Travel Department

Negative experience: Disappointing Experience with Click and Go I would not recommend Click and Go based on my recent experience booking a holiday to Portugal for myself and a couple. Initially, I booked flights and a hotel, but I was later informed that the single room I had selected was no longer available. I was then required to pay extra for a different room, even though this issue was completely out of my control. I don’t believe I should have had to cover that extra cost. I was also told that adding a checked bag would cost €60 and that I could book it later. However, when I went to add the bag a few weeks later, the price had increased to €100 — a frustrating and unexpected extra charge. When we arrived, we discovered that the hotel had not been informed to place our rooms near each other. One room was on the ground floor, the other on the 4th. Thankfully, the hotel staff were helpful and managed to change this for us — not thanks to Click and Go. To make things worse, I had booked a tour for three people, but when we arrived at the meeting point, only one person had been booked. The tour was fully booked, so the other two were left out. We had to find and pay for a different tour ourselves at a higher cost. Throughout the entire process, I found myself constantly having to call Click and Go for updates and clarifications. It felt like the only thing they were efficient at was taking more money from us. Overall, it was a stressful and disappointing experience.

Fantastic experience: My partner and I are just returned from Lake Como yesterday with the Travel department. We stayed in their 4 star hotel called Grand Hotel and we could highly recommend this hotel. The hotel is spotless and the staff are extremely friendly and helpful, nothing was too much trouble. Our guide was called Carol from the Uk who was extremely efficient but also very knowledgeable about the places she brought us to and to top it all she was witty and funny. There was a lovely mix of different people on the trip but mainly over 55 age group. We did the Cannes south of France last year with the travel department and it was also a lovely holiday. I would highly recommend the Travel Department. The description of the trip is true to their word.

Fantastic experience: We are just back from a wonderful week in Sorrento and the Amalfi Coast and enjoyed it from start to finish. The agenda was well balanced with day trips to Capri and Pompeii and still enjoy time to relax and enjoy beautiful Italy. The group we were with were great fun and we enjoyed our time with them immensely. This is our third holiday with The Travel Department having done a sea cruise and a river cruise previously. Each one was different, but importantly we visited places we wouldn't have without a guide and we had great fun with our fellow tourists.

Fantastic experience: Vietnam We travelled to Vietnam with the Travel Department recently and it was fantastic. We would highly recommend. The hotels, food and excursions were of a high standard. It was a busy itinerary, but worth it and we had time for down time too. Our guide Chung (Jimmy) really made the trip for us, he went over and beyond for us. He had a vast range of knowledge which he shared with us about the history and culture of Vietnam. He made the trip fun and interesting and we thoroughly enjoyed our trip because of this. We would definitely use the Travel Department again, this trip has really set the bar high and hopefully our next guide will be like Chung (Jimmy).

Fantastic experience: Myself and my wife chose Vietnam for our honeymoon and decided to travel with the Travel Dept.From start to finish everything was very smooth and everything organised very well.the whole trip oozed fluidity and worked very well.Out tour guide Jimmy made our trip.he was so friendly,informative and his communication to everyone was second to none.He was funny and genuinely cared that everyone was looked after.Thanks so much Jimmy(Chung)

Negative experience: 5 star price for 1 service The facts speak it self Summary of Issues with Travel Department 1.I Booked 3 night holiday in Portugal on black Friday for € 586 a night in April all online with the traveldeptarment 2.Received an unsigned email on January 31, 2025, informing him that my holiday was cancelled due to low booking numbers. 7 days after full payment was made on January 24, 2025. 3.The holiday should have been cancelled before the final payment, with the deposit refunded. 4.If not, the full payment should have been refunded immediately upon cancellation on January 31, 2025. 5.Not after 7 days of un answered emails and then after over 20 emails 6 On February 14, 2025 I was finally informed it take another 7 days to refund the money back onto my card 7.The Travel Department’s terms stated that if I had cancelled after full payment, I would have lost 80-100% of my money. 8.This must be standard operating procedure for the travel department as these ware all managers MS Sales & Customer Centre Manager, Ms Customer Services/Health & Safety Manager, and Ms Product and Operations Director who also are Ms Customer complaints managers Hopefully the CCPC can look into this and put a stop to this kind of practice

Fantastic experience: Review of Highlights of Montenegro Trip. All pick ups punctual. Our Guide throughout DaDa excellent. Organised,pleasant,funny & shared lots of I formation. Our driver Mischa so pleasant. Both stayed calm when we got stuck on Serpentine hill for an hour due to a crash on the road. Our Guide Isult I think in Albania excellent. Lots of interesting information shared. Managed the large group of 47 really well. The hotel was clean,lots of pools,places to relax. Nice walk along the promenade in both directions- to Budva or Stevie Stephen. Location for public bus very convient. Schedule of tours well paced and most days back by 3pm so still lots of time to relax by the pool. The hotel also had a schedule of activities which you could join and there was a variety of entertainment each evening. So all good

Fantastic experience: Great selection and friendly service.

