Best European Travel Web Sites: 2005
What Web sites have helped you plan your trip? What do you like about the various sites? Anything missing that we could add to ours?
I am planning a trip to Italy and France next year. I found a Travelers To Go website at http://p104.ezboard.com/beuropetogo. It seems to be a rather new site. Most people in that site seem to be experienced travelers. I especially liked their trip report section and their photo links. Those trip reports gave me lots of ideas on what places to visit and where to eat.
Jaime
Durham, NC USA Sun 12/25/2005
budget Europe travel
http://chatarea.com/Backpackers
A friendly community of budget travelers are informed and happy to share their knowledge with you. Several of us are expats living in Europe. Check us out. :)
Caprese <email>
New York, New York USA Thu 12/15/2005
www.IgoUgo.com is wonderful
www.IgoUgo.com has wonderful journals on Europe and many Guides (writers) who reside in the areas often visited. Not only can you read the journals, but you can send a note to the Guide and ask for more information and assistance.
Ellen
Fort Worth, TX USA Thu 12/08/2005
TRAIN RESERVATIONS FOR EUROPE
Jeff: Read Travelers Helpline section on this page. There are lots of suggestions about reserving RR tickets.
C.Z.A.
DALLAS, TX USA Tue 12/06/2005
STRAUSBOURG SPELLING
After checking the web for spelling, I find you can spell Strausbourg three different ways. Take your choice.
H. B. M.
NYC, USA Tue 12/06/2005
Virtualtourist.com
We found www.virtualtourist.com helpful in finding (or avoiding) a variety of items: hotels, restaurants, travel scams, etc. Used that site along with Rick Steve's books and had a great time in four countries at minimal expense and maximum fun.
Tom
Brookfield, WI USA Fri 12/02/2005
Strasbourg
Try www.strasbourg.fr. That's the home page for the city of Strasbourg.
Lee
CO USA Tue 11/29/2005
Strausbourg
Strausbourg - anyone know of a good site to get general information as well as festivals that may be going on in May?
Thanks
Suzanne <email>
Milwaukee, WI USA Tue 11/29/2005
Greece info
As to Greece, try Matt Barrett Greece Guides. Just type this in web search and u should get it. Lots of info but Ive only looked at some.
Paul n Sara
Newburyport , MA USA Mon 11/28/2005
Eurotrek.net
Our totally non-corporate, independent, travel community is ready for you to be a part of it! Come join us at www.eurotrek.net!
None of us make any money from this site, it's totally done out of the love of travel!
Alex U <email>
Chicago, IL USA Thu 11/17/2005
www.paris-eiffel-tower-news.com
This site is very helpful with lots and lots of interesting info on everything Paris: from how to choose the best accommodations to tour guides, maps, and great stories and useful tips about living in the city. My fav areas are the reviews, stories, and photos sections.
Mario
Ottawa, ON Canada Thu 11/10/2005
need info on greece
Any suggestions for the best websites for the greek islands?
bonyalund <email>
los angeles, ca USA Wed 11/09/2005
The Glen Bed and Breakfast Carlisle UK
The Glen bed and breakfast carlisle www.theglen.co.uk are offering 5 nights half board with airport transfers from Manchester, Edinburgh or Glasgow plus 4 day tours visiting Scotland, Lake District and Yorkshire, so you don't need a car!!! all for £299pp This is the best deal I have found and the reviews are great both on here and www.tripadvisor.com
Karen Hayles
NY, NY USA Tue 11/08/2005
Italy cont.
Oops; spelling correction. Should be Piazza Gramschi in Siena. Sorry.
USA Sat 10/29/2005
Italy October 05
Rome was wonderful and The Beehive a terrific place to stay, close to the termini, safe and great litte restaurants in the area. Only problem was that tickets to the papal audience on Wednesdays were not honored (why?)and there was almost a mob scene, but I did manage to catch a glimpse of the Pope as he went by. Florence was tougher...my hotel was mosquito infested and the place was difficult to navigate, but the indoor central market, duomo, academia and piazzas were wonderful. Siena is a gem and the Alma Domus a rare find; close to Oiazza Framshi and Il Campo; would definitely stay there again. Overall, great trip but lots of Rick Steves' book groupies out there...please at least hide the front cover or tear pages out like Rick suggests. Ciao!
