Travel and the World Wide Web

By Josef Durst

The Internet is not only an excellent way to see what is going on around the world, it is also the best way to do research about where you are wanting to holiday.

On top of that many travel websites are affiliated with leading hotel chains and can offer big savings on accommodation in cities around the world. They also have lists of events and sightseeing tours you can organise before you go travelling.

For example if you were thinking about heading to the Athens Olympics and wanted to know what else you could enjoy while in Greece, then Matt Barrett's Guide to Greece and the Greek Islands is one place to start. It's at Greece Travel and is as comprehensive a travel site as any traveller or tourist could want.

Matt is a travel writer and gives visitors his opinion on all manner of things from places to stay, what and where to eat, car rentals, recommended travel agents and a photo gallery filled with idyllic shots of Greece.

There is a section on the fabled Greek Islands - both in a short synopsis form and then a detailed island-by-island travelogue - as well as the mainland cities.

And if you are either too busy, or too lazy, to work out your own itinerary for Greece then Matt Barrett lays it all out on a platter for you in sections charmingly headlined "Please Tell me what to Do Matt!", "Do you think you can possibly suggest something?" and "Tell me Something I don't Already Know."

Now if you are wanting to holiday somewhere a bit closer to home - such as Australia or New Zealand - then there are two travel sites that will fit the bill.

Sydney.com.au is a well-established tourism site that is crammed with information about Australia's highest profile city.

There are hundreds of pages of information on what to do, where to stay, restaurants, shopping, walking tours, must-do things while in Sydney, and it all comes with an easy online booking service for hotels, sightseeing, car hire and many other things.

Travellers wanting to know how to get around Sydney will find things made much easier on Sydney.com.au as it has timetables and routes for Sydney's buses, trains and ferries.

And the publishers of the site have listed the major attractions of the harbour city including the historic Rocks area, the Sydney Opera House, the Royal Botanic Gardens, the beaches, historic homes and Sydney's naughty red-light area Kings Cross.

If you are planning a visit to Sydney then Sydney.com.au is the only site you will need to visit and you can get good discounts on online bookings for hotels.

New Zealanders are renown for being big travellers and one of their catchy phrases for sightseeing is tiki touring. A recent addition to the web is TikiTouring.co.nz, a travel site that focuses on the key things that make New Zealand such a wonderful country to visit.

TikiTouring.co.nz looks at the main cities of New Zealand and the key tourist attractions in or near them, as well as what is available for tourists wanting to see the countryside that featured so prominently in the Lord of the Rings movies.

In Auckland there is the awesome Museum of Transport and Technology that has just about every invention ever created within its boundaries (plus a working World War II aerodrome), the stunning Auckland Museum, as well as a gorgeous harbour, great restaurants, and a harbour bridge to climb.

On day tours from Auckland you can visit the boiling mudpools and geysers of Rotorua, or go deep underground to the lair of the Waitomo Caves' glowworms.

In the South Island you have the spectacular scenery of the Southern Alps, Milford and Doubtful Sounds and the sophistication of Christchurch.

TikiTouring lists a number of great train journeys you can take around the picturesque South Island, as well as whale and dolphin watching tours.

Aside from information and photos, TikiTouring.co.nz offers online booking for hotels, tours and car hire - with big discounts for last minute accommodation.

New York is a must-see city for many travellers and I Love New York is a website dedicated to The Big Apple and the state in which it is located.

There are pages covering Cultural Tourism - arts and heritage, multicultural festivals, food, theatre, music, dance and Carnegie Hall - to suggested spots to get away for weekends and even longer road trips. And of course about the Niagara Falls being a favoured destination for travellers.

Speaking of water there are suggestions for swimming, rafting, fishing, sailing adventures while in NY State.

On I Love New York you can also search through accommodation listings for hotels, bed and breakfast places, hostels, cabins, farms and apartments.

One of the other great cities of the world is London and you can use Visit Britain as a good guide for that marvellous destination.

Not only is the capital well and truly covered, but also the rest of England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Channel Islands.

Visit Britain has all the major and interesting events occurring through Great Britain and highlights the key events for the current month - along with some excellent dates for future must-see attractions.

There is a route planner, a travel plan and heaps of information about transport and getting around. Visit Britain is excellent for planning working holidays as it adjusts its information for citizens from various countries.

Therefore, if you log on as an Australian, New Zealander or Canadian you can get details online about working holidays in Britain. Folk from non-English-speaking nations will get the site in their own language, which you'd have to say would be a big bonus.

So, before hopping aboard for your next international flight be sure to check the web for not only good deals on accommodation and tours, but also researching your trip. For some interesting facts and figures on the pitfalls of travel, check out this article from our Travel Channel too.

• As a side note, a comprehensive way of finding out about the city, region or country you're looking to visit, try OnlineNewspapers to find out about current affairs, local events, weather and anything of importance that may be happening locally.