TRAVEL RESOURCES |
| Airlines: |
| BravoFly is good search engine for great prices; mostly on inter-European travel |
| Easy Jet is a low cost airline in Europe; comfortable and very inexpensive if you buy in advance |
| Cheapo Air offers the same flight on the major carriers but for less money |
| Star Alliance offers a really good and relatively inexpensive around the world fare. It's a secret they don' like to advertise. |
| AVOID RYAN AIR - The price seems low at first but after you pay all the additional costs (including costs to check in) the price ismore expensive than other airlines. Bad service, bad customer support. The worst airline we have ever experienced. |
| AirOne - has taken over all Alitalia flights. This is a very good low cost airline |
| Iberia Air - good flights to and from Spain |
| Vueling - good low cost airline to and from Spain |
| Aegean Air - good flights in Greece; also a Star Alliance partner |
| WindJet - low cost airline through Europe |
| Car Rentals: |
| Tiger Car Rental offers very good car rental rates in Europe using major carriers like Budget and Avis. Pay in advance. |
| Renault eurodrive - Lease from them if you plan to a car for more than 17days. You get a new car inclusive of all insurance, etc. |
| Peugeot lease option - This is the same concept as Renault. Both lease options are offered in France although yoou can pick up and drop off in other countries for an additional fee. See their websites for all costs. |
| Argus Car hire - auto rentals will give ou good prices on car rental in most places around the world. |
| AutoEurope - They are easy to work with and they offer a best price guarantee. If you book early you'll get a better price. |
| Trains: |
| Rail Europe - offers rates and reservations throughout europe |
| Self Drive Boat Rentals: |
| Crown Blue line Canal Boats offers self drive canal boats in Italy, France, Germany, Scotland, Holland |
| Loca-Boat offers the same kind of canal boats in Italy, France, Germany, Ireland, Holland |
| Boating in Europe is another good resource for canal boats in Italy, France, Germany, United Kingdom, Ireland, Holland, Belgium |
| Apartment rentals and Hotels: | |
| VRBO is the motherlode of apartment rentals all over the world | |
| Home Away is another good site (the parent company to VRBO) | |
| Four Seasons Hotel -$$$-$$$$. This is the standard of a fine Hotel chain. | |
| Tablet Hotels - $$$ A very good collection of interesting hotels in many desinations | |
| Luxique.com - $$-$$$$ has a good selection of small beautiful hotels all over the world | |
| Relais & Chateaux - $$-$$$$ Usually good for hotels and restaurants but they occasioanly miss the mark | |
| Design Hotels - $$$-$$$$ Progressive and state of the art design hotels throughout the world. | |
| Great Small Hotels - $$-$$$ Boutique hotels around the world | |
| Eurobookings - $-$$$ This Dutch run hotel booking agency offers very good prices at good hotels | |
| JDB - $$$ Fine hotels and resorts | |
| JP Moser - $$$ Deluxe hotel group | |
| Small Luxury Hotels - $$-$$$ Usually they have good choices but we've had some clunkers here as well | |
| Epoque Hotels - $$-$$$ Good small luxury hotel group | |
| WorldBy.com - $-$$$ Mostly European hotels in Italy, France, England, Ireland, Spain, Amsterdam and more |
| Trip Insurance: |
| Insure my trip has over 100 companies to choose from. |
| Travel Insured. We like this one. They've been very easy to work with |
| Maps: |
| Via Michelin. Get all you international maps and driving directions; best for Europe |
| Maporama. Good international maps |
| Touring Information: |
| What's on When. Festivals and celebrations are listed close to year out |
| A View on Cities. An overview of city cultural events |
| Time Out. The online version of Time Out magazine |
| Restaurants and Food: |
| Zagat.com Yes, Zagat has an international restaurant guide |
| Phones: | ||
| Nobelcom.comif you use phone cards, check these out. They have very good rates | ||
| On Line Magazines and Travel Sites: | ||
| The Travel Rag | National Geographic.com | World Travels.com |
| Lonley Planet.com | TripAdvisor lets you know what other people think | Rick Steves.com for European Travel |
| Travel and Leisure.com | Frommers.com | Fodors.com |