Everyone knows that locals are great to meet when visiting a new place. They are the ones who know their way around and can tell you the authentic and memorable places to visit. HospitalityClub.org is a good strategy to save yourself time and money by hooking you up with locals. The service allows you to find people all over the world willing to let other members stay the night, or receive a guided tour through their town.
When planning a trip to a destination where you plan on relying on public transportation to get around, make sure to consult Amadeus. Click on the Trip Tools link on the top navigation for maps of subway systems for any city. This type of resource is a good example of locating information sans a search engine. Collections are a great way to browse for information when you do not know the search terms. In this case, you may not know the name of the transportation system or if the city even has one.
Going straight to the source can save you more time than you might think. For example, you get a better selection of local interest books on London by going straight to Amazon UK and better books on Berlin by going to Amazon.de rather than the U.S. Amazon site.