{from : makeuseof.com}
It’s
said that there are no great adventures anymore. The spotlight of
information and far reaching connectivity has left us with no strange
places to discover. Or so the popular opinion goes. Travel guides and
travel websites have brought some wondrous places close to us; either
with their enticing photographs or with first hand traveler accounts.
Today’s online international travel guides are also proving handy for
the budget traveler who can plan for each dollar.
It’s
said that there are no great adventures anymore. The spotlight of
information and far reaching connectivity has left us with no strange
places to discover. Or so the popular opinion goes. Travel guides and
travel websites have brought some wondrous places close to us; either
with their enticing photographs or with first hand traveler accounts.
Today’s online international travel guides are also proving handy for
the budget traveler who can plan for each dollar.
In the years before the web spun the world around, travel tips came
through word of mouth. Now, you can just log on and be a voyeur as
travelers carry you along each step of their journey. Which are these
websites that allow you to be your own traveling guide?
Let’s pack our bags and take a free trip with the ten free international
travel guides mentioned below.
Frommer’s Travel Guide
The word this top travel website throws about is ‘candid’. That
describes the travel tips they have collected over the years. If you
can’t buy one of their travel guides, then this website is just as good a
resource for getting to know any destination on the map. By the way,
there is a large red map that you can navigate on the site. The articles
on each location cover everything that you would care to know, from
nightlife information to side trips. You can jump to the Frommer’s
forums too and engage in a discussion with travelers. Short of travel
ideas? Explore their inviting slideshows. Also look into the Trip
Ideas section.
Trip Advisor
Trip Advisor is all about reviews and advice on hotels, resorts,
flights, vacation rentals, vacation packages, travel guides etc. On each
destination’s page you can check out information like top rated hotels,
things to do, vacation rentals, restaurants etc along with videos and
images. As it is a popular website, expect to read a lot of reviews on
each aspect of your planned travel. Subscribe to the free newsletter
which sends you the latest information on your chosen location. Traipse
over to Advice from real travelers section for valuable tips.
You can also download a free PDF city guide for the destinations.
Virtual Tourist
We covered this cool travel guide website which covers nearly 60,000
worldwide destinations just at the turn of last year, so I won’t go into
too much detail here as Bakari has shown How To Use Virtual Tourist For Planning Your Next Trip.
Let’s Go
If there’s a domain name which eggs you on to catch the next flight
out, this is it. The tips on the site are about traveling on a budget.
The company has been known for its budget travel guides over the last 50
years. If you are searching for bargains on your sojourns, this site is
worth a visit. The stories on destinations around the world make
interesting reading and just might make you change a plan or two for the
better.
BootsnAll
The “˜indie’ in their catchphrase is meant for the independent
traveler. The site has a complete guide listing
where you can browse to the destination of your choice. Also check out
the Adventure Destination guides featured on the site. The site
also has a pretty active forum for travel chit-chat.
World Travel Guide
Gets lots of free international travel guides to destinations around
the world. The guide is available in English, German, French and
Spanish. The site has a nice “˜Holiday Ideas’ section for some
inspirational travel ideas. The homepage features a neat globe browser
for pinpointing places worldwide. Catch the best deals and the latest
events too on the dedicated pages for each location.
Rough Guides
The neatest feature on the site (apart from all the travel content)
is the Rough Guide to The World picture mosaic map. There’s a movable
“˜World Lens’ which you can hover on any location and check out the
experiences as pictures. Also subscribe to the free Rough Guides
Podcasts every month. Another useful audio download is the free
phrasebook available for select languages.
ViaMichelin
For international travelers coming to Europe, this site is a handy
one-stop place for mapping, route plans, on-line hotel booking, Michelin
Guide hotel, restaurant, tourist recommendations and weather and
traffic reports. The site is brought to you by the renowned tire brand
““ Michelin. The route guides provided are the most informative you can
find anywhere.
Concierge
If you frequent the web, then you will be familiar with the names of
their network websites (Wired.com. Ars Technica, Epicurious, Reddit
etc). The site has a large list of international travel guides covering
all the hotspots around the world. You can browse them by name or click
on the interactive map to start exploring with articles, pictures, and
videos. Then there’s an established community too for sharing travel
tips.
Atlas Obscura
Sometimes places off the beaten track make for great adventures. You
could discover one on this site which according to the site’s own words
is a collaborative project with the goal of cataloging all of the
singular, eccentric, bizarre, fantastical, and strange out-of-the-way
places that get left out of traditional travel guidebooks and are
ignored by the average tourist. Exploring places by category is
the way to go here.
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