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The tripadvisor.com website is a huge database offering advice to travelers. It is an interactive site that allows travelers to record their own experiences of all the facilities listed and there is even a forum for discussion. Anyone intending to take a trip can find valuable information on Tripadvisor.com as to hotels, flights, cruises, restaurants, vacation rentals and things to do on arrival. This is a great resource for helping to plan for any trip. Unfortunately, as with all sites that allow the public to comment, abuse does take place, although there are usually enough comments to give a balanced view.

The site is clearly set out with tabs at the top, enabling ease of movement between the six main areas: Home Page, Hotels, Flights, Restaurants, Trip Ideas and Free Travel Guides. The home page has a map of the world so you can browse by destination or, if you scroll down, you can also browse by trip type, for example: Business Travel, Luxury Travel or Family Travel. One useful addition to the Business Centre is that you can enter any addresses you plan to visit, and then find your hotel in the most convenient location.

For those stuck for vacation ideas, Tripadvisor.com enables potential travelers to search under different categories of interest by clicking on "Trip Ideas". This section is divided into Adventure, Beaches and Fun, Casinos, Family Fun, History and Culture, Romance, Shopping, Skiing, or Spa. Any of these can also be linked to an area of preference to refine the search further. If, however, you are looking for a specific interest like golf, or fishing, this can be entered into the search bar and a list of suggestions will be offered.

Most of the site can be accessed by any casual browser, but to access parts of the site, or to download free travel brochures, you will need to register by entering your email address. Tripadvisor will then send you a password, which can be changed as necessary. The free travel brochures are for Budget Travel, Eco Adventures, Family, Romance and Beaches and are in the form of pdf documents. It is important to allow pop-ups from tripadvisor.com, as some queries will be redirected to partner companies such as expedia.com and hotwire.com, especially for flight details.

The forums are an excellent idea and it is unusual not to get a response to a genuine query. The forums are divided into countries, and just browsing other people's questions and answers can often give a real understanding of a destination. Tripadvisor.com's greatest strength lies in giving you the ability to plan your whole trip and to get feedback from others who have insider knowledge about your destination.

Learn more about this author, Elizabeth Coughlan.
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