Plan a perfect PC holiday

High-street travel agents are happy to pick up the commission from selling you a one-size-fits-all package from a brochure, but they think the height of customer care is giving you a free set of luggage labels.

You can do much better by yourself with the aid of your PC. A standalone computer is a good planning tool and there are plenty of maps, guides an reference works available on CD-Rom. However, it's when you connect your PC to the web that the world truly becomes your electronic oyster.

Everything you need to know about any holiday destination is available for the asking. And unlike even the best printed guidebooks, the information is totally up to date.

Looking for inspiration
When you don't know where to go, the Lonely Planet website is a good place to turn for inspiration. You'll find hundreds of holiday ideas, all thematically arranged; you can jump straight there by typing www.lonelyplanet.com/theme into the address line of your browser.

Another site guaranteed to fire the imagination is The Daily Telegraph's travel offshoot at www.travel.telegraph.co.uk. It's packed with travel articles taken from the newspaper and neatly categorised by type rather than destination. Categories include city; sun and sand; adventure; and family holidays.

For holidays closer to home, the British Tourist Authority's site at www.visitbritain.com is packed with pictures, virtual tours and ideas for UK holidays that you can take at any time of the year, and there are excellent links to external websites where you can find unexpected delights.

If you want a completely pot-luck approach, just type an interesting sounding destination into your search engine and see what turns up.

Let's say you fancy the idea of Scandinavia but you're not committed to a particular country. Type something along the lines of 'Scandinavia tourist information' into your favourite search engine and you'll get more hits than you know what to do with.

When we tried it in Google, the first site it found was www.goscandinavia.com. There we were offered a downloadable guide to Scandinavia and direct links to the official tourist sites of the five Scandinavian countries.

Cycling in Denmark sounded fun, so we searched on 'Denmark cycling holiday' and back it came with a site devoted entirely to this subject.

The same information-gathering techniques will work for anywhere from Seoul to San Francisco, but when flitting from site to site don't forget to add the really interesting ones to your Favorites so you can check back later.

Planning your holiday
Once you've got a firm destination in mind, you can start digging deeper.

CD-Rom encyclopaedias and interactive atlases like Encarta are fine for background information but you'll eventually need to turn to the web and although there are thousands of travel websites, you only need to know three of them. These are Expedia, Lonely Planet, and Time Out.

Time Out is the most specialised site of the three, concentrating as it does on cities and city-based activities. Lonely Planet is aimed at the 'traveller' rather than the mere holidaymaker and, though packed with great information and advice, it sometimes leaves you wanting more (for which you're expected to buy one of Lonely Planet's excellent printed guide books).

Expedia is our top choice for consistent presentation and depth of coverage of every type of holiday, and it's a good place to book your trip too.

The emphasis on all three sites is international travel. For holidays at home, remember www.visitbritain.com and it's also worth checking out the AA for maps, travel advice and an accommodation search tool.

The best of the AA's resources are on CD-Roms. The Interactive Encyclopaedia to Britain and Ireland will help you find a destination but you'll have to buy separate CDs to discover where to eat, stay, visit, play golf and go for day trips. At £20 each, you might not have enough left for a holiday!

Practical pointers
Holidays are about having fun and planning your holiday should be fun too. But if you want your trip to be a success, you should seek out answers to the following practical questions before you book, not after. The information is freely available on our recommended travel websites.

• Will the climate suit you at the time of year you intend to go?
• Can you cope with the customs, language and food?
• Is the holiday affordable?
• Will you need to buy any special clothing or equipment?
• Are there are any public holidays or special events planned at home or at your destination that might affect your plans or travel arrangements?
• Will you need to get a visa?
• Are vaccinations essential or recommended?
• Is it a safe place to visit?

It's best not to rely wholly on the official answers. Instead, seek out the personal opinions of people who've already been to your intended destination.

One place you can do this is Lonely Planet's Thorn Tree message boards. Another, for those thinking of taking a package holiday to any of the popular sun-and-sand resorts, is at www.holidaysuncovered.co.uk.

Remember that these are forums for personal impressions. Bear in mind when reading comments that you don't know who leaves the messages or whether their tastes, likes and interests are the same as yours. However, if several people all report food poisoning at the same hotel, stay away!

Booking tips
When should you actually book? There's no simple answer. Internet bookings are virtually instantaneous and tickets can be collected at the point of departure, so it's definitely possible to wait until the last minute but your choices will be limited.

It's probably better to start testing the water a couple of months before you want to go (browsing is free) but if you're taking a foreign holiday at a busy time like Christmas, Easter or any of the school holidays, book as early as possible.

