Welcome to Bugbog Travel Guide and Pictures Helping you plan great holidays quickly, with maps and tours
Pictures of superb, price-conscious holiday ideas for September-October 2008: Magnificent Cape Town, South Africa; low cost Mauritius beaches; the Great wall of China after the Olympic exodus; Arches NP, in SW USA, wow, one of many knockout national parks. See below for possible November-December holiday spots or click on the map below or navbar above
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Times are tough in the UK and USA right now with the British pound at rock bottom, credit crises rampaging through both Britain and North America and fuel and flight costs higher than ever so consider a vacation destination that isn't long-haul and do some thorough research.

1: Research and book online.
2: Keep check-in baggage to the minimum for no-frills flights and ensure the airline knows how many bags you'll have.
3: Eliminate any 'world care fund' or 'carbon footprint' contributions - they probably go straight into the airline's revenue stream.
4: If you already have travel insurance make sure the airline doesn't add it to your charge by default. If not, check offerings through a price comparison site [see below], and consider multi-trip insurance if you take more than one holiday abroad in a year.
5: If you are planning to drive yourself to the airport, choose your parking area and book it well in advance to get the cheapest rate. Alternatively explore public transport options; buses are often fast and good value for couples, though not perhaps if travelling as a family.
6: Never change money at the departure airport - apart from a little emergency cash if essential. Check around before you leave for the best exchange deals; for example the UK's Post Office offers great value. If you forget and need some cash pronto, exchanges at your vacation destination usually give better rates, assuming you don't arrive in the middle of the night.
7: Car hire costs differ dramatically place to place, so research will be required in this area too. If you're planning to head for a city first, then drive around the country, it will be easier and cheaper to taxi or bus into town from the airport then rent a car after you've finished the city sightseeing.
[popular value comparison websites: www.travelsupermarket.com or www.moneysupermarket.com]

See our low cost flights comparison site listings:
UK Cheap Flight Comparisons | USA Cheap Flight Comparisons

Visit our tours pages and see what's on offer: Tours

A guide to using bank cards abroad efficiently:

Buy goodies or pay bills [checks] with credit cards when on vacation as they provide insurance as well as delayed repayment but don't draw cash out from ATMs with them [unless it's a new-wave no-fee card like UK's Abbey Zero]. Interest starts accruing immediately and bank exchange fees in addition to the ATM fee may be unreasonable. Better to buy foreign cash at home from a commission-free provider [e.g. in the UK, the Post Office, Thomas Cook] though, of course when you travel you'll have to carry a fat wad around, so the best solution depends on the security of your holiday destination. If you travel a lot and want to get cash from an ATM do some research on transaction fees and get the lowest fee debit [not credit card] card you can find. [Nationwide is the UK's cheapest in 2008]
Also, never pay for anything abroad in your home currency [the exchange rate is likely to be absurd], insist on paying in local currency.

Mobile phones when travelling:

Ideally use a wifi internet or Skype phone abroad and you will escape the ridiculous charges incurred if you use your home cell phone for local or international calls when abroad.
Alternatively get a global sim card at home [do some net research on best deals currently] and change the sims over when you arrive at your destination. The number will be new but charges will be way less.

Driving holiday costs down:

Going for a holiday drive this year instead of a long-haul flight? Drivers can save hundreds of pounds by observing some basic rules, as well as giving the environment a helping hand.
- Drive more slowly! A study commissioned by What Car? magazine based on several cars of different sizes found that, unlike car manufacturer estimates of about 55mph, the most efficient speed is below 40mph and can go as low as 20mph. Above 40mph, fuel consumption increases dramatically and 90mph will see mpg dropping to half.
However, the downside of travelling too slowly is the possibility of being on the blunt end of road rage, so keep your speed down to at least the official limit, which will also protect your driving licence.
- Using the right gear, anticipating road conditions and driving smoothly can cut fuel bills by 20%. Modern cars are so quiet that drivers sometimes forget to change up. Don't! And no traffic lights Grand Prix either!
- The British government's UK Energy Research Centre observes that if all drivers obeyed the 70mph limit their vehicles would emit 3.7 million fewer tonnes of carbon dioxide in a year, equal to three million less mid-size cars on the roads of the United Kingdom.

'The world is a book and those who do not travel read only a page' St. Augustine

Bugbog is an independent travel guide that helps plan holidays - whether it's beaches, safari, exotic or European tours - quickly and efficiently. We provide guides to the world's best destinations, with key tourist information, festival dates, travel pictures, travel health and safety advice, maps and thousands of useful exit links.

The travel guide summarises the best times to go, good and bad points of different great holiday destinations, and gives you an idea of what they look like with well over three thousand travel pictures in our many photo galleries.
Bugbog is not attempting to be a detailed reference, but rather a concise and inspirational guide.

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