It depends on the vacation. I tend to use Skyscanner or similar for flights. This may help me choose the destination based on costs. Hotels.com for hotels as

It depends on the vacation. I tend to use Skyscanner or similar for flights. This may help me choose the destination based on costs. Hotels.com for hotels as they have a buy 10 get 1 night free offer. Then Google for other things. Like skiing for example to find the best deals on lift passes and hire etc. I used to do the whole lonely planet guide thing when younger and cram activities in. Now I prefer to go somewhere with a rough idea of things to do found on the net, and play it by ear. Last holiday in Queenstown NZ I did 3 days with family of just hanging out. It's glorious not to be on a schedule sometimes. Conversely I hate tours for this reason. Done them a couple of times and I dislike travelling with random people especially if they are heavy drinker loud types. I also dislike the forced 6am starts every day.