Travel

#Best Websites For Planning Your Next Vacation

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With the optimism of Fourth of July weekend behind us, here is a compendium of the best travel websites to get you through another week in the office. Whether you are planning a getaway in August or dreaming of a longer-term trip, here are all the resources you need for flights, accommodations, restaurants and even excursion. And a word to the wise? According to Kayak.com, after the busy summer months of July, June and August, airfares will drop for September and October. So if you are budget-concious, think about planning a fall vacation.

Two of the best sites for cheap tickets are Kayak and Skyscanner. Liz Carlson Carlson. travel blogger behind Young Adventuress. has recommended Skyscanner here before because the website has a destination-flexible search option. If you know you want to go somewhere and location doesn’t matter, I would recommend this site. Kayak allows users to search whole months for the cheapest fare, so if you don’t have a strict vacation schedule and want to save some bucks, this can be a great tool.

Get booking stat. The view flying into Palm Springs International Airport. Photo credit: Alexandra Talty.

Other sites for booking flights include:

If you are flying outside of the continental United States, it might be better to fly on your preferred airline, rather than price shop for the cheapest flight, as Matt Kepnes, travel blogger behind Nomadic Matt. recommended here. That way, you can accrue miles on the same carrier, which could lead to frequent flyer status as well as free tickets in the future. However, it only makes sense if there is a miles program that you are loyal to, the price differential isn’t too big and you are flying far.

For booking hostels, I recommend the websites Hostels Worldwide and Hosteling International. especially for travel around Europe. Pay attention to the reviews left by other travelers. TripAdvisor has a great community and features a lot of reviews, but I have found it is not as helpful for budget accommodation and sometimes, they can be tricky to book through. Hotels.com also offers deals on hotel rooms.

Another tip for booking the best accommodations? Go the old fashioned route and use a guidebook. Some guidebooks like Lonely Planet even offer booking through their websites. However, with any website that offers booking, I would recommend confirming your reservation via email or phone. While most hotels have a web presence, proprietors might not actually check their emails or be up to date on their website bookings. Since guidebooks pay people to actually stay at hotels, they tend to recommend hotels that have a little something-something extra, whether it is a tree house in a sleepy, seaside town or a ranch-style hotel in the middle of a city, with a breathtaking view of a mountain.

If you are willing to stay out of the box or are traveling with a bigger group of people, check out house or apartment rental sites like Airbnb or Homeaway where users post their homes online. Homeaway tends to be more upscale and might have better options for big groups, as it only lists whole houses. Airbnb does offer single rooms, or even couches, so it is a good option for solo travelers.

Another helpful app or website for exploring, Yelp offers restaurant and bar recommendations worldwide. If you are traveling internationally, be careful about racking up data as the app needs the internet to work. Or stick to a free wifi zone when searching for your next next meal.

Check out daily deal websites like Groupon for deals on food or excursions like sky diving. A worldwide list of great daily deal websites is available here .

No trip on the horizon? No problem. Here are a few sites for inspiration. Let the wanderlusting begin!

From L.A. to Minneapolis, Bon Appetit Weekend Guides showcase the local flavor of America’s cities.