Published in Internet Newsroom's May 1997 issue.

If you're considering an article on any aspect of travel, the Net is the place for you. The volume of information is staggering. Some sites are comprehensive and contain virtually everything in one convenient spot. Other sites are more specialized and give fine-tuned information.

Let's begin at City.Net Travel, where you can click on a map to search over 5000 destinations. The site contains flights, hotels, and car rental information as well. I selected Europe and was provided with arts and entertainment, history, maps, sports, tourism, and more. You can narrow the search further by choosing a country or specific city, where you'll be given information such as culture, education, lodging, maps, newspapers, and regional information. The site even provides translation helps.

Starting Point Travel Online contains airline information, travel directories, and a wonderful listing of hotel and resort chains. You can rent vacation homes, make reservations at chains, or search through the Hotel Guide, which is a 50,000 worldwide hotel database that lists hotel discounts

Microsoft Expedia travel services is a comprehensive site where you can research and reserve your travel plans online, be alerted about low airfares, read travel updates and a weather watch, and participate in travel bulletin boards or chats. The site also features an illustrated guidebook to more than 250 destinations.

Travel & Entertainment Network contains nine categories for travel, such as cruises, sports, recreation, business travel, and destinations. The entertainment section features amusement parks, museums, concert and ticket services, and wine-related resources.

Fodor's features information about vacation sites all over the world. You can build your own travel guide or view the hotel listings. Their restaurant index contains expert reviews of those establishments that meet Fodor's standards.

The Travel Channel Online features a Universal Travel Resource Locator which is a searchable database of 26,000 Web pages containing free information on cruise packages, adventure travel outfitters, fine hotels, tourism boards, and more. Choose from thousands of free brochures and maps.

Now let's fine tune our search and look for sites on specific aspects of traveling.

If you need information on particular vacation spots, try Metroscope. Click on either the United States or International page, then narrow your search from there. I chose New Orleans, and the site promptly spit out information such as cultural sites, media, sports, colleges, and government.

At CNN - Travel Guide,you can click on a map or use a pulldown menu to locate state and city tourist links. The site provides city guides for U.S. or worldwide cities as well as hotel information. I clicked on Wyoming and was given information on tourism, history, climate, museums, parks, and cities.

Hot Wired: The Rough Guide gives you complete travel guides to many countries and cultures of the world.

What about sites that key in on specific types of travelers? TheTrip.com claims to feature "everything for the business traveler except the stress."

Global Access is a network for disabled travelers. The site includes travel tips and resources as well as a multitude of disability travel links for various spots around the world.

What about sites for weekend travelers? At the Weekend Guide, you'll learn of vacation spots for short-term travel.

Overseas travel requires some additional resources. The Universal Currency Converter"allows you to perform interactive foreign exchange rate conversion on the Internet."

At the Foreign Languages for Travelers' site, you can enter your own language and the language you want to learn, and it will translate for you. You can also search the site for a particular word to be translated into all languages.

Council for Disease Control Home Travel Information Page provides reference material and disease outbreaks for international travel.

Passport Services allows you to download printable passport applications and find out where you can apply for a password nationwide.

Are you on a budget? Then check out the How to See the World on $25 a Day or Less site. This site is actually a book on tools and techniques of European and world travel backpacking.

Let's consider the various modes of transportation. Yahoo!'s Flight Information Center allows you to check flight availability for domestic or international flights or to see if flights are on time.

The Airport Search Engine searches for airports either by IATA identifier or the city.

Cyberspace World Railroad is a mirror site for the Amtrak schedules, but it's much more. The site contains historical information about the railroad, a complete General Code of Operating Rules, where you can find out how the "real guys" do it, and industry news.

Are you in the market for a cruise? The Cruise Web Home Page features cruise vacation and travel packages all over the world.

Alamo Rent A Car Online Reservation System allows you to download maps, to check the latest weather reports, or to reserve car rentals.

The Subway Navigator helps you to find routes in subway systems in various cities around the world.

What about driving resources? Enter a starting point and a destination, and DeLorme's CyberRouter will provide you with a map of your trip.

Another wonderful map site is Maps-On-Us, which contains maps, routing, and a yellow page service.

The legendary Route 66 connects Chicago to Los Angeles. ROUTE 66 gives detailed descriptions that are designed as a drive through guide describing almost every turn of the road. Read the history of Route 66, learn of special events, or view a photo gallery.

Let's move on to accommodations. The REGISTER Directory of Bed & Breakfasts lists over 750 bed and breakfasts, inns, and small hotels.

Travel Now Hotel Reservations features 20,000 hotels in 5000 cities and 150 countries, and you can save up to 40 percent by making your reservations online.

Accommodation Search Engine Home Page allows you to search for hotel reservations fast and efficiently.

What about entertainment and activities? Ticketmaster Online provides three ways to find events at the destination of your choice. You can choose a category, such as arts, concerts, sports, and family, use their search engine, or select a state on their map.

At festivals.com, you can look for festivals and events all over the world. Categories include arts, culture, motorsports, children, music, sports, and fairs.

CultureFinder: The Online Address for the Performing Arts contains a calendar of events for over 800 arts organizations in the United States and Canada.

Roadside America is "Your Guide to Strange and Wacky Vacation Wonders." If you're into strange sightseeing ventures, this is the spot for you.

If you're interested in writing restaurant reviews, DineNet Menus Online features menus from various restaurants across the United States. A search in a particular location will provide menus broken down by the type of food, such as American, Mexican, Continental, and so forth.

What resources are available to help vegetarians find restaurants? The World Guide to Vegetarianism provides a listing of vegetarian-friendly restaurants around the world.

You might want to read the news, weather, or events at your vacation spot before arriving. At the Editor's and Publisher's Database Directory of the World's Online Newspapers, you'll have access to over 1600 online newspapers.

The Opinionated Travel site features the inside scoop on travel around the globe. They don't sell tickets, hotel rooms, or destinations. "It's just the truth, the whole truth and nothing but truth in travel. We broaden horizons to lesser-known destinations and debunk overrated ones."

No matter what type of vacation or travel article you're considering, you'll find whatever you need to know on the Internet.

Robin Nobles is a freelance writer who can be reached at robinnobles@robinsnest.com.

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