Even though there may be no problems booking accommodation at your destination, all the cheap flights get snapped up well in advance.

The other question everybody asks about internet booking is whether it's safe to pay over the web. In our experience it is but if you're not happy about web shopping, there's little we can say to reassure you, apart from pointing out that your credit card details are just as visible when you pay in shops and restaurants as over the web.

Of course, you should only make payments over a secure server. You'll know you're on one of these if you see a padlock on the status bar at the bottom of Internet Explorer or 'https' at the start of the web address.

Where to book
It's a good idea to keep comparative notes about fares and itineraries in the form of a table. This is what spreadsheets are made for but if you're allergic to spreadsheets, you can set up a table in your word processor or, heaven forbid, use pencil and paper.

Start with Expedia, even if only to get a price you can later try to beat. Owned by USA Networks Inc and operated in partnership with Microsoft, Expedia is an established and reliable company.

It offers good deals on travel, accommodation and insurance and provides a host of free services, such as detailed destination guides, panoramic views, world maps, driving directions and currency conversions.

You can get a firm price from Expedia without having to commit yourself or part with any personal information and if you don't want to pay over the web, you can book by phone.

Expedia's UK-owned rival is Bargainholidays.com, operated by the Online Travel Corporation. The site is not quite as comprehensive as Expedia but it has the edge in terms of being a clearing house for unsold holidays from the major UK package holiday companies. As we write, there's a week at a three-star hotel in the Algarve available for only £95.

Both Expedia and Bargainholidays.com quote prices in sterling inclusive of all taxes, but there are hundreds of international flight-booking services operating in dollars.

Their offers may look great until you read the small print and find you have to pay landing fees and local taxes, plus FedEx charges for ticket delivery and the extra commission levied on foreign transactions by major banks and credit card companies.

A better way of saving money is to switch from a conventional airline to one of the cut-price operators such as EasyJet or Ryanair. Another is to price the ferry/car alternative to flying, especially for a group of people travelling together.

Hotel rooms booked at the same time as a flight are generally already discounted but hotels with spare capacity will often launch special promotions through agencies such as hoteldiscount.com or on their own websites.

One advantage of dealing directly with a hotel is that most of them don't require payment in advance, only that you supply a credit card reference as insurance against not turning up.

Before you go
Half the fun of a holiday is looking forward to going and with everything firmly booked you can start using your PC to root out interesting things to do while you're there.

Try dipping into the local scene at your destination through its local tourist information sites, webcams and any personal web sites you've come across. These are often fascinating, being run by individuals who are simply proud of where they live and want the pleasure of sharing it.

Another site worth getting to know is that of the local newspaper. Read its restaurant reviews (did you know that many restaurants post sample menus and prices on the web?) and keep an eye on forthcoming events. You may also be able to book them online.

Use your PC to make checklists of things to do and what to pack and if you're not taking a printed guide book, at least type up a list of useful contact details to take with you. Be sure to include the flight desk of your airline so you can confirm your return trip and the number of the local embassy or consulate.

If your destination is politically or economically suspect, read the monthly travel advisory on the Travel Ticker at LonelyPlanet.com and check the constantly updated travel and health advice from the website of the UK Foreign Office.

In the hours immediately before your departure, check the website of your departure airport for information regarding delays and cancellations.

When you get back
With any luck the only things you'll have brought back will be souvenirs and bargains, but if you've also picked up a local bug you'll find sensible advice at www.travelhealth.co.uk.

Don't forget to turn off your email redirection and while you're logged on add your own impressions and opinions to any of the message boards you found useful when planning your trip.

One way of keeping the thrill of your holiday alive is to share your experiences with others. If you have a website, why not post your holiday pictures on it for friends and family to see? You don't need a digital camera for this - any decent photo-processing shop will deliver your pictures on a CD-Rom as well as on paper.

If don't yet have a personal website and don't have time to set one up, you can share your pictures with others by ordering your prints on a photo-CD from Klick Photopoint at www.klick.co.uk. For less than £1 they'll also post your pictures on the web for 30 days without you having to do a thing. That could be the best bargain of your holiday!

Cover your tracks
When you go away, don't put out an electronic welcome mat for thieves.

A voicemail greeting announcing that you're on holiday is asking for trouble and remember to remotely clear out your phone messages before callers receive out-of-space warnings that give away your absence.

The email equivalent is the auto-responder that replies to unsolicited messages with the news that you're on holiday. Anybody who receives such a reply can discover your home address using online directories if they already know your name.

Instead of using an auto-responder, arrange for your standard email account (the kind you retrieve with Outlook Express) to be redirected to a webmail account, which is retrievable from any PC with a web browser.

