The Internet has opened up a whole new world to even the most seasoned of globe trotters. Travel agent desks and foreign destination pamphlets have given way to Internet-powered search engines and online blogs and videos.

Nowadays, anyone with a credit card and Internet connection can search for cheap flights, bid for a luxury hotel room, find a great deal on a car rental, or even book a dog sledding trip across the arctic. While the latter may not be for everyone, millions upon millions of singles, families, and business travelers are using the Internet when making their travel plans. According to the Travel Industry Association, that number was 79 million people last year and is steadily growing every year.

“Travelers are on [the] leading edge of technology adoption,” said Henry Harteveldt, a vice president at Forrester Research, a technology market-research company. “They adopt trends before the mainstream, are better educated and have more disposable income. Having control over making travel arrangements is very important, and the Web plays well into that.”

Quickly becoming the largest e-commerce category, “Online travel revenue will continue to grown strongly from $85 billion in 2006 [to] $128 billion in the United States in 2011,” said Diane Clarkson, analyst at JuniperResearch, an online research and marketing company.

And with the pervasiveness of time and money that consumers are expending on online travel, we felt it important to provide you with a comprehensive online travel resource. With the help of forbes.com and luggageonline.com, we’ve compiled a list of the top 50 unique and useful travel websites that will help you book your next vacation or business trip, or at the very least, entertain you for a bit.

Abercrombiekent.com
Looking for a travel company that plan for things like a private picnic for two in the middle of the African savannah or give you and the children your own tropical island for a day? They specialize in matching travelers with deluxe accommodations in unique destinations.

Airlinemeals.net
Quirky and user-friendly, the site provides images of meals from more than 500 airlines, as well as the latest news and trends in the airline food industry. Even if you're not at all concerned with your next airline meal, the site is a must see.

Airportdiscountparking.com
Visit Airportdiscountparking.com to save money when parking at airports. By entering your airport and travel date, the site will direct you to the cheapest lots available.

Airtroductions.com
Airline flights are one of the few instances where people are forced to be that close to a perfect stranger for hours at a time. What better way to make that long flight in coach more desirable, than to choose your seatmate before you go! Airtroductions.com is the only way to do so. Simply create a profile, enter your flight, and select a match. There are over 21,000 members so the chances are good that you'll be able to find a mate for you.

Bigempire.com/Vegas
Offers tips and advice on how to do Vegas cheaply, including a list of low price and even free attractions. Bigempire.com also offers the dish on the cheapest meals, hotels, and gambling.

Breezenet.com
Some of the best domestic car-rental discounts on the Internet are available here. The site compiles pricing info from car-rental companies at major U.S. airports and links to special rates on other sites. We make it easy to search by rental car discounts, car rental company, or search by location.

Budgettravelonline.com
The online version of the popular magazine Budget Travel, offers up to date travel deals, advice, and vacation planning.

Chowhound.com
A community of feisty people around the world share secret food finds. The site features interviews with experts, videos of local culinary customs, and blogs.

CoasterFanatics.com
Images, videos, discussion forums, and member profiles make up this site, which will no doubt delight coaster fanatics in search of new loops and twirls.
Concierge.com - The online offshoot of Condé Nast Traveler, this site has all of the magazine’s content available on the Web, as well as unique travel articles and tips.

Contiki.com
The worldwide leader in vacations for 18-35 year olds. They offer specialty tours in hundreds of destinations that are created to carefully blend old-fashioned site seeing and culture with fun and socializing.

Cruisecritic.com
Research almost anything about 75 different cruise lines in 195 different countries and gather advice on everything ship-related -- from buying travel insurance to using onboard slot machines.

Cruisemates.com
The online expert in cruises, is not affiliated with any travel agent or booking company, so you're getting straightforward advice from cruise industry leaders, and fellow travelers. Users can search for cruises by destination or category, share information via message boards, and even plan to meet with other cruisemate members once you hop aboard.

Farecast.com
Buy now or wait for a better price? This site uses historic pricing data to help you make an educated decision about whether or not a fare is likely to fluctuate in the coming week.

Farecompare.com
First Class taste with a coach class budget? The only site that tracks over 100,000 discount first class airfares, known in the airlines industry as “Y-Up” and “Q-Up” airfares, which allow corporate travelers to legitimately & inexpensively get around their “No First Class Travel” policy.

FlyerTalk.com
With forums on frequent flyer miles, travel dining, and airline news, it is a great place for regular travelers to receive and share information on air travel.

Hostels.net
An online network of independent hotels and hostels. They offer a wide arrange of accommodations for travelers who are interested in seeing the world for less.

Hotelbook.com
Presents travelers with a unique lodging option in today's increasingly complex online travel arena. They provide travelers with alternative hotel options that will offer them something different than a hotel.

HotelChatter.com
An uncensored compendium of hotel reviews from all over the world: The good, the bad and the disgusting get equal weight. Tips, news and deals are available as well.

Hotwire.com
Best for discount travel, this site maintains its own database of flight, hotel, car and cruise deals. Also offers further discounts if you choose one of its clearance fares; though you don't know the airline, departure time or hotel name until after you book.

