Where to find the best summer travel deals

Say you just graduated and you're looking to stretch your legs before hitting the grindstone in the fall. This summer is the time to travel, as prices at hotels and on many flights are scraping rock bottom. That said, it's not all that easy to find the best bargains out there... unless you know where to look. Here are some of my picks for the best sites around for finding the greatest travel bargains, whether you're traveling this summer or in the months to come.

TravelZoo's Top 20 - Slaps 20 amazing bargains (as I write this: $239 for a four-day Caribbean cruise; $999 for five nights in India) on an easy-to-scan, single web page every week, though (of course) restrictions will apply. Note that you have to sign up for the TravelZoo e-newsletter to read all the deal details, but you can get the highlights without an account.

Best Fares - Has a similar deal scanner on its home page (scroll down), though it's a bit more difficult to digest than TravelZoo's. The good news: No registration required to see the bargains.

Kayak.com - I almost always start my travel search here to set a baseline for what a "good deal" really is. Has everything from flights and hotels to package deals and cruises.

Budget Travel - The web outpost of the magazine by the same name. Great for coming up with cheap travel ideas if you don't already have your heart set on one destination or another.

Farecast - Another essential tool for the bargain conscious -- this one tries to predict whether airfare prices are likely to rise or fall for a specific destination.

TripAdvisor - Some deals are too good to be true. Don't book your hotel room until you've looked it up on TripAdvisor... or else you might end up in a place like this!

Priceline - Yeah, Priceline's still around, folks! When you absolutely, positively only have $39 to spend on a plane ticket...