Our pick of the travel sites

Here at Tweenjo we've spent a lot of time looking into different options to go travelling in-between jobs. We've put together a list of the most helpful sites:

www.lonelyplanet.com The Lonely Planet website should be your starting point if you're trying to get some introductory information about a destination - it's particularly helpful at telling you when to visit (in terms of weather, local events, how busy it will be). The Thorntree forums are also a great way of getting answers you can't find elsewhere online, or even finding travelling companions.

www.statravel.co.uk STA Travel are experts at arranging more 'traveller' style trips for students and the under 26. They also have lots of high-street and on-campus stores, so you can get travel advice face-to-face. If Phileas Fogg was travelling round the world today, he would probably pop in and check his plans with a STA Travel advisor.

www.expedia.co.uk Expedia doesn't need an introduction: it's an online superstore of flights, hotels, insurance - pretty much everything you'll need except the mosquito net! The hotel search is pretty good, and the price comparison between different airlines is a life-saver. Just remember that most budget airlines won't make their flights available through Expedia.

www.couchsurfing.com Couch surfing is the art of travelling around new places whilst staying for free on friendly people's sofas. The site itself is a social network for travellers looking to find and share free accommodation - definitely worth checking out.

www.opodo.co.uk Another Expedia-style site. Perhaps because Opodo has close links with a lot of airlines, we find it has the edge over Expedia if you need to make a particularly tricky connection, or a complex multi-stop trip.

www.dragoman.com Dragoman-style trips are growing in popularity, especially among young travellers worried about their carbon footprint and the environmental impact of flight-happy trips. On a Dragoman trip, you'll travel overland with a group of like-minded travellers in a specially adapted truck. It's a great option for individuals who want to travel through the developing world but don't fancy doing it solo.

www.priceline.co.uk If travelling in the developed world is more your thing, then it's worth checking out Priceline. Priceline essentially allows you to bid on hotel rooms, allowing you to significantly under-cut the advertised rates. That should make your budget go that much further!

www.tripit.com TripIt is a new web 2.0-style service which allows you to create and share travel plans online. This is a great tool if you're planning a long trip and want to update friends whom you're planning to meet up with along the way.

www.gapyearforgrownups.com Gap Year for Grown Ups is a travel agency that specialises in organising trips for career break travellers. They work with a range of providers covering everything from language learning overseas to conservation volunteering.