Iagora.com
Looking to get away, and stay away? This site offers information on internships, study abroad, and permanent positions available abroad and will help you find housing, hotels, and provide tips for working and living abroad

IgoUgo.com
IgoUgo guides write detailed journals about recent trips as well as share photos. Travel Deals provides the best bargains in the coming week from a variety of travel sites, saving you the hassle of online booking research. The site also rewards contributing writers and photographers with GO points, which can be redeemed at online retailers and used for frequent flier miles.

Kayak.com
This aggregator scours thousands of airline and hotel websites, online travel agencies and other travel sites to come up with its list of best fares. Unlike many of the major travel Web sites, this site includes flight listings from budget air carriers.

Licketytrip.com
Like to do everything at the last minute? All of the (most U.S. destination) vacation rentals on the site are available for the next two weeks.

Literarytraveler.com
This site brings readers inspiring, informative articles about writers, creative artists, and the places that they've lived and traveled.

Luxurylink.com
With articles on which airline offers the best business class, and which hotel offers the best spa, this site won't help you save money on your next vacation, but will be sure to help you enjoy it.

Menupages.com
With approximately 25,000 restaurants across eight cities, this site makes it easy to plan meals by type of food, neighborhood, price or random craving.

Mobissimo.comConsidered one of the best search engines for international travel, it has the largest network of international suppliers.

Momsminivan.com
The road trip mom has put together a lengthy list on ways to keep the little ones busy while traveling. With printable car games, ideas for keeping babies busy, and the license plate game, this site may actually eradicate the are we there yet; road trippin' parents hate to hear.

Onebag.com
Tips on how to go anywhere, for an indefinite amount of time, with one single carry-on bag.

Planetware.com
Many of the most popular travel sites provide little information on U.S destinations. It may be hard to come across a site with detailed guides for U.S cities. That is what sets

Planetware.com apart from other destination guide websites.

Priceline.com
Best known for their deals on luxury hotels, this site allows travelers to name their own prices through a bidding tool. Try bidding around $100 for a four-star hotel in pretty much any American city, and users say you’ll often end up staying in one of the city’s very nicest hotels.

Realtravel.com
An online community for all things related to travel. Featuring photos, blogs, member profiles, and links to the latest in travel deals, it is a great way for people to obtain and share advice on travel experiences.

SeatGuru.com
Provides seating maps and a helpful color-coded quality key (green is a good seat, yellow means be aware, and you don’t want red) for over 30 commercial airlines. Once you select your airline and aircraft, you’ll be able to see just where each seat falls on the floor plan, galley, lavatory, and exit row locations, as well tips on check-in, baggage, unaccompanied minors and traveling with infants and pets, and inflight amenities.

Sidestep.com
Similar to Kayak, this aggregator offers a handy matrix at the top of the results page that gives an overview of the lowest prices pulled from 600 airlines across 200 sites.

Sleepinginairports.net
nformative and quite funny, this site reviews most major airports in dozens of cities across the globe. They are rated based on comfort and cleanliness by travelers who share their stories of spending a night in the airport.

Travelistic.com
Want to see your destination before you even board a plane? Travelistic makes this possible with hundreds of traveler's videos from around the globe. The videos are arranged by location, top ranked, and most viewed, making it user friendly as well as informative.

Travelzoo.com
If you can be flexible with your dates and destination, this site is more effective at offering cheap fares than any other Web site we’ve encountered. Airfare, car rental, lodging and cruise specials are displayed right up front on the home page.

Triporama.com
Enables you to plan a group trip and share the details with your group. Tools on the site include storing and sharing your research, managing invites, and posting messages to your group.

Tripprep.com
A comprehensive resource with recommended vaccinations, embassy listings and crime advisories for 204 countries. Also included: tips on local customs and transportation.

Tripadvisor.com
This site has compiled over 5 million traveler reviews and opinions on hotels, vacations and more. Here you can find the honest truth about your destination, without feeling like you're being 'sold'.

Upgradetravel.blogspot.com
Not quite a budget traveler, but can't afford luxury stays? Learn how to travel like you can. Includes tips for the traveler looking to maximize comfort, style, and convenience, without paying high prices for it.

Unclaimedbaggage.com
Unclaimed Baggage is the final destination for lost luggage, where it is picked through and sold directly to some very lucky consumers. If you can't make it to the store for some major bargain shopping, you can visit the website for some entertaining lost luggage tales.

Unusualhotelsoftheworld.com
Unusual Hotels of the World will help you book an experience, not just a hotel. The site features a detailed description of each hotel and member ratings.

Vegtravel.com
The site caters to vegetarian / vegan travelers who wish to maintain their lifestyle while adventuring throughout the world.

Viamichelin.com
Scan information on 4.4 million miles of road across 42 European countries. Maps feature pop-ups with descriptions and pictures of the desired destinations.

Weather.com
Get current conditions for 98,000 destinations worldwide, updated every 20 minutes.

Whereintheworld.co.uk
Information on booking dozens of off the beaten path trips that involve, for example, crossing the Andes by mule, dog sledding, and exploring the ancient temples and palaces of Thailand.

Wikitravel.com
They have compiled over 10,000 unbiased destination guides and articles submitted by travelers. In true 'Wiki' fashion, the page offers dozens of links on anything and everything related to travel and each specific destination.

Xe.com
180 currencies from 250 places, updated every minute make calculating foreign currencies quick and easy.