Expedia rated tops in online travel sites

Expedia and Travelocity came out on top in an evaluation of six big independent travel sites in the June issue of Consumer Reports Travel Letter. The newsletter compared the sites on five factors: lowest fares, viable itineraries, ease of use, customer service, and privacy/security policies.

Expedia most often provided the lowest fares, the newsletter said, while Travelocity offered the best array of low fares coupled with viable flight choices. Orbitz did well at providing lowest fares and viable flights but “was edged out in most tests” by one of the top two. The other sites tested were Cheap Tickets, OneTravel and TravelNow.

The newsletter’s bottom line: Check fares on the top three sites, then check the best fare against the airlines’ own sites.

N.Y. route designated National Scenic Byway

In time for summer’s motoring brigades, New York’s 234- mile passage along the Hudson River north of Albany to Lake Champlain was added this month to the list of scenic roads known as America’s Byways.

Called the “Lakes to Locks Passage: The Great Northeast Journey,” Route 22 takes motorists past views of the Adirondacks, the working farms of Essex Hamlet, the Fort Ticonderoga Revolutionary battlefield and the Lake Champlain and Lake George waterways that carried early explorers, fur traders and colonial armies.

The National Scenic Byways Program was created in 1991 to protect historic roads. Visit the routes on www.byways.org.

Jordan begins work on Dead Sea project

Amman, Jordan Construction of a $4.2 million tourist center overlooking the Dead Sea the lowest point in the world has begun.

The project, to be built among hills some 1,650 feet above the sea, will take 18 months to complete. It will include a museum, exhibition halls, meeting rooms and a hilltop lookout taking in the Dead Sea, the Jordan Valley and the occupied West Bank.

A new 7.2 mile-road will link hotels on the Dead Sea with mineral spas near the mosaic-filled historic town of Ma’daba.