Photo by Umbar

Bring your laptop to Paris this summer and set yourself up in a park.

The city is preparing to roll out 400 free Wi-Fi hotspots. It’s all part of an ambitious plan called “Paris Ville Numerique” which aims to make Paris one of the world’s most connected cities. The aim is to foster a more nomadic lifestyle in public places like parks, gardens, and public libraries.

Each hotspot should be able to sustain 30 users simultaneously. A detailed map of all the access points—which will include 63 public libraries, 200 public gardens and 40 district offices of the city hall—is available at the city’s Web site.

The ultimate goal of Bertrand Delanoe, the Socialist mayor, is city-wide coverage by the end of 2007. There are additional plans to improve street furniture, notably in the university district in the 13th arrondissement, to make laptop users more comfortable.

For the moment, many Paris cafes offer Wi-Fi, but you often have to pay by the hour. One of our favourite places for free and reliable wireless access is Columbus Cafe, a Starbucks-style chain which has two non-smoking locations at 81 rue St-Dominique in the 7th arrondissement (Metro: Rue du Bac) and 25 rue Vieille-du-Temple in the 4th arrondissement (Metro Saint-Paul).

Popularity: 3% [?]

Photo by kevinturner

Internet Cafés are so last year. Unfortunately, foreigners and locals alike discover free Internet access in Madrid only by word of mouth. Take Spain’s mega store Corte Ingles for example. Most people don’t know there’s free Wi-Fi in all of its cafeterias. Our favorite for the best views of the city: its most central location on Plaza del Callao, 2 (Telephone: +34-91-37-98-000).

Here’s a short list of other in-style central city havens where globetrotting passersby can plug into Madrid’s free Wi-Fi synergy.

Isoleé in Chueca is a hip café/restaurant/store all rolled together like a sushi roll. Plug in for 40 minutes with the purchase of a drink.

Café Faborit in Sol is too cool for techies but perfect for worldly hipsters on the go. Get your password with purchase of a drink.

Heladería Grangrossi in La Latina is the most refined café for Internet yuppies. Savor dark espressos and the city’s best gelato while lounging in white leather chairs. There are two other locations to choose from as well.

Cafeteria Santander in Alonso Martinez (Plaza de Santa Barbara, 4; Metro: Alonso Martinez) is known as Madrid’s free Wi-Fi pioneer. It is a sprawling low-cost café with booths and a down-home feel. It’s best in the morning for fresh squeezed orange juice, croissants, and excellent service.

Plaza Colón, best known as Madrid’s premier park for skaters, is also a hotspot for Web surfers. During spring and summer months, take a blanket and enjoy a romantic rendezvous with your laptop in Salamanca’s best urban park. Your ESSID code is BNE-BG. Take the Metro to Colón.

Classy hotels like Hotel Moderno and Hotel Opera offer free Internet in the lobbies and cafeterias.

Popularity: 6% [?]

There once was a time when spending time in London as a tourist meant spending endless hours in Internet cafes. With the expansion of Wi-Fi zones throughout the city, this reality is quickly changing, with laptops increasingly counting as essential travel gear.

If you’re in Islington, Upper Street has free Wi-Fi access and a ton of cafes. Just stay away from Starbucks and Cafe Nero, as they charge. Get a tea for a quid and type away.

A stone’s throw from Leciester Square, Suburb in Soho does free Wi-Fi.

If outside of central London, you can find free Wi-Fi in a host of local cafes—in all Natural Cafes for example.

Wififreespot.com offers a small selection of places but our rule of thumb is that newer and forward-thinking hotel lobbies and cafes are golden. The latter happily give the stuff away to get customers, whilst the latter are keen to challenge Starbucks for patrons.

Warchalking has listings of several cafes and hotels. (We highly recommend the National Hotel.) My Hotspots apparently helps you find free Wi-Fi but we didn’t find it to be very useful. Rumors have it that the City (square mile) will soon go wireless but no doubt it won’t be free. University wireless access is also typically out of bound, as it usually requires a password.

No more 2 quid for 20 minutes of internet! Get a coffee or bowl of porridge and eat, type for hours and be merry.

Popularity: 3% [?]

Today’s HotelMarketing.com cites recent studies conducted by Burst Media and PhoCusWright Research that show the massive effect the Web is having on travel planning and travel-related purchases, especially—no surprise—among younger consumers.

According to the story, the impact of the Internet “has been so great that researching or purchasing travel outside of the Internet is already an unknown experience for many consumers.”

Nearly 55% of those surveyed in the 25-34 demographic say the Internet is their primary travel resource. Nearly four out of five (79%) respondents say they will use the Internet to plan upcoming personal travel.

Looks like this Internet thing has legs.

Popularity: 1% [?]