I’ve planned my share of trips in the past several years, and I’m the kind of person who enjoys the planning almost as much as the actual trip. For me, the planning is half the fun, and along the way I’ve found some helpful strategies and tools:

• Tripadvisor.com: By far my go-to source for user reviews on hotels. This is where you go to find the pictures and information that hotels don’t show you on their Web sites, like how the concierge at a particular place is extremely helpful or a video showing how the shower squeaks in a high-pitched tone. What’s even better is that the businesses being reviewed can respond to the reviews, so if you see a bad review complaining about something, you can also get the management’s side of things and make your decisions accordingly. I’ve also found the forums on the site very useful and have gotten a couple questions answered on there.
• The DK Eyewitness Travel books series: We’ve bought a few of these books the last couple years — for our trips to Florida and China and for our upcoming trip to England. We enjoyed them so much that my wife bought the Ireland book even though we aren’t planning a trip to Ireland in the foreseeable future. Each book is chocked full of information, and it is all presented in a beautiful fashion, as quick-hit blurbs accompanied by ample amount of pictures, detailed graphics, and maps. There are street-by-street, hand-drawn maps of popular locations, and in the back of each book is a Travelers’ Needs section, where you find tips about the best types of lodging at that destination, what kind of currency they use, what you need to drive in that country, etc. There is also a list of recommended hotels and restaurants in that area.
• Rick Steves’ European guidebooks: The PBS travel host gives a lot of insightful advice in his books. He also gives you what amounts to a guided tour for a lot of the main attractions, such as walking you through museums and giving you background information about some of the more interesting exhibits. If you’re going to Europe, definitely check out this line of books.
• Google Maps and Bing Maps: How did people plan trips in the days before Google Maps?! Though perhaps a bit obvious, this is one utility I can’t live (or travel) without. The Street View mode is one of the greatest tools for travelers planning a trip. I’ve also recently started Bing Maps’ aerial and bird’s eye views, which are more detailed than Google Maps’ aerial view images, to get a better idea of the lay of the land before I go. For instance, last month I used the bird’s eye view in Bing Maps to trace the walking route from my lodging to the city center for a trip I was planning, and it was extremely helpful in determining how safe the walk is and get a better feel for how long it would take. I still use Google Maps predominantly, though. I love to create a map for every trip I take. On the map, I would plot my lodging, attractions I want to see, nearby restaurants and public-transportation stations, travel directions, etc. When I get to my hotel, I can just pull it all up quickly on my laptop.
• HomeAway.com: I only discovered this site not too long ago while I was searching for a decent place to stay in London that didn’t cost an arm and a leg, and it has quickly become one of my favorite sites and the first place I look when I’m searching for lodging. Its listings consist of mostly private condos, apartments, and houses for short-term rent. Most have a minimum-stay requirement, but many go as short as just two or three nights, depending on the location. I’ve found the listings here to be a great bargain, as they often offer a lot more space and the same room amenities you get at hotels, but for better prices. For the price you would pay for a standard hotel room, you can get a condo.
• Delicious: I use this social bookmarking tool anyway, and it’s been pretty helpful in keeping track of sites I’ve stumbled across while doing research for a place. I just bookmark the site using Delicious, give it a relevant tag, and make it private (so other people don’t see where I’m planning to go or what hotels I might be looking at). The great thing is I can access the sites from any computer.
• Gliider: This Firefox plugin, which I recently discovered, allows you to clip and save parts of Web pages and save them under different folders such as Flights, Hotels, and Shopping. It’s a convenient way of keeping track of various parts of your trip, and I’m trying to work it into my planning workflow more.

Some of my strategies for trip planning

• First and foremost, figure out what kind of traveler you are. Do you want to see as many of the sights as possible in your allotted time, or are you the type to take it easy and really soak up a place? Tailor your trip to fit your style.
• Decide what you are going to do on your trip. That will help you determine what’s important to you. A fabulous, posh hotel may suit your needs if you are planning on spending a lot of time by the pool, but it would just be a waste of money if you are going to be out and about most of the time exploring the area.
• Make a rough itinerary. It doesn’t have to be exact and it certainly doesn’t have to be binding, but if you match up the list of things you want to do and see with the amount of time you have, it’ll help you see if you are trying to cram too much in or if you have time to spare for a side trek. Be conservative in your estimate for how long it’ll take you to see or do something — if you err on the side of leaving too much time for something, you can always fit in something else. That’s way better than the alternative. The worst thing you can do is to come back from your vacation more tired than you were before you went because you tried to fit in too much.
• Unless you are fortunate enough to not have to worry about money, a budget is a necessity for your trip. Make an expenses spreadsheet. List estimate expenses for travel (don’t forget to factor in gas cost if you’re driving), lodging, food, admittance to attractions, and any activities you want to do that would require money. Again, leave yourself plenty of padding in  your estimates. It’s always better to come in under budget and over.
• If you are planning well in advance of your trip and you are flying, leave your departure time flexible. That’ll help you save money on airfare. Also, buy yourself some extra time by booking a return flight later in the day, giving you that morning to enjoy your vacation one last time.
• Along with your departure time, be somewhat flexible about where you are flying out of or into, as flights to nearby airports might be cheaper. For instance, when we went to Key West a couple years ago, flights into Key West were very expensive since there is only a tiny airport on the island and it only takes small planes. Flights into Miami were cheaper, but flights into Ft. Lauderdale were substantially less than that. A quick search on Google Maps showed that flying into Ft. Lauderdale only added about 20 minutes to our drive to Key West, which was well worth the savings.