27Clouds

This is not your average online news aggregator. Eugen Beer hand-picks timely, travel-related news articles from a variety of well-respected media sources and highlights them on one page at the website 27Clouds.

TVTrip.com

Everyone, it seems, has online videos these days, from cats to the president. But when it comes to hotels, most sites show only photos. How 20th century!

Duffelup.com

Are you so intertwined with your computer, BlackBerry and iCal that you don't use Post-it notes anymore? Do you miss them? Duffelup.com brings back the simplicity of travel planning with virtual stickies.

www.yuortour.com

France, anyone? Airfares are becoming more affordable after summer highs, and new web sites, including www.yourtour.com, are busy crafting ideal itineraries for you.

www.tvtrip.com

www.tvtrip.com

What: Videos of hotels around the world.

Why: Videos can help travelers decide where to stay, beyond the written description. There are also links to hotel booking sites. The downside? So far the site covers only selected hotels in major cities in North America, Europe, Australia and southeast Asia/Pacific.

Kijubi

What could you be doing on your next vacation? The website Kijubi (the phonetic pronunciation of ``could you be'') has hundreds of outdoor activities worth leaving your hotel room for, whether you are drawn to extreme adventure or a cushy ride on a yacht.

TripSay.com

TripSay.com is a fun tool that lets you rate destinations around the world, then offers trip suggestions based on the places that like-minded travelers enjoyed.

Diddit

What have you done lately? Diddit helps you keep track of previous adventures and, like your new best friend, urges you to get started on the next cool experience on your agenda.

Photosynth

Photosynth is a digital Rumpelstiltskin -- spinning an ordinary bunch of photos into a golden ''synth'' of cinematic art in 3-D.

Practical Travel Gear

Practical Travel Gear speaks to the evolving needs of business travelers, parents, adventure enthusiasts and those who try to pack their bags lighter than they did the last time.

Trekaroo.com

Trekaroo.com aims to answer the parental cry for a more family-oriented travel site.

Travelaxe.com

Travelaxe.com compares hotels from different booking sites so you can find a cheaper room and feel good about the money you're saving.

Myidealbeach.com

Myidealbeach.com is the best five-minute work distraction this side of a Mai Tai

Google City Tour

Have you taken a Google City Tour? The latest experiment (citytours.googlelabs.com) from Google Labs suggests multiday travel itineraries using Google maps.

www.cancelthatcard.com

When Matt Cooper lost his wallet while vacationing in Croatia, his first move was to notify his credit card issuers. But finding the right phone numbers took a couple of calls home and valuable time. In response, he created a website, www.cancelthatcard.com, that lists phone numbers in 59 countries for Visa, Discover and MasterCard. ``It's one-stop shopping for all of your cards,'' he said. ``It saves you lots of time.''

Selectwisely.com

Do your allergies (or your child's) make it challenging for you to travel abroad? Selectwisely.com helps liberate travelers who have food allergies and other health concerns.

Podcast tours

Before you leave for your next vacation, do an online search for podcast walking tours of your destination.

StoodThere.com

StoodThere.com can inspire your next trip via photos from travelers who have been there, shot that. You won't be intimidated by glorious artsy travel photos impossible to re-create for your own albums, but you will find snapshots of places you might visit one day.

www.bluehippotravel.com

Let a former travel agent help you find a hotel you might not know existed on Blue Hippo Travel, www.bluehippotravel.com.

www.bing.com/travel

The travel section of Bing (www.bing.com/travel) is one of the major upsides to Microsoft's new search engine.

Airbnb.com

Airbnb.com lets travelers find a spare room for two or three nights by renting spare rooms, cots, couches and airbeds in the apartments of residents in 831 U.S. cities, sometimes for as little as $20 a night.

JunctionBus.Com

JunctionBus.Com helps travelers find cheap buses between cities in the northeast of the United States, the Midwest and (to a lesser extent) the Southeast.

Voyij.com

Voyij.com seduces your inner accountant with travel deals that are ready to be taken advantage of this weekend. What's Hot: Typing in your departure airport and getting a bucket-load of travel deals that are good right away or three months from now. The deals are broken down into airfare, hotel and vacation. When you click on a search result, it gives you the weather forecast and Yelp reviews too.

Raveable.com

Keep your eye on Raveable.com, a new hotel review collection website that considers itself the ``Cliffs-Notes for hotel reviews.''

WholeTravel.com and VroomVroomVroon.com

Companies are popping up left and right to help travelers looking for ways to reduce their environmental impact. Two brand-new sites are WholeTravel.com, which lists and ranks ''green'' hotels and activity outfitters (e.g. horseback riding, white-water rafting) and VroomVroomVroom.com, a rental car booking site boasting both low prices and low guilt factor: The company donates carbon offsets for every rental.

DiscoverAmerica.com

A new website has been launched to help Americans explore their own country: DiscoverAmerica.com. The site includes an interactive map that gives mileage from city to city, an activity finder listing more than 3,000 experiences, attractions and events, including museums, gardens, ski slopes, festivals and parks.

CodySmart.com/hitchhike

Cody Smart wanted to feel something, and so with $430 in the bank, an aversion to ''popular society'' and a thirst for the open road, he set off to hitchhike from New York to Alaska. He was robbed and nearly killed, just as the naysayers said he would be. He then put together a magnetic ''photologue'' on CodySmart.com/hitchhike to remember and share his story.

BoardingArea.com

BoardingArea.com is a virtual briefcase for business travelers. It's a portal for handpicked travel blogs from the media, industry insiders and other business travelers.

SpottedbyLocals.com

Ever wish you knew a local who could offer advice before your European trip? SpottedbyLocals.com has handpicked bloggers on the ground in 20 cities updating its city blogs with their favorite spots around town.