Lynn
Cincinnati, OH USA Sat 10/29/2005
Planning your trip
www.willgoto.com
A world travel directory, with all useful links sorted by destination and by topic.
Very comprehensive sections about European countries and the islands of the Indian Ocean.
Jose
Brussels, Belgium Tue 10/25/2005
europeASAP
actually, i have a question..any help would be much appreiciated! has anyone heard of the europeASAP.com? does anyone know anything about it? thanks!
megan stone <email>
smyrna, ga USA Sat 10/22/2005
London at the last minute
Twice I used LondonTown.com to find an accomodation at the last minute and I was happy with the outcome both times. You can also make reservations for sightseeing tours and theatres through that website.
Danielle R.
Kingston, Ontario Canada Tue 10/18/2005
Great Hotels for the Price in Paris
www.astotel.com
stayed at the Bradford Elysees for $135.00 a night.
Ron
Richmond , VA USA Mon 10/10/2005
Ukraine Travel
Just to pass along a new site for travel into Ukraine that I've found to be kept current and informative.
http://www.bestofukraine.com
The "inyourpocket" guide is not bad as well.
ken
USA Sun 10/09/2005
Great Websites
Two sites we found very helpful for finding good accom-- Venere,com and vrbo.com, generally and parisbestlodge for ...well, you figure that out
Paul n Sara <email>
Newburyport , MA USA Mon 10/03/2005
Language help
The BBC has a website with some helpful language resources. It teaches key conversational phrases in German, French, Spanish, and Italian.
Eugene
Little Rock, AR USA Sun 10/02/2005
Great website
My husband and I just returned from from a 10 day trip to Italy. We used Venere.com to make all of our hotel reservations for Venice, Florence, Siena, Levanto and Lido. It is a very helpful sight and we would use it again.
Jan <email>
eden prairie, mn USA Wed 09/28/2005
Train reservations before leaving home?
Does anyone know if there's a site that will allow us to make European railroad reservations and purchase/receive the tickets before we leave home? On our next trip, we'll be driving for the most part but we will be traveling by train from Villefranche-sur-Mer to Vernazza, Vernazza to Genova, Amsterdam to Bruges and Bruges to Paris. A couple of trips back, we made our reservations and purchased our tickets at the Rome American Express office. That was convenient but it wasted a lot of time that could have been better spent.
Jeff
Lafayette, CA USA Mon 09/26/2005
Map of Rome
I will be going to Rome in february and need a map of the city that list the "must-sees". Is there one on line I can download? Thanks
Lois <email>
Providence, RI USA Mon 09/26/2005
Tip
Also nice if you want to meet locals or want to know to which places locals go:
www.tobelocal.com
Sipko <email>
Utrecht, NL Sat 09/17/2005
The Glen Bed and Breakfast Carlisle UK
Going to from Scotland? Touring the Lake District? Then take a look at The Glen Bed and breakfast Carlisle. www.theglen.co.uk. Just 3 minutes of the M6 A74 Carlisle. They do Tours, Airport trasfers, Wedding car to Gretna Green, and info on Golf, Fishing and lots more. Cheapest B&B in Lake District.
John Beaumont <email>
NY, NY USA Wed 09/14/2005
Last minute travel
For Lon and Nancy - I have not used it myself but I have heard good things about www.wotif.com. They do have a nice website with good info. Have a great trip.
George
Philadelphia, PA USA Tue 09/06/2005
London
Going to London? Check out www.londontown.com. I found a good deal on a Earl's Court area hotel a couple of years ago. The site has other tourist info--like tours.
USA Wed 08/31/2005
Are last-minute hotel websites worth the trouble?
I know many of you have tried booking hotels in Europe thru last-minute discount websites... my wife and I are leaving in one week for France and Germany and are about to (nervously) try booking rooms this way for the 1st time.
We were quite surprised on our last trip by more than one hotel booked well in advance turning out to be a disappointment. In fact, I read somewhere that advance room bookings will sometimes get the worst room at the highest price!
