06 June 2023

We started to make plans in 2019 for our 50th wedding anniversary in 2020. We planned to visit Venice and Florence as two special destinations, with a stay in Milan too. With Vicky’s expert advice and support, our plans were made and the itinerary set out. We would go in April 2020 when there would be fewer crowds and the weather would be cooler. We would travel business class and first-class rail with transfers by car. Flights were booked to Milan for our first two nights before heading by train to Venice, staying in the lovely Principe hotel directly facing the Grand Canal. After three nights we would travel by train to Florence before heading by car to Pisa to fly back to Heathrow. The news of the pandemic broke in early January 2020 and by early February we knew it was extremely serious. We had to postpone our holiday several times, of course, talked the details through again with Vicky and then we were on our way. We had a wonderful holiday. Milan is a very interesting city. It’s magnificent cathedral (the Duomo) attracts visitors throughout the day but getting there by 8am allowed us to get some excellent photos. Milan is known for its fashions and its glamour and it really didn’t disappoint. Indeed, we found a stream of people throughout the day into the evening would pose for photos in their finest fashions in front of the fashion houses such as Prada and Versace! Many people in Milan appear to be politically engaged with street demonstrations and protest banners are hung on public buildings. It was great! Our hotel (the Sina De la Ville) was excellent, located in the centre of Milan and just a short taxi ride to Milano Centrale, the main station. I also took a trip on the Milano subway which was very easy to manage. Tickets are relatively inexpensive, there are machines and kiosks in stations and it’s a quick and clean service.We enjoyed a super dinner at Ristorante Savini in the Grand Arcade, the service was warm and professional. In the morning, we took a taxi to the station for our train to Venice and were struck by the magnificent Milano Centrale station building. At the very least, it’s equally as impressive as Grand Central Station in New York. Station staff were helpful in pointing us to the right part of the station for the train to Venice (Venetzia) and we were on our way. Arriving at Venice, we walked out of the station to be immediately confronted by the Grand Canal in front of us. We stopped and looked, taking it all in, struck by its beauty and also its familiarity from paintings, photos and films. We gathered ourselves and walked down the street to Principe Hotel. The Hotel is on the Grand Canal and our room had a balcony overlooking the Canal (thank you Vicky) and it was excellent. There was much to explore and much to discover, all seemingly close to hand. We wondered along the Grand Canal and found a suitable place for dinner. The next morning, we set off to explore Venice. It was warm and sunny, not at all thronged and we admired the architecture all around us. After lunch we decided to walk to the Rialto Bridge which wasn’t a great idea if you have a potential mobility impairment. Venice wasn’t designed for wheelchair users or those who prefer to be on level ground most of the time. Walking to the Rialto Bridge involved using a good number of steep bridges to cross smaller canals and the paths at times were very uneven. We were determined to make it there – which we did – and we made it back to the Hotel too. I discovered next day the vaporetto service along the Grand Canal is accessible. It has been designed to enable users of wheelchairs and pushchairs to travel around Venice. I was able to visit the Rialto Bridge, go to St Mark’s Square and admire the Doge’s Palace all with little difficulty using one of the vaporettos along the Grand Canal. They’re inexpensive too. We were soon on the train to Florence as planned (thank you again, Vicky). Train announcements are helpfully made in English as well as Italian and we were pleased to find screens on each of the trains showing the stations and the progress of the journey. We had chosen the Grand Hotel Baglione in Florence for its location close to the amazing buildings, statues and galleries as well as the Arno. We were also pleased to find it was close to the rail station, indeed we could see the hotel from the station steps and a taxi wasn’t needed. Florence is magnificent and certainly didn’t disappoint in any way. I had booked tickets in advance for the Uffizi Gallery and this proved to be a sensible move. A warning about access at the Uffizi. All visitors are directed downstairs at the start of the visit to pass through security and the lift to the lower floor was out of order. Any request for an alternative was met with a shrug. Once downstairs and through security, there are lifts to access upper floors. We managed the stairs and we saw one wheelchair user inside the gallery who had somehow managed to enter the Gallery. Having said this, a visit to the Uffizi Gallery is essential. Indeed, it makes sense to book tickets to visit the Uffizi on three separate days as there is so much to see! Florence is stunning. We found restaurants and coffee shops to suit all tastes and budgets. While it’s best to book in advance for the Uffizi Gallery, we visited the Accademia gallery without advance tickets and waited no more than five minutes to enter, immediately after lunch. The Accademia has Michelangelo’s sculpture David and many other outstanding works. The Grand Hotel Baglioni offers amazing views from its restaurant and has a ‘roof top bar’. This was a perfect venue to relax after a busy day and we found there’s also a menu for light meals in the roof top bar as well as more formal dining in the adjoining restaurant. Our days in Florence passed all too quickly. Our flight home was from Pisa airport and Vicky had booked a car for the transfer journey. The executive car arrived early with its very professional driver. We will return to Italy and the plan is to go back to Florence and Milan; we will probably add Lake Garda to the itinerary. Finally, huge thanks to Vicky. We were in very good hands with her as the ‘travel boss’ Vicky as she made the whole journey simple and straightforward with her seemingly endless patience and attention to detail. Robert Meadowcroft – 22 May 2022

