Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
43
Frommers.com: The Complete Travel Resource
For an ex cellent travel-planning resource, we highly r ecommend
Frommers.
com
(w ww.frommers.com), v oted Best Travel Sit e b y
PC Magazine .
W e're a
little biased, of course, but we guarantee that you'll find the travel tips, reviews,
monthly vacation g iveaways, bookst ore, and online -booking capabilities t o
be thor oughly indispensable . Special f eatures include our popular
Destina-
tions
section, where you can ac cess exper t travel tips, hotel and dining r ec-
ommendations, and advice on the sights to see in more than 3,500 destinations
around the globe; the
Frommers.com Newsletter,
with the latest deals, travel
trends, and money-saving secrets; and our
Travel Talk
area featuring
Message
Boards,
where Frommer's readers post queries and shar e advice, and wher e
our authors sometimes sho w up t o answer questions. Onc e you finish y our
research, the
Book a Trip
area can lead y ou t o F rommer's pr eferred online
partners' websites, where you can book y our vacation at aff ordable prices.
rent them for ar ound $10; call y our hotel
in advance to see what your options are.)
If y ou're not fr om the U.S., y ou'll be
appalled at the poor r each of our
GSM
(Global System for Mobiles) wireless net-
work,
which is used b y much of the r est of
the world. Your phone will pr obably work
in most major U.S. cities; it definitely won't
work in many r ural areas. And y ou may or
may not be able to send SMS (text messag-
ing) home. Assume nothing—call y
2
CELLPHONES
Just because your cellphone works at home
doesn't mean it 'll wor k else where in the
country (thanks to our nation's fragmented
cellphone system). It's a good bet that y our
phone will work in major cities. B ut take a
look at y our wir eless company 's co verage
map on its w ebsite befor e heading out—
T-Mobile, S print, and N extel ar e par ticu-
larly weak in rural areas. If you need to stay
in touch at a destination wher e you know
your phone won't work,
rent
a phone that
does fr om
InTouch USA
(
&
800/872-
7626;
www.intouchglobal.com) or a r ental
car location, but beware that you'll pay $1 a
minute or more for airtime.
our
wireless provider and get the full scoop.
In do wntown S an F rancisco,
Triptel
Mobile R ental P hones,
1525 Van N ess
Ave., between California and P ine streets
(
&
415/474-3330;
www .triptel.com),
rents cellphones at $3 per day , or $15 per
week. Airtime rates are 95¢ per minute for
domestic calls, with an additional $1.25
per minute for international calls. Triptel
also sells SIM car ds for trav elers bringing
their own phones.
9
RECOMMENDED BOOKS, FILMS & MUSIC
As one of the most beautiful places on the
planet, San Francisco has been a favorite of
movie studios since the bir th of film. I n
fact, the first public motion pictur e was
presented in San Francisco—silhouettes of
a horse, a dog, and a human gymnast were
shown to viewers using a primitive projec-
tor made from a box with light, a lens, and
a reflector. The following list of films and
topics will pique the inter est of the most
