But there's a lot more here, too, whether you are looking for country information, connecting your laptop, finding companions, getting visas, looking up a specific ferry, converting currencies or even living abroad.
Most of these links were originally researched by Andy Gerard of Transitions Abroad, and were augmented and organized by me.
Please contact us if you have additional suggestions.
Discussion forums
If you want the name of a specific hotel in Hong Kong or ferry connection in the Caribbean, or up-to-the-minute advice and opinion unfindable in travel guidebooks, you can find a treasure trove of detail by searching past posts or joining and asking new questions at any of these forums:- Lonely Planet Thorn Tree
- Travellerspoint
- Slow Travel Talk
- Fodor's Travel Guides: Travel Talk Forums
- Rick Steves' Graffiti Wall
- IgoUgo Message Boards
- Rough Guides Travel Talk
Aggregators
You can start with these sites, which search the Web for good fares and then send you on to sites providing the fares:- Cheapflights.com
Fast, simple interface, impressive. - Smarter Travel
- Travel Zoo
- Independent Traveler
- Shermans's Travel Vacation Deals
- Farechase
Does not support all Web browsers! - Kayak
Simple homepage searches 100 travel sites, prices as good as Cheapflights. - Mobissimo
In my test sample, prices were double those found on Cheapflights. - Qixo
Users must have a credit card with a U.S. address. - TravelZoo
Specials from airlines and travel agencies, in the form of lists of links.
Discount airfares
OrbitzWhere I personally start my research.
Cheap
Tickets
This is the second place I check.
Trailfinders
If you are planning a giant, round-the-world trip, be sure to check with this London-based agency. See my positive experiences in How to plan an adventure trip.
Discountfares
Major savings on international fares.
Travelocity
Airline tickets, hotels, cars, vacations and cruises, as well as travel tools.
1travel.com
Offers discount airfares via "Farebeaters" feature.
Airhitch
Get to Europe cheaply by taking advantage of seats left empty on commercial flights.
European Travel Network
This nonprofit site is a good place to find budget travel information, such as cheap fares and hotels.
Kasbah.com
Cheap flights, cheap hotels, discount airfares.
KLM UK
Low-far airline goes from domestic U.K. airports to destinations worldwide.
Priceline
Online auction that allows travelers to save money by getting bids from many travel agents. You name the flight and travel agents bid to offer you the lowest price. Also deals on air, hotel, cruises, rental cars.
Blakkat.com
Terrific one-stop collection of discount airfare links to bestfares.com, Lowestfares.com, priceline.com, 1travel, Expedia, and more, as well as hotel chains links, ground transportion and more goodies.
Web sites, major air carriers
In search of the lowest airfares, our friend Nancy Brucker compiled this valuable listing. Here are some sites with Internet and email specials:
- Air Canada
- Air Tran
- Alaska/Horizon Airlines
- American Airlines
- America West
- American Trans Air
- Air New Zealand
- Cathay Pacific
- Continental
- Delta
- Northwest
- Southwest
- United
- US Airways
Discount accommodation
Accommodation Search Engine
An extensive online reservation service for hotels, bed and breakfasts, inns, and resorts worldwide with up-to-the-minute information on prices and availability.
BedandBreakfast.com
Worldwide directory.
Budget Travel
Geographically indexed contact information for travelers who don't want to pay 5-star prices.
Europe's Famous Hostels
Lists Europe's finest youth hostels and hotels, also offers budget travel links.
Hello Europe!
Jeannette gives an enthusiastic thumbs-up to these guidebooks: "Spain Hotels: $40 to $80 a Night for Two," "French Hotels: $50-90 A Night for Two" and "Italian Hotels: $50-99 A Night for Two." Mention you heard about HelloEurope at the Beau Monde Press Discount Travel Center and get 15 percent off.
Hostelling International
Search among 4,000 hostels worldwide.
Hostels.com: The Internet Guide to International Hostelling
Among the largest directories of hostels in the world, with 6,000, also message boards and travel links.
Quikbook
Discount rates on 200 hotels in seven U.S. cities.
Stilwell's
You can't top cottages and bed and breakfasts as the best places to stay in Ireland and Britain -- and this site lists them by locality. Thanks to our English pal James Padfield for this tip!
Adventure trips
These three outfits impress me:
Adventurewomen
Susan Eckert's outfit offers varied trips designed to appeal to women over 30.
Adventure Center
Impressive number of worldwide group tips for budget travelers.
Mountain Travel Sobek
More enticing choices, a bit more upmarket.
Bus, train schedules
Amtrak
Schedules, fares and special offers for rail travel in the United States.
Deutsche Bahn AG
Up-to-date timetables for train service in Europe. Well-designed site has options for text-only browsers and English or German language.
Greyhound Bus
Timetables and fare information.
Peter Pan Bus
Great deals from Washington, D.C., and Baltimore to New York, as well as other timetables and fare information.
