NileGuide

I included as one of my picks as a site that will matter in 2009, which may have prompted a note from a reader suggesting . Like Tripit, NileGuide is a : it provides tools for booking flights (a widget that searches for flights at sites like Orbitz, Priceline, and Kayak), and for building a customized itinerary to use on your trip. Like and , NileGuide claims to go a bit further, using recommendations by clued-in "local experts" to suggest cool things for you to do on your trip.

To test it, I punched in San Francisco, where I live, and where NileGuide is located. I found many of the recommendations to be standard tourist fare (Palace of Fine Arts, Fisherman's Wharf), along with some pretty expensive ($70) Segway tours of places like San Francisco's famously crooked Lombard Street and (again) Fisherman's Wharf. I got better results when searching for local eateries; NileGuide's local experts had unearthed some of SF's better and lesser-known attractions, like Bernal Heights' Blowfish Sushi and Potrero Hill's Slo Club. When you find something you want to do, you select it; NileGuide then adds the item to your personalized trip plan. You do the same thing with your travel and lodging arrangements.

After you've made all of your selections, you can view everything on a customized itinerary--in list, calendar, or map mode. You can print out a hard copy of it, too, or view it online.

Verdict: Though I had mixed feelings about the food and things-to-do recommendations at NileGuide, I was impressed with the utility of the itinerary builder, and the breadth of information it handles. If the operators of this site promote it well, Nile Guide could emerge as a strong competitor to sites like Tripit, PlanetEye, and Lonely Planet.