True Stories

Budget Travel Snap Guides are mini-guides to the world's most popular destinations. They're written from a local's perspective and chocked full of great insider information--essentials for getting around town, unusual sights, cool new restaurants, unique hotels under $150/night, and more. For your convenience, the lightweight seven-page guides are available in downloadable .pdf format, and accessible from any computer with an Internet connection. They're designed for easy printing, and meant to be used and tossed away on the road. They make terrific companions to traditional travel guidebooks, or can be used on their own. Want the low-down on seeing a fashion show in Paris? Where to find five-star street food in New York City? Or, know who mixes the best mai tai in Honolulu? Then check out our growing list of Snap Guides: Buenos Aires Honolulu London Miami New York Paris Santa Fe Coming this fall: Sydney, Los Angeles, Rome, Las Vegas, and more. If you don't already have it, you will need Adobe Acrobat, a free (and easy!) plug-in, to read the guide. Download Adobe Acrobat

Budget Travel "Snap Guides" are mini-guides to the world's most popular destinations. They're written from a local's perspective and chocked full of great insider information--essentials for getting around town, unusual sights, cool new restaurants, unique hotels under $150/night, and more.

Highlights from this month's issue of Budget Travel Ghosts of the Sierra MadreIn the remote mountains of central Mexico, the old mining town of Real de Catorce is being reborn as a mystical outpost of the counterculture. Whether you go to eat peyote, soak up the hippie vibe, or commune with the spirits, visiting is always a trip. Kauai: The Top 25How do we love Hawaii's greenest slice of paradise? Michael Endelman counts the top 25 ways, in no particular order. Road Trip: The Sea IslandsThe Georgia coastline--yes, Georgia has a coastline--is a many-splendored place. And the vibe changes dramatically from island to island to island. Rome Sweet Rome When his wife was invited to study in Rome rent-free, Stephen Heuser took a six-month sabbatical and tagged along. La vita doesn't get much more dolce than that Eat Like a Local: Tel AvivFrom Matzo balls and kreplach to lemongrass-infused bouillabaisse, Tel Aviv is enthusiastic about all food, downhome and upscale. How enthusiastic? We can sum it up in a detail: locals call the @ sign a 'strudel' Who Can You Trust? Anyone planning a trip should regard certain sources with suspicion--and disregard others completely 40 Best VacationsThe real deals right now True StoriesWin a trip to Panama! If your response is the best we receive before Nov. 30, you'll win a five-night trip to Panama courtesy of Escapes Unlimited. 20 TipsGot a great tip? Email us at Tips@BudgetTravelOnline.com. If we run your tip in the magazine, you win a free subscription. Please include your mailing address. Chains Giving Away Free Wi-FiCheck out our list of hotel chains and cities that offer Wi-Fi at no charge What $100 Buys in Cuzco The Quechua call it Qosqo, or "belly button of the world." Trekkers in Peru know it better as the gateway to Machu Picchu You can find more in the November 2005 issue of Budget Travel magazine. Subscribe now: 10 issues for $12!

1. Sightsee by bicycle. A bike tour will offer a good introduction to a place and you'll cover much more ground than if you were on foot. In Buenos Aires, for example, Lan & Kramer Bike Tours has a few guided itineraries that are fun for all ages and abilities (biketours.com.ar, from $25). Meda Florin, Carmichael, Calif. 2. A shower cap can double as a liner for an ice bucket. I was heading to the hotel ice machine when I noticed that our ice bucket was looking very tired and missing its disposable plastic liner. My solution: the free shower cap that we never seem to use anyway. It actually worked better than the bag because the elastic band holds it in place around the top of the bucket. Susan Swickard, Estes Park, Colo. 3. Buy your Japan rail tickets in advance. Before my husband and I traveled to Japan a few years ago, we found out that if we purchased a Japan Rail Pass in the U.S., it would cost a fraction of what we'd spend on the individual tickets in Japan. Since the country can be so expensive, the savings were a tremendous help to our travel budget (japanrailpass.net, seven-day pass $262). Pearle Herndon, Mount Dora, Fla. 4. Label the things you know you'll use on the plane. As a flight attendant, I'm always amazed by the stuff that people leave behind. Most of it never gets back to its rightful owner because there's no way of knowing who the owner is. To avoid misplacing your property, put things back into your carry-on after using them--never on the floor or in the seatback pocket. Label important items like books or games with return address labels so they can be sent back to you if found. Doug Hummell, Houston, Tex. 5. Save space: Use a Nalgene bottle to store toiletries. Instead of packing a complete shaving kit, my husband fills his wide-mouth Nalgene water bottle with items like razors, spare contact lenses, glasses, toothbrush, etc. This was particularly useful on our trip to Costa Rica, where we also took the bottle on our day hikes to volcanoes and the jungle. Terry Clemson, Plymouth Meeting, Pa. You can find more tips in the November 2005 issue of Budget Travel magazine.