Could a couple of you let us know if last-minute bookings worked out well for you or not?
And please include the specific website you liked or didn't like.
Thanks!
Lon and Nancy in Vancouver
Lon and Nancy <email>
Vancouver, BC Canada Mon 08/29/2005
Munich things to see
http://www.muenchen.de
This is the city's website which tells what there is to see and hours things are open. So, you do not show up on the one day something is closed.
FtWorthGuy
Ft Worth, Texas USA Fri 08/19/2005
Tuscany site
Great site for Tuscany.
www.nautilus-mp.com
pat
pa USA Wed 08/03/2005
I used www.hotels.com 3 years ago to book hotels in Venice Rome and London - ALL were what I expected
Jackie
Perth, Australia Tue 08/02/2005
Site for students
For students, a great site is http://www.isecard.com. Talks about special discounts students can get and has some cool travel planner pages.
Niles
Mesa, AZ USA Fri 07/29/2005
Hotel review website
Eurocheapo at http://www.eurocheapo.com/, is an excelent site for lower cost lodging in major European cities. They stay at and review all the properties they list on their site. There seems to be some connection with venere.com, becasue you can look at the user reviews of the properties there.
Dave
Tucson, Az USA Thu 07/28/2005
Hotel Search Site with Google Maps
Here is a cool site that lets you easily search for hotels and plot them on a map using Google Maps. Its www.tripmojo.com.
zTraveler <email>
Irving, TX USA Tue 07/26/2005
UK Train & Bus schedules
www.traveline.org.uk
Great site for ALL Train and Bus schedules. Click on Travel Planner and away you go !
Updated every 30 days, so re check before leaving.
Lloyd Ellis <email>
San Antonio, Texas USA Tue 07/26/2005
Independent Hotels
I like http://www.hotelbook.com because I prefer to stay at independent or unique hotels rather than a chain hotel.
Mike <email>
Dallas, TX USA Thu 07/21/2005
Great general site
For good general background information and synopses on sights, restuarants, hotels etc., I've found http://www.fodors.com very helpful. Their 'Smart Travel Tips' are especially good for logistical traveling connections.
Mary <email>
Wilton, CT USA Thu 07/21/2005
See it before you book
Just wanted to recommend a great site for accomadation. Travel Shop Television has a great website that shows you exactly what you are getting when booking your hotels. Their prices were comparable. Great experience
www.travelshoptelevision.com/
Jay Blake
Toronto, Canada Mon 07/18/2005
Road map/trip planning site
Great map site for planning road trips in Europe.
http://www.de.map24.com/
Kerry
Stuttgart, GE Sun 07/17/2005
Scam Travel Web sites
I was looking on the web to book hotel rooms and apartments in Europe.
I found several many of the sites were scams. Some are complete scams and have pictures of rooms they don't rent and want full or partial in advance.
Be careful
Randy
San Francisco, CA USA Sun 07/17/2005
Cheap London Rooms
For summer-time university lodging in London: vacations.at.kings@kcl.ac.uk
There are several campuses of Kings College around the London area. I paid 21 GBP per night two years ago for a private room with bath. The lodging deal ends early in September. The phone number is 020-7848-1700 (UK).
USA Wed 07/06/2005
London & Paris Hotels
I visited London and Paris last month, and used http://www.findlondonrooms.com and http://wwww.findparisrooms.com for my hotel bookings.
They are really easy to use, and have great deals on London and Paris hotels.
They have sites for other european cities on http://www.roomsnet.com , and I'll definately check their rates before book with any other for my future trips to Europe.
Tony Shelton <email>
New York, NY USA Tue 07/05/2005
Venere dot com
I've used Venere.Com for hotels in Rome (the Hotel Termanal http://www.venere.com/templates/go.php?htid=2227&ref=34144&lg=en) and Paris and Arles in France.
Rome and Arles were great hotels and I'm thinkin' two out of three ain't bad.
Let me be clear on this: the Paris hotel sucked, Venere was without fault.
