Online Vacation Planning Resources

Travel And Tourism Websites

If you're traveling the United States by car, an American Automobile Association (AAA) membership is a good idea. Along with expert travel planning services, you get emergency roadside assistance, first-class auto insurance, discounts on food, shopping, and other tourist attractions, plus access to the AAA network of certified auto repair shops. I can remember being about 12 years old, flipping through each page of the AAA Trip-Tik booklet as my family drove across the country.

The AAA Fuel Cost Calculator can help you budget enough gas money to get to your destination and back. Enter your starting city and destination; the make, model, and year of your car; and AAA gives you an estimated fuel cost based on regional gas prices.

Tourism information is plentiful online. Search for "tourism" and any locality name to find government tourism information sites from the federal to local levels. If you aren't sure where you want to go, try the TravelGuidesFree.com website. You can browse summaries of free tourism brochures by State and order paper copies of brochures that interest you.

The U.S. National Parks Service is a comprehensive guide to the many national parks and wilderness areas in this country. Here you can find opening dates for the Grand Canyon tours; maps of parks showing campsites and points of interest; reports of hiking and fishing conditions; and much more. State park systems have similar websites, too.

Traveling Abroad

The Tourism Offices Worldwide Directory is a guide to government tourism offices, convention and visitors bureaus, chambers of commerce, and similar organizations. It contains over 1,400 entries as of this writing.

Before traveling abroad, you may want to check the U.S. State Department's International Travel Information site. It covers every country on Earth, providing information such as the location of the U. S. embassy and consular office; whether you need a visa; local crime and security information; health and medical conditions; and travel advisories.

The International Ecotourism Society can help you tread lightly on Mother Earth and help local people in developing nations. The society's trip planning guide and ecotourism packages are great resources for the environmentally and socially conscious.

If you fancy an ocean cruise, OceanCruises.com can help you choose a cruise line and package, then book your cruise at a discounted price. It even has "bare boat" deals in which you can rent a yacht or book rough passage on an ocean freighter.

Airlines partner with local hotels, car rental agencies, restaurants, and attractions to offer vacation packages that can save you 30 per cent or more. So do independent travel sites such as Expedia.com, Priceline.com, and others.

Hostels.com is your guide to over 30,000 youth hostels worldwide. Hostels offer cheap private rooms and even cheaper dormitory accommodations for the budget conscious. Shared showers, laundry, and kitchen facilities are common in hostels. Staying at a hostel is a low-cost way to rub elbows with other travelers.

Do you have a favorite online travel resource? Post your comment or question below...