Planning a trip can sometimes be more work and stress than what you're trying to take a break from, but using the Internet for your research can simplify your preparations. You've already discovered that you can book your travel arrangements online. Did you know that you can also get health and safety advice, compare travel insurane plans, find out what the weather will be before you arrive, read what others think of your chosen hotel, and learn the language of your destination?
Find out about potential health risks and get up-to-date country reports before you book tickets or visit your vacation destination.
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U.S. Bureau of Consular Affairs: Up-to-date travel advisories and assistance in case of emergency, as well as information about passport application and registration with U.S. embassies.
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World Health Organization: Health advice, including worldwide disease maps, vaccination requirements, and safe food lists.
Use a currency exchange rate Web site to learn how to convert your cash and calculate costs once you arrive at your destination and discover what your hotel bill total will be in your local currency.
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xe.com: A currency converter featuring every currency.
Compare travel insurance plans to find the one that suits your needs and budget.
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Squaremouth.com: Compare more than 60 travel insurance plans from the top providers and get immediate quotes.
Make getting to your destination easier and more comfortable than ever with sites that show you the best places to sit on planes and trains. Or, get help planning a last-minute getaway.
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Seat Guru: Tips on which seats on your plane have the most legroom and cargo space, which are the quietest, and which have the best view of the movie screens.
Unsure of what to do with your cat or dog while you're traveling? Find out if you can bring your pet with you and if not, learn about boarding her until you come home.
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Pet Friendly: Accommodations in the United States where you can bring your pet.
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Pet Travel: An international database of accommodations and services that welcome pets; includes information on pet immigration and travel insurance.
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The Pet Center: A good guide to boarding your pets if you can't take them with you; includes how to find a kennel, what to look for, how to prepare your pet for boarding, and what to do when you pick him or her up.
Find the best deals on hotels and, before you spend your money, find out how real people experienced and rated the hotel you want to book.
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Hotel Guide: This site lets you book at more than 100,000 hotels worldwide with a low-price guarantee.
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Hotels.com: This site enables you to book not just hotels, but also flights, car rentals, and complete vacation packages.
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Hostelz.com: More than 36,000 hostel listings worldwide, along with reader comments, professional reviews, information resource for backpackers, and travel tips.
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Hostels.com: Over 26,000 hostels and other inexpensive places to stay around the world, user ratings, and a message board.
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Lonely Planet Hotels and Hostels: Links to author's favorite places, independent reviews, lodgings in cities off the beaten track, and budget and alternative accomodations such as hostels.
If you prefer the convenience of using a site that enables you to find flights, cars, cruises, and other travel transportation needs as well as hotels, visit:
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Farecast: Find out when to buy to get the best deal for your specific destination. Check out detailed information on flights and hotels. Find the best air travel deals by tracking airfares, with alerts sent to you via e–mail. Read reviews of hotels, resorts, and inns, view photos of them, and find them on the worldwide map.
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Kayak: Simultaneously searches more than 140 sites to find the best deals on flights, hotels, vacation packages, cruises, and car rentals.
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Expedia: Flights, hotels, cars, and packages, promising exactly the trip you want.
The best advice often comes from ordinary people rather than travel agents, so visit travel forums to get unbiased information on destinations. You can even find out about places off the beaten track that you'd never discover in a travel brochure.
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The Thorn Tree Travel Forum: Lonely Planet's forum, with sections on more than 22 world regions, news, and a wide variety of travel-related topics, such as bicycle travel, trekking, experimental travel, gay and lesbian travelers, travelers with disabilities, and more.
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Virtual Tourist: Discussion board, travel tips and advice from members, photos, and travel resources.
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I Go U Go: Photos, journal entries, blogs, and reviews from travelers.
Never get stuck without important travel gear like your umbrella or bathing suit again. Find out what the weather is like before you leave so you'll know what to pack.
WorldClimate: Although not a forecast site, WorldClimate tells you what the weather is usually like at different times of the year using approximately 85,000 climate records for tens of thousands of places around the world.
Conquer the challenges of traveling with kids with great tips and kid-friendly activities.
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Travel for Kids: This site lists fun things to do with your children around the world and offers trip planning help, travel tips, a list of family-friendly hotels, food guides, and book recommendations.
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Family Travel Network: This site features hot deals, a list of family-friendly destinations, tips and reviews, suggestions for interest-based travel, and a message board.
Learn some useful words and phrases before you go, refresh your language skills, and help your children learn about your destination and its language. Creating a personalized travel dictionary for your trip can improve your communication skills and save weight in your luggage.
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Word2Word: In addition to basic translation, the site has online dictionaries, language chat forums, etymology information, word games, world alphabets, and links to free online language courses for more than 100 languages, including Haida, Kurdish, and Hindi.
Practice using newly acquired skills by visiting one of the foreign language chat sites on the Learn Foreign Languages Web site, with links to more than 140 language exchange communities.
The encyclopedia software Microsoft Encarta Premium is a good investment for families who travel, because it comes with: translation dictionaries for Spanish, French, German, and Italian; foreign language verb conjugations and foreign language help; one-click access to foreign language characters for correct spelling; and links to thousands of homework-helpful sites and periodic updates.
Traveljournals.net: Friends can check out your travel stories and pictures, leave messages in your guestbook, and even learn something about where you are in the Maps and Locations database.
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TravelPod: In addition to travelogs and forums, this site features trip-planning resources, including a hostel finder, adventure tours, and travel insurance. It also enables you to start your own free travel blog that never expires.
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A Global World: If you're bringing any electronics, you'll need to plug them in. Use the international voltage information on this site to figure out what kind of voltage converters you'll need.
Step off the beaten path and enjoy memorable adventures.
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Generous Adventures Travel Auctions: This site lets you bid on resorts, outdoor adventures, exotic destinations, and special interest trips—and the proceeds go to charity.
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The International Ecotourism Society: The world's oldest and largest ecotourism organization provides information on responsible travel to natural areas in over 90 countries.
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G.A.P Adventures: G.A.P helps you put together your dream adventure based on destination, activity, or, if you're open to anything, whatever fits into your schedule. Includes information on marine and expedition cruises, small group adventure travel, and much more.
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Cruise Critic: This site lets you read user reviews of a wide variety of cruises and find your dream cruise. It also offers tips for your first cruise and for planning your cruise.
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The Lonely Planet Guide to Experimental Travel: If you're ready to deviate from the travel norm, visit this site, which helps you plan backpacking trips, train voyages, romantic journeys (ero tourism), and trips customized to your interests. You can also read posts from experimental travelers.
Article written by Brenda R. Solman and adapted from an original piece from Microsoft Home Magazine.