Ray Maines <email>
Tacoma, WA USA Sun 07/03/2005
Public Transportation in Paris
For getting around the Ile-de-France (Paris and its surrounding region), use the route organizer at the Transilien SNCF website (http://www.transilien.com/GB/default.htm). It takes into account all connections between the train, RER, metro and streetcar (tramway), so all you have to do is put in your departure and arrival points along with the day and time you will be using it. It then gives you multiple routes with: The departure and arrival times, the names of the departure and arrival stations, the number of connections, the estimated travelling time (both the time it takes between each connection and the estimated time you need to make your way to each station), and the modes of transport used (train, RER, metro, streetcar, etc.)
S. Scott
Clovis, CA USA Wed 06/29/2005
Another Train Website
Another railway website. This one is good for general advice on getting between London and other parts of Europe (and beyond). On the main page, click on Spain (for example) in the left-hand column, and it will give details on the best service to take to get there from London. http://www.seat61.com/
Rich <email>
Canterbury, Kent UK Tue 06/28/2005
Railway Route Planning
The German railways have an excellent pan-Europe route planner that works in English:
http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en
Rich <email>
Canterbury, Kent UK Mon 06/27/2005
European Train info website
www.sbb.ch is a swiss run website that you can access in french, italian, german, and most importantly, english. it is up to date for all of europe (and some beyond europe). it is the best travel website in europe, hands down.
one other note, if you are traveling through europe and are going through britain, there is a complete european rail timetable printed by a travel agency Thomas Cook (called European Rail Timetable - you can find it on amazon.co.uk and amazon.com). It is updated every year, costs you about £10, and is very thorough.
andrew <email>
warriors mark, pa USA Sun 06/26/2005
Independent travel pkg.
We booked hotel-air package through gotoday.com and were completely satisfied. Purchased mid-range accomdations and were happy with them. They were pleasant and accomodating on phone conversations. Booked Chicago to London and included flight London to Paris with 6 hotel/breakfasts for $1100 in May 2005.We were able to extend flight home for 10 days.
Sherry Campbell <email>
Rockford, Il USA Sat 06/25/2005
ViaMichelin Website
I use www.viamichelin.com for driving directions/maps. Its always a good idea to print out each route between destinations before leaving on a trip to use & email the information to yourself for future use. The directions include travel time, distance, toll costs, petrol costs, & scheduled road work.
D Floyd <email>
CA USA Fri 06/10/2005
Prague
I've placed some notes of our late-May trip to Prague at swopnet.com/travel
Our guide was Sarka Pelantova, and we agree with Rick Steves that she is great!
Prague is a wonderful city, highly recommended!
Miles Abernathy
Austin, TX USA Sun 06/05/2005
Fun and laughs
This will put you in the mood to travel Europe..one travelers trials and tribulations..a fun site give it a try
www.bobzo.com
Robert J. Evans
stinson beach, ca USA Fri 06/03/2005
See and hear Amsterdam in real time
Amsterdamhotspots.com
It's a very up-to-date and user-friendly site that also has the best webcam I've ever seen. Drill down to the webcams area, and select the "Koningsplein" cam; what you'll get is perfectly-flowing, high resolution, real-time image with sound of the Koningsplein. (Must have hi-speed for this one). I've spent so much time with that open on my desktop, I can take a peek into Europe whenever I need to. Can't wait to get back to A-dam and find that corner!
Josh
Chicago, USA Wed 06/01/2005
European Low Cost Airline Guide
To find out which budget airlines fly on the route you wish to travel in Europe, use the free service from European Low Cost Airline Guide - Select the airports you want to fly between and it tells you which airlines serve that route. Then you just make a booking using the airlines own website.
http://www.low-cost-airline-guide.com
Martin Petersen <email>
Edinburgh, UK Thu 05/26/2005
Website for Scotland
One website that I've used a lot lately to plan my trip to Scotland is www.undiscoveredscotland.com. It has loads of information about all areas of Scotland. It even includes listings for B&Bs, guesthouses, hotels, pubs, activities, and businesses.
Lori <email>
Las Vegas, NV USA Sun 05/15/2005
Euroflights.info - European low cost airlines and flights
If you are looking for cheap flights between places in Europe, you should pay a visit to www.euroflights.info. The site lists flights from around twenty of the major European discount airlines.