Fantastic experience: Thank you for a trip of a life time to Frascati Roma in June 2024 - want to highly recommend Roberto who was our guide for 7 days. He was flexible, and took us to places we never would have gone to. Roberto you helped us rock some of our bucket list items off AND some - this company delivered on everything they promised - from Dublin to Italy (and we flew from NZ) we will use this company again - cannot fault anything - but highlight “Roberto” our guide ❤️❤️❤️ Michelle and Sinead from New Zealand xxx

Fantastic experience: My first "Solo Group Tour" to South Africa. Our tour guide Angie David was excellent. She did so much to make us comfortable and make sure we would see all we could, and experience a wonderful time. She went above our expectation and I highly recommend her. It was a great experience.

Fantastic experience: Recent Trip to Vietnam with the Travel Department I just wanted to email you to let you know that the trip to Vietnam was absolutely fantastic! A wonderful country. The trip was made so enjoyable by our wonderful tour guide Chung. He was absolutely fantastic and his knowledge about each area visited was more than impressive. His good humor and wit was second to none and he made everyday fun and memorable. He was also extremely helpful and took a personal interest in everyone on the tour. Please pass my heartfelt thanks onto him for a fantastic and enjoyable trip. Kind Regards, Martina

Negative experience: Dreadful experience with this company.sent to a terrible hotel food inedible can not recommend this travel company please make sure if you book that you have everything in print as our flight times were even changed never ever before has this happened to us but they seem to think this is normal.

Positive experience: Recently had to return early due to health issues while on an eight day trip to the Baltic States.Our guide for the trip Mindagus couldn't have been more kind or helpful to me in sorting my return journey etc.Also for the time I was there it was an excellent and fascinating trip and Mindagus was a truly excellent guide.Would recommend this trip and pG I will get to do it again in full.Fil Keane Mcgrath.

Positive experience: Came home yesterday from a week in Lake Garda with a great guide called Renata. She was an amazing, patient and friendly guide. By the way, our driver, Mario, was also very good, and we all felt safe with him. The trip was filled with excellent trips and we all had a terrific holiday!! My fellow travelers were terrific, friendly, helpful and full of fun. Really enjoyed the experience

Positive experience: A great holiday in March/April to Vietnam. From Hanoi to Saigon. A very good Guide with Extensive Knowledge & very helpful to our group.

Fantastic experience: Booked an escorted holiday to italy here for July for our 30th wedding anniversary.traveled with them before.

Fantastic experience: Our visit to Ancient Turkey was excellent and everything was managed magnificently by our guide Murat. The coach was very comfortable and spotless, our driver cleaned the coach every day and had bottles of water on hand for everyone who needed them. The trip was far beyond our expectations. The site trips and transfers were excellently managed. We were blessed to have had Murat as our guide. His warm personality and the exceptional knowledge of his country's history and the manner he presented the information on each site made the visits memorable. The care our guide Murat took to ensure each of us in the group got as much as possible from the sites visited was exceptional. His enthusiasm united the group making the holiday one of our most memorable group experiences. Spurred on by the experience, especially from the knowledge and enthusiasm passed on by Murat, we will be looking more into improving our knowledge of Ancient Turkey. We thank all involved in preparing and managing the tour to Istanbul & Ancient Turkey and pass on our heartfelt thanks and best wishes to Murat.

Fantastic experience: We recently returned from your Egypt - Nile River Cruise including Cairo & Hurghada trip. It was our best trip ever. And our first time using your company. The tour components and implementation were excellent. Our tour friends all remarked how happy they were with the trip. Egypt is a challenging destination to get right what with its unparalleled history and archaeological remains and the administration requirements on each days itinerary even with unexpected requests for extra activities. Here we would particularly like to mention the archaeologist Mina Mahrous who was the tour leader. He was very informative, knowledgeable, competent and very helpful. However, for Egypt with its unparalleled history and archaeology he was outstanding and the secret ingredient in our engagement with Egypt and its history. He was the best tour leader we came across and reflects very well on the quality of the Travel Department's work. Even when we visited a papyrus shop we learned how papyrus was made and a natural oil shop we learned about natural oils. No tour exists without the odd hiccup: change of weather, unexpected administration requirements, etc. However, this trip beats them all. We will tell all our friends about your Egypt trip and your tour guide Mina. And we would love to return to that beautiful land. Thank you.

