School is out and the kids are wondering where the family truckster is taking them this summer. Well, if you want to avoid a repeat of the Griswold’s family vacation, check out Kayak’s Trip Ideas section. You’ll find hundreds of ‘top picks’ from a host of travel specialists along with some tried and tested suggestions from your fellow Kayakers. Why aren’t you there yet?

• Take a stroll down memory lane—make the memory a boardwalk. Our friends at the Travel Channel have ranked the country’s top boardwalks from Santa Cruz to Atlantic City. Spend a relaxing day on the beach, while the kids spend your quarters at the arcade. Fill up on cotton candy and salt water taffy but not right before riding the tilt-a-whirl. Wait, is that a tattoo on little Jimmy? Get the Fare Buzz for Best American Boardwalks from your home airport: Best American Boardwalks
• Every year, the folks at Travel + Leisure Magazine poll their readers for the “World’s Best Awards”. Those with highest rankings for family friendliness become the “T+L Family 50″. While some of the winners are home to that omnipresent mouse, the top 50 list is chock full of gems you might not have found otherwise from British Columbia to the Chesapeake Bay. Get the Fare Buzz for the top 10 Family Resorts from your home airport: Top 10 resorts
• Not really a beach or resort kind of family? You burn, your partner hates sand and your kids hug trees. We get it. Luckily, GORP has provided Kayak.com with a list of family-friendly rivers for kayaking or rafting. Take along a copy of Deliverance just in case your kids misbehave. Get the Fare Buzz for family-friendly rivers from your home airport: Ten Kid-Tested Rivers

See you at the House of Mud,
Steve and Paul, Kayak.com co-founders

The hottest ticket this summer is to see the World Cup in Germany. And by “hottest” we mean hideously expensive. But if you don’t happen to have a sports shoe contract and you aren’t married to a Spice girl, you can still end up someplace where they call soccer, football. (And football is called that strange American game.)

Journey across the pond to London, home to Tottenham Hotspur who just happens to be the favorite team of one of our writers. (Come on you Spurs!) Want to fit in? Catch a game in a local pub and get sloshed like everyone else. For a change of scene, travel “oop north” to visit the home of perhaps the most famous sports franchise in the world: Manchester United. They’re owned by an American so it’ll feel a little like home.

• London Flights
• London Hotels
• Manchester Flights
• Manchester Hotels

If football is your religion, go to where the gods play - Brazil. If you can tear yourself away from the beautiful people on the beach for 90 minutes, visit the Maracanã. The world’s largest stadium is home to Flamengo, Botafogo, Vasco da Gama, and Fluminense, so any game between these two teams should be a thriller. Tickets and food in the stadium are a bargain, so pack a $20 bill for an all-night party.

• Rio Flights
• Rio Hotels

It’s not Barcelona, it’s Barca and it’s known for innovative cuisine, nightlife and home of Europe’s reigning football champs FC Barcelona and the world’s greatest player, Ronaldinho. Visit Barcelona during the affordable fall travel season and cheer on the champs in the world’s third largest football stadium.

• Barcelona Flights
• Barcelona Hotels

Can’t make it to Spain this year? FC Barcelona is touring the US in August:

• August 6: Los Angeles, CA (Flights Hotels)
• August 9: Houston, TX (Flights Hotels)
• August 12: New York, NY (Flights Hotels)

Come on you Kayakers!

Steve and Paul, Kayak.com co-founders

Taking a trip this summer and plan to soak up local history with a guided tour? There are far superior ways to discover a destination than following behind a guy in a powdered wig smelling of mothballs. Wake up and smell the 21^st century with these hi-tech tours:

All aboard a Segway: Imagine seeing a destination at the breakneck speed of a riding lawnmower. More than two dozen US and several European cities have introduced tours aboard a Segway Human Transporter, the self-balancing electric-powered transportation device introduced in 2001. You’ll be a sight yourself.

• City Segway Tours claims to be the first guided tour using Segways in the world. This leader in lazy travel offers tours atop your own battery-powered chariot of Atlanta, Budapest, Chicago, Paris, Vienna and Washington D.C. Prices vary for each city. Email for more information: Paris@CitySegwayTours.com
• Get the fare buzz for all City Segway destinations: http://go.kayak.com/16/segway

Educate your MP3: We won’t mention that we saw Vanilla Ice and the Macarena on your MP3 player so long as you also use it to download something worthwhile. Try these on your next trip.

• iJourneys: Former network news producer shares her passion for travel and brings a different perspective and a touch of humor to walks in Paris, Rome, Florence, Venice and Pompeii. Coming soon: Barcelona, Vienna and Salzburg. The price for each tour is $14.95. Email for more information: info@ijourneys.com
• Get the fare buzz for all iJourneys’ cities: http://go.kayak.com/16/ijourney

Do something with your rollover minutes: Are you one of the 71 people in the US without a MP3 player? Well, then grab your cell phone and take advantage of free weekend minutes.

• Talking Street has enlisted celebrities to narrate walking tours of their favorite cities. Explore Manhattan’s Lower East side with Jerry Stiller, the Washington Mall with Larry King or Boston with Steven Tyler. Tours are $5.95, a portion of which is donated to a local charity. Email for more information: feedback@talkingstreet.com
• Get the fare buzz for Talking Street locations: http://go.kayak.com/16/talking-street

Check flights to any of these destinations or search more than 4,500 Trip Ideas: http://go.kayak.com/16/thebuzz

Happy Travels,
Steve and Paul, Kayak.com co-founders

While YOU were at the beach celebrating the official start of the summer travel season, we were busy launching the following new tools and enhancements (engineers burn instantly in the sun anyway). Give ‘em a try and let us know what you think:

• If you can scratch your back with your pinkie toe, then you need to contact Ron Jeremy or Cirque du Soleil, BUT if your schedule is flexible then save money by searching a range of dates with our new “Flexible Search” tool. http://go.kayak.com/15/flexdate
• Tell us how you like it (your search that is) and we’ll deliver each and every time. Visit the revamped “My Profile” section, fill out a few fields regarding your airline, airport and hotel preferences and get more personalized search results. http://go.kayak.com/15/profile
• Our engineer in charge of Kayak Buzz had one too many double shot Frappuccinos and now the popular tool displays the 100 best prices found by Kayak.com users searching the same route. Perform a Buzz search and click “Best Search History.” http://go.kayak.com/15/best-buzz

Shameless plug alert: We are thrilled to share that the Associated Press named Kayak.com “Best Travel Search Engine” in a review of online travel sites published May 24. The AP reporter found that, “Among the search sites, Kayak had the most flexibility and options” and “Kayak was also easiest to use.” We could not agree more and hope the reporter wins a Pulitzer.

As always, drop us a line and let us know how we’re doing. http://go.kayak.com/15/fb Happy Travels,
Steve and Paul, Kayak.com co-founders

It’s World Cup time in Germany (that’s soccer to you and us) and all over the continent, chefs, waiters and bellboys will be ignoring their guests as they watch their national team kick a pig’s bladder around a field. So what do you do if you want a bit of Old World charm without the pricey airfare and non-existent service? Head for the (mostly) soccer-free new world.

Vive la Montrèal! If you’re longing for a little Gallic charm, the French-speaking inhabitants of Montrèal have the shopping, food and culture of their Euro-cousins but offer a better exchange rate. Visit during August 24 to September 4, 2006 and catch the Festival des Films du Monde (World Film Festival) which attracts 200 feature films from more than 70 countries, not to mention a few boldface names.
Hotel search Flight search

Want France without the trouble of learning a whole new language? New Orleans’ Bourbon Street is open for business and the city needs your tourism dollars. Go July 19-23 for the annual Tales of the Cocktail, a dining and drinking experience that explores the history and spirit of the cocktail at various locations in the New Orleans French Quarter. Bet you thought they did this every night…
Hotel search Flight search

Who needs dusty old England when you can visit brand New England? Boston was actually founded by Europeans and even named after a town in Lincolnshire, England. Hear the tales of Boston’s treasonous events brewed in four of the city’s historic pubs on the new Freedom Trail’s Historic Pub Crawl every Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. Then throw some tea in the harbor for old times sake. Reservations required 24 hours in advance (617) 357-8300.
Hotel search Flight search

Experience five European countries in the morning and still be back in America for the afternoon. At Epcot Center, Disney World Orlando you can enjoy the art, music, crafts and cuisine of France, Germany, Italy, Norway and the UK without a customs official in sight. Stay for the massive fireworks display which boasts over 1,100 pyrotechnic bursts and the extraordinary Earth Globe which floats across the lagoon, revealing wonders of the seven continents.
Hotel search Flight search

Check flights to any of these destinations or search more than 4,500 Trip Ideas: http://go.kayak.com/14/thebuzz.

Happy travels,
Steve and Paul, Kayak.com co-founders