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 2.0
www.tripadvisor.co.uk
User reviews of hotels, but watch out for spammers — occasionally reviews
suffer from contributors who praise their own hotel or criticise a rival.
Look out for Traveller Network, a social networking function that allows
users to share recommendations on where to go and where to stay. A smaller,
but more quirky version is www.hotelchatter.com
- you can relay or read a hotel review and book if the price is right.
www.virtualtourist.com
Virtualtourist has almost a million members who regularly post fresh and
informal reviews of worldwide travel spots. The multilingual forums, threads
and deals pages are testament to the website's international membership, as
are the regular member meets that take place all over the world.
http://thorntree.lonelyplanet.com
Travellers heading to far-flung corners can ask the advice of those on the
ground, previous visitors or locals, and should receive an answer from one
of the most vibrant travellers communities on the net. The main section of
the website also provides maps, guides and booking services.
www.tripup.com
Another social networking site, Tripup.com has less user content but good
features including Locate-a-Mate, which allows you to enter the dates and
destinations of your next trip and see which members live there, or will be
there at the same time. Members are asked quirky questions so it’s fairly
easy to see who you’re likely to get on with.
www.gumtree.co.uk
Perhaps you don't want to go on holiday with a stranger, but you don't mind
sharing a lift. This site will hook you up with people who are making the
same journey and want the comapny and/or some help paying for the petrol.
UK-only options for regular or one-off journeys are www.carshare.com
and www.car-pool.co.uk.
www.travellersconnected.com
Similar to www.wayn.com, this
allows you to contact people travelling in the same part of the world as
you. Find a travelling companion or share stories online. Also valuable
advice on safety and other gap year issues.
www.meethalfway.com
Enter your address and that of someone you want to meet from another location,
and the site will calculate the halfway point and lists possible places to
enjoy eachother's company. You can search by restaurants, bars and even
Wi-fi hotspots in case you have the mistfortune to be meeting for work
reasons.
www.travelblog.org
Popular site hosting blogs for travellers free of charge. Use it to create
your own site and post pictures as well as text. Every country is covered
through interactive maps. Also try www.travelpod.com,
which calls itself the original travel blog website, and is a well-presented
alternative.
www.bugbog.com
A scruffy but sound travel guide written by a keen alternative traveller, with
lots of sections, from world festivals to exotic sites.
www.igougo.com
A “travel Google” based on user contributions, this search engine has 350,000
members.
I too have used a number of these Travel 2.0 sites and find that trivago (www.trivago.co.uk) works best for me. They have been steadily expanding the database and, besides being multilingual, have recently also won a Red Herring Award.
Pierre, Cape Town, South Africa
Travel 2.0 sites are great as they let you find out the detail you really want to know before you go. I've used lots of the big ones mentioned and have started seeing it on lots of smaller travel sites too. On some, like cyprus-travel-secrets.com you can even ask specific questions about a place eg. where to get your shopping if you're staying in a villa and then get answers from the travel community or whoever runs the website. Now that's cool.
Caroline, Dorchester, England
Thorntree is the best - no unecessary clutter with photos and videos and ratings - just opinionated travelers answering questions on a simple board. A close second (and it didn't even get a mention by the Times) is simpatigo.com. Only complaint is that it's limited to the US.
Vincent Turnbull, St. Louis, USA/Missouri
This whole 2.0 thing for web and travel seems more like a buzz than anything else. Some sites are super flashy about it, and others are completely commercialised and hard to use (like tripadvisor.com) Then some other sites have been doing similar things for years but more low-key. That being said, one of my favoritesis Bootsnall.com but it's geared toward more the independent traveller than vacationers.
Mike, London, England
Yes, after I heard about Wikis, there are many others more coming into my eyes and my ears about travel 2.0 sites. At first I tought it was just a buzz and I found it isn't. Yes, I think it's cool to see that online travel goes onto another step advance..
Exotissimo
keatlover, Bangkok, Thailand