Fantastic experience: My first time with this company, I chose the holiday purely on price, so did not expect the 5 star treatment that we did receive. The updates and contact with the company was regular and made me feel assured. All the arrangements went smoothly. The tour leader was so kind and thoughtful and made all our excursions fun and interesting, as did the rest of the 'passengers' . A great bunch of people. I will certainly use them for future excursions.

Fantastic experience: 5- STars! My wife and I travelled with Travel Department on the Beijing and the Great Wall trip to China. We had an amazing experience which was topped off by our fantastic guide Denis and also all our fellow travellers, it was a really nice sociable atmosphere and we met some really lovely people. The Travel Department team were great with reassuring us before we travelled and organising our visas. WE’d have no hesitation in recommending them again and have now booked another holiday for next year

Fantastic experience: Have just returned from a fabulous week in Lake Garda. The Hotel was lovely, fantastic food with lots of choice and very friendly staff, good location and quiet pool area. Riva del Garda is a lovely little town with beautiful lake side walks and squares with lots of shops, bars and restaurants. Our guides throughtout the week were excellent, especially Martin who prvided us with clear instructions, lots of interesting information about the region's history, agriculture and culture and kept us safe in bustling Venice and Verona while showing us the sights. It was a holiday free from stress, nothing to worry except enjoying the superb scenery and deciding whether to have another beer or procecco before dinner. This is our second holiday with Travel Department, our trip to Tuscany last year was just as good, we'll definately be travelling with them again.

Fantastic experience: Amazing. Just back from solo holiday in India. Can't speak highly enough about it. Great value, top class hotels, terrific guide. Great sights taj mahal, Gandhi's resting place. Can't wait to book another trip.

Fantastic experience: We have just returned from our trip to the Moon Valley Hotel in in Seiano near Sorrento and can't agree more with the other reviewer about Hugo (pronounced Ugo), our guide. His organisation of our day trip to Capri was impeccable. We could never have packed in so much if travelling independently and considering it was included in the holiday price was brilliant value for money. This is the second holiday we have had with Travel Department traveling from Edinburgh. Last year we went to Lake Garda and stayed at the Hotel Grand Liberte where we also had an excellent guide. In both cases the hotel were slightly faded but very clean and comfortable with lovely staff. The half board meals were quite simple but tasty and more than enough to eat. We upgraded our room to a sea view at the Moon Valley as we had seen recommended on Tripadvisor and it was well worth it to wake up to a beautiful view to Vesuvius across the Bay of Naples. The swimming pools here were lovely and never too busy despite being there at an Italian bank holiday. In fact it added to the Italian experience to be in a hotel with Italians on holiday. On both holidays the other guests from Ireland and Scotland were very friendly and a mixture of ages. We particularly like this company as there is no single supplement so our 15 year old son can have his own room at no extra cost. There were quite a few solo travellers on both trips and it was lovely to see how they were welcomed in to the group by the others. I think Travel Department provide excellent value for money and would not hesitate to recommend them.

Fantastic experience: A group of friends went to maderia on Sep 8th had a great holiday very well organised Roberto was a excellent guide thank you

Fantastic experience: I was in lake garda for a weeks holidays and the tour guide was excellent her name was Renate she had a few deaf ladies on the trip she was great with them I a have been on lots of holidays and she was the best tour guide I have had she was so helpful to everyone lake garda was lovely I will be going back hope I get Renate again well done to her she does a great job patricia

Fantastic experience: My wife and I booked a holiday in June 2016 in Sorrento, Amalfi Coast in Italy. I have had holidays in America, North Africa, Spain and France but this was by far the most beautiful place I have ever visited. We were initially disappointed in the accommodation we were given - it was an Annex in which we had to climb stairs as part of the Moon Valley hotel. Anyone booking should ensure they are in the actual hotel and preferably with a sea view. It would also have been nice to have had tea in our room but there was a communal tea area close to hotel reception which was ok. There is a fabulous swimming pool at the hotel and all other service were excellent. The location(Selina) is out of the way with virtually no shops etc close by but there is a train stop a short distance down the road with easy access to Sorrento in one direction and Naples the other. The Travel Department engaged two of the best guides you could imagine - Ugo and Sasa. We went on trips to all the places outlined in the brochure but for me the highlights were Capri and the Amalfi Coast. We went on a boat trip right around the isle of Capri and a further boat trip along the Amalfi Coast and the beauty of the Amalfi Coast takes your breath away. Make sure that if you go on this holiday that you take good walking shoes particularly if you are planning to do the Vesuvius climb which is an optional trip you can take. The Travel Department have put together a fabulous holiday that I think most people with really love.

