My name is Lisa and I would really appreciate the opportunity to become your personal Travel Counsellor.
I have 36 years’ experience working in the travel industry, most of which were spent in an independent agency and now, as a Travel Counsellor, that ethos of independence is able to continue.
I have visited many countries over the years, as a single person, in a couple, as a mother and now as a 'mature' person (!), so can give advice from many different perspectives. Australia, New Zealand, the Caribbean, Singapore, Hong Kong, America, Mexico, much of Europe and many more destinations feature on my list of visited countries.
As your personal Travel Counsellor I can help make your dreams come true by completing all the research and arrangements for you. A simple telephone call, Facebook message or email from you to discuss your needs is all it takes. From there I can take the reins and guide you, with my knowledge, experience and personal attention, to book the perfect destination for you.
Although the term 'Counsellor' suggests an advice service, my service stretches far beyond that. I do not *just* advise - I book everything for you and remain a constant support to you in the run up to your holiday, whilst you are away and until you are home again!
This undertaking is made easier for me by the award-winning technology offered by Travel Counsellors. I have access to some 3000 suppliers, which can be searched quickly and efficiently to provide the exact solution to your requirements, be it a tailor-made ‘round the world’ trip, a flight only, a honeymoon, a luxury hotel break or a cottage in Scotland.
Customer service is of paramount importance to me and I appreciate that not everyone may be available to discuss their plans during office hours. This is exactly why I offer the flexibility of evening and weekend accessibility at a time to suit you…and I can guarantee that it will always be me on the end of the line (my own holidays excepted!) You will not be passed from pillar to post, or left in a telephone queuing system, wasting your time!
If you would like regular updates of our current special offers then please forward your e-mail address via the contact link above or follow my Travel Counsellors Facebook account for offers, information and inspiration ... https://www.facebook.com/LisaRatcliffeTC/
The travel bug is incurable! Once it is in your blood you are addicted for life! My love of travel led to my desire to work in the industry, from where I have attempted to spread my enthusiasm to clients and to make dreams come true.
Now I would like to do the same for you!
My customer stories
Sent by Nicola Tysoe
London 08/08/2022
We have been using Lisa Ratcliffe as our travel agent for a few years now, and she is nothing short of amazing!! With just a budget, dates and a list of 'wants' from our holiday, she comes back with the greatest list of options for us, and every time the one we go with is utterly perfect! Not only this, but Lisa takes all the worry away at every step of the process - even down to checking us in for our flights! This year I had some ill health leading up to our holiday, and Lisa booked assistance for me at the airport, which made what could have been a stressful journey into such an easy, smooth experience. Also knowing that Lisa is just at the end of an email if we have any issues while away gives incredible peace of mind.
Lisa is worth her weight in gold!!
Sent by Patrica ODonnell
Banbury 20/03/2020
After deciding to book a holiday to Vietnam and Cambodia, we emailed Lisa with a ‘wish list’ of places we wanted to see and dates we were looking to travel. She came back to us within 24 hours with an itinerary including all flights, transfers, tours and hotels, all within our budget starting in north Vietnam finishing in Cambodia.
The holiday was more than we had hoped for, all the hotels were excellent, local guides were brilliant and the tours great.
We did have some difficulty with online check in for one of our internal flights, which was quickly resolved with an email to Lisa.
Communication throughout was excellent and we would not hesitate in recommending Lisa for your holiday arrangements - in fact, we are putting another list together ready for when normal service resumes!!
Sent by Grace P-H
London 17/03/2020
Lisa is a wonderfully considerate and proactive travel counsellor who we trust to book all our holidays! Lisa consistently finds the best flight and hotel deals (we've tried to match these deals ourselves through Google but Lisa always beats us!).
She is very diligent with making sure every aspect of the holiday is looked after from researching activities, checking in our flights and making sure we're having a great time where we're away! She's also excellent at following up after the trip to make sure it's all gone smoothly. Nothing is too much trouble.
We have recommended Lisa to all our friends and family and can't thank her enough for helping us create personalised experiences for our couple holidays.
Sent by Terry Deane
Banbury 04/11/2019
Would just like to send out a message in appreciation for Lisa Ratcliffe an Independent Personal Travel Expert at Travel Counsellors.
Below is our experience of the holiday that Lisa arranged for us end to end. Lisa handled flights, hotels, excursions, transfers, everything.
