Will your family be taking advantage of time off with a winter vacation?

These Web sites are helpful in planning a family trip:

• www.tripadvisor.com: Got to admit it -- Trip Advisor is one of my first stops before traveling to a destination I haven't been to before, or when I need new ideas for a destination I have been to often. Not only can you get suggestions of where to travel to for a variety of interests (including family friendly ones), but you will get personalized (e-mailed to you) responses to your posts from experts on your destination -- regular folk who live there or who know it like the back of their hands. To get to the forums, enter "forums" into the search box on the home page, then follow the links to your destination.

• www.ricksteves.com/graffiti/helpline: As seen and heard on PBS, Steves' expertise is unique budget travel to Europe. The site's extensive forums (called "the Graffiti Wall") are similar to Trip Advisors' with a European focus. The "experts" really care about your experience: when I traveled to Rome, one "expert" gave us his cell number in the event we got lost!

• familyfun.go.com/win ter/winter-family-vacations: Looking for the offbeat for the family? Family Fun magazine's online site may have just the perfect destination. For example, it includes some of the best tobogganing spots (including nightspots).

Gannett News Service