Fantastic experience: Absolutely Fabulous from start to finish. A stunning amazing country and we got to see so much thanks to TD active and the amazing itinerary!! Everything ran so smoothly. The hotels were all lovely, well located, spotlessly clean with nice fresh breakfasts included. Moon & Quon greatly added to the experience, they were so friendly, knowledgeable and passionate and went above & beyond to make it a super experience!! From the time we met Moon in Hanoi she just set the tone for the whole trip. Thank You:) Great value for money!! It was a trip that just kept on giving!! Highly recommend this trip to Vietnam and Travel Department.

Fantastic experience: We had an amazing trip two week to Kerala and Goa in southern India. We saw: * Traditional dance * Cookery classes * Tea plantations * Pineapple/ coco bean/ coconut plantations * Spent the night on a delightful house boat * Three days on a white, sandy beach in Goa * and lots more. Our guide Cleetus was historian, botanist, economist, wild life expert, culture guide. A terrific combination. Thank you to all. Iseult and Des

Fantastic experience: The escorted trip with Travel Department was excellent. It was extremely safe and their tour guide in designated countries are very friendly caring and kind and helpful. The trip I did with travel department is far the best trip. It was fully guided, everything was recommend by the tour guide everything was dropped and collected off no worries of missing anything or getting lost. You went to the best shops/places because of the tour guide advise - the culture was advise from their perspective - absolutely amazing trip because of the service offered by the travel department was very good for the price and their support was great. Thank you guys 5 star review for the trip and service. Highly recommended for someone looking their next trip.

Fantastic experience: Many holidays with the Travel department all top class. Always great guides and friendly atmosphere. Going again in April.

Fantastic experience: Been using them for years great value no hassle holidays

Fantastic experience: I just got back from a trip to Tuscany Florence Pisa. I just want to compliment The Travel Department for this wonderful trip. Hotel staff were so lovely, Food was fantastic. Claudia our tour guide was exceptionally nice, She was so accomadating to all the group. Trips were amazing, I met the most amazing people. Ive just booked my next trip to this amazing country.

Fantastic experience: Brilliant staff, very helpful throughout the process, including the cancellation process due to illness. Will definitely be rebooting when I'm recovered.

Fantastic experience: Really lovely holiday....the hotel had a dining room terrace with spectacular views. The tours were very good especially the tour to St Moritz, Switzerland. Our guide Carol was excellent...she knew exactly where to eat, shop and visit so we didn't waste our time wandering around. Looking forward to the 2024 summer brochure.

Positive experience: Love the Travel dept, so we'll organised and great guides. However this trip to Italy in July was a little disappointing. Hotel the Grand Hotel, Moon Valley was still as lovely as always, with great staff, however for those solo travellers it wasn't great to me. On our last tour they had been included at a large table every night for dinner, never left on their own and we all got to know each other and enjoy everyone, but this time they were seated separately on their own. My daughter and I weren't sure if this was what they wanted and only discovered in fact they would have loved company and felt very isolated. Which was a terrible shame, I did mention this and the fact we didn't complete things we were told we would be doing and had two very big tours all in one day which was much too much in the heat of that day. So whole I works still recommend the Travel Dept, I would say don't go in July, too hot, much too busy in tourist areas. May ir early June ir September for Italy and if you are a solo traveller ask how evening meals etc will be organised.

Negative experience: They kept a 200 EUR deposit even though they told me that I could cancel with no charge within 2 weeks of booking

Fantastic experience: Great value holidays. An Irish company who know what we want

Fantastic experience: Very efficient.

Negative experience: Lake Maggiore with Travel Dept As regular visitors to Italy - 15 times since 2000 - we have never before had a reason to complain. This year, decided to book with TD. Never again. Positives first: knowledgeable guide; hotel very central (Baveno); dining room staff very friendly and helpful. Negatives: Breakfast and dinners were very disappointing EVERY night - we were told choice of 4 starters and 4 mains. Reality was a very limited 3, plus very poor quality. Neither of us are fussy eaters, but couldn't eat some of the dishes. Breakfast offered 2 bowls of tinned fruit (Italy!), juice from a machine that was so diluted that nobody drank from it, choice of one pastry most mornings, cheap cold meats- all round budget-priced food for what was far from a budget-priced trip. Emailed company as there were many complaints every night..response was they would inform the rep who would deal with it. Nothing happened, she didn't even refer to it. Another party in the hotel had a different, much more extensive menu for both meals, and what looked like much better quality food altogether. Sorry, Travel Department, you've lost us. Don't expect to get away with supplying budget-priced food at far from budget-priced holidays. Date of experience: 18 June 2023

Fantastic experience: Great package holiday if you are interested in exploring different cultures trips are included. Good value for money.

