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Travel Blog Sites - Essential Travel Websites

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This post is an attempt to list those travel sites that are genuinely and really useful to the independent traveller. Spammers please note that this topic will be heavily moderated.
16 years ago, August 28th 2007 No: 1 Msg: #18581  
B Posts: 5,200
This topic is basically a list of the essential websites for travellers; We'll be comprehensive and fair. This post will contain links and one line descriptions in categories. Once a link is placed here after someone has made a suggestion the post will be deleted by the moderators. So to get started:

Utilities
XE.com - provides market currency exchange rates
worldtimezone.com - world time zones - represented graphically
timeanddate.com - time zones, international dialing codes, meeting planner and distance calculator
onebag.com - Light Packing Suggestions - get it all in one bag - watch your liquids!
Wikipedia.org - every thing you ever wanted to know edited by big brother.
projectvisa.com - Lists visa information for most countries - lots of ads.
delta.com - Select nationality and destination, gives passport and visa information.
sleepinginairports.com - guide to sleeping in airports, including reviews
travelindependent.info - Independent packing and backpacking information
travelocity.com - search engine for flights, accomodation and transport.
freetranslation.com - free translation site
Babel Fish Translation - free translation site
studentjetpacks.co.uk - general travel advice, plus more detailed information for some countries
webflyer.com - information site for members of frequent flyer networks
thedirtyload.com - worldwide laundry search
bookcrossing.com - recycle books you have read, clear your shelves - send your books out on an adventure of their own!
travelpost.com - International airport wireless internet guide
nhs.uk - health info for travellers


Airline Tickets
Amadeus.net - Look straight into the database used by most travel agents and airlines. An excellent planning tool as you don't have to visit every airline in existence to find out if they fly on a particular destination or not. This of course excludes chartered services and low cost carriers which are not booked through Amadeus. Tickets not Available

Checkmytrip.com - Use your name and Amadeus booking number to keep an eye on the status of your scheduled flights. Extra useful in that your friends/family/relatives/favourite pet can keep up to date with your itinerary down to the last minute. Again, this does not work for low cost carriers.

Attitude Travel - lists low cost/budget airlines world wide.
Kayak.com, Expedia, Ebookers - online air-travel and usually a lot more.
Airtreks.com - round the world tickets and planning application.
www.skyscanner.net , www.airtkt.com , www.trabber.co.uk , www.fly.co.uk , sidestep.com , farecast.com , farecompare.com - search engines for flights
travel.indiatimes.com - caters mainly for travel between the US and India



Non-air travel
Seat61 - worldwide train and ferry information.Tickets not available through site
www.geocities.com/freighterman.geo , freighterworld.com , freighter-cruises.com , freightertravel.co.nz (suggested contact Hamish Jamieson), lowcarbontravel.com , thetravelersnotebook.com , 50plus.com , strandtravel.co.uk , cruisepeople.co.uk - information on freighter travel


News Sources
IRIN (irinnews.org) - news from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Helps you avoid conflict zones in exotic places.
BBC News - British Broadcasting Corporation - for the broad overview.
www.kidon.com - local newspapers and news sources from all continents
who.int - World Health Organisation


Guides
LonelyPlanet.com, RoughGuides.com - Two of the most well known print travel guides.
wikitravel.org - online wiki based travel guide.
worldreviewer.com - travel guide with destination reviews by experts
audiosnacks.com , tourcaster.com , geogad.com - downloadable audio guides
slevart.com - focus on dining and accomodation

Forums and travellers' articles
backpackers.com , travel-rants.com , roadtrippin.com - travel articles, forums and information
Lonely Planet Thorn Tree Travel Forum
www.expat-blog.com - blog and forum site for expats

Trip Planners
www.airtreks.com
www.globalbasecamps.com - sustainable tour options
findoutwheretogo.com - preview destinations by viewing other travellers' photos
timetogobackpacking.com - itinerary planner
thinkbackpacking.com
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16 years ago, October 13th 2007 No: 2 Msg: #20833  
Just wanted to offer a quick comment about couchsurfing--the site is really growing and I would classify it more as primarily Western countries. But it is definitely growing and we have met several fellow cs'ers who used it through Eastern Europe as well South America. One person who had recently been through South America said that you could roughly depend on being able to couchsurf about 1 in 5 days in SA versus a 1:1 ratio in USA and Western Europe. Hopefully the culture will grow outside of generally wealthier, English speaking travelers. Even with that limitation however, it is a great experience.
We are working on the rest of our blogs to post that include the CS experiences, and have met another travelblogger International backpacker while couchsurfing. Reply to this

15 years ago, December 15th 2008 No: 3 Msg: #57522  
One post deleted.