02 May 2023

Our two-night break started with a quick 50-minute flight from Manchester into Belfast City Airport, only a 15-minute transfer to the city centre. We were staying just outside the city in the Titanic Quarter at the Titanic Hotel. An excellent 4* star hotel which was originally the drawing offices at the shipyard, which has been restored into a luxury hotel, while keeping many elements of the original building, especially the drawing offices. Just wandering around this hotel, you are immersed in the history of the building with the luxury of a 4* star hotel. The rooms are elegantly designed and comfortable, but for us the location of the hotel was one of the main reasons for our stay here, it is opposite the Titanic Belfast Museum, being a lover of History somewhere I have always wanted to visit, but also I wanted to see what Belfast had to offer. As always with a city break, I like to start with a hop on hop off bus, to explore the city but also to learn of places of interest and to get my bearings. This bus tour not only takes you around the interesting sites of Belfast, but also shows you the murals together with great and at times cheeky commentary from the bus drivers! We booked the full Titanic experience that was on offer, the museum, discovery walking tour and a visit to SS Nomadic, a tender used to the Titanic and the last remaining White Star Line Ship, this combination tickets really brings together how important the building of the Titanic was for Belfast. We also did a free tour of Belfast City Hall, a magnificent building in the heart of the city, the tour showed where their Parliament is held as well as many interesting facts. A must if you would like to hear all about the history of Belfast. I can also recommend the food at the Titanic Hotel, and we also enjoyed an afternoon tea at the Europa Hotel. All in all, a very enjoyable though short weekend (2 nights) in Belfast, but did we get to see all we wanted to see, yes, we did, it needed some planning, but it still didn’t feel rushed. With good transport links, hospitality, food and history definitely a place I would recommend for a short city break.

22 August 2022

Communication has to the be the biggest service I provided my clients during these uncertain times. I may not always have had an update, but I always stayed in touch to keep them fully informed at all times. I was there to answer the phone day or night with any queries or questions they had and if I didn’t have the answer, I would ensure I would come back to them as soon as I could with the most accurate information available at the time. With the ever-changing rules and regulations around testing and entry requirements, I was on hand to guide my clients through all the changes. Ensuring they had as much information as possible at the time to make an informed decision about travelling and advising them of all their options if they couldn’t or didn’t want to travel. It has certainly been a interesting few years for the Travel Industry but what I am noticing is people haven't lost their passion for Travel and exploring new places and experiences. Though there is caution with the right information and guidance Travel can once again become something we all look forward too. If you are thinking of planning a trip please do not hesitate to get in touch I would be more than happy to help.