Fantastic experience: I wish to thank Travel Department for our wonderful holiday to Lake Como. We enjoyed every moment of the holiday and will return. Our guide Carol was available at all times to assist and was a powerhouse of information with a great sense of humor. Carol always guided us in the right direction - restaurants, shopping and places to see. Bazzoni hotel was clean and a pleasant place to stay with good internet. We would like to thank staff at hotel who were always helpful and polite. We have one suggestion for Bazzoni to consider - the provision of a kettle in the rooms! All trips and our optional trips organised by Travel Department were fantastic and we enjoyed every aspect of our daily/trip adventures. Great value for money and highly recommendable. Thank you again to all the team.

Fantastic experience: If any person thinking about travelling to Hungary I would like to share with you a little gem where to stay I travelled to Hungary with the travel department in Ireland our base for the week was the village of vistagrad and the owner the wonderful tebor we arrived late on the Monday night but he had kept the dining room open for dinner and at check in we were greeted with champagne and unbelievabl hospitality which made us feel really at home and comfortable as if at home each morning we had a huge selection of cereal hot and cold and a selection of juice teas and coffee each day hiking we were supplied with a packed lunch by the hotel after day one we had to ask them to cut the lunch back as they were supplying us with too much food unusual in this day and age each day after hiking for the day we returned to hotel visegrad to have full use of pools inside and outside sauna and much more and dinner of high quality dishes as much as you wanted after a wonderful week of high class feel good hospitality it was time to leave and on to the bus we got for the journey to the airport leaving with a heavy heart as we were leaving a little bit of love behind and then as we were ready to go arrive tebor on the bus with a tray load of schnapps to say goodbye and words of wisdom Robert talked us through the airport process as we went to airport and everything seemed clear when we got to the airport I realised with horror I had left my passport at the hotel l went into panic mode I told the rep Robert what had happened he made a call back to hotel and yes the passport was there and the brilliant tebor was leaving his hotel and on his way to the airport with my passport I waited with bated breath outside the departure building for tebor he arrived in less than hour with passport in hand I offered him money for diesel but would not hear of it I can not recommend this hotel enough the staff and the owner it was a pleasure and thank you to everyone

Fantastic experience: It was our first time booking with Travel Department and it won’t be our last. We booked to go to Croatia and we weren’t disappointed. Our hotel was clean, food was nice, although a little boring after a week, but it was our guide Enis who made the trip. His knowledge of Croatia and the history of the place was second to none. He was funny, informative, organised and classy. Nothing was too much for him. He is an asset to have working for you. We will be back.

Fantastic experience: Fantastic trip to a south Africa made extra special by our wonderful your guide, Leon, who was so knowledgeable about his country and went out of his way to make it a trip to remember Kevin and Fran

Fantastic experience: I recently returned from an amazing holiday in Vietnam with the Travel Department . The whole experience was great and it was the Local guides who made it very special and memorable. Everything was well organised by Travel Department. Accomodation was excellent while the activities and tours were week researched and most enjoyable. It was the local Guides - Moon in Hanoi Tuan (Tommy) in Hoi An and Hue and Sam in Saigon that made the holiday special with their amazing knowledge, passion, good humour and friendliness. A special mention for Moon who was one of the best guides I have ever encountered in many years of travelling. Thank you everyone.

Positive experience: Just returned from a lovely but exhausting week in "Undiscovered Italy/Puglia" with a really tremendous group of people. I was travelling on my own and they made me feel most welcome and were always willing to include me for lunch etc. The Hotel Monte Sarago was very pleasant and the hotel staff were excellent. Unfortunately being based in Ostuni was not ideal as we had 3 leisure days and there was not enough to occupy us. Most days we seemed to have spent an awful lot of time in the bus. Consequently, on the day before we left, half the group did not go on the tour to Trani and Bari as it was 11/2 hours away and we were going to have to go back to Bari the next day to the airport. I was very disappointed that I missed the tour but couldnt face the trip 2 days in a row. Sharon Nicholson We did suggest changing Bari to the day we were departing but were told it was not possible. I am sure Bari would have been a better option for our base and would have made the holiday perfect. Or else perhaps we could have spent the last night in Bari and then we could have had a full day the next day exploring, as our flight was only at round 9 o'clock in the evening and was delayed for 11/2 hours! I took the opportunity to avail of the 2 extra tours to Matera and Polignano A Mare and I must say that I found them to be the highlight of the tour. Alberobello was where I was looking forward to visiting the most, but was very disappointed, as we weren`t given enough time there. Unfortunately, I did not find our guide Anna Maria very informative as she didnt offer any ideas on what to do on our leisure days, but the reception staff in the hotel were very helpful. Unfortunately travelling solo makes it pretty expensive and also there is no choice when you book to have the option of requesting a 20 kg bag. If you request it later, then it is 80 euro. Also, as we were only leaving Ostuni at 5.30 we were allowed to keep our rooms, but at a cost of 50 euro. I did notice other reviews where people also felt Ostuni was not the best base. Hopefully the Travel Department might take these suggestions on board. One very important request that I made, was to have assistance at the airport but for some reason my request was not noted. I felt that that was an important request which was overlooked. This was my 4th trip with The Travel Department and my first solo trip. I do hope to avail of more tours in the future.

Fantastic experience: The Travel Department and in particular their guide Chung in Vietnam were most excellent.

Fantastic experience: Great knowledgeable friendly staff!

Fantastic experience: Have travelled with travel department 4 times and we are always delighted with our experience from the booking to the airport drop off, everything is planned and arranged for you, fantastic value for money

Fantastic experience: I just wanted to say thank you to the Travel Department for making my first solo trip to South Africa a trip of a lifetime. I recently travelled from the 3rd of April to the 16th. I thoroughly enjoyed my experience and our guide Suzette ( Suzie) was exceptional. She was a wealth of knowledge and she ensured everything ran so smoothly. Lawrence, our bus driver was great, he ensured we got to all of our destinations safely. Due to high winds, we were unable to visit Featherbed Nature Reserve and we travelled instead to Knysna Elephant Park. It was an amazing experience, being so close to the Elephants. I would highly recommend including a visit to the Elephant Park to the itinerary before travelling to the Safari Reserve. I feel it really enhanced our experience at Kariega Game Reserve which was just incredible.Shout out to Wayne & Amber our two guides who were both excellent. All of our hotels were exceptional, however I would recommend an extra night stay in either Arniston/Knysna rather than Port Elizabeth. *If travelling to South Africa in April be prepared for all weathers & bring warm clothes*.

Fantastic experience: Just returned from 7 nights on a solo Lake Garda trip.. It was a lovely holiday Hotel Majestic was V Nice and spotless, staff were very attentive and friendly , room was v nice , lovely pool .... food very good, and our wonderful guide Renata did an excellent job and was so helpful over all I highly recommend this trip great group of People and weather was marvelous too...Will def go on another tour W this Company

Fantastic experience: Good to deal with for city break holiday!

Positive experience: Great trip to Tuscany, 3 days of tours, 3 days of free time which was just the right balance. Hotel was a little old fashioned but the food and staff more than made up for it. Laura our guide was brilliant, she did a cracking job of keeping our group together and was very knowledgeable. Would recommend this tour and Travel Department

Fantastic experience: Had a wonderful holiday at Lake Como. Milan and Bernina Express were the highlights. Hotel Bazzoni excellent. Pity wine in Bar was so small compered to Restaurant.

Fantastic experience: Travel Department escorted holidays are the ultimate in relaxation, because everything is taken care of for you. All you have to do is rock up and enjoy. My recent trip to Lake Garda, with day trips to Bolzano, Venice and Verona, with a half day wine-tasting excursion to the Pisoni organic vineyard in the Alps, was just wonderful from start to finish. It was made all the more special by our lovely, funny, informative and kind tour guide, Renata, who went above and beyond the call of duty to look after everyone in our group.

Fantastic experience: I’ve just returned from the Travel Department’s Highlights of Vietnam. It was such a well organised trip and we also had an excellent local guide, Chung, who not only had great knowledge and insight to impart but was also very happy to set up other trips outside the intinerary. His sense of fun was greatly appreciated too.

Fantastic experience: Christmas trip to the Algarve really enjoyable ! Very easy company to travel with good guide good hotel will repeat to another destination this December

Positive experience: Not enough tour's from cork airport.

Negative experience: Gave me incorrect information for my Iceland trip.

Fantastic experience: Just back from having the most wonderful time in South Africa. The holiday was amazing from start to finish. It was a busy holiday but made enjoyable by our tour guide Gertie - she was incredible! She looked after us from start to finish. She was incredibly well organised, knowledgeable, friendly, kind and had a great sense of humour! Our driver Louwrens was the perfect man for the trip. He is such a skilled driver and a very friendly and kind man. The highlight has to be the Safari, it was amazing! Lots of surprises and treats along the way! You must find out for yourself!!

Positive experience: All my holidays in the past were with the travel department. Would recommend them.

Fantastic experience: Just home from South Africa. Had a brilliant time in a beautiful country. Had a wonderful guide, Gertie and a brilliant bus driver Laurence. Gertie was so friendly, knowledgeable and organised. Safari was definitely the highlight of the trip. Very well organised trip by the Travel Department. Would highly recommend.

Fantastic experience: Traveled from Ireland to Italy with Travel Dept. A very special thank you to Adriano our travel guide in Italy who went above and beyond to locate my lost phone in Positano. Traveled there via scooter on his day off to pick up my lost phone and return it to me at my hotel in Seiano. You are one in a million Adriano and I hope the Travel Dept . realize what a gem they have in you. A special thank you to Saraccino souvenir shop in Positano who found my phone and went to the trouble of contacting my daughter.There are so many good honest people in the world . Thank you. Thank you. ☘️☘️

Fantastic experience: Hi, My name is Mary Hayes and Im almost ready to leave Lake Como after a beautiful holiday, staying in Hotel Cadinabbia. I enjoyed every minute of the week between visits to Carlotta Villa, Balbiniella Villa, and Bellagio . But the highlight for me was the long day today visiting the Swiss Alps and St Moritz. It was like Paradise, with the scenes of the snowcapped peaks, blue skies and looking down on the beautiful Swiss villages. I was v happy with Hotel Cadinabbia with its rooftop terrace and swimming pool and its wonderful food. Our experience at Dublin Airport last Wednesday was not good. We were standing in a queue for 'check in' which was totally unacceptable. The desks could have opened earlier and dealt with the crowd. We were told we could not do this online because it was a group booking. But some people we met here during the week did check in online. Our guide Olona did her best during the week but it wasnt easy to catch every word as her sentences faded away at the end. But she gave us a lot of information. Overall it was a great holiday and I would rate it at 4 . 5 out of 5.

Fantastic experience: Really enjoyed Chelsea Flower Show last week, Frances Mac Donald was an excellent guide, hotel great, thanks for a great experience.

Fantastic experience: We are just home from Italy with the travel Department. They were absolutely excellent. Everything was taken care of from start to finish. We had a wonderful tour guide Ilona who was excellent. All was fantastic. Our first time booking with them and it won't be our last.

Fantastic experience: Excellent service, very smooth guided trip in italy ,wonderful guide Renatta..

Fantastic experience: Experienced a tour of Tuscany in Italy back in 2019 before the world went mad. Our group had a great time. The guide was faultless and incredibly patient given all the different things thrown his way. Highly recommended

Fantastic experience: Probably the best travel company around

Negative experience: I recently returned from the four-day Iceland tour. The country itself is fabulous, with some of the most remarkable and pristine scenery you will ever see, accompanied by gorgeous food. Reykjavik itself is an elegant and walkable city loaded with expensive high-end designer shops and restaurants, which adds to the authenticity of the experience, I suppose. However, despite my enjoyment of the trip, there were minor niggling issues with how the guide conducted the tour. Fortunately, it did not detract from the experience. We spent day two on the bus visiting landmarks like the Icelandic president's residence and the pearl Observatory. Both sights are on the city's outskirts, so I understand why transport was necessary. When the guide proceeded to show us around the city centre on the bus, though, it felt unnecessary. Reykjavik is a small place, so it would have been better to have done a walking tour of the city centre. As spectacular as the Northern Lights was, the handling of it by the guide was chaotic. After being dropped off in a large viewing area, many fellow passengers walked down a path using their phones as torches since it was pitch dark. The guide gave us no assistance; I found and left us to fend for ourselves. What if someone fell and broke something? Where was the best viewing point to see them? Those were the types of questions he was not interested in assisting passengers with. Speaking of lack of direct communication, on arrival at Reykjavik airport for our flight home, there was no advance warning given over the abundance of self-check-in machines. Considering the number of older people on tour, it would have been helpful if the guide had been more forthcoming about it and offered help to anyone who needed it. I had to help other older women check-in; such was the lack of support given! There were positives. Skuggi Hotel's central location and generous breakfasts were ideal, making it a valuable base for exploring Reykjavik. During the Golden Circle tour, Andy, the guide, gave lots of helpful information about the Icelandic landscape and culture. Unfortunately, he did not provide the same kind of crystal clear practical communication to passengers who may have needed it most.

Negative experience: Customer service leaves a lot to be desired. Total disorganisation.

Fantastic experience: Love the experience

Positive experience: Short breaks poor value, 7 day trips generally excellent

Positive experience: We are Travel Department fans, having taken a number of Holidays with them.

Fantastic experience: Consistently good & reliable.

Fantastic experience: Always travel with them

Negative experience: Travel Departments Terms and Conditions are 'not fit for purpose' for a pandemic era. We had to cancel due to Omicron fears over Christmas. Our full payment was taken without providing any service, despite the fact the Travel Dept will get the use of our fully paid 2 x Aer Lingus flights for another TD customer trip later in 2022 (Aer Lingus terms allow this change) and TD will not pay the full amount to the unused hotel stay. We were a loyal customer of TD having travelled with them 5 times prior to this December. When we cancelled our trip at Christmas due to fears of being quarantined in Italy, we were offered no refund to our €2,200.00 holiday based on their terms and conditions, despite the fact that Travel Dept can re-schedule the Aer Lingus flights. To tie customers into full payment / non refundable T&Cs 10 weeks in advance of travel with no exceptions for 'exceptional' circumstances, is not realistic, and we certainly will never again get caught out like that. If we had booked the flights directly with Aer Lingus or Ryanair we would have had the option, up to 3 hours before a flight to change them. Most hotels allow a 48hr cancellation period, so again if we had booked directly, we could have cancelled the hotel. We can only believe the travel department took up the Aer Lingus policy of rescheduling our cancelled seats to a future flight, resulting in an increase in profit for the Travel Department in this case? Did the hotel manage to resell the hotel room we didn't use, in which case more profit for our expense for the Travel Department? A neighbour of ours was on the waiting list to go to the same holiday and they were never contacted by TD to see if they might want to take up our cancelled booking. A further indication of profit taking on our booking and keeping the flights and hotel payment values as extra profit.

Fantastic experience: Visited Serenity Cove on a very wet and dull day during a stay in Carlow and had an amazing experience. sun was shining through the rain on way back to hotel. Would drive back to Csrlow just to have another treatment there.

Positive experience: Beautiful, but bit dangerous with so many people just chatting in the middle of the road as if they were in their garden..

Fantastic experience: I done 3 trips with the travel department america Bulgaria and Canada

Fantastic experience: Can't say enough about the travel department. I've traveled with them on 5 different occasions. I'd recommend this place to holidaymakers every time. Thank God there is still a great travel agency the care about their clients.

Fantastic experience: Little gem of a restaurant with fantastic food, service & staff. Would very much recommend this restaurant.

Positive experience: Easy to deal with when phone queries arise

Negative experience: seems to be a pain in 'ar**' keeps phoning I've never had dealings with this company nor do I wish to

Positive experience: all travel arrangements are done for you

Fantastic experience: Great choice of holidays

Fantastic experience: Highly recommended

Negative experience: They are not interested in single customers

Negative experience: They charge €70pp for a check in bag on top of the advertised price! Sneaky

Fantastic experience: First time to use Travel Department and definitely wont be the last - Excellent experience overall staying in the Jupiter Algarve, contributed to in a particularly positive way by our guide Sonia Duarte. Anyone that travels to this location will be very luck to have Sonia as their assigned guide.

Fantastic experience: Efficient, friendly and value for money. Fantastic tour guide and hotel.

Fantastic experience: A wonderful trip to Egypt on the Nile Cruise including Cairo & Hurghada with The Travel Department. Dodi was a wonderful and knowlegbeable tour guide and I could not recommend the trip highly enough. It was wonderful to visit The Valley of the Kings, The Pyramids and the witness the beauty of the banks of the river Nile. The staff on board the MS Radamis 11 were welcoming and friendly........perhaps the only fault was that the ship itself could do with a refurbishment! Also the flights at both ends were during night hours leaving us feeling exhausted! The hotels in Cairo and Hurghada were fab! Highly recommended!

Positive experience: Wide range of holidays to suit everyone

Positive experience: It's not easy to find at the back of the store and had no brochures

Fantastic experience: Excellent tour operator.

Fantastic experience: Exceptional customer service. Superb choices and information.

Positive experience: Great half price menu on Mondays. Quality.

Negative experience: There attitude to my complaint about the tour guide was to relate to me the "service" arrangements, for the holiday. I know what should happen my complaint was that it didn't happen and their response was to say sorry she was one of their most experienced and long standing guides and not was out of character!!!!!!!

Positive experience: Great holidays. Friendly staff

Fantastic experience: Great holidays