Travel Department Reviews

We had an exciting and eventful holiday. The group was very good, everybody chatted with each other. That added to the experience. We found Prague to be outstanding. The hotel was exquisite and the transport system was brilliant. We had very good guided tours with Libby. She gave us great insight and historical background. The Prague walking tour and the excursion to Sternbeck Castle were very good. We were directed to the Jewish quarter and immersed ourselves there. It was a unique experience. Our free day was an adventure going on the tram up to the castle and seeing the cathedral and palaces from inside. Prague had so much to offer. The blue skies were a big bonus. Our way to Vienna was interesting. The hotel there was not so much. It was like being in a carpentry workshop at first. The rooms were minimalist compact as was the breakfast. Laslo and Christina made up for it with a guided city tour. An optional classical concert was a delight. On our way to Budapest we stopped in a town called Györ which gave us a taste of Hungary. In Budapest we had a brilliant hotel. Our room was excellent, with views over the square. Lazlo gave us a guided tour by bus that was laced with lots of humour. We saw beautiful castles, churches and other landmarks. We visited the impressive market. We were motivated to discover more of this beautiful city at the Danube. We did our own walking tours to Buda Castle and over bridges and squares. The hotel was in a great location for that. The tram and bus stop was just outside. We enjoyed the boat ride on the Danube so much under the blue sky. The Strudelhaus to which Lazlo brought us was a positive experience. There would have been so much more to explore. Lazlo made sure we got to the airport in time and checked in. He gave us an Irish blessing. We enjoyed the holiday so much, the group was exceptional. Thank you! Philip and Andrea Connolly

Arrangements were excellent. Hotel room was small but modern and clean. Hotel staff excellent. Hotel very central. Very good guide. Only negative was there was a bit of confusion about return boarding passes. It turned out that neither printed or mobile boarding passes were needed ; every one had to queue and got checked in on production of passport. Question for Aer Lingus . Why restrict SIZE of checked in 10k bag. 10k is 10k!

Memorable tour. Our guide, Anurag, was passionate about India & its people, friendly, knowledgeable, helpful, understanding of group needs. A true servant leader. Everything was very smooth, excellent hotels, great bus driver, good group interaction, smooth protocols for site visits. Visit will last long in the mind and heart.

All aspects of our break were exceptional particularly the services of our ‘host’ who was the star of the show. Roberto certainly made it a city break to remember. The lack of communication between Aer lingus and the Travel Department seemed evident but the task of repatriation of stranded holiday makers following flight cancellation, I feel, rests with the former although the later should make improved attempts to keep those affected updated. I do not possess a smart phone therefore was forced to rely on information from other travellers and rumour control. One criticism is the difficulty of initially locating the host amongst a plethera of other reps. A skinny pennant on a 3ft stick is not good enough at a crowded dock or airport even if backed up by a cardboard placard. ( could you find one man / woman in a packed Trafalgar Square?). In all, we would use TD in the future but think, given the circumstances of the recent cancelled flight from Rome, that should that, or similar incident re-occur, it should be prepared to put more weight its name.

The hotel is not located in Albufeira or Vilamoura as advertised!!!

Very well organised, Tour Guide Carol, was excellent. All collections and drop offs were very punctual, coach drivers excellent also. Hotel Bazzoni very good, very clean, great staff. We booked an upgraded room, which was very nice, apparently some standard rooms were very small. All trips very well arranged. We did find some of the coach journeys very long, although very comfortable.

This was our third time to use Travel Department, first time being Vietnam in 2019, Cuba in 2023 and now China in September 24. All trips and guides have been top class. The hotels in China were beautiful with a super choice of food. The planned excursions were handled with the expertise of a grand master. That master was our guide Jack, who I can only say went above, beyond and back again in the daily care of his group. I felt the group was a little large at 36 people, with a couple being more senior and having difficulty walking distances and needing extra assistance. Jack was however well experienced in handling a large group and ensuring nobody got lost. He looked after the wellbeing of everyone in his care. His knowledge of the country and history was fascinating making this trip so memorable and one to talk about. The reason I did not rate 5 stars is due to fact that I felt group was little big causing some delays. Also we had experienced with previous trips that we were not seated together on the long flights. This was solved in the airports where flights were not full but in the case of China the flights were fully booked so you were relying of the goodwill of someone else swopping a seat. I had expressly requested when booking that we were seated together but again it did not happen for any of the long haul flights. I feel that if you booked with Travel Department as a couple, you should be seated together and this is something that Travel Department needs to resolve. We were not the only couple of the group who were not seated together. Aside from the issues above, we would absolutely recommend The Travel Department as a company and I have done so on many occasion.

