Travel Website: reviewing TravelMuse.com

Geez, maybe I really do want to go to Albania...that's pretty!

One of my favorite daily reads, technology blog TechCrunch, has a review of a new travel website called TravelMuse. Founded by an assortment of technology and travel industry veterans, TravelMuse says they are primarily focused on planning and booking family travel. The site has information and pictures (oh, they have some glorious pictures...) for over 200 destinations, offers special deals and rates, enables you to book your travel in one place and then share your experience with other travelers.

Yes, I agree, the above description may be a bit of a "me too" in the crowded online travel landscape, but I have to mention two pretty cool features they have (one of which I'm really impressed with).

First, they've introduced the TravelMuse Inspiration Finder. The goal of this feature is to help you find destinations and travel ideas based on your personal preferences and needs.

I thought I'd give it a go and put in some basic info (2 people, 7 day trip, minimum 3-star accommodation, budget of $1,000/person and willing to fly for 9 hours). It came back with
four alternatives:

1. Paris (which at $2K/per person was waaaay over my budget)
2. Lisbon (also over my budget)
3. Atlantic City (yeah, just barely within budget!)
4. San Jose, Costa Rica (right about on budget)

I can then research each destination further on their site or search TravelMuse's package deals and book my trip. And, I see that their package deals are sourced via online travel giant Travelocity. I give this feature an "eh, it's okay..." TechCrunch did say that their destination information and selection is influenced by actual people and not Google-type algorithms. I guess that's good - depending on the people...

But TravelMuse has another feature called the TravelMuse Planner and I have to tell you, I really like this one and have latched onto it.

With TravelMuse Planner you easily install a bookmark on your web browser that allows you to tag information found while researching travel anywhere on the web. You can store, access, organize and share this information all in one place. I found it a bit like Technorati crossed with an online travel agency - as you can then use this information you gather to plan an actual trip on their site.

I logged last week's entry I made about the cheapest place in Europe (scenic Albania!) and now can plan a trip there or search more information and keep it in the same trip folder for another time.

I actually think this feature is way cooler than TravelMuse's Inspiration Finder. I'm currently planning a trip to Europe and I plan to use that feature for reals...

My bottom line so far on TravelMuse? It has some nice features and functionality you may want to try. But be aware the actual travel deals they are selling are from your standard online travel giant...meaning, you probably want to cross-check a few other places before you book there.

TravelMuse may be the undecided traveler's dream come true [TechCrunch]
TravelMuse.com [Official Site]

[Awesome photo via Flickr]