www.johnnyjet.com Looking for Las Vegas hotel rooms for $32, the latest deals in freighter cruising or the price of petrol in Alaska ($US2.05), ask JohnnyJet. Mainly US-oriented, it’s a wealth of travel information.

www.i-escape.com An inspirational site full of global hideaways and plenty of detail about the destinations’ advantages, pitfalls and political situations as relevant.

www.lastminute.com and www.wotif.com For those happy to leave their bookings till the last gasp.

www.thepaperboy.com Get your news fix from home with the online editions of Australian newspapers and news providers such as the ABC.

www.Multimap.com Allows you to zoom in to street level from national and regional maps and prints up well.

www.responsibletravel.com Body Shop founder Anita Roddick is behind this site which promises to "find you a holiday that benefits destinations, and brings you closer to nature and local cultures". Lots of information that addresses all budgets.

www.bikeriderstours.com A Boston-based company offering upmarket cycle tours in the US, Canada, Ireland, Italy, France, Spain and Portugal with an emphasis on local culinary delights.

www.languagesabroad.com If you want to learn Spanish in Havana, Barcelona or any other place, this site has plenty of information about language schools in a swag of countries as well as other useful information for travellers.

www.climbing.about.com This site has information on rock climbing destinations, equipment, a glossary of mountaineering terms and access to a variety of climbing websites. Advanced climbers should consult www.jagged-globe.co.uk

www.beetroot.org "Russia at proletariat prices" offers budget-style tours of Russia operated by a UK company.

www.access-able.com Has information on cities offering facilities for disabled travellers (www.allgohere.com specialises in holidays in the UK).

www.golfpactravel.com Tours and packages for golfing holidays in the US, the UK, Spain and Portugal.

www.timeout.com, www.about.com/travel and www.travelinteligence.net Three good websites to browse at internet cafes in the city you are visiting.

And for your backpack, there’s the (print) Rough Guide to Travel Online, available via www.roughguides.com.