A while ago I wrote about London restaurants at Trustedplaces.com. The website has changed a bit lately, making it even easier to find your way to pre-screened restaurants and hotels anywhere in London or the world. Right now they're still focused mainly on London and the UK, so keep that in mind. Soon it should start featuring more and more, and since the reviews are driven mainly by the people who sign up (free) at the site and offer their two cents- well, they need to get the word out there so that it will be a better and better commodity.

I'd so use this for not only virtual vacation planning, but for an actual trip. It's possible that our next duty station will be overseas. So... not a lot of money to go darting around the EU, but proximity can make it possible to get the best of the best and away from some of the more obvious tourist traps. And haven't we all stumbled onto one of those just at the wrong time? The best experiences can be had by finding out in advance what you can about a place. Take advantage of everything you can to make the most of your resources.