Guides

Free Travel Guides:

There is little point spending money and weighing down your suitcase with travel guides when
there's so much free information available online. The Lonely Planet (www.lonelyplanet.com) and
Rough Guides (www.roughguides.com) websites are condensed, searchable versions of their
books. Search for the information you want and print it or bookmark it in your mobile. You can also
sign up for free e-mail newsletters for news of travel deals.

If you are travelling to mainland Europe, www.viamichelin.com has maps, directions and details on
hotels and restaurants.

Reviews of your destination:
The net is also full of eloquent reviews from real holidaymakers. If someone warns you off a
disastrous resort, the savings are incalculable. The most useful site is www.virtualtourist.com, a
trove of tips from over 300,000 travellers. Contributors to www.frommers.com/community and
www.realholidayreports.com are candid and Virgin's Resort Finder
(www.virgin.net/travel/resortfinder) is a warts-and-all must-read. At
www.holidaytravelwatch.com, travellers air complaints and offer advice on avoiding similar
pitfalls. Essential reading before booking.

www.wayn.com
Meet people who live near you or will be in places you intend to travel to.

Podcasts:
www.travelpodcastdirectory.com
A good podcast directory.

www.travel.independent.co.uk
The independent suite of travel podcast - a useful site.

www.expodition.com
With 'podcast' guides to parts of Britain. Download a guide by postcode.

What I really recommend though is download a podcatcher such as, Itunes, it will give you access
to a wide range of podcasts that will be updated automatically whenever new ones are uploaded.

Forums:
www.fodors.com/ - Has a really good feedback forum, post questions and read responses and
learn from other peoples advice.