Your suggestions for travel forums?

[gretah]

Hi, All

I'm happily planning a trip to Europe and viewing various travel message boards.

I like our Travel subforum, FlyerTalk.com Fodors.com

Do you know of any great travel forums - especially ones containing great info on Europe? Please share.

Thanks!!!

 

[rodi]

slowtalk.com

It's focused on slow travel (staying in one spot for a week, and exploring that place and it's surroundings.)

That said - it has great, in depth info for Italy, France, Great Britain.... better than most other forums. And it has a friendly, welcoming vibe, like here.

Just a tip - if you go on asking how to see 9 cities in 5 days - you'll be treated similarly to someone who comes on here to sell variable annuities...

 

[pullmyfinger]

Rick Steves


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[ItDontMeanAThing]

All I've used have more noise than useful info, but that's the internet. I like Flyertalk Destinations because generally they write well and are less likely to be talking about how things were 5 years ago.

TripAdvisor forums can be useful if I follow 3 simple rules: 1) Don't read anything by a moderator or 'Destination Expert' The former usually get lost in the details, the latter earned their 'expert' designation through posting volume. I want info from someone who travels, not sits in front of computer all day, 2) Stop reading a post and subsequent posts by the same author as soon as he shows more interest in what he has to say than what you want to know, 3) Use google to search their site. Input your search terms, followed by (without the " ") "site:www.tripadvisor.com/"

 

[DrRoy]

It's not exactly a forum, but I find Tripadvisor to be very useful for travel planning. You get ranked lists of things to do and see, plus ratings on tour providers, hotels, restaurants, etc.

 

[YVRRocketSurgery]

Apart from those already mentioned... Not really a travel forum but I like wikitravel as a resource for a synopsis on a destination; how to get into town, local transportation, key attractions, etc. I don't love the hotel and food recommendations/listings but will use them in a pinch.

 

[Moscyn]

My favorite is TripAdviser and I find photos posted (not by management but by reviewers) helpful.


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[athena53]

Cruisecritic is great for people who are planning a cruise (I know that's not the case with you). Even though DH and I took a very small ship cruise in Alaska, so a lot of the stuff about multiple restaurants, casinos, etc. didn't apply, I still found it very useful.

 

[Marita40]

I like venere.com as well as Tripadvisor.

 

[ItDontMeanAThing]

It's not exactly a forum, but I find Tripadvisor to be very useful for travel planning. You get ranked lists of things to do and see, plus ratings on tour providers, hotels, restaurants, etc.

Part of it is exactly a forum: Travel Forum, Discussion Board for Talk and Chat - TripAdvisor

 

[Bamaman]

RickSteves.com is very popular. Just remember that his tours (and other guided tours in general) are going to be very expensive. However those writing on his forum are individuals, not tour company people.

I also use TripAdvisor to see what people are saying about specific hotels, etc. I also watch ClarkHoward.com for flight bargains.

If you have a specific question, ask it here. I have found those on this forum to be very well traveled.

 

[audreyh1]

My favorite is TripAdviser and I find photos posted (not by management but by reviewers) helpful.


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I use this heavily as well, and I do annual travel to Europe. And these days they show hotel prices available through various booking sites if you supply your dates. Looks like TripAdvisor is getting into the booking business themselves. [I always check with the hotel directly - the prices posted are just a rough guide and usually far more options, and sometimes nice discounts are available]. BTW - you can switch currency too - I prefer to see hotels in local currency for Europe.

On our planned trip to Hawaii, I have found several websites that are specific to Hawaii - or even to specific islands. So depending on where you go, just do a bunch of web searches. You might find something specific to the area that provides a lot more insight.

I always start with Google Flights for the airfare. That does a good comparison across airlines. And then when you whittle down to the flights you want, you can book directly with the airline.

Google flights saved my butt recently, because I simply could not find the flights I wanted on the United.com website. I think they've made some user interface changes and the searches/search criteria are horrible. For example, I couldn't select "no more than 2 stops", and United was only giving me 3 stop options for the times I wanted!

But when I pressed the "book directly with United" button on the Google Flights page, my selected flights were selected at the United.com site and I was able to proceed. Whew!

Flyertalk sometimes turns up something very useful, but this tends to be more on the lines of using ATM cards in foreign destinations, using EMV chip cards in Europe, and buying phone SIMs in various countries.

 

[audreyh1]

It's not exactly a forum, but I find Tripadvisor to be very useful for travel planning. You get ranked lists of things to do and see, plus ratings on tour providers, hotels, restaurants, etc.

It is a forum. You can post questions and get answers, or post an informational thread on any travel topic.

Quite a few searches I make turn up forum discussions and I've gotten a tremendous amount of useful information out of these - as much as the reviews.