SPAM sites do not qualify as essential travel websites. Reply to this

15 years ago, January 7th 2009 No: 4 Msg: #59211  
Those are all fantastically helpful links guys! Thanks so much! (A laundry site? I never thought I'd see the day. ) Reply to this

14 years ago, November 12th 2009 No: 5 Msg: #93352  

A laundry site? I never thought I'd see the day.



HaHa! Everything really is on the web. This reminds me, I want to look up the site that lists the clean toilets of the world. Yeah, an entire site dedicated to that is a pretty funny idea. :D Reply to this

14 years ago, February 3rd 2010 No: 6 Msg: #102371  
S Posts: 4
I think www.worldhelplink.com would be a good addition to your list. Reply to this

14 years ago, March 19th 2010 No: 7 Msg: #106863  
Another great and comprehensive site you may like to add is

www.roadtripamerica.com Reply to this

13 years ago, April 15th 2010 No: 8 Msg: #108717  
Oanda Currency Converter - I find this much easier to use than xe.com

Seat Guru - excellent site with seat maps for guidance on the seating of different carriers and their planes. Reply to this

13 years ago, May 14th 2010 No: 9 Msg: #110854  
(I also added this to the "Over Land and Sea" forum.)

I found this site today. It is recommended by the Australian Yachting Federation so it is probably legitimate but I know nothing about it so you use it at your own risk.

Sailing crew wanted for cruising yachts around the world: http://www.cruiser.co.za/crewfinder.asp Reply to this

13 years ago, June 17th 2010 No: 10 Msg: #113435  
hmmm. maybe I can add these articles? These are the ones I use as my reference for traveling with airlines, cruises, etc. Screw The Airlines.

Hope that helps a lot. 😊
Reply to this

13 years ago, September 9th 2010 No: 11 Msg: #118907  
For the dutch market there is this new site for low cost air tickets: lowcosttickets.nl
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13 years ago, September 21st 2010 No: 12 Msg: #119458  
B Posts: 125
My two cents of things that aren't here already in this great thread:

http://www.whatsonwhen.com/ - Great for checking upcoming major events

http://www.proxypass.us/ or https://www.secure-tunnel.com/index.cfm?linkID=anonymiser.co.uk&CFID=764642&CFTOKEN=57662148 - Essential for travel in countries that block Internet access to certain sights.. Reply to this

12 years ago, April 29th 2011 No: 13 Msg: #135039  

12 years ago, September 3rd 2011 No: 14 Msg: #142728  
World Climate Guide - simple site with lots of information for many destinations - including average temperature, rainfall, number of rainy and sunny days and humidity levels. Reply to this

12 years ago, March 11th 2012 No: 15 Msg: #153008  
B Posts: 4
In response to: Msg #18581 You got a very useful listing here. May I just add Mappy for European maps. You may also wish to add SightsandFlavors for comprehensive Madrid and San Francisco city guide. Thanks.
[Edited: 2012 Mar 11 01:41 - GBForce:232803 ]
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11 years ago, July 18th 2012 No: 16 Msg: #158903  

11 years ago, July 18th 2012 No: 17 Msg: #158904  
free post sites travel blog http://sitestravel.blogspot.com
Reply to this

9 years ago, April 11th 2014 No: 18 Msg: #180544  
Here's a really helpful site when planning a family vacation:
Real Family Trips - Family to Famly Travel Tips

Families share their experiences with others and rate various locations, providing useful information to others when trying to plan a family vacation. Hope this makes it on the list! 😊 Reply to this

9 years ago, April 29th 2014 No: 19 Msg: #181052  
www.google.co.uk Reply to this

9 years ago, November 7th 2014 No: 20 Msg: #186670  
N Posts: 1
Backpacker Advice is another great website Reply to this

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