The best value in European river cruising keeps getting better

A few of our favorite links from around the 'net this week: German tourist can pre-reserve poolside chairs. [Upgrade: Travel Better] How air travel can be made less annoying. [The New York Times] L.A.'s best clubs for stand-up comedy. [Jaunted] Shopping and spa service—is that really what women want in a hotel? [HotelChatter] Moonstruck: Beautiful moon-gazing shots from around the world. [World Hum] New York City is 'best city for singles' (beating out Atlanta—do we believe these results?). [Gadling] Barcelona: Have a cheapo night out with these inexpensive and free concerts. [EuroCheapo] For more travel blogs, go to Alltop.

Put in that vacation request! The sooner you can take off, the more you'll save during Intrepid Travel's one-day sale, June 30 from 10:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. ET. Select July departures are reduced by 60 percent, while those in August are 30 percent off, and any other Intrepid package for travel through December 31, 2009, is 15 percent off. Pull up their website or get ready to call 800/970-7299 and supply the booking code 3132. Procrastinators will likely be disappointed as some of these trips have only four spots left. A seven-night tour of Egypt in July covers the Sphinx, the Pyramids of Giza, the Valley of the Kings, and a Nile cruise on a felucca for $310 instead of $775. An eight-night Peru package, including the ruins of Machu Picchu, is down to $664 from $1,600, and a sweeping 15-night trip through Italy, Greece, and Turkey is $910 instead of $2,275. All prices are per person. As we've previously noted, Intrepid is friendly to solo travelers and pairs an individual with a roommate instead of charging a single supplement. Some fine print: The discounts don't apply to Intrepid Travel's additional local payments, typically a few hundred dollars that are due on arrival and go toward incidental expenses and local guides. For instance, the Peru package comes out to $964 per person: $664 (sale price) plus a local payment of $300. Also be prepared to pay in full for trips booked at 60 or 30 percent off. If you can't act fast enough for this one-day sale, bookmark Intrepid Travel's promotions page; trips departing within three months are regularly listed at 20 percent off.

We've been asking top guidebook writers for their tips on alternatives to well known tourist attractions. Today's expert is Robert Landon, author of Lonely Planet Florence Encounter, 1st edition. In Florence, Italy, the dome of the Duomo (or Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore) is a wonder to behold, but the interior may not be worth the wait, since the art inside has been largely stripped away and stored in the adjacent museum. Instead, head to the recently refurbished Santa Maria Novella, which sums up three centuries of Florentine art, such as Gothic frescoes, Giotto's rather gruesome imagining of the crucifix, the revolutionary, early Renaissance facade by Alberti, and the spectacular High Renaissance cycle of frescoes by Ghirlandaio documenting the life of the Virgin Mary as if she were a Renaissance patrician. (For hours, visit the official Santa Maria Novella website.) The benefit? Real art in its real setting with a much lower entrance fee (about $8 for Santa Maria Novella, versus about $11 to climb the Duomo plus about $5.60 (€4) to tour its Baptistery and about $8.50 to enter its museum where most of the artwork now resides). Both churches are free to visit for worship, of course. Tip: Visit Santa Maria Novella's cloisters museum early in the morning, and you may just have the precious, early Renaissance frescoes of Paolo Uccello in the Green Cloister all to yourself. The cloister gets its name from Uccello's earthy green tones. His seething version of Noah and the Flood remains both beautiful and disturbing after nearly six centuries. You'll find the entrance tucked away on a small courtyard to the left as you are facing the church's main facade. Pay €5 for this perk. Have your hotel call in advance to check if reservations are necessary, given the church's shifting schedule of activities. Now don't get us wrong. Neither Robert Landon nor Lonely Planet are dismissing any attraction that's rightfully famous. Everyone agrees you can have fantastic experiences at well known attractions. All we're trying to do here is recognize that—under some circumstances and for certain types of travelers—lesser known attractions may have their own appeal, offering comparable experiences. For example, Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore is an architectural wonder, given that is has the largest masonry (brick) dome ever built. (The story of its construction is fascinatingly recounted in Brunelleschi's Dome.) Florence's cathedral for centuries, this was also the burial ground for many famous local citizens. A garish new facade was added to the building in the 1800s. Its Baptistery is an artistic treasure, worth a look, too. If you decide not to pay the high fees to see these sites, you may want to tour the museum dedicated to them both (and containing many of the works that used to hang in them): Museo dell' Opera del Duomo for tickets of about $8.40 (€6). Among its key exhibits: Ghiberti's original panels for the door of the Baptistery and a Pietà by Michelangelo. What do you think? Sound off below. (Thanks to Jason and Kate for catching an editing error regarding the photo used in the original version.) EARLIER Better than Buckingham Palace? Better than Stonehenge?

Who doesn't love a little Free Willy? The bard, we mean, not the whale. New York City's Shakespeare in Central Park may be the most famous operation offering free Shakespearean drama, tragedy, and comedy, but it's hardly the only option. We've rounded up a dozen theater companies putting on plays around the U.S. this summer. All are free, though some require you to get tickets—most notably, in New York City, where there are strict rules for picking up free tickets on the day of performance. Most, however, are very casual, set in city parks where it's cool if you want to lounge on a blanket and bring your kids, the dog, even a bottle of wine. Make a free night of it during your travels this summer. • Cleveland • Iowa (multiple locations) • Long Island, N.Y. (schedule TBA) • Louisville, Ky. • Minneapolis and St. Paul • Montana (multiple locations) • New York City • Omaha • Portland, Maine • Portland, Ore. • San Francisco • Saratoga, Calif. • Seattle