Virtual TOURIST and TRAVEL INFO part 2 /////////////////////////////////////// Conde Nast Traveler http://www.cntraveler.com/ An unbelievably *great* site that offers info on over 100 island resorts and destinatons worldwide but also offers ratings to over 1000 hotels and travel lodging sites all over the world. This site is laid out very well and is not only well organized - but is visually pleasing and even with the images - the pages download quickly and elegantly - making browsing fast and easy even for 14.4K modem users. This is one the absolute *best* new travel sites on the web that I've seen and gets an immediate **** Four Star rating. There is mostly island destinations here but the depth of that info makes this site a winner. You can search the database by type of resort, activities and things to do, the price ranges and other extras. The whole site is laid out so well and so easy to use that being here is almost a vacation in itself for this site is truly a breath of fresh air. Should I go on? There's more! Other parts of this travel page take you to a daily update of travel news the world over. a travel games section that has contests and other games based on knowledge of geography and general travel "smarts", a photo gallery with lots of pictures of various locations and other travel photography that is destination related. This is more than just an online travel magazine - it's an adventure unto itself. I could go on and on - but my raves for this site are obvious. Surf here. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Virtual Tourist http://wings.buffalo.edu/world/ Incredibly useful graphic overview of Web sites across the globe. This is a great place to start your web travels and find out about many places around the world. Excellent resource with lots of links. You'll happily surf and wander about the web for hours on end. A must see and must visit. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- National Park Service Server (US) http://www.nps.gov/nps/ Actually the GORP page listed further within this section provides a better source of info on parks then the Nat'l Park Service's own page does. Of course we all know that individual effort can easily outshine bureaucratic efforts from Government agencies and the proof is right here. I decided to list this here in BIGSURF for this site does have close to 400 parks listed within its pages and locations and areas of parks but there's really not too much else going for it. A real "let-down" for me as I thought that this site would be a bonanza of info but then I found out how little it had to offer. I'm not giving up on it so quickly though, and decided to keep this site on BIGSURF for the time being. This web site may soon have a fresh new look and if they get it right this time it could be an awesome resource for the public to visit. (And this is what we pay our tax dollars for !?) I suggest that the folks at the Nat'l Park Service talk to the folks at NASA (who have some of the best pages on the web) so they can learn to produce better web resources. I'm starting to rant so let me stop here. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Grand Canyon National Park (US) http://www.kbt.com/gc/gc_home.html A well done virtual tour of this world-famous park. Tons of info and pictures make this almost like "being there" without all that traffic. It's a good thing that this was done by individual effort for it shows a passion and love of the great outdoors. (Thank goodness the Nat'l Park Service didn't produce this page.) A great resource and view of the park. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- GORP (Great Outdoors Page) http://www.gorp.com/ Info and links to all sorts of outdoor activities and things to do whilst in the great outdoors. Some standards and many unusual outdoor activities. Includes links to and info on American National Parks, Nat'l forests, Nat'l Wilderness areas and State Parks, wilderness areas and Wildlife Refuges. The Park data is organized by state listings so it't an easy to use guide. A great way to plan an outdoor trip or activity, this site is excellent. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Outdoors Page http://www.yahoo.com/Entertainment/Outdoors/ Has all sorts of info and links to outdoor activities including camping, backpacking, bicycling, boating, rafting, white-water rafting, kayaking, climbing, bungee jumping, and anything else you can imagine doing outdoors. Well... almost anything. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bill's Lighthouse Getaway http://www.lib.utk.edu/lights.html A charming and wonderful virtual tour of lighthouses in the US from the east coast and on to the west coast. Each stop along the tour presents you with information about the lighthouse site including pictures, descriptions and a brief history of the lighthouse and any other important info related to that particular lighthouse. There are lots of well rendered pictures that are present all along the tour and there is also info on a few Lighthouse Societies which not only are interested in the history of lighthouses but the preservation of them as well. This is a **** four star site that will have you turning the pages and enjoying every minute. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- USA CityLink http://www.neosoft.com/citylink http://www.NeoSoft.com:80/citylink/ Travel info, city info and a whole lot more. Contains information on States and many cities within the USA. Numerous links to city-based pages across the US. Has lots of things to down in your destination city. Check it out. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- White House Homepage http://www.whitehouse.gov/ Contains info, links and virtual tours of the White House located in Washington, DC (US) The US nation's capitol via the web! Great site! --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Natinwide Police Car Description Web Server http://eden.telalink.net/zoomst/cocars/copcars.html A nationwide list (US) of all major cities and states and the type(s) of police cars being used. Includes descriptions of make. model and color of scheme of the police cars being used. There is even little details added in the descriptions such as window tinting (where applicable) antennas and location of antennas, lights (bubble gum machines) and where located and types of insignias and logos and other info that is affixed to the vehicle. Guides to marked and unmarked cars are here too along with driving tips on where the most prevalent radar traps are located in locations across the country in various states, regions and localities. Drive a lot... safer with this most informative web resource. Before you take a road trip - take a web cruise on over to this site and fill up on some info first. