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 Most Useful Travel Sites!

Get a Great Vacation Deal: The Online Vacation Mall
Some people like to haggle for a bargain; others prefer the ease of plunking down a credit card and paying the going rate. The Online Vacation Mall caters to both types, providing bargains without a hassle. Pick your location and your destination and you'll get a variety of vacation packages from the spartan to the luxurious.

Find the Best Airfare: Bestfares.com
Even if you have a travel agent you like, nothing beats getting down and dirty at the keyboard with a site such as Bestfares.com. Not really interested in traveling right now? There's nothing like a $400 round-trip ticket to Paris to help change your mind.

Track Airline Flights: Trip.com FlightTracker
If you're picking up someone at the airport, check on the flight at the Trip.com FlightTracker. Enter the airline name and flight number to get arrival times, or view a map that shows planes "in flight."

Stay Healthy Overseas: CDC Travel Information
We all know to watch out for Montezuma's Revenge on those jaunts to Tijuana, but how do you avoid dengue fever while you're in Thailand? The CDC Travel Information site can help you prevent both diseases. Select a spot on the travel map-you'll learn what preventive measures you can take before your trip, what vaccines are required or recommended, and what to look out for while you're overseas. Just remember: Don't brush your teeth with the tap water!

Stay Wired Abroad: Cybercafe Search Engine
Though cybercafés were initially associated with cappuccino, black turtlenecks, and the artsy crowd, they're proving to be useful-abroad, at least-for everyone from bandwidth-challenged freelancers to vacationers sending e-mail back home instead of postcards. For those who must be connected wherever they are, the Cybercafe Search Engine helps you find the Net salons at your destination. Enter a city, state, or country and you'll get a list of its cybercafés, with all contact information. Just don't "caffeinate" too much before you log on, lest you start flaming innocent surfers.

Find Cheap Lodgings: The Worldwide Hostel Guide
We can't all stay at four- and five-star hotels when we're traveling overseas. If you're a budget traveler, the kind with a backpack and a Eurail Pass, then The Worldwide Hostel Guide is your key to finding places to stay. Pick a country from Australia to Zimbabwe and you'll get a list of hostels with contact information for each, as well as pricing and network affiliations. There's also information on traveling cheaply by bus, drive-away car, or thumb, and a bulletin board where you can post your own hosteling experiences. If you're a traveler who prefers inexpensive adventures to expensive luxury, this is the place for you.

Avoid Trouble While Traveling: Travel Warnings and Consular Information Sheets
Whether you're crossing the Canada-U.S. border or going on an archaeological expedition to Egypt, make sure to check the U.S. State Department's Travel Warnings and Consular Information Sheets first. Travel Warnings alert you to all sorts of physically harmful situations, from volcanic eruptions to terrorist problems to unstable governments. Consular Information Sheets contain handy information on transportation regulations, drug and weapons laws, entry and exit requirements, medical conditions, crime conditions, and just about anything else you'd need to know before traveling to another country. You probably know that travel to Iraq is strongly discouraged, but do you know the rules for use of cellular phones, global positioning systems, and laptop computers in Russia? Don't go abroad without checking here first.

Lobby Foreign Governments: Address Directory for the Politicians of the World
There are several useful sites that make it easier to contact your elected representatives in the U.S. But what if you have a beef with a foreign country? Browse through the Address Directory for the Politicians of the World to find contact info for everyone from the Chairman of the Ruling Council of Afghanistan to the President of Zimbabwe. If you've got an international issue to get off your chest, whether it's about arms buildup or whaling policies, you'll find someone contact here.

Locate an ATM: Visa ATM Locator | The MasterCard/Cirrus ATM Locator.
It's modern-day alchemy: Plastic will transmute into paper money, provided you use an automated teller machine to make the switch. Locate one of these mystical devices worldwide using the Visa ATM Locator and The MasterCard/Cirrus ATM Locator.

Search for Parks: L.L. Bean Park Search
Feeling a bit existential about your 9-to-5 routine? Go take a hike, and let the L.L. Bean Park Search be your guide. Search here for the best place to visit by location or activity (rock climbing, fishing, skiing). And please don't feed the bears.

Passport Guide: Passport and Information
Don't wait on those long lines in depressing, underpainted, overlit government offices, waiting for an hour, only to find out you were standing in the wrong line and, anyway, you are minus two important forms of I.D. The Department of State Passport Services site is the traveler's dream come true: download a passport application, get a list of passport office locations, find out what you need to know and fill out to get that little blue booklet with the ugly photo of you at your worst. You can even get an order form to get a certified birth certificate. It's the government, and it's efficient. Who said the Internet isn't a revolution?

Plan Your Trip: Expedia.com
Do you use a flesh-and-blood travel agent? You should still do your own research online before you book a trip. At Expedia, you can compare airfares for both rigid and flexible itineraries. You'll also find Price Matchers for hotels and flights and Wizards to help you locate rental cars, cruises, and vacation packages. (Ziff Davis Publishing has entered into an agreement with Expedia Inc. to launch a travel magazine later this year.)

Take the Train: Amtrak.com
Afraid to fly? Next time, skip the Xanax and take the train. Check schedules and make Amtrak reservations here. And for Web-only discounts, peruse the Rail Sale section.

Get Travel Documents: Travisa.com
Apply for passports online, and avoid in-transit disaster by obtaining the necessary visas. For a fee, you can expedite the process here. You'll also find news and links to travel advisories and regulations.

Dodge Bad Traffic: TrafficStation.com
Anything from nasty weather to road construction can ruin an otherwise glorious drive across town or down the New Jersey Turnpike. Don't let orange barrels, accidents, and gridlock catch you by surprise. Check ahead for real-time traffic conditions -- and get free alerts sent to your mobile phone or pager.

How Do You Say It: Travlang.com
Remember those tapes they made you listen to in the language lab in high school and college? Well, Travlang is better: You don't have to wear geeky headsets, you probably won't fall asleep at your desk (although no guarantees there), and there is no spot quiz. Choose the language you want to hear by clicking on a country's flag (there are nearly 30 languages represented, including standards such as French and Italian, along with Estonian and Afrikaans), and your ears and tongue become international travelers. It is a service clearly for potential turistas who want a crash course in the basics: hello, goodbye, numbers, directions (O˜ sont les toilettes?), restaurant ordering, and the like -- and you hear the pronunciation of every word via sound files. So, buena suerte ("good luck," in Spanish).

Dodge Bad Traffic: TrafficStation.com
Traveling with rover and fluffy can be tough; many hotels out there don't accept pets as guests, and smuggling in your furry, feathered, or scaly friends can be a risky proposition, at best. To find places where your animal companions can join in on the fun, go to petswelcome.com. You'll find listings for pet-positive national chains, charming bed-and-breakfasts, specialty inns, and even campgrounds. You'll never have to leave your best friends home again -- unless they mess the car, that is.

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