Rome 2 Rio provides the information on how to get from point A to point B for any destination. When I am unfamiliar with a location, this is my starting point to begin my transportation search.
rome2rio.com
Visit a City, Get Your Guide, and Tours by Locals are our newest play sites to explore experiences in any city that we visit. Maybe there is a cooking class in Cassis or a visit to the underground region of Edinburgh that we would like to do. We have discovered numerous fun times on these websites.
visitacity.com, toursbylocals.com, getyourguide.com
Trip Advisor is an old website, but I love it. When I want to search for a top lodging place in Provence, for example, you can input Traveler Ranked in Provence. Not a town, but a region. And traveler ranked, not recommended. That will get you the favorites for the entire area. We always look here first to find the unique and interesting lodging choices that we eventually book. Then we contact our selection by email from their own website to make a reservation.
tripadvisor.com
Xe Currency Converter is used before every overseas trip to check on the country’s currency to our dollar. I make a note of it in my phone so I can easily understand why 20,000 Cambodian Riels is only 5 dollars. You can also get the app.
xe.com/currencyconverter
Man in Seat 61 is one of my all time favorites. If I need to know ANYTHING about trains, this is where I go and I haven’t taken a train anywhere before I read his tips and facts on the best routes. There are detailed ways to travel from Switzerland into Austria, for example and how to purchase the ticket on the Swiss site instead of the Austrian site for the best rate. He even includes tons of photos so you know exactly what the trains, the tickets, or the ticket machines look like. seat61.com
Location Scout is another fun site to find the best places for photography.
locationscout.net
Movie Locations is a delight because you can find a movie and see the locations where the movie was filmed. Take Amelie. You can visit the Cafe des Deux Moulins in Paris where Amelie was a barista in the movie. Or Midnight in Paris to visit the Church of St. Etienne du Mont in Paris where Gil gets the invitation from the mystery car. Or Chocolat to visit Beynac et Cazenac in France for some of the street scenes with Vianne and her daughter. We have hunted down all of these and continue to discover more!
movie-locations.com
Time and Date is my go to for weather. Click on weather, international weather in the top tab, type in your location, and then click on climate averages. This is perfect for determining the average weather highs and lows for your travel location. I make my weather notes before I travel anywhere. timeanddate.com
pg.world is my newest website to discover tour guides in cities around the world. When we travel, we love to take a cooking class or bike ride through engaging neighborhoods. And we attempt to find a tour guide with airbnb experiences or the 3 sites I listed above. This is my first foray into this fun site that appears to match you with a local guide. We are booking through them for our cruise in Japan! pg.world