All Questions
447 questions
119
votes
11
answers
54k
views
How can I do a "broad" search for flights?
Several airline and trip planning sites will allow you to check "I am flexible with my dates" or a similar option. Is there any way to also search more broadly for location?
For example, if you ...
- 2,851
84
votes
13
answers
18k
views
How to spot fake reviews on TripAdvisor?
I know that review sites like TripAdvisor have fake reviews (some hotels more than others) - how can I make sure I am looking at the 'real' reviews as using TripAdvisor can be very tricky to filter ...
- 1,016
71
votes
12
answers
12k
views
Is there a good website to plan a trip via trains in Europe?
My wife and I have decided to move across Europe by train.
Do you know of any good sites for planning a trip via train (schedule and maybe prices)?
We're going to go across Europe from east (Russia ...
- 22.4k
57
votes
7
answers
27k
views
What are the legal consequences for a tourist who runs out of gas on the Autobahn?
There are many international travelers and tourists that enjoy driving cars on Germany's Autobahn every day, some of them would be unaware that running out of gas on the autobahn is illegal.
...
- 11.8k
46
votes
4
answers
65k
views
Flight Search from anywhere to a specific destination
Many flight search engines allow you to pick a departure airport and search for flights to anywhere. E.g. Google flights gives you a nice map with prices next to destinations for a set of dates and an ...
- 26.4k
43
votes
16
answers
7k
views
Preparing in case ATM/debit cards might go missing during a long trip
I've been pickpocketed twice and had debit cards swallowed by ATMs twice over the past decade or so. I've also had cards expire during a long trip.
For my upcoming trip which I envision will last ...
- 79.7k
43
votes
7
answers
49k
views
What food to take on a 3-4 day long hiking trip?
It should be easy to prepare, light and shouldn't go bad after few days in the heat. How much would it approximately weight? Lets say there won't be any grocery stores along the way (there will be, ...
- 824
39
votes
4
answers
101k
views
Is there an easy way to calculate the total cost of tolls for a trip within the United States?
Is there a convenient way to calculate the cost of tolls between two arbitrary points within the United States? I'm planning to take a trip along the Eastern seaboard and will be passing through ...
- 708
38
votes
4
answers
303k
views
Can I use Google Maps traffic information to estimate driving time for a specific date/time?
In supported regions, Google Maps will tell me how long it will take to drive from A to B in current traffic conditions. It can also colour-code roads according to traffic conditions for a specific ...
- 60.1k
36
votes
7
answers
11k
views
Celebrating the same new year several times over?
Is there a commercial service offered to general public that allows you to celebrate the new year several times?
The idea is that you would celebrate it in a time-zone and than move to the next one ...
- 32.2k
34
votes
7
answers
10k
views
How to plan a UK train route avoiding the tube?
Planning a train journey in the UK using any of the major booking services allows you to specify stations to avoid or travel via. I would like to avoid taking the tube. In this case it is only a ...
- 7,744
32
votes
7
answers
5k
views
How does one recover from a (personal) disaster while abroad, travel-wise?
I was watching the Bond flick Die Another Day last night. In it, Bond ends up in terrible shape, but manages to escape to the shores of Hong Kong, where he strolls into the lobby of a swanky hotel, is ...
- 581
32
votes
4
answers
3k
views
How to figure if it is safe to travel to the area I am interested in?
When planning a trip, I like to make sure I will feel safe enough (I am talking about war/terrorism risk, not pickpockets), or at least I like to have an idea about the risks. I know the risk could be ...
- 21k
32
votes
2
answers
3k
views
What is the best time of year to visit Reykjavík?
When I ask for the "best" time of year, I am looking for a reasonable balance of the following criteria, in order of importance:
Mild weather. Ideally, warm enough to have coffee outside in a light ...
- 554
32
votes
3
answers
1k
views
Is there a website/tool which can generate a reachability map from a given point?
I'm currently planning a four-day holiday with friends of mine who live in different regions of Germany. Now we're trying to find a holiday home that everyone of us can reach in less then 3.5h by car. ...
- 1,645
31
votes
6
answers
11k
views
How do you prepare for long haul flights?
I'm always feeling a bit unwell during and after long haul flights. I lose my appetite, can't sleep in the plane, food has no taste no matter what. However, I'm pretty sure it's not the flying itself, ...
