The Best Travel Sites For Finding and Booking Great Airfare and Hotel Deals

A Google search for travel will return nearly 8 millions results. But how can you know which travel sites will truly assist you in your trip planning, and how can you figure out which ones you should visit first?

If you know where you want to go, your first step is probably finding out how much it will cost.

Airfare comparison travel sites have come a long way in the past few years. With fares from virtually all domestic carriers, Kayak.com is one of the best. A flexible-date feature makes it easy to see how much you could save by shifting your dates. And once you find a fare you like, clicking on it takes you to the airline's website to make reservations.

Sidestep scans more than 600 sites for fare information. It's another good place to look for cheap domestic flights.

European airlines like EasyJet and RyanAir offer really cheap airfares that aren't available in the United States. You have to be careful about all the hidden charges, but with fares of $2 one way from London to Rome or Paris, they're hard to resist.