29 May 2019

Having never cruised before (well except maybe one night across the North Sea or Channel Islands), I was excited and also apprehensive about our maiden voyage on MSC Bellissima. What initially amazed me about the ship was her size but also her beauty, she really is Beauty at Sea. There are 19 decks, though no Deck 17 apparently this number is bad luck in Italy. Keen to explore the ship, I dropped my hand luggage in our cabin – Balcony Deck 10 - no obstructive view, cabin was very spacious, comfortable and had everything we needed. Due to the size of the ship, you do need a map to work where everything is at first. Though they do have interactive screens all over the ship, which give you access to the ship maps and outline everything there is to do onboard. You are allocated a set dining time in one of the main restaurants (Lighthouse or Posidonia). We were assigned the Lighthouse. You can choose to have breakfast, lunch or dinner in the restaurant or at the marketplace buffet. We had dinner in the Lighthouse and Lunch in the Posidonia. Both of these were lovely three-course waiter service meals which we both thoroughly enjoyed. However, for the reminder of the cruise, we chose to eat in the marketplace buffet as we found this suited our tastes and timing of our holiday more. The buffet has a wide range of food ranging from pizzas & pastas, fish, meats and an ethic section, with fresh fruit and desserts every taste was catered for. Unfortunately, on the first night and for the next few days, we experienced rough seas on the Bay of Biscay, which is always talked about in many cruise forums and is really down to luck, I suppose. Due to the rough seas, we had to miss our first port of call La Coruna and carry on arriving in Lisbon a day early. This gave me more chance to explore and wandering around the ship, you do notice the sparkle and glamour from the sparkle staircases, the Champagne Bar to the Mediterranean-style promenade with LED Sky Screen, the MSC Bellissima really does sparkle. The staff are always helpful - nothing is too much trouble. I even tried the Casino, something I’ve never done before and a staff member was kind enough to spend time with us explaining how the machines worked, he must have been a good teacher as I came back a few nights and finally, I won on the last night! Not a small fortune but enough to feel like a win! I watched the shows each night, which you had to pre-book for, there was no charge for this, but this ensured everyone at least got to see the show once. Most shows had two or three different performance times. Each night was something different from mime artist, to a ventriloquist and dance acts. While in Lisbon, we even had a traditional folk show from local people who had been invited onboard to perform. We visited Lisbon for two days. First day, we did the City Sightseeing Bus a great way to see the city and the bus picks up right outside the Port Terminal. On the second day, we did the Lisbon by Tram Tour, organised by MSC - this for me was one of the highlights of my cruise. We were taken from the ship to one of the trams that was exclusive for MSC guests and treated to a drink of the local Port and also a custard tart, a local delicacy - it was very sweet not what I expected of a custard tart but very tasty, I could have eaten quite a few! We then had a tour of the city with a few stops for photos before going back to the Ship. I would highly recommend this tour. Our next port of call was Valencia, where we docked the port is about a 25-minute bus ride from the city centre and you can catch a shuttle bus from the ship provided by MSC for a charge. We decided to do the City Centre Bus Tour to try to see as much of Valencia in the short time we were there. Again, this was a good way to see the city. Our final port of call was Barcelona - our disembarkation port. We had arranged for a company to take our luggage to the airport for us as we had a late flight and wanted to explore the city. We took the port bus to the city centre, very reasonable at 4 euros each return and then did the City Sightseeing bus for a few hours – again, a great way to see the city but also handy as we obviously had our hand luggage with us with having a late flight home so we didn’t have to carry this around with us. I enjoyed the City Bus Tour and we both agreed Barcelona is a city we would like to return to in the future for a City Break to explore the City some more. So, did I enjoy my first every cruise? I have to say I did, it really does suit us as a couple as we like to explore various different places on our holiday and really also enjoy having entertainment in the evening wherever we stay. We enjoyed the ports we visited and have to say Lisbon was our favourite. I suppose the only thing we would change is we would probably fly next time to meet the cruise at a port rather than go over the Bay of Biscay – however, we could do the same cruise again and the weather could be completely different! So yes, I would cruise again, the question is ‘where to next?’.

