[Cowperson]

Venere and Trip Advisor are very good for vetting out hotels and seeing what other travellers have to say. Some might be phony but you generally get the right idea.

I love doing all my own research, even though it can be time-consuming. But the delights you can uncover - and the occasional disaster booking - add to the charm.

Not sure if you're in this position, but the best thing to do is put out a little more money to stay right in the heart of somewhere so you can "live" there for a week and walk everywhere. You get a better feel for the place you're at and a better sense of how the locals live.

Loved Rome and London for that.

But that can be costly.

Trains are good from city to city but if you're planning something outside of a city, like Tuscany, renting a car is a good way to go. Left-hand-side-of-the-road driving isn't too much fun - finding a spot near Buckingham Palace after driving back from Cornwall was hair-raising - but Italy was pretty easy.

We spent three weeks in Europe for our honeymoon as well, mostly penniless urchins at the time, living off the good cheer of a brother-in-law stationed at CFB Lahr in West Germany.

Cowperson