fact sheet where one exists (nights, months, travel times in minutes, areas to stay, ranked top things, day trips, watch-outs), up to 15 ranked places worth your time with their own guide links, recommended hotels, the town guides of a country, related dispatches and a citation. Use it for "what to do in X", "how many days in X" or "where to stay in X". For a single sight, trail, event or ski resort use get_place; for a long-form dispatch use get_dispatch; to find a destination by theme use search_guides; for towns within reach use list_nearby. Two sizes: detail "summary" (the default) returns a short overview, nights, months, airports, areas to stay and the top 8 places, each with an id to pass to get_place as url; detail "full" returns everything above, as versions before 2.4.0 did. Ask for "full" only when the summary lacks what the traveller needs. Matching tries a country first, then a town. A country with town guides but no country guide returns its town guides and dispatches instead. Read-only. An unknown name returns an error message.

Read one Meridian Dispatch long-form dispatch or multi-day itinerary. A dispatch is a reported piece on one place: returns its headline, standfirst, opening excerpt, themes, publish date, photo and links to its town and country guides (the full text stays on the page). An itinerary is a country route over several days: returns the bases in order, nights in each, where to stay and every day's activities by part of the day, each linked to its guide. Use it only for these two kinds of page. For a country or town guide use get_destination; for one sight, trail, event or ski resort use get_place; to list dispatches on a theme use search_guides with type "dispatch" or "itinerary". Lookup order: an exact URL, then an exact slug, then the single best keyword match, so a place name returns the one most relevant dispatch. Read-only. No match returns an error message.

Read the Meridian Dispatch field record for one place: a sight, museum, beach or park, a trail or scenic drive, an event, or a ski resort. Returns the best time to go, how long it takes, effort, season, access, how to get there and what goes wrong, plus the best months, practical answers, a photo, the town guide link and a citation; an event adds its dates and schedule, a trail its route facts. Use it once you know the place. For a whole country or town use get_destination; for a dispatch use get_dispatch; to find a place you cannot name exactly use search_guides; for what else is close use list_nearby. Give url, or name (at least one). A place mentioned on a town guide with no page of its own returns its short write-up and that guide. A URL of a town, country or dispatch page returns that guide instead. Read-only. No match returns an error message.

List Meridian Dispatch's ranked World's Best places: the 20 best in the world or the 10 best in one country, overall or within one category. Use it for "top things to do in X" or "best beaches in X". For one town's highlights use get_destination; for places near a point use list_nearby; for any other search use search_guides. Returns the list's title, the places in rank order (rank, name, where, a one-line summary, the place's own guide URL where one exists, and a coordinate), the other categories available for that scope, and a citation. Read-only. A country or category with no list returns an error that names the ones that exist.

List the festivals and events worth planning a trip around, from the Meridian Dispatch events guide. Returns each event's name, kind, where it is, the current edition's dates (a label plus ISO start and end), the best day to go, when to book, the next edition where announced, a citable URL and a citation line, sorted by start date. With no filter it returns every event; month keeps events with any day in that month; country keeps one country. Use get_place with an event's URL for its full record (schedule, where to stay, tips). For every kind of destination in a month, not just events, use get_best_time. Read-only. Dates are for one edition, so check the page before booking. An invalid month or no match returns an error message.

List the places Meridian Dispatch covers near a place or a coordinate, nearest first, for day trips from a base or what else to see near a sight. From a town with a researched guide, it leads with day_trips: the guide's own picks, with travel mode and how long. Without type it answers a day-trip question: up to 15 towns, each once at its nearest point, with its distance, summary, guide link, best few places and dispatches; a town's own sights are left out (get_destination has them). With type it returns a flat list of up to 20 places of that kind with distances. Distances are straight-line kilometres, not by road. Give place, or lat and lng together. For the sights inside one town use get_destination; to search by theme use search_guides. Read-only. An unknown place or nothing within the radius returns an error message.

Search every Meridian Dispatch travel guide by keyword: long-form dispatches, multi-day itineraries, country and town guides, venues (sights, museums, beaches, parks), trails and scenic drives, events and ski resorts. Use it first when you do not know the exact page. Once you know the place, read it in full with get_destination (a country or town), get_place (one sight, trail, event or ski resort) or get_dispatch (a dispatch or itinerary); for ranked top-ten lists use list_best_places, for a month use get_best_time. Returns up to `limit` pages ranked by relevance, each with its type, title, country, town, a one-line summary, a citable URL and when it was last updated. Ranking is keyword-based with travel synonyms; a country or month named in the query is honoured. Read-only. When nothing matches it returns an error message; retry with a broader query or a place name.