24 February 2019

Our Honeymoon Gift Registry service allows your guests to give you the most memorable gift of all: your dream honeymoon tailor made down to the finest detail. An easy, stress-free way to manage your dream wedding and honeymoon online - courtesy of me, your personal Travel Counsellor. You may already have all the bed linen and towels you need, or you may have a perfect honeymoon in mind but need a helping hand making your dream trip a reality. Whether it’s the ultimate adventure trip, a romantic city break or a luxurious retreat to faraway shores, the Gift Registry means you can have the honeymoon you always wanted. Your unique Honeymoon Gift Registry webpage will be personalised with your photo and messages, allowing guests to log in easily and contribute towards your honeymoon. As part of this unique service, you can also purchase a Honeymoon Registry pack, which includes guest cards designed to send out with your wedding invitations, to let guests know how they can contribute to your dream honeymoon. The Honeymoon Registry pack also includes thank you cards and envelopes to let your guests know how much you appreciate their contribution.

24 October 2018

This was one of the places on my bucket list! We travelled for my partner’s 40th birthday. Having never been to New York I was determined to do all the sites of New York, with a few other things to. Having flown into JFK and catching an iconic yellow taxi to our hotel, we stayed at the Best Western Hospitality House Apartments. The bedroom with living space and kitchen very spacious all on a 12-floor block. Great if you want an apartment in New York which is centrally located and not a high-rise building. The hotel was on the next block to the famous Waldorf Astoria! One of the first things we did was a hop-on-hop-off sightseeing bus, the ticket lasted for 72 hours. There were three routes, plus a night tour. We did all three routes, two on the first day and one on the second and then used the bus to get around the city when needed. Unfortunately, we ran out of time to do the night tour. We did the Downtown Tour and Uptown Tour on the first day and the Brooklyn Tour on the second. Great way to see the city and get your bearings. I would also recommend a street map when visiting the city. It is very easy to move around the city on foot, once you know what street or avenue you are on. We of course took in a show on Broadway, The Lion King. An excellent show, we had pre-booked our tickets, however you can queue for tickets on the day of the show for a bargain. People start queuing hours before the box office opens in Times Square and depending if there is a matinee and evening performance depends on what time you can queue from. They only sell the matinee first. We had decided to pre-book our tickets with it being our first time to the city, so we could spend the time seeing the sights. We started our second day by visiting one of the most famous buildings in New York, the Empire State Building. We decided to go early to avoid the queues and again we had pre-booked our tickets. There are two levels you can visit the 86th floor and the 102nd floor. We decided to do the 86th floor. The weather unfortunately wasn’t that good the day we had decided to go and was misty, however this didn’t spoil the experience of visiting this iconic building. The staff did advise us the views weren’t fantastic and we could come back if we wanted too later when the weather was hopefully improving but we decided to do it anyway. We were not disappointed the views were still good and lots of room to walk around outside on the 86th Floor. You first visit the 80th floor which tells you about how the building was built, then you catch the lift to the 86th floor. The lift to the 80th floor takes about 45 seconds! We then decided to visit Ground Zero and pay our respects to this tragic event. We then did the third tour on the bus of Brooklyn. My partner wanted to go to an authentic steakhouse, so we chose on the recommendation of the hotel to visit the steak house just around the corner from our apartment, Smith & Wollensky. Although this is an expensive steakhouse it was a lovely meal and well worth visiting for a special occasion. An interesting fact about the restaurant is the owner decided on the name by picking two names randomly from a phone book! On our final full day, we had booked to go on a guided tour of the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. This was a five-hour tour with a guide, we went for the first tour of the day, starting at 8:30am to catch the 9am ferry. We can recommend going for the earlier tour, this is a very popular place to visit in New York and people were queuing to buy tickets for the Ferry very early, again because we had pre-booked our tickets we just had to meet our tour guide. We decided to use the subway to get to Battery Park, very quick and cheap way to travel around the city. A one-way trip for us was approximately $3.00 each. We really enjoyed this trip. Five hours sounds a long time to do a tour, however having the guide with us meant we got the best place on the boat to see the statue, all the interesting facts, and someone who would take pictures for you, meaning we could have some pictures together that weren’t just selfies or on our own! We had tickets to visit up to the Pedestal, up 197 steps (there is a lift if you would prefer) which gave us great views looking back to New York. You can book to visit up the Crown, but these tickets are very limited, and we had decided that this time we were happy just visiting up to the pedestal. The ferry then takes you to Ellis Island for a quick tour and then back to mainland. Our tour finished approximately 1pm meaning we had the rest of the afternoon to explore some more of New York. We visited Grand Central Station. Having a father who is interested in trains, this was one place I promised to visit for him. Very beautiful architecture. My partner really loves sport, so we had booked to see a basketball game, a friendly between The Nicks and Brooklyn Nets at Madison Square Gardens. This was a great experience and I would recommend seeing a sporting event if you can while visiting New York. On our final morning, we finally got around to do some shopping! We visited Macy’s department store at opening time, this was an experience as the doors open you are greeted by music and the staff all in line as you walk in dancing and clapping. Certainly, something I’ve never experienced in a department store! We then walked to Central Park and arranged a horse drawn carriage ride outside the famous Plaza Hotel around a part of Central Park. What a lovely way to finish our visit to the city so good they named it twice!