Before going to the trouble of setting up temporary redirection to a free service such as Hotmail though, check to see if your internet service provider already provides a facility for retrieving your email over the web. Most do.

Your home can be monitored while you are away with the help of ingenious systems of motion-triggered webcams and sensors connected to your PC.

These will alert you via email, pager or text message if your home is broken into but if you're sunning yourself on a tropical beach at the time, there's not much you can do about it. It's better to deter thieves by making it look as if your home is occupied.

You can buy PC-based controllers to automatically operate lamps and domestic equipment to make it look as if you're at home, but a set of 24-hour timers and some electric lamps offer a cheaper solution.

Don't forget the obvious - cancel milk and newspaper deliveries and use Royal Mail's Keepsafe service to avoid uncollected mail giving the game away.

You can download a form from the Royal Mail website and send it off in advance of your departure to have your mail held at the local sorting office and redelivered on your return.

Pack it in your pocket
A PC might be the best way to plan the perfect getaway, but once you reach your destination the ideal companion is a handheld computer. Don't forget to synchronise it with your PC address book before you go.

Apart from checking where to send your postcards, you'll be able to use its built-in features to record credit card transactions and take notes, and if you load it up with the right software, your handheld will be even more useful.

Obviously you'll need some shareware games to keep you amused en route but once you arrive, you'll be better off with a program like WorldMate (available for Palm and Pocket PCs), which is packed with international data on clothes sizes, currencies, time zones and dialling codes.

TomTom CityMaps (available for all major handheld computers) can calculate and display driving and walking routes around the streets of 240,000 European cities. Simply load the ones you need from CD or download a single city for about £10.

If you prefer a static map to an intelligent route planner, there are plenty of freeware and shareware programs to choose from and if you're a Pocket PC owner who also has Microsoft AutoRoute on a PC, don't forget you can create and download maps using its Pocket Streets feature.

Bringing it all back home
There are high-tech bargains to be found abroad but prices in Europe are broadly equivalent to the UK.

The US is good for cheap accessories (such as camera memory cards), and in the Far East you can pick up all sorts of bargains, but make sure you're not fobbed off with bootleg software and brand name lookalikes. Buy Sony, not phony.

If an item seems too good to miss, ask whether it comes with English manuals and software. Make sure that hardware is suitable for our 230V/50Hz mains system.

Most of the world is broadly compatible, with the notable exception of mainland America and most new equipment will operate reliably on any voltage between 210V and 240V. Steer clear of wireless, mobile phone and TV-related equipment unless it is specifically certified for use in the UK.

Where you can, buy hardware from internationally established companies and look for warranties bearing UK contact addresses.

Keep receipts, not only for claims under warranty but also to show to UK Customs when you get home. Goods for personal use bought in the EU can be freely imported but from non-EU countries, the tax-free allowance is only £145.

If any item is worth more than that, you'll have to pay VAT on its full value, not just the part over £145. Sadly, members of the same family can't pool their allowances.

CONTACTS

HANDHELD COMPUTER SOFTWARE
Travel shareware and trialware:
www.5star-shareware.com/PDA

WorldMate software:
www.mobimate.com

TomTom maps, route finders and GPS:
www.tomtom.com

Travel shareware and trialware:
www.pilotzone.com

SECURITY AND SAFETY
Motion detection software:
ww.homewatcher.com

Home automation products:
www.intellihome.be

Keepsafe service:
www.royalmail.com

TRAVEL INFORMATION AND LINKS
British Airports Authority (flight updates, parking, bookings):
www.baa.co.uk

Personal travelogues from faraway places:
www.fabuloustravel.com

Foreign Office travel advice:
www.fco.gov.uk

Personal experiences of package holidays:
www.holidaysuncovered.co.uk

HM Customs information for travellers:
www.hmce.gov.uk

Essential information and feedback on worldwide travel:
www.lonelyplanet.com

Maps, guides and traffic reports:
www.theaa.com

City breaks:
www.timeout.com

Articles and holiday links:
www.telegraph.co.uk

Travel and health issues:
www.travelhealth.co.uk

UK holiday ideas and links:
www.visitbritain.com

Unusual and amazing holidays:
www.whereintheworld.co.uk

BOOKING SITES
Flights, hotels, cars, packages:
www.bargainholidays.com

No-frills flights:
www.easyjet.com
www.ryanair.com

Flights, hotels, cars, packages:
www.expedia.co.uk

UK coach travel:
www.gobycoach.com

Hotel rooms worldwide:
www.hoteldiscount.com