I’ve started using www.homeaway.com, a UK travel reservation site. www.vrbo.com may be a sister site, of this I am not sure. www.airbnb.com has great listings, but expects you to pay up front. homeAway asks for 50% down with a good cancellation policy. This is much more reasonable. I’ve used homeAway to book a flat in Istanbul and I’m looking into Venice and Florence.

Finally my wife and I will be taking a “celebrating retirement” trip to Asia and Europe early this summer including a cruise through the Greek Islands and a few days spent in Venice and Florence. I am considering a stop-over on the way out, on the way back, or both. Possiblities are: New York, London, Berlin, Dublin, or Barcelona. We will save Tuscany and Rome for the fall.

With the dollar strengthing against the Euro, we may see a 20% savings on European travel!

I’ll post detailed information comparing our expectations against “reality” when we get back.

Ron