11 May 2018

Having visited the city for day trips before from neighbouring Eyemouth, I was looking forward to spending the weekend in Edinburgh. Having arrived by train, we checked into our B&B, a 20-minute walk from the centre. We began to explore the city, the weather was beautiful and we got to enjoy many of the green areas Edinburgh has to offer. Some of the museums are free to visit, with a suggested donation we visited four of these: Scottish National Gallery National Museum of Scotland Museum of Childhood The People's Story Museum The hop on hop off bus is a great way to see the city, we did the one with the live commentary which was very informative. One of my top tips would be to do the whole tour first before deciding where to get off and what you would like visit. Most tickets can be booked for 24/48 hours use. No trip to Edinburgh would be complete without visiting the castle with fantastic views over the city. Don't forget about the 1pm gun salute! Every day except Sundays! We also visited the Edinburgh Playhouse to see a show, a great way to see a West End Show outside of London. We watched Kay Mellor's Fat Friends, an entertaining and funny show. We did the pre-theatre meal at the Theatre's own bistro. Well worth a visit. There are loads more attractions to visit in Edinburgh including The Palace of Holyroodhouse, Royal Yacht Britannia and Museum of Edinburgh to name a few. We just ran out of time on this occasion, but we will be going back as there is so much to explore. All in all, an enjoyable weekend away in one of our beautiful cities.