- 9,688
29
votes
8
answers
17k
views
Driving through every country in Europe
I'm thinking about planning a trip where I drive though every country in Europe. I know that there are people who have driven though every state in the US. There is information online about their ...
- 401
29
votes
4
answers
103k
views
What is the best method of purchasing a ticket with an open return date?
I’ve been doing some research on traveling to South America and staying for an extended period of time (working vacation). The usual sources for flight info (Kayak, Expedia, Hipmunk) don’t have any ...
- 491
28
votes
6
answers
6k
views
How to tell if a travel location is "affordable"?
Disclaimer: The locations are just examples to set up the question and all prices are made up for the sake of the example and question.
Background: Let's say I want to visit London or Busan, and my ...
- 3,443
28
votes
10
answers
3k
views
Is there a list of online public transportation planners?
For Oslo in Norway you can go to ruter.no, punch in where you are and where you want to go. It then gives you options on how to get from point A to point B using various public transportation (and ...
- 851
27
votes
6
answers
54k
views
What is the minimum time to consider with a connecting flight in the USA?
Given the extensive time taken for immigration formalities in the US, what is the shortest time to consider between connecting flights in the US, when coming from abroad?
Until now I have always ...
user141
26
votes
10
answers
6k
views
How to understand quality of Google Maps transport info in advance?
Traveling around Europe I grew to rely more and more on Google Maps (GMaps) public transport data. That is if I am in a new city and need to get from A to B, GMaps is normally very effective in ...
- 921
25
votes
5
answers
53k
views
Getting into a fully booked hotel?
Perchance where I'm travelling to has really crappy availability in terms of vacancies for when I'm going. All of the hotels near the area are fully booked for the weekend. I called the front desk for ...
- 253
25
votes
4
answers
3k
views
An online map indicating the status of all open and closed international borders
I like to make up my own interesting international routes on my longer trips rather than always following conventional routes.
But often it's tricky to plan a route in lesser-known parts of the world ...
- 79.7k
24
votes
6
answers
9k
views
What dangers should I be aware of when doing a long-distance bike trip through Europe?
The EuroVelo routes from this answer helped me a lot to do some initial planning of my long-distance bike trip through Europe which I hope I can start in November.
I would ride the bike from the ...
- 2,403
24
votes
14
answers
797
views
What are some good ways to find things to explore on-site in an unfamiliar place?
When traveling, one of my favorite things to do is simply explore the local area and see what's going on. I do enjoy guided tours on some occassions, but I'm more interested in finding cool local ...
- 1,275
23
votes
4
answers
5k
views
Cheapest flight to anywhere at any given time
I'm looking to take a spontaneous trip for a long weekend. The date is flexible and the destination can be anywhere in the world. Is there a site that would allow me to search airfares within a date ...
- 804
22
votes
4
answers
15k
views
How to pay for things in Greece?
My boyfriend and I are headed to Greece (Athens for some time and islands for some time). We plan on bringing euros that we ordered from our personal banks in the States. But I am curious what the ...
- 941
22
votes
5
answers
54k
views
How fast can one expect to travel in an ocean-going sailboat?
Assuming two different trips - one with a current and one without, what is a reasonable speed to assume for a journey?
First - Norfolk, VA to Bermuda to the Azores to Liverpool
Second - Liverpool to ...
- 7,065
22
votes
5
answers
3k
views
How can I tell hotels exist that aren't on the booking web sites?
There are a ton of sites out there to help book hotel rooms and to aggregate all the different sites to book hotel rooms. These companies make enough money to buy ads on TV, so I won't name them here. ...
- 81.6k
21
votes
10
answers
7k
views
How can I find out where to buy uncommon (for the location) items while traveling?
I'm looking for ways to find brick&mortar stores where I can buy a given item in person, in a given city. For example,
Q: Where can I find kale in Cancun? (A: at Chedraui)
Q: Where can I buy a ...
- 2,850
21
votes
8
answers
11k
views
What times of the year are best for visiting France? [closed]
When I visited Rome, Italy, I ended up visiting during August which seems to be a time when most Italians have fled the city to cooler areas. This was nice because there was less traffic so we were ...
- 2,272
21
votes
5
answers
3k
views
Can you go to the Maldives without assistance of a travel agency?
Organizing your travel without agents is almost always cheaper and more fun.
But does that also apply for Maldives? Can I just travel to the Maldives? Do you have some tips or experiences to report?
