Thursday, March 13, 2008

Scoring bargain accommodations in Rome can be as tricky as deciphering ancient ruins. But you're in luck: we've done the homework and unearthed nine affordable hotels that range from rustic to chic. Check out a slide show of the properties and read up on Rome hotel-booking strategies. read more

• Rome Guidebook Smackdown
• Live Like a Local: Rome Sweet Rome
• Europe, Day 4: Rome to Ostia
• This Just In: The Forum's No Longer Free

US Airways is trying to cash in on the boredom of its passengers by inviting companies to slap advertisements on its tray tables. It's not the first airline to do so—America West experimented with tray table ads in 2003 and 2004—and the TSA has gotten in on the act. Ads are now permitted on airport security bins, trays, and tables at checkpoints in 10 airports. How do you feel about this multiplying of ads? Has the airline industry crossed the line? POST A COMMENT NOW

• Fuel Surcharges: Cruise lines bow to pressure
• Freebie: Get 1,000 Photos Digitized
• You Can't Just Check Bags in Spain

Slide Show: Supermarket Souvenirs Check out photos of humorous and bizarre souvenirs brought home from foreign supermarkets by our staff and readers…. 6 Wine Country Weekends In wine country, everything from the food to the spa treatments screams, "Indulge yourself!" Here are six U.S. wine regions where you can uncork the fun…. A Dose of Reality: Poverty Tourism Guides explain the relatively new concept—and show how to find an excursion that's right for you.

The horse farms and rolling hills make for a delightfully genteel road trip—but it's a lot more fun to ogle Corvettes and spar against the Greatest. read more

More of our Favorite Road Trips:

Southern West Virginia Eastern Kansas Iowa

The Mississippi Delta Georgia's Sea Islands The Arkansas Ozarks

Are you traveling somewhere in the next month or so? Would you like your trip to be extraordinary? Each issue, we're giving a reader (and his/her companions) a surprise experience to make a vacation more memorable. Past Upgradees threw the first pitch of a professional baseball game and had an entire museum to themselves—what your surprise will be depends on you: Tell us where you're going and why, some of your interests, and what you're excited to do when you arrive. We'll take it from there! read more

Hotel packages—including a last-minute discount for celebrating St. Patrick's Day and a discounted sightseeing cruise, from $228 per night. why it's a deal

• Year-round Bargains: New York Hotels at a Price That's Right
• Psst!...Broadway Tickets for Cheap!
• Trivia Quiz: Think You Know New York City?
• My Brooklyn Is Better Than Yours

The nonprofit, dedicated to promoting and protecting national hiking trails, is offering 75 do-good projects in 25 states—each priced at just $275. why it's a deal

• Trips That Can Change Your Life: Give Back to the Land
• How to Tell If a Hotel Is Ecofriendly
• Evaluating Carbon Offset Programs
• The Scoop on Hut-to-Hut Hiking

Round-trip airfare, seven nights' accommodations, some meals, and tours of thriving Panama City, rain forests crawling with exotic animals, and the Kuna Indian communities of the San Blas Islands, from $1,299. why it's a deal

• Cheapest Places on Earth: Panama
• Costa Rica Eco-Trip
• Ambergris Cay: Beach Bum Central
• Dream Trips: The Blue Hole, Belize

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