27 October 2017

This was a holiday for my mum and dad’s retirement. They did the California Coast by car for three weeks starting in San Francisco and finishing in Las Vegas and my sister and I joined them for the final week. We did three days in Los Angeles, and four days in Las Vegas. Los Angeles We stayed at The Garland Hotel in North Hollywood which offers a free shuttle to the metro station for easy access to Hollywood. When getting off the metro I was so overwhelmed that I was in Hollywood that I accidentally stood over one of the grates which leads to the underground, where I did my best impression of Marylin Monroe in my skirt! If you are going to do this, where better than Hollywood? The hop on hop off tour bus is a great way to see the city. Not only did we get to see all the sights, but some of the highlights were the famous Rodeo Drive and hotel featured in one of my favourite films - Pretty Woman. We also saw the Hollywood Sign from a distance and we chose to do the longest route and went to Santa Monica Pier, well worth a visit. We dined at Cheesecake Factory where the food was delicious but, of course, we were all waiting for our pudding. The Cheesecake slices here are like doorsteps, so much so that two of us had to share one! We also visited the Warner Brothers Studios. This pre-booked tour takes you behind the scenes and shows you the sets, costumes, props and cars from the movies and TV. I even got to see the most famous coffee shop sofa (if you grew up the 90’s) - the Friends couch. I never thought I would see this! There is lots more to do in Los Angeles. Three days was plenty to see most of the city, but I do want to return to see many of the other wonderful things the city has to offer. I would like to have visited Disney and also Universal Studios. We then drove to Las Vegas. The scenery is stunning and there are plenty of places to stop for a break. Las Vegas We stayed at the Planet Hollywood Hotel which is in the middle of the Strip and features 1.2 miles of shopping called the Miracle Mile. There was one main reason for us as a family to visit Las Vegas - we wanted to visit the Grand Canyon. I did a helicopter ride over the Grand Canyon with my dad. We were picked up from our hotel by a limousine and taken to a small airport from where we took off to the Grand Canyon. We were lucky enough to have the front seats on the way out. It was breath taking and it didn’t really feel like you were that high up. We then landed in the Grand Canyon to take photos and have a champagne picnic. What a fantastic location to have a picnic! We then flew back over the Las Vegas Strip on the way back to airport, finally returning to the hotel in the limousine. All the transport was shared but this didn’t spoil the experience. If you were to do one thing in Las Vegas, this is the one I would recommend. I also went horseback trekking with my sister. We were picked up at our hotel and taken out of town to a ranch where we were kitted out with everything we needed and introduced to our horses. We then went on about an hour’s trek through the wilderness of the rocky landscape with the sun setting, a great adventure. We were then treated to a scrumptious barbecue and marshmallows around a camp fire before returning to the hotel. All in all, a fantastic seven nights and I am looking forward to going back to explore further, especially Los Angeles.

27 October 2017

One of my favourite places to visit is Menorca. Having visited the island five times, I am planning to go back in the not too distant future. Menorca is the smallest of the Balearic Islands, but has plenty to do. I have visited in May, June and September and twice in August and I have enjoyed a week and also a fortnight there. I have experienced the north, south, east and west of the island, visiting Es Castell, Son Bou, Son Parc, Cala Galdana and Cala’n Forcat. Each area was as beautiful as the next, however my favourite so far is Cala Galdana for its beautiful curved beach. Having stayed in hotels, self-catering and a villa, I especially loved staying at the villa in Son Bou, having the private pool and being able to eat out at the local restaurants. Son Bou has the longest stretch of beach on the island. I have visited the capital Mahon which I would recommend going to on market day as I love visiting the markets when on holiday, having a stroll around and seeing what great souvenirs and bargains I can buy for myself, my friends and family. One of the highlights was a boat trip on Mahon Harbour which was a fantastic way to see the port of Mahon and learn about the history. Mahon Harbour is one of the largest natural harbours in the world. Having the underwater viewing area on the boat was a real treat, a great way to see the sea life without getting wet! I would definitely recommend a visit to the Caves of Xoroi with its bar and disco set inside a natural cave. It is open in the day for visitors as a bar and turns to a disco at night. Lots of walkways and steps but the views of the Mediterranean are well worth the walk. Hiring a car is one of the best ways to see the island and all the little coves and beaches that the locals go to. The island is one main road across the middle with roads leading off to whichever area you would like to visit. They are well signposted, and I have driven in Menorca and would do again. I can however recommend booking your car hire before you go as it can be limited to hire at peak season on the island, though they will try to do their best to accommodate you. We couldn’t hire a car for the two weeks we were there but we able to have a car for a few days so we could go and explore the island. With it taking about 1 to 1.5 hours to drive across the island, it meant we still got to see plenty and visited a few of the coves the locals go to. However, I do have one love above all about Menorca and this is their Menorcan sandals! I bought my first pair back in 2000 when I first visited the island, which cost me £10 at the time and I finally had to say goodbye to them 11 years later. The best £10 I ever spent on sandals! Since then I have bought many pairs and I think this year was the first time I came home without buying a pair (only because of the space!) I find that Mahon is the best place to buy these though this is personal opinion. With some trips you can visit the factories to purchase the sandals.