 

[MichaelB]

I also like and use TripAdvisor. Plugging in dates to their hotels page gives a very good of rates and availability, but I prefer to book directly with the hotel. One thing that does irritate me is after any search I will be bombarded with emails from TripAdvisor about the city I was researching.

 

[audreyh1]

I also like and use TripAdvisor. Plugging in dates to their hotels page gives a very good of rates and availability, but I prefer to book directly with the hotel. One thing that does irritate me is after any search I will be bombarded with emails from TripAdvisor about the city I was researching.

I'm not getting those emails. I bet you can turn that off.

 

[ElizabethT]

And yet another hand raised for Trip Advisor. It is absolutely terrific for identifying must-see attractions, and also well regarded tours.

I also heavily utilize Frommers.com. If you search, you can often locate detailed itineraries, sometimes even self guided walking tours.

 

[Meadbh]

I too find TripAdvisor very helpful. I've posted a bunch of reviews myself. In recent weeks my landline has been receiving robocalls purporting to be from TripAdvisor, congratulating me on having won $900 in travel........at which point I hang up, assuming this is a scam. Has anyone else had these robocalls?

 

[kcowan]

It's not exactly a forum, but I find Tripadvisor to be very useful for travel planning. You get ranked lists of things to do and see, plus ratings on tour providers, hotels, restaurants, etc.

Yes. But the forums by destination are different than the ratings of hotels, restaurant et al. so you need to search both but the forums are the most useful. I find the ratings to be pretty random but the site is valuable.

Example

 

[audreyh1]

Yes. But the forums by destination are different than the ratings of hotels, restaurant et al. so you need to search both but the forums are the most useful. I find the ratings to be pretty random but the site is valuable.

Example

Wow - kcowan! Looks like you have a new job!

I think mine is travel agent!

 

[Nemo2]

Wow - kcowan! Looks like you have a new job!

The Globetrotting Gastronome!

 

[jollystomper]

I like Trip Advisor, but am biased since I do post reviews and pictures there. Interestingly a lot of hotel management reviews it as well, I have gotten comments from the hotels on some of my reviews. I have also posted questions about things to get further clarification, and have received helpful responses. The forums there seem like ER here - well moderated and you get good answers.

I agree that the hotel prices are not the cheapest - I use them as a guideline. More hotels are now providing their best prices directly on their websites, especially if you are a member of their rewards programs.

 

[Meadbh]

Here is an article that makes me think twice about using TripAdvisor.

https://medium.com/choking-on-a-mac...now-about-tripadvisor-15d31d745bdc#.8wn4kiswo

 

[audreyh1]

Here is an article that makes me think twice about using TripAdvisor.

https://medium.com/choking-on-a-mac...now-about-tripadvisor-15d31d745bdc#.8wn4kiswo

Yes, there have been some obvious changes over the past few years. TripAdvisor has gone into the booking business, and it's obvious that some properties are getting preferential treatment.

This year I started having to google the hotel websites myself - that was annoying. But in most cases it was because the hotel allowed TripAdvisor to do the booking directly - not a lack of preferential treatment. I however, wanted to book directly with the hotel so I had to do a little extra work.

Also - there are a huge number of ads running on TA enticing you to book tours with Viator or several other providers of various services.

You do have to comb through and actually read the reviews to see if they are legit. I still find the reviews very useful, although I might not rely as heavily in the statistics.

This is the same thing that has happened to Amazon. You have to be much more careful with reviews these days.

I still find it useful for when I am trying to make choices or finding the top attractions in a given area.

 

[tulak]

One big plus for TripAdvisor: pictures.

I always look through the hotel pictures before booking. The pictures that are submitted by individuals. That at least gives me an idea of what to expect.

I don't pay too much attention to the reviews, but I always read the negative reviews to see what people complain about.

I also look at things to do. For the most part, I'll filter out any tours, etc, but instead look for interesting places that we might want to visit. We DIY, so I only use TripAdvisor to get ideas.

Like any resource on the Internet, it can be useful. It'd be nice if there was a site to get unbiased reviews, but any site that would collect that much data is bound to get corrupted by those with a financial incentive.

 

[Meadbh]

One big plus for TripAdvisor: pictures.

I always look through the hotel pictures before booking. The pictures that are submitted by individuals. That at least gives me an idea of what to expect.

I don't pay too much attention to the reviews, but I always read the negative reviews to see what people complain about.

I also look at things to do. For the most part, I'll filter out any tours, etc, but instead look for interesting places that we might want to visit. We DIY, so I only use TripAdvisor to get ideas.

Like any resource on the Internet, it can be useful. It'd be nice if there was a site to get unbiased reviews, but any site that would collect that much data is bound to get corrupted by those with a financial incentive.

You're right, of course. It's useful but biased. I agree, the travelers' photos (though not the management ones) can be very revealing. Mould, holes in the carpet, etc!