AA Bus Double Happiness
Apex Bus
Dragon Coach
Ivy Media
Premium Bus
Today's Bus
For great fares between East Coast cities, try one of these Chinatown bus lines. For consolidated information and a forum warning of breakdowns, dirty toilets and confusion on some of these buses, visit Chinatown Bus Information.
RailServe
The Passenger and Urban Transit links by region on the pull-down menus have information and links for rail travel worldwide.
VIA Rail Canada
Schedules, fares for Canadian trains.
Discount rental cars
Web sites of major car rental companies:
Embassies, visas
Electronic Embassy Page
A list of all of the foreign embassies in the United States.
Travel Document Services
Provides visa services for U.S. citizens for most countries for which an entry visa is required; also has up-to-date information on most countries. You can browse their travel resources and purchase relevant books.
Visa Express
Guarantees low rates for its passport and visa services.
Information
American Society of Travel Agents
Includes a directory of travel agents who specialize in particular types of trips, as well as a great deal of international travel information and resources.
Backpack Europe on a Budget
Backpacking and hostelling information, tips, and links for student and budget travelers planning a trip to Europe.
Best Budget Travel Web Site Portals
Review of useful sites by our friends at Transitions Abroad.
Centers for Disease
Control Travelers' Health - Destinations
Health information by destination, as well as outbreaks, diseases, insect protection, safe food and water, travel medicine clinics and more.
The CIA World Factbook
Information on all the world's nations.
Currency conversion
FXConverter features a program that will do conversions for more than 160 different currencies. Or you can try XE.com - The Universal Currency Converter.
Epinions
Valuable: like an Amazon.com where readers can post opinions on airlines, hotels, cruises, family travel, frequent flier programs and much more.
For Women Traveling Solo
Travel tips, information, forums, and product recommendations for women traveling solo.
Journeywoman Online
For women who love to travel; a free e-mail newsletter is delivered to you in minutes.
Kwikpoint
Offers ingenious, affordable, beautifully designed small laminated translators using universally understood icons that travelers can point to for communicating around the world.
Lonely Planet Thorn Tree
The chat area of this premier travel book publisher site has great content and a sense of humor.
Maiden Voyages
Maiden Voyages is a literary consumer magazine for women; web site contains a large directory of tour operators that cater to women.
New York Times' Travel Navigator
Impressive array of links including ones tracking flight delays, academic and learning vacations, wifi connections, visas, weather data, airport codes, and much more.
Paytrust
Paytrust offers a way to keep up with your bills while on the road.
Petswelcome.com
Thousands of lodging listings for pet owners.
Road safety
Founded by Rochelle Sobel in memory of her son, Aron, who was killed in a bus accident on the roads of Turkey, The Association for Safe Travel Abroad compiles data on which countries have the worse record for fatalities (currently Egypt, Kenya and Kyrgystan lead the list). Rochelle recommends that adventure travelers avoid night travel in countries with poor safety records, and insist that reckless bus drivers be responsible (if they don't, disembark at the next stop). Please spend some time visiting this Web site before your trip, and heed its sage advice.
State Department travel warnings
Travel warnings for global hot spots.
Trip Advisor
Very interesting reviews of vacations, hotels, resorts, vacation and travel packages.
Tyzo.com
Directory of travel Web sites and deals.
Internet: Cybercafes, laptop hookup
The Cybercafe Search Engine
Lists over 6,700 cybercafes in 175 countries which offer a multitude of services for the international traveler.
Roadnews
Traveling with your computer? This site has everything you need to stay connected to the "cyberworld" while traveling in the real one.
Meeting travelers
Globetrotters Club
This 50+-year-old club is a great place for independent travel enthusiasts of all ages to network.
News, regional information
CNN Travel Guide
Travel news, destination information, booking information.
NewsDirectory: Newspaper and Media
Links to more than 6,600 English language newspapers and magazines worldwide.
Online Tourist Information
Links to web pages and tourist boards in over 150 countries.
Travel-Library.com
Personal travelogues and worldwide travel and independent travel information.
TravelPage.com
Where to go, how to get there, and what to expect.
Study abroad, live abroad
GoAbroad.com
A site for alternative travel including information on study abroad, living abroad, alternative . travel and more. Offers a searchable database of overseas travel programs.
lAgora
Work and study abroad solutions, renting rooms or apartments to internationals, hotel rooms in Europe.
InfoHub Specialty Travel Guide
Comprehensive, easily searchable database of special interest travel programs.
Transitions Abroad
The central hub of alternative travel online with links to the web sites of everyone listed in its resource and program directories. You can purchase books reviewed in our resource directories and read articles and features from recent editions of the Alternative Travel Directory and Work Abroad as well as Transitions Abroad magazine.
TravLang
Provides useful tools for the traveler and those interested in learning a foreign language; also links to other places on the ŒNet providing related services.
Worldwide
Travel planning information broken down into 25 categories, plus an impressive list of educational travel programs.
Also see: Finding money and time for an adventure trip.
Case studies from Jeannette Belliveau's own experiences