Want cheaper train tickets in Europe? Learn a little French

Never let it be said that we don't have "all hands on deck" when it comes to monitoring the latest travel innovations. On August 8, President, Newsweek Budget Travel, Inc., Nancy Telliho christened the good ship Avalon Creativity in Volendam, a Netherlands fishing village. The Creativity is the eighth ship that Avalon Waterways has added to its European fleet since 2004. Avalon Waterways is Budget Travel's pick for "best value in river cruising in 2009." It's also the fastest-growing river cruise company in the world. The company is riding a wave of popularity in river cruising, quite possibly the biggest trend in European travel. Bookings have spiked by more than 20 percent each year since 2001. There's a reason river-cruising is so popular: Unlike on mega ships, you typically won't find surprise fees tacked onto your bill when you sail on these small vessels. This year, Avalon Waterways has added three other ships—Affinity, Luminary, and Felicity—to its European fleet. Six-day trips focusing on Holland recently started at $1,699 via avalonwaterways.com. In a current offer, you can receive half off your airfare with purchase of a qualifying air-inclusive European river cruise vacation. Check out some of the photos celebrating the christening of the Creativity by reading this post on Avalon's blog.

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?