We would whole heartedly recommend Lisa to anyone booking a holiday with several parts and needing advice and help.
Thanks
Terry
All three of us have agreed it is one of the best holidays we have had.
1) Flights and checking in - faultless
2) Transfers - fantastic. Had great comms and both were early and in constant contact leading upto the pick ups.
3) Excursions - amazing, both exceeded expectations.
4) Hotel - fabulous. Faultless. Everything. Room, staff, food, switching lunch to dinner and dinner to lunch to suit our days. Only fault with hotel was 50% of lifts were given over to refurbishment which means queues and waiting in Ground floor.
5) Attractions, shopping - off the scale
6) Burj Khalif - fantastic. Again limited lifts. Dubai seem to underestimated no of lifts
7) The People - very friendly. Everywhere felt safe even late at night
8) The metro - all we used apart from one taxi ride.
Sent by George Keith
Dunfermline 29/10/2019
Yet another far east holiday Lisa has arranged for us, everything was perfect, the flights, airport assistance for my wife even, our choice of hotel room We highly recommend Lisa when it comes to organising that special holiday. She is readily available if you do have any questions regarding your holiday. Thanks again for everything. George & Betty Keith
Sent by Anna McCollin-Moore
Hastings 22/11/2018
It was an absolute pleasure organising our holiday using Lisa’s expertise, friendliness and professionalism. She made the whole experience a delight; from listening to our requirements, researching locations and making many changes(patiently) until we were ready to book. Once our holiday was upon us, Lisa took control of everything and the flight/transfer/holiday went like clockwork. I would thoroughly recommend Lisa and her personable and professional approach. Thank you Lisa!
Sent by M&F McIntosh
Kent 06/11/2018
We have now asked Lisa to help us organise holidays for over 10 years. She has proved time and time again that having a specialist who will work with you to devise exactly the holiday you are looking for is without doubt the best decision. Nothing is too much trouble for her. We have recommended her to many family, friends and colleagues over the years. You will not regret using her!
Sent by Malcolm Isbister
Harpenden 05/11/2018
Lisa organised a weekend in Berlin earlier this year for my wife and I and two friends. We were booked on BA and we stayed at the Henri Hotel. Cost for both was very reasonable. The Henri was excellent and full of character as well as being near the centre. The weekend could have ended badly when we received an email from BA telling us that our return flight on Sunday evening was cancelled and the earliest flight available was Monday evening. As much as we would have liked to spend more time in Berlin, business commitments prevented it. Fortunately Lisa came to the rescue and got us on another flight back to Heathrow. If you want a good and stress free travel experience I would certainly recommend Travel Counsellors.
Sent by mark rooksby
Rushden 05/11/2018
I got in touch with Lisa to see if she could arrange a surprise holiday for my wife's 50th birthday. All I had to do was give a budget to work to and a choice of venues. In a very short space of time Lisa came back with various locations to choose from. Once I had picked the venue and informed Lisa what holiday was required, I just sat back whilst she arranged absolutely everything, flights, transfers and accommodation. At all times Lisa kept me updated with how things were going and any other extras that were included. The holiday was a once in a lifetime experience and with Lisa doing all the work it was stress free for me. I would and will definitely use Lisa again.
First class service and very professional from start to finish and would highly recommend this service
Sent by Katherine Brown
Banbury, Oxforshire 01/11/2018
We had left our holiday to the last minute and because we lead busy lives, approached Lisa to help us sort out a last minute holiday. Lisa came up with various suggestions to different destinations with different price tags. Nothing was too much trouble. Lisa was helpful, efficient and a pleasure to work with. Once we had decided, Lisa booked everything up for us and we enjoyed a lovely holiday in Sicily in 2018. It was everything she said it would be and aside from that, she was not happy until she knew that we had a great holiday. We would have no hesitation in recommending Lisa to others and plan to use her next year!
Sent by Rob Brooks
Banbury 31/10/2018
Lisa organised an amazing two week trip to Vietnam for us this summer. To be honest, I wasn't expecting too much as we had a tight budget and very little lead time; but the holiday was amazing, and the service was seamless. I think if we had booked the holiday ourselves we would have ended up spending more and seeing less ! Do yourselves a favour, throw away that travel brochure and give Lisa a call.
Sent by Andrea Bain
Woodcote 31/10/2018
We have booked two holidays with Lisa for our 50th Birthdays in the last year. I can honestly say that each holiday, one to Thailand and one to Barbados have exceeded all expectations. The booking process from the initial enquiry to the quotes and eventual booking has been seamless. Lisa is a complete professional who certainly knows her stuff and will recommend activities and things to see. She also shares her own personal travel experiences. She has a fantastic sense of customer service and I'm sure she books the holiday for you as if she were travelling herself. Both holidays were fantastic and we really felt that we were very well looked after during the whole process. I would recommend Lisa's services to anyone and everyone. She's fantastic!!!
Sent by Rich Beghin
BANBURY 31/10/2018
In today's world we tend to move towards using everything online. It seems to be quicker and easier and less hassles. However, one thing that I won't do is ever try and book my flights and hotels online.
Lisa has been not only been booking all our company flights for the last 8 years, but also my own personal travel. I cannot say enough on how far she goes to make the travels so hassle free. Always three quotes, thus giving me a quick hassle free choice. She assists in making sure the hotel booked is closest to my meetings, and further more ensures that I am correctly booked in and on the plane.
All this gives me total confidence when I travel. It takes the stress out of the travel and allows me to focus on my business or personal travels.
I cannot say enough on Lisa's attitude to customer service and wanting a successful trip every time we have used her services.
Before you book next time give her a go and just see if she makes a difference to your trip.
Sent by Richard Merrell
Milton Keynes 30/10/2018
I have been working with Lisa for a number of years both personally and professionally to arrange leisure and business travel. Lisa is friendly, knowledgable and professional so the service I receive is second to none. I would have no hesitation whatsoever in recommending Lisa for you travel requirements.
Sent by George and Betty Keith
Dunfermline 30/10/2018
Having had Lisa organize our holidays on several previous occasions, we had every faith in her doing an excellent job in arranging our latest holiday to Singapore. Everything was exactly as every other occasion, planned top the smallest detail, so once again Lisa thanks a million.
Sent by George and Betty Keith
Dunfermline 24/10/2017
Having recently had Lisa arrange our holiday in Singapore, as she has done on past occasions, we have had the same satisfaction with her planning / arrangements. Everything was perfect yet again. Please don't be afraid to let Lisa do the same for your holiday.
Sent by Kate Gisbourne
Warkwickshire 11/02/2017
Lisa is so helpful and friendly, she knows exactly what we need from our holiday, and thinks of things we that hadn't even crossed our minds, even choosing flight times to suit our little family. No hassle, no worries - and she always finds us an amazing deal.
Sent by Clair Robinson
Barnsley 28/10/2016
Lisa really looked after us from the moment we asked her to find us the dream honeymoon we were looking for. The choice of Resort she recommended and the hotel itself were perfect. She even contacted the hotel to let them know it was our honeymoon which led to a free upgrade to a jacuzzi suite. All in all she helped us make the best two weeks of our life just that. We will definitely be booking through Lisa next year x
Sent by George Keith
Dunfermline 30/10/2014
In the past few years my wife and I have got Lisa to arrange our holiday. And yet again she has managed to come up trumps, everything to our satisfaction. Please give Lisa the chance to fix up your holiday/s and I can assure, she won't let you down.
Sent by George Keith
Dunfermline 25/10/2013
For the last few years we have had Lisa plan our long haul holiday and yet again, everything was perfect, - we could not ask for better.
Sent by Deborah Winchester
Battle 27/08/2013
I am so impressed with the service we received from Lisa that I don't think I will ever book my own holiday again! Lisa listened carefully to exactly what we wanted in our holiday and we were thrilled with the result. We had an amazing time and any small hiccups were sorted out so quickly that we felt we were in safe hands at all times.
Lisa was professional, helpful and patient and I trusted her to deliver an amazing holiday. She truly did. Thanks so much to travel counsellors and Lisa in particular. Outstanding customer service!
Sent by George Keith
Dunfermline 26/10/2012
Again, we had Lisa Ratcliffe organise our Far Eastern holiday and like before, her organisation was first class and we will have no hesitation letting Lisa plan our next overseas venture.We highly recommend her.
Sent by Lesley Stubbings
Brackley 20/10/2011
Always very helpful, cheerful and certainly makes me smile
Sent by terry eskriett
poole 20/10/2011
Obviously, getting to the Dordogne in France for our son's wedding without any hitches was of paramount importance and Lisa made it all very easy.With a great deal of communication and reassurance she did a great job.