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Holland Tourist Information http://www.xxlink.nl/cities http://www.xxlink.nl/nbt These are two linked pages and each has particular (an abundant) info on Holland. This is one of the *best* travel and info sites that I've ever seen and includes, pictures, maps, guidebooks, images, sight-seeing info, restaurants, lodging and more! You can truly plan an entire vacation to Holland right from this site. This is also a great learning resource for anyone who wishes to know more about the country and region. Excellent! This web site definitely deserves a **** Four Star Rating!! --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Nude Beaches http://www.realtime.net:80/~kr4ah OK, so sue me but I thought that this web site deserved a place here. After all - BIGSURF, wind, water, sand and beaches go together and... If you're looking for this particular getaway vacation then this is the place to find out about nude beach locations world-wide. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Electric Postcard http://postcards.www.media.mit.edu/Postcards/ MIT Media Lab's version of the Hallmark card rack. You can pick a postcard out of 35 designs and send them to friends by typing in their email address and then typing in your message on the virtual "postcard". Then add your name and address and hit "Send" and away it goes. Color and b/w postcards are available for the choosing. This sure beats going shopping for cards. Great for sending those friends of yours a greeting when you're off on virtual vacations. No need to stop surfin and shop for cards! WAY COOL! --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fascinating Malaysia http://www.phlab.missouri.edu/HOMES/c579283_www/mly/index.html A very good virtual tour of Malaysia. Links to other sources of Malaysian information. Some of the pictures are of low resolution but this is a minor short-coming. Lots to learn here such as the history and culture of this diverse island nation, a sound file of the National Anthem and lots of economic, travel and political information as well. If you are planning a trip here or just want to find out more about Malaysia - here is a good place to start your info-search. Not bad... and should get even better. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Vegascom Web Server http://www.vegas.com/vegascom/vegdir.html The ultimate Las Vegas site! Includes a Vegas Entertainment Directory listing and guide with over 32 pages (!) of acts and shows that are currently performing or are slated to perform in Vegas. You can also make travel arrangements and hotel reservations online. There is a sports service online called The Don Best Sports Line that offers all the major sports betting line point spreads and the betting and odds totals for three major casonos. There is also many links and information that will guide you through all the rules and startegies of every game offered in Las Vegas - from Craps to Black Jack to Baccarat and Slots - everything is here for you to learn more about. Although this is not a "virtual tour" of Las Vegas - it offers a wealth of information that travellers to Vegas might find most helpful and informative for the primary interests in going to Vegas are the shows and gambling. This web page certainly has lots of information on these particular subjects of interest... --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rota da Luz (Light Route) http://www.ua.pt:80/cgi-bin/index-turismo From Portugal comes a wonderful page that is a virtual tourist's delight. It is in English and offers lots of info, sites, points of interest and things do do and see while visiting the Rosa da Luz region of Portugal. Very well done page that has easy to use graphical links. Simply beautiful. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Atlantis Project http://oceania.org http://www.oceania.org FTP to: oceania.org in the -->/pub/oceania This site emanates from a small and dedicated group of individuals that are fed up with the quality of life in the United States and in the world as a whole. The founder of this movement is Eric Klein and his proposal is to build a soverign city-state which will actually be off-shore floating platforms in the Carribean. Oceania's founders are hoping that this new country will be a beacon for progressive philosophies and unabated freedom. Within this site are links to the new country's constitution and law docs aptly titled, "The Constitution of Oceania" and "Oceania Law". The user is allowed via forms based pages to enter a relevant suggestion to either document and if that suggestion is so acted upon or chosen then a street in Oceania might be named after you. This is rare chance to see a new country and culture develop while seeing the developments take place via your web browser or ftp client. Literally - the eyes of the world are now watching. Of course, this may turn into a great off-shore ISP too... --------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Connected Traveler http://www.well.com/www/wldtrvlr A very good travel magazine with lots of great articles and images from around the world. Informative and fun - this is a great read for all. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yugoslavia http://www.umiacs.umd.edu:80/research/lpv/YU/HTML/yu.html An image filled virtual tour of Yugoslavia. The region's diverse culture, geography, cuisine, languages are all within this web tour and this is probably the only place that is on the web that has such a wealth of cultural information on the country as other web pages that deal with Yugoslavia are more bent on journalistic news on the negative side of cuurent happenings within Yugoslavia and within the region in general. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cave Paintings http://www.culture.fr/gvpda-en.htm http://dmf.culture.fr/culture/gvpda-en.htm Pictures of recently discovered cave paintings from the Paleolithic age. These cave drawings were discovered in France and are beautifully shown. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- De Digitale Stad (The Digital City) http://www.dds.nl/ A true virtual "digital city" on the web. This place teems with people and links resembling streets and sidewalks throughout the town are littered all the place making navigation questionable until you begin to realize that any large metropolis is tough to navigate (with or without a map) when you first arrive. There are reportedly over 10,000 regular "inhabitants" of this digital city and more come to visit every day. People have set up permanent shops and dwellings and there are many "nooks and crannies" to discover just like old back alley ways in a real large city. Getting lost is half the fun here but please do visit the Town Hall as this has links to the "outside" world of Amsterdam and provides info on services and other assorted sundries within the digital city and actual Amsterdam. This site is expanding and most engaging. This is the best "virtual city" on the web. