The Best Of The Web's Travel Sites

The Best of the Web's Travel Sites

Advice: Foreign and Commonwealth Office Travel
http://www.fco.gov.uk
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office provides excellent, and for some countries essential, information about travelling abroad including travel warnings, travel health information, tips, a before you go checklist, holiday safety and FAQ's. If you're a frequent traveller you may wish to sign up for their email alert service to keep abreast of any changes or new travel warnings.

Guides: Lonely Planet
http://www.lonelyplanet.com
Country, city and theme guides, the famous Thorn Tree travellers' discussion forum, ecards, travel health tips and an online travel store are just some of what's available on this site. Despite the vast amount of information and advice, Lonely Planet's site is clean and easy to get around.
Guides: Travelhappy
http://www.travelhappy.co.uk/
Travel Happy offers planning information for countries around the world. The site includes climate charts, currency, visa requirements, flying times, driving info and electricity voltage information.

Guides: Islands.com
http://www.islands.com
Islands.com is an online guide to the islands of the world from Bora Bora to the Caribbean, Tahiti to Hawaii. The site features island profiles, photos, maps and things to do.
General: Virgin.net Travel
http://www.virgin.net/travel
The combination of online bookings, holiday auctions, special offers, travel guides and information make this a very good place to start looking for your next holiday. Bookings are made through the OTC, First Resort and other partners with the travel information provided by Columbus Publishing.

Hotels: JustClick Travel
http://www.justclicktravel.com
Whether you want to book a luxury hotel in Sydney 6 months in advance or a 3 star in Florida for tomorrow this hotel reservation service is a good place to look. Offering a selection of hotels worldwide (some countries have more choice than others) they allow you to book online and their last minute rates appear to be very good. Prices are in Euros but each page has a currency converter at the bottom.

Accommodation: Travel Roomers
http://www.travelroomers.com
Travel Roomers is an online travel community for people who like to travel off the beaten track. You join up for a fee and then you have free accommodation in many countries throughout the world. The catch is you have to have travellers in your home. Destinations vary from East Sussex to Cameroon.

Budget: The Travellers Lounge
http://www.thetravellerslounge.co.uk
The Travellers Lounge is not a travel agent, but rather an independent site set up to help budget travellers get the most out of travelling the world. Listed on the site are a range of itineraries for round the world trips. The site has a tips section with helpful advice, including which airline's version of RTW tickets allow for which routes, advice and myths.

Volunteer: Travellers Worldwide
http://www.travellersworldwide.com
This site is for those who wish to "Live and work abroad helping children, adults, animals and entire communities in less advantaged countries and learn about their culture from the inside". The site provides a huge amount of information about the countries and programmes on offer.

Adventure: iExplore
http://www.iexplore.com/
iExplore is an adventure travel resource and an ideal place to begin researching an adventure trip, get expert advice from adventure consultants and fellow travellers, book travel arrangements, and purchase gear.

Business: Business Travelogue
http://www.businesstravelogue.com/
Business Travelogue offers information and tips on international business etiquette, culture, protocols, manners, negotiation, taboos, travel advice, marketing and using interpreters.

Family: Travel for Kids
http://www.travelforkids.com
Travel for Kids is a family travel guide offering tips and information on where to find fun things to do with your kids all over the world. Organised by country and by area within each country.

Pets: Pawsitive Pets
http://www.pawsitivepets.com/
This cute site offers pet-friendly travel information, checklists, and resources for people who travel or vacation with their pets.

Products: Equipped 2 Travel
http://www.equipped2travel.co.uk
This secure store offers all of those little items that are so easily overlooked but that make a trip so much more enjoyable such as insect repellent, adaptors, travel clocks, and card holders. They also sell the big stuff: luggage, cameras, binoculars, and so on.