Sent by Helen Hammans
Abingdon 19/10/2011
Lisa sorted my tailor made holiday for me in 2 days! What service! Absolutely marvellous. I have and will continue to recommend her services to anyone.
Sent by George Keith
Dunfermline 20/09/2011
For the second time, we had Lisa arranging our holiday to the Far East. Again she had everything organised down to perfection. We will certainly be in touch with her, the next time we go on holiday. She is a pleasure to deal with.
George & Betty Keith.
Sent by Jayne Petyt
Buckhurst Hill 01/03/2011
We have just returned from a ski holiday arranged for us by Lisa and have also just booked our summer holiday through her. As ever, her service is second-to-none, going that extra mile for us and taking the hassle out of both choosing and booking a holiday.
Sent by John & Janet Mall
Banbury 28/09/2010
Lisa has been extremely helpful with our travel arrangements, her knowledge and experience is priceless.
She stayed in touch whilst we were on holiday, which gave us a greater feeling of security. Lisa followed up on our return and we would not hesitate to use her again.
Cannot praise her enough.
Sent by Ian & Paula Cardy
Chelmsford 27/09/2010
This was the third year we've used Lisa. With a very scant brief Lisa went away and within a couple of days came back with a list of possibilities. Despite changing our mind completely several times, Lisa stuck to the task and found us a great package to Zanzibar. What sets Lisa apart from average Travel Agents is the personal touches, a call before we left to wish us well and also when we landed.
Sent by Jayne Petyt
Buckhurst Hill 25/09/2010
Lisa has arranged a number of holidays for my family and we have been absolutely delighted with the service we have received. Our latest holiday to Turkey was booked on her recommendation and it was absolutely fabulous. She provides a really personal service - nothing is too much trouble. Consequently we have recommended her to many people who now use her.
Sent by steve bishop
buckingham 25/09/2010
Lisa took great care to find what we were looking for and we were very happy with her input. We will certainly use her services in the future and will recommend her to our friends.
Sent by Melanie Cox
Banbury 24/09/2010
I had never heard of Travel Counsellors before but was recommended to use them and have found it thoroughly useful. It saved me the hours of trawling through holidays and I was sure I got the best deals available. Lisa was very attentive even when I realised I had booked dates to clash with return of school time she did her utmost to help me resolve this. Communication and the personal service was fantastic.
Sent by Peta Stanley
Banbury 23/09/2010
I have used Lisa's travel services on a number of occasions & have never been anything but impressed with the level of service Lisa provides. We have always been to a location & accommodation that has far exceeded our expectations. No job is too much for Lisa & she has always carried each request out with genuine enthusiasm & speed. I would and do recommend Lisa's services to my family/friends.
Sent by peter pounds
chipping norton 23/09/2010
I contacted Lisa with vague ideas for a holiday. The dates were specific for daytime flights from Birmingham. The other requirements were more "come up with some ideas for a week in the sun". Lisa got to work straight away, lots of ideas were emailed and discussed as Lisa gradually built up a profile of what I really wanted. We have just returned from a perfect holiday- result! Great service.
Sent by Liz Start
Ilford, Essex 23/09/2010
I have found Lisa to be extremely professional, knowledgeable and helpful with all my bookings and would highly recommend her. Also, Travel Counsellors from my experience are able to find excellent deals and provide very good value for money. I really appreciate the personal service and flexibility which Lisa is able to provide.
Sent by Myles McIntosh
Tunbridge Wells 23/09/2010
I have used Lisa for several years to assist with finding and planning family holidays. Throughout this time she has been highly responsive, courteous and friendly. She has approached many difficult requests to find suitable holidays with a keen eye for what really matters to my family. It's the little touches that count and we will continue to use her services in the future. Recommended.
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My Blog
I absolutely live and breathe travel and I love to write about my experiences! Please take a look through my posts - you might find your own holiday inspiration.
At Christmas in 2018, my brother-in-law and his wife mooted the idea of a group of us going away together to celebrate their significant wedding anniversary. They would sort out the accommodation and the rest of us just had to find our way there!
They had sourced the most amazing farmhouse near Sansepolcro in Tuscany where a group of 26 of us would all meet up for a week of celebrations! Well, it
Last November, I was 50 and, on the same day, my eldest daughter was 21 - cause for big celebration! So, it was decided that we would do a ‘BIG’ family holiday this year. After working through several ideas and itineraries, we finally settled on Thailand and so it was then down to me to create the perfect itinerary! (No pressure then!)