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hostel's Europe Pages http://www.tardis.ed.ac.uk/~og/hostels.html An informative and candid guide to Europe's best and worst hostels. Many Europeans prefer this over hotels and motels as they get to see and enjoy the places they visit more thoroughly. It is not unusual to see an entire family backpacking in Europe while getting to know the countryside very intimately in a way that you can't staying in a hotel. The information here is a compilation of personal experiences with the hostels and hostels groups and so is generally honest and free from commercial prevarication. If you are planning a trip to Europe and feel adventuresome - then check out this wonderful resource available to you. Using hostels for lodging and backpacking (even on day trips) is a fun way to tour and discover many places in Europe. The hostels are generally well run and well liked. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Boston Restaurant List http://www.osf.org:8001/boston-food/boston-food.html If you're going to visit Boston, Mass. (US) anytime soon you may want to check this web page out. It offers over 1000 reviews of restaurants and eateries in the Greater Boston Metropolitan area. Info not only includes reviews but location, business hours, phone number(s), addresses and reservation info (if applicable). A good way to find out about Boston's cuisine and an easy way to get hungry while you browse this web site. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bay Area Restaurant Guide http://netmedia.com/ims/rest/ba_rest_guide.html Wow! This restaurant listing and guide covers over 12,000 restaurants in over 125 cities in the four San Francisco Bay area counties including San Francisco eateries. There are approx 60 different types of cuisine that are available to customers and you'll build up a hunger just thinking about all this food. A great guide and resource for those planning to come to the San Francisco bay area or for those already inhabiting these parts and want to check out places they might have not known existed. The reviews are honest and many reviews come in from the general public. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Atlanta Restaurant Guide http://bryant.netmedia.com/IMS/atl_rest/aa_rest_guide.html Much like the above in style and format. A great guide and listing that is a work in progress and is under construction. (Actually everything on the Internet always "in progress"). It is hoped that this guide will have over 2500 restaurants reviewed and listed by end of summer 1995. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chicago Resaurant Ratings and Guide http://bryant.netmedia.com/IMS/chicago/ca_rest_guide.html Another similar restaurant guide and review that is also under construction and is not fully working. However - the guide is still up on the web and it's neat to see how a web project progresses so check in here from time to time. Chicago is a great restaurant town and a great place for food. There are an estimated 24,000 restaurants in the Chicago area so there's going to be lots of places to be listed and reviewed. Should be good. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- News and Observer (Raleigh, North Carolina - US) http://www.nando.net/epage/nao/links/restaurants.html A listing of the entire year's restaurant reviews by the Raleigh newspaper "News and Observer" This is a good resource for those in the Raleigh area or for those intending to travel to the Raleigh, NC area. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Palo Alto Weekly (Restaurant Reviews section) http://www.service.com This S.F. Bay Area newspaper has over 100 pages of eatery reviews in an alphabetical listing. Another good restaurant informational resource. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Washingtonian http://www.infi.net/washmag This is a great site and perhaps the best of the restaurant guide offerings on the web. It offers a 100 Best Restaurants list with reviews and info pertaining to each restaurant. This site also has a list of many different places to eat in the Washington, DC area and the list is broken down into topics - types of cuisine, cost, rating and location. There is also a list of the 100 Best Bargains Restaurants in the Wash, DC area. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dining Out on the Web http://www.cmpharm.ucsf.edu/~troyer/diningout.html Perhaps the ultimate web guide to all the restaurants on the Internet is this site. Created originally by John Troyner - this page has links to practically every restaurant that has a presence on the web or Internet and it also has links to tons of restaurant guides and eatery info. If you only use one restaurant guide or resource - use this one. It's the best site for restaurant related info. Period. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- VISA http://www.visa.com/ The credit card giant - online (gasp) --------------------------------------------------------------------------- ATM Locations World-Wide http://www.mastercard.com/Info/ATM-form.htm http://www.visa.com/visa/ MasterCard and Visa have made it easy for the global traveler to find ATM machine locations world wide. Both of these web pages from Visa and MC have easy to use ATM locater guides and shows the location of these ATM "money machines" in nearly every major city of the world. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Airlines on the Web American Airlines http://www.amcorp.com/aa_home/aa_home.htm Has fulllist of flight schedules and destinations, weather and other related flight info. Lots of travel related info and guides as well. ------- Canadian Airlines International Web Page http://www.cdnair.ca Contains flight schedules, arrival and destination times, weather reports, arrival and destination information, trip planner, news updates relating to the airline and (can you believe it) a link to "The Big Dummie's Guide to the Internet"! Now this is a cool! Even has links to online movies! Web site ticket sales are planned. What's next? How about virtual flight? ------- Southwest Airlines http://www.iflyswa.com The web site includes fares, flight schedules and other info about the airline. Also includes job openings at Southwest. ------- Virgin Atlantic (Virgin Airlines) http://www.fly.virgon.com/atlantic/ The highly rated Virgin Airlines goes up on the web. The full flight info treatment is provided along with lots of other travel related info. ===========================================================================