We had a great boat trip on Lake Garda. We were met at the airport by our escort. Our guide Annalese was always on hand for advice. The most important part of any trip with Travel Dept. is the guide. Without the guide we would miss out on places/ things of interest.

Our trip to Montenegro was well organised from collection at the airport to the various tours and general information of the area The accommodation was excellent including the food and access to the beach We could certainly recommend this trip

The organisation of the holiday from the Irish side was very professional. Carlos, our guide was witty, friendly, very knowledgeable and approachable leafing up a good experience abroad. The inclusive meals are of a very high standard.

I thought that both our tour guide, David and our driver, Trinity did an outstanding job of looking after us and giving us recommendations of where to eat and places to Visit in whatever city we were in.

The experience of acquiring holiday information over the phone with Malcolm in the Arnott's office was brilliant. He was kind, patient, informative and extremely pleasant. We physically went into the Dublin outlet to book with Zack who was absolutely lovely to deal with. We thoroughly enjoyed our Sorrento/Amalfi coast trip and our guide Vincenzo could not have been nicer. The local guide, Pasquale, was a pleasure too. I would suggest it would be a good idea to have a makeshift booth in Naples Airport, rather than a not very large hand made sign, as, with the huge volume of people milling around, it would be clever for people to know where to assemble and perhaps then not have the mad rush for the coach as it is so easy to lose sight of the group. It might be an idea to get back to the airport a little earlier on the return journey as, again, the sheer volume of people at the airport creates quite a bit of confusion.

Just back from another fabulous trip, this time 'Little Trains of the Pyrenese ' Everything went like clockwork and we visited the most interesting places. Our Guide Margaret was exceptional. Friendly, great fun and really interesting. She has a wealth of knowledge about the region.

Venice, Slovenia and Croatia Overall, this was a very good tour . Guided tour in Venice was excellent. Slovenia is a beautiful country and the places visited were both interesting and had lovely scenery. The coastal towns visited in Croatia were also very pleasant places to visit. Accommodation was comfortable. The standard of the food provided was very good in Lido De Jesolo and Porec but was below standard in the Kompass Hotel where it should be noted that we were sent over to the adjoining Ramada Hotel for meals due to the numbers staying in the Kompass. This was less than ideal particularly in a rain and wind storm on the first evening. Overall, the tour director, driver and local guides were very good.

Every facet of a perfect holiday was taken care of by the Travel Department. Beautiful hotel beside the sea, with wonderful authentic food. Great guide, who looked after our every need and shared the history and culture of every place we visited. Incredible, interesting places ŵere chosen to make our holiday perfect.

What an amazing holiday... Absolutely fabulous trip. We had an exceptional guide by the name of Jeremy Poole. The amount of interesting knowledge that he shared with us was outstanding. Our driver Laurence was probably the nicest guy you could meet. A very witty lad indeed and we were very sad to part company with him in the latter stage of the holiday. This is without doubt the most incredible holiday experience and we would highly highly recommend it to one and all.

Everything… the guide was excellent Anu was not only informative but kept an eye on us so we felt safe and confident. The accommodation was excellent, clean, food had options so we had variety and facility’s were great. A very enjoyable group of fellow travellers too!!! India is a beautiful colourful country!

Organisation;plus guaranteeing njoyment just magic,A big thank u to TD

Travelling from Cork is so much more convenient for those who live in the Munster area. The choice of Nerja provided a scenic and interesting location. Our guide Claire spoke enthusiastically about the area and history. The excursions and free time provided a great balance for personal exploration.

We have just returned from the Undiscovered Italy - highlights of puglia tour and had the most amazing time. We were met on arrival by our wonderful tour guide Alex who was with us for the full week. We went to some bucket list destinations and the tour guides at each of these destinations were very knowledgeable and provided really enjoyable tours. This was my first holiday with the travel department and will happily recommend the company and this tour to people. Everything is so well organised.