USA Sun 05/15/2005
www.whichbudget.com
If you are looking for budget airline flights in Europe, try www.whichbudget.com. Rather than trying to track down for yourself which airlines serve a city, it will do the tracking for you, then link you to the airline site for flight schedules, booking, etc. My only complaint is that Malmo Aviation (budget airlines headed in Scandinavia) wasn't listed. No affiliation, blah blah blah.
Kim
Ithaca, NY USA Fri 04/29/2005
Planet Fest Web Site
This site has some interesting information and is very interactive: planet-fest.com
AJ <email>
Chicago, IL USA Tue 04/05/2005
hotels
great guide to hotels
bluedenim
USA Sun 03/27/2005
Great Overall travel Site
For those of you who want a great site, see www.virtualtourist.com They have over 500,000 members (me included) and it is a great site for forums, travel info, hotel info, and for connecting with other travelers from all over the globe.
Stacy Allen <email>
Seattle, WA USA Sat 03/26/2005
Europe travel web sites
FOR FRANCE:
Stan <email>
Moraga, CA USA Sat 03/05/2005
London Tube & Bus Travel
I just stumbled across a wonderful website - www.tfl.gov.uk It has a planner for tube, bus, etc. travel in London. Just put in the starting point and the ending point and it will give you the best route along with a printable map of how to get from your stop to your final destination. I'm printing them off and will toss at the end of each day. Much easier than getting on the tube and going in the wrong direction like I did last time.
Teena Walker <email>
Lexington, NC USA Fri 03/04/2005
Sorry about not including http addresses
I am so sorry that the website addresses were not listed Website (Already on Rick's List) for airlines:http://www.skyscanner.netWebsite for shuttling between London airports:http://www.londontoolkit.com/travel/heathrow_gatwick_transfer.htmBrian
Brian L. Grieb <email>
San Francisco, CA USA Fri 02/25/2005
Travel in Spain
Travel in SpainI am taking a trip to Spain in April and have done alot of research. This web site www.exploreseville.com has alot of very useful information in general about several areas in Spain. It also has some great info on Sevilla in general (transportation/sites/pic. etc) and some good info on April festival that I have not been able to find elsewhere...Enjoy!
judy <email>
USA Wed 02/23/2005
Provence and French Riviera Web Site
I am planning a trip to Provence and The French Riviera and www.provenceweb.fr is a great resource. It is divided into the six Departments of Provence and includes a description of hundreds of cities, towns, and villages. It also has links to hotels, B&B's and rentals for each town.
John Kocourek <email>
Chaska, MN USA Wed 02/23/2005
Montenegro
Visit Montenegro..www.turizamcg.comwww.visitmontenegro.comwww.montenegroextreme.cg.yu
maki <email>
podgorica, yu Fri 02/18/2005
Great for Any City
www.hostelworld.com is an amazing site for any european city, guaranteed to find you a cheap and available hostel at any point.
James <email>
Middletown, CT USA Wed 02/16/2005
Krakow
www.krakow-info.com The most comprehensive website for Krakow, Poland. Sites, events, joys, musts and hot spots. I've referred to it often.
Robert Pawelek <email>
Patriot, OH USA Tue 02/08/2005
Best site for London Hotels
www.findlondonrooms.comIt'S A Great Site For London Hotels. Had More Information Than Others And Was Better Pricewise.Good genuine reviews. Beats Trip Advisor on that I guess.I booked Best Western Shaftesbury, cheaper than 40 dollars per night, compared to next cheapest competitor site!
Neil Faithman <email>
New York, NY USA Sun 01/30/2005
Neat website...
http://www.walkabouttravelgear.com/ has lots of links and has travel tips under 'walkabout tips.' Not just Europe but talks about all over the world.
Maia <email>
chapel hill, NC USA Sat 01/22/2005
Travel Tips Website
I use the World Travel Tips site: http://www.worldtraveltips.net/ it covers all the countries with enough information to be helpful, but can still be printed onto 2 or 3 pages to take with you.
It also has a member community where people can show off pictures and trips they've taken, and ask each other questions. Best of all, it's free! :)James...
James Mackenzie <email>
Ottawa, CAN Wed 01/19/2005