HV's travel stories

The road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with eager feet,
Until it joins some larger way
Where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then ? I cannot say.

(Bilbo Baggins)

General travel info

• The CIA's World Factbook contains detailed background information on all the world's countries.
• Lonely Planet online
• City.Net Countries
• WAU Library- Electronic Reference Desk
• MapQuest! Welcome!
• Travel Health Advisories
• SNP Natuurreizen homepage

Trains

• DB provides a list of official and unoffial websites of National Railway Companies Worldwide.
• Nederlands Spoor (NS), the Dutch Railways, have an excellent, forms based tool, for automatic itinerary lookup within the whole of Europe. The search engine is linked to the database which is used in information booths in railway stations.
• Deutsche Bahn (DB), the German Railways, have an excellent, forms based tool (similar tot that of NS, but more detailed) for automatic itinerary lookup within the whole of Europe.
• NMBS/SNCB, the Belgian railroads, offer timetables of the IC(inter city)/IR(inter region) connections as well as a forms based travel planner. This site also gives an overview of prices and special travel formulas such as B-Excursions, Weekend ticket, Multi Pass, ...
• Thalys, the high-speed train mainly between Paris - Brussels - Amsterdam. A few times a day, the Thalys also runs along the Oostende - Brussels axis. Online reservation is possible. When making reservations, try to get a seat in the "carré", an isolated area with only 8 seats grouped around 2 tables (more comfortable and quiet than the regular seating area). The price is the same as for the other seats. For those with long legs, a carré aisle seat is perfect.
• Eurostar, the high-speed "chunnel" (channel tunnel) train takes you from Brussels to London (Waterloo station) via Lille in less than 3 hours. Online reservation is possible.
• Amtrak is the main US railway company. Online booking is possible.

Buses, Trams, and Metros

• De Lijn is the main government-run bus company in Belgium. Timetables are not available online, only contact phone numbers (e.g., for schedule information) and addresses.
  If I find time, I will put the Brugge-Snellegem timetables here.
• Greyhound is still the main long-distance bus company in the US.
• The Subway Navigator contains a search engine for subway route planning in various cities in the world. It will list the itinerary as well as estimated travel time. For some cities, a subway map is available.
  NYC Subway Route Map is specific for New York.

Automobiles

• The American Automobile Association (AAA). Members have access to online services, in particular searching the tourbooks online (for accomodations, sights, ...) and the AAA routemaster !!

Planes

• easySABRE
• American Express Travel
• Airlines of the Web: an exhaustive overview of airline information.
• Some of my favourite airlines (the ones I can afford):
  • KLM - Royal Dutch Airlines

    Northwest Airlines

    CityBird

    Sabena

    Qualiflier

    American Airlines

    USAir

    Finnair

    Virgin Group
• Cheap travel between the major European cities: Virgin Express (EuroBelgian Airlines).
• Airstop
• BAA: Flight Arrival Information
• International Air Transport Association (IATA) origin of the unique IATA country codes
• Amsterdam Airport Schiphol
• Brussels Airport (BATC)
• Airports International
• JFK
• Airport Search Engine
• The Airwise Airport Guide contains a list of all airlines (and their phone numbers) at all airports.
• Brussels Airport (Belgium Travel Network) includes online arrival and departure schedules !

My favourite country (it's an acquired taste): Belgium

Belg@Net - Everything about Belgium...

Belgium Online : Welcome

English Ghent Page

FlandersCoast ® Homepage

Accomodations in Belgium

Atlas hotel

The rest of the world

Home of The Netherlands

Japan

Kouji Okada's information on Japan Includes an explanation of Hiragana script

GO-BC The Guide to Outdoor Adventures in British Columbia

Virtual Morgantown

Welcome to MountainNet

Fun Aviation

Prickett's Fort

Visiting Fallingwater

White Water Rafting in MD, PA, WV, VA & KY

River Gauges

WebMuseum: The WebMuseum network

The Paris Pages

DRUMS AND DUST: Pune India

Valencian Generalitat.

Fallas de Valencia 1996