Over the past couple of years, I have been very much aware
Back in August, my family and I travelled to Sicily, to stay in the south-east area of Marina di Ragusa. Sicily was chosen because we had never been and my daughters (17 and 20) wanted to experience an Italian holiday!
We flew from Birmingham to Comiso, which was such an easy trip. Birmingham only being 45 mins up the road from here and the transfer from the airport to the hotel being the same
My husband, our two teenage daughters (15 and 19) and I stayed at the Cordial Mogan Playa for seven nights at the beginning of July.
Over my years working in travel, I have sent many clients to this hotel (some more than once) and always liked the look of it, so this year we decided that we deserved some sunshine and to treat ourselves!
We booked the half board plus option which gave us brea
My husband, daughters of 17 and 14 and I travelled with Inghams to Kaprun in August and, after a horrendous flight delay, we arrived at the chalet, late in the evening, about 9 hours after our expected arrival time.
We were greeted by the happy, smiling, welcoming faces of Dolores and Ebony who had been waiting for us. They whisked our cases away and ushered us straight into the dining room for
In December 2012 we decided to treat ourselves to a weekend break in Chester before the onslaught of Christmas! We stayed on a Friday and Saturday night at a hotel just outside the city centre called The Grosvenor Pulford Hotel and Spa. It was ideally located just a few minutes’ drive from the park and ride car park for the buses into the city centre.
We were greeted by some of the friendliest
In my many years of travelling I had never been to Portugal, but after many recommendations from fiends, we decided to try it out. We purposely chose the quieter, less developed, resort of Cabanas de Tavira which has fewer tourists.
The resort is only a 40 minute drive from Faro airport, located on the Ria Formosa Natural Reserve. Due to its location, development is not allowed which means that
In September, I was lucky enough to be invited to take part in an educational visit to Germany, courtesy of the German National Tourist Office. This was to be a taste of wine, culture and nature in the Rhineland-Palatinate region. The trip was a mere 4 days duration, but it was so well organised and executed, and covered so much in such a short time, that it felt as if we had been there a week!
For this year’s family holiday we were looking for something along the lines of our Austrian holiday a few years ago. We all love beautiful scenery, mountains, rivers, wildlife and being able to get out and about. After much deliberation we settled on Kranjska Gora in Slovenia. It’s not a very well known destination, but somewhere that looked like it could offer all we wanted.
We left Stansted
We arrived into Dubrovnik airport at 8pm after a short flight delay, but found a taxi easily and after a 10 minute journey we arrived at the hotel Epidaurus, which is located a very pleasant 20 minute stroll from the village of Cavtat.
The check-in was efficient and we were shown to our room on the ground floor. The room itself was incredible with a lounge area with flat-screen TV, an enormous ki
Having just completed my first full year at Travel Counsellors, I was given the opportunity to attend the annual Conference which, this year, took place in the swish, up-market resort of Marbella.
My husband and I stayed at the 5 star NH Alanda Hotel which is located half way between the resorts of Marbella and Puerto Banus.
This relatively new hotel is beautifully clean and efficient and b
Austria!
Not the first place that comes to mind when you think of a family summer holiday!
If you are not a beach person or if you are someone who prefers an active holiday then I can highly recommend Austria.
Myself and my family went for a week to the resort of Soll in the Tyrol. This is traditionally a ski resort, but has so much to offer in the summer too.
The beautiful chocolate-bo
Krakow is not the first place that we would have thought about for a city break, but we were encouraged to visit by a friend of ours who lives in Poland. We found it to be the perfect destination for a short city break and very reminiscent of how Prague used to be before it found favour with the stag parties. It is ideal for couples looking for a romantic break!
The Main Square (Rynek Glowny) i
Throughout my 20 years in travel I had never given Jersey a second thought! My mind was always wandering much further afield!
Being in my first 6 months as a Travel Counsellor, the idea of leaving my fledgling business for more than a few days was unthinkable, but I was under pressure from my young daughters to ‘go somewhere on a plane’!
We live approx 45 minutes from Coventry Airport... a
Whatever your holiday needs I'm here to help you, so simply give me a call or send me an email with your contact details on and I can get things started for you:
