Destination Travel Guides: Get The Best Bargain For Your Budget Before Pulling Out Your Credit Card

Most renowned travel guides like Lonely Planet, Fodors, and Rough Guide have launched web sites that are almost equivalent to their print versions. While the target audiences for some sites are those who can afford to rent villas and dine on gourmet cuisine, budget and student travelers will find plenty geared to their taste and financial situation. Those looking for an adventure rather than the greatest hits approach to tourism will benefit from sites that develop journeys to far-flung parts of the globe and eco-tours that encourage respect for the local environment and its inhabitants.

Clicking on one area of a map or choosing a destination from a pull down menu will call up information on when to visit, what to bring, where to stay, how much money to carry, and how to move around within the city or region. Daily updates on situations around the world give you something to talk about with locals, and can even alert you to festivals or concerts you might have otherwise missed. Booking flights, hotels, and train tickets online has become routine, although you’ll want to examine several sites to get the best bargain for your budget before pulling out your credit card.

Many travel essentials, such as currency conversions and weather forecasts, are at your disposal online, too. If you’re a woman traveling alone or have other travel circumstances that might require special advice, you’ll usually find it under sidebars. Regardless of your situation, you can also access personal travel anecdotes from around the world, plus contribute your own. And if surfing the net whets your appetite for more travel facts, you can order the books themselves directly from the guide’s web site.