Click
here to see the Times Online selection of the top 100 travel
websites. Don't agree with our choices? Know of one that merits
inclusion? Let
us know
TRAVEL ESSENTIALS
www.pc2paper.co.uk
Hearing a ping from your inbox versus a rustle through the letterbox - it's no
competition: letters beat emails hands down. Or perhaps you want to contact
a granny who isn't on the internet. Whatever your reason, this site allows
you to send a letter without putting pen to paper - it transfers text and
images to a letter and sends it worldwide (30p-86p per letter). It also has
a free address book so you don't need to travel with your little black book.
www.biba.org.uk
Get advice on precautions to take before travelling, get in contact with a
registered travel insurance broker, or seek advice if you're having
difficulties making a claim.
www.ehic.org.uk
You shouldn't travel in Europe without registering for a European Health
Insurance Card, which will entitle you to free or reduced cost medical care
if you become ill or have an accident while travelling in Europe.
www.metcheck.com
My personal favourite of the weather sites. Check 48-hour forecasts for any
destination in Europe. But the real winner is a 14-day forecast for postcode
locations in the UK split into three-hour blocks.
www.goodbeachguide.co.uk
A Marine Conservation Society site with in-depth information on recommended
beaches. Easy to use with interactive maps and plenty of advice on the best
beach for you.
www.climatecare.org
Busy trying to be a green traveller, but concerned by the amount of air travel
to get to those eco-destinations? You can donate money — which is given to
projects that reduce emissions — to offset the effects of your trip. Also
see www.puretrust.org.uk, which is
a registered charity and www.co2balance.com,
which has a rail calculator as well as road and air.
www.googleearth.com
Satellite imagery allows users to zoom in on streets in photographic quality,
and overlay onto a map. Links to search listings for restaurants, bars,
hotels and now Street
View, giving you a virtual tour of an expanding list of cities including
New York and San Francisco.
www.stanfords.co.uk
Buy online from the UK’s best-known map and travel bookshop.
www.timeout.com
Website of the London listings magazine that includes potted online city
guides and events.
www.expodition.com
Website with “podcast” guides to parts of Britain. Download a guide by
postcode. Only problem - you have to register first. For cheesy but
insightful podcasts from a travelling salesman check out Gary Bembridge's www.tipsfortravellers.com.
www.surf2travel.com
Marketed as the “travel Google”, this site provides listings of travel
websites based on keyword searches.
http://world.altavista.com
This is the address for Babel fish, a translation tool, so you can surf sites
in other languages and pick up basic phrases if you're trying to converse
online with non-English speakers.
www.mobycards.com
Use your mobile phone to take a picture and send a postcard of the picture so
if you rarely find time when away to buy, write and post cards you can - and
send a personalised picture to boot. Simply send picture with text to the
alloted number and they do the rest - printing and posting first class in
the UK. It costs £2.50 per card.
www.travelturtle.com
Travel health advice, by contrary, by disease and by vaccination. The site
has gleaned information from its sister site, Pulse, an online resource for
GPs, so its advice has been provided by certified medical practitioners.
A good new site is www.whl.travel, basically a travel site with a social conscience, plus they're run by local people in every destination they operate.
Adrian, Prague,
Suprised that Myonlinesafe.com didn't make the list. Its the only site I know that allows you to up and download copies of all your important documents such as passport, travellers cheques, insurance certs etc and gives details of the relevant embassies in your chosen country along with piles of other useful snippets of information!
Ruth Hodges, London,
Bizzare that a site like World Nomads would escape this list. not sure if there is any other insurance site like it. It's the only one I know of that has built a charity mechanism, Footprints, not only into their website, but available to anyone with an e-commerce website. I might sound like an employee ( wish I was), just bought insurance yesterday and was shocked at the value and the goodies you get like travel blogs and language guides, so thought I'd throw them out for others to look. Really is quite unique.
worldnomads.com
Kip Tell, Kent, UK
RE: Launch of Travel jetPacks and www.studentjetpacks.com
With the advent of no-fills, low-cost airlines, I thought I could visit more places during my gap-year, and benefit from the 1 pence a flight to Italy (in the middle of nowhere with RyanAir!).
However, with cheaper flights and visiting more places, I was frustrated that my high roaming costs and public transport costs were so high! Instead of exploring in depth one city/country, I visited 15 countries around Europe, only to return to a phone bill which took up my first terms student loan!! Low cost flights are high cost holidays!
Frustrated at this, I have now launched www.studentjetpacks.com, aimed at the youth traveller, providing a Travel jetpack, containing local travel cards, SIM cards and coinage, with the aim of making travel cheaper and safer! I now have the backing of Princes Trust.
I would be delighted to hear your comments and if you could review the site.
Regards
tarkan ahmet, stevenage, herts