- 329
21
votes
5
answers
8k
views
Is there a guarantee that flightfox.com will be cheaper than other booking methods?
Recently, I tried to use flightfox, as I have read that they are much cheaper than other websites. Before proceeding with my booking however, I was faced by the fact that I had to pay a $49 fee before ...
- 579
21
votes
3
answers
2k
views
How to find dates of big events in any city? (e.g. to avoid price surge during trade fair)
Is there a resource that warns me for (almost) any city / destination when my travel dates coincide with some big event there?
Illustrative example: Say I want to travel to Frankfurt and I'm fairly ...
- 26.4k
21
votes
3
answers
6k
views
What is the best time of year to go to Disney World to avoid crowds?
When is the least busy time of year for Disney World? When should I go there such that there are the least number of people there?
- 1,363
20
votes
4
answers
4k
views
Identification on German trains
I am a student from South Africa travelling to Germany in around a month. I want to book my train tickets on the Deutsche Bahn website. Since I'm a bit hesitant to order tickets for delivery by mail (...
- 203
20
votes
4
answers
11k
views
Is there a flight search engine that has an option to show full flights?
Quite often when searching for plane tickets I get only some high priced results, ridiculous schedules, etc. It makes me wonder if these are the only options to get from point A to point B or have I ...
- 2,187
19
votes
10
answers
6k
views
What sort of computer / electronic device would you take on a backpack trip around Europe to allow you to keep in touch?
As you may have seen in my other posts I am in the early stages of planning my Eurotrip this summer which if you are interested in seeing the planned route go here:
http://www.tripline.net/trip/...
- 1,955
19
votes
4
answers
24k
views
How to prepare for very long train journeys?
A friend of mine is going to take a very long train journey the next week. The journey takes 44 hours according to the train schedule and takes place in Europe. He has to change trains two times. Once ...
- 51.6k
19
votes
4
answers
10k
views
Which websites allow "search by country" for a flight?
I came to know about Whichbudget, it's a website that allow search for flights by country. I mean you just enter from like "Germany" and to like "Belgium" and you get best offers from all airports ...
- 345
19
votes
2
answers
4k
views
Last fuel stop before airport
This morning I returned a rental car to LHR T5. I'm approaching along the M25 and am looking for petrol stations along the way and, as usual, I don't find one. I look on my iphone for fuel and it ...
- 29k
18
votes
9
answers
8k
views
What's the use of trains that spend 6+ hours of daytime en route? [closed]
There's such thing as "a daytime train" - a train which runs all the route during daytime. Some of them run really long routes - 500-700 kilometers - and a train spends 6-8 hours en route to run such ...
- 1,807
18
votes
4
answers
8k
views
Searching for flights to "Anywhere" in narrow time frame
Is there any website that allows searching for (cheap) flight to any destination in a narrow time frame? Ideally I look for the cheapest flights while specifying only:
Departure airport (bonus if ...
- 8,585
18
votes
5
answers
1k
views
Raft trip down a river
As many of you may already have figured it out from simply reading the title, the inspiration to undertake a raft trip came to me when I first read Huckleberry Finn many years ago. I am a young adult ...
user35202
17
votes
11
answers
8k
views
How to calculate the air-line distance between two places?
A lot of the time, I'm looking for a way to calculate the air-line distance between two places, most often city centers.
For example when I flew from Zurich to Helsinki I wanted to know how far it ...
- 51.6k
17
votes
4
answers
1k
views
What's a good alternative to Dopplr?
From the Dopplr website:
Dopplr is a service for smart
international travellers. Dopplr
members share personal and business
travel plans privately with their
networks, and exchange tips on ...
- 171
16
votes
5
answers
4k
views
Travel options from London to Edinburgh
I plan to travel from London to Edinburgh this November and want to know the fastest option to travel from London to Edinburgh
- 169
16
votes
5
answers
6k
views
Can I live in Berlin comfortably for one month with 1,000 euros if housing is free? [closed]
I'm traveling to Germany in December. My budget is 1,000 euros. Housing will be free, because a friend of mine will let me stay at her house at no cost. I'm planning on partying around once a week, ...
- 161
16
votes
6
answers
3k
views
Avoiding or minimising altitude sickness?
From my personal anecdotal experience, I've seen first-hand some horror stories with altitude sickness. I will always tell people now to acclimatise, drink fluids, and follow the local tricks like ...
- 160k