GTI Travel - The Group Travel Specialists

Fantastic experience: Brilliant company, they went above and beyond my expectations. Thank you

Fantastic experience: I am just back from the Gallipoli Battlefields Tour with some friends and I have to think GTI for an amazing once in a lifetime experience. From start to finish the whole trip was so well organised, from the airport to the bus transfers, we stayed in lovely, clean and central accommodation, our guides were extremely knowledgeable and very friendly. As the trip was very personal to us we could not recommend GTI enough for organising such a memorable trip

Fantastic experience: Thanks to GTI for an amazing trip to Normandy for tour of D Day landings. Totally recommend this company. Special mention to the lovely Chloe. Also to our wonderful guide Peter. Hotel in Caen was lovely. Thanks so much. Will be booking with this company again.

Fantastic experience: We recently took part in GTI's WW2 Normandy Landing Beaches tour, 7-10 Sep. Absolutely fantastic experience! Highly recommend this tour to everyone!

Fantastic experience: We, Kilkenny Archaeological Society have just returned from Catalonia, from an amazing 7 day trip organised by GTI. From the moment I put in an enquiry, Martin and Niamh couldn't have done more for us in the way of providing advice and customising a wonderful itinerary. Our guide Angel was first class, and as a historian, had all the necessary knowledge which he conveyed exquisitely. I would readily recommend GTI for anyone organising a trip. They are truly the group specialists. Maura

Fantastic experience: Also, both my wife and I did the tour of Normandy battlefields recently with GTI Travel. Again compliments to Dermot, he was amazing with his knowledge. John Pierre was excellent as well. Thanks again for a very enjoyable tour. Kind regards Margurite & Tim.

Fantastic experience: I'm a French teacher in a secondary school in Dublin and have been organising annual school language trips abroad with GTI Travel for several years. They have never disappointed. From start to finish, their attention to detail, professionalism, and dedication to creating the perfect itinerary for our students are simply outstanding. They make the whole process seamless, ensuring every aspect of the trip is taken care of, which gives me peace of mind as an organiser. Martin, Derek, Aideen and Paula couldn't do more to make sure everything runs seamlessly. They are always responsive, approachable, and professional in their work. The students and staff always come back with amazing experiences and memories. I couldn't recommend GTI Travel enough for any school trips—thank you for always going above and beyond!

Fantastic experience: Just got back last week from our Battlefield Tour of Normandy and I have to thank GTI so much for an amazing lifetime experience. It was absolutely incredible and I think that our tour guide Dermot was one of the main reasons for this. His knowledge and brilliance was amazing, he is one really lovely man. The coach driver Jean Pierre was excellent too and we felt really safe and secure on our trips all around Normandy. My twenty year old son enjoyed the trip immensely also and that’s saying something as he is a hard young man to make any kind of impression on these days. Looking very much forward to our next trip with GTI. Pat Madigan

Fantastic experience: I was the leader of a group who travelled to the Edinburgh Military Tattoo recently. We stayed two nights in Edinburgh. We used GTI to arrange flights, accommodation, transfers, tickets to the Tattoo and a meal on the first night. Our trip was a great success. In particular, the hotel was central and very comfortable. I found GTI to be proactive, responsive and great value for money. We are a planning a trip to Europe next year and will definitely be using GTI. I recommend GTI strongly.

Fantastic experience: I’ve been using GTI for nearly twenty years to organise group tours to places as different as Paris, Peru and NewYork. The service they provide is second to none. They have been there for me when I needed them out of hours; for example, when a student lost a passport and countless other times. I can’t speak highly enough of their professionalism, commitment to offering a quality product and friendly can do attitude. A great bunch of people to work with!

Negative experience: Booked a tour for my husband scheduled end of 2022. Had to contact GTI numerous times to enquire if tour was happening or not. Spoke to a different member of staff each time. GTI didn't have sufficient numbers for trip and I opted to continue with booking for 2023 but forgot that the travel insurance would not be valid (my fault). My husband was admitted to hospital 2 days before departure. When I contacted GTI to inquire if any part of the trip could be carried over/postponed to a future trip the member of staff didn't want to speak to me and repeated"NO, you should have got travel insurance" to any question I had. Very rude. Didn't even ask how my husband was. Didn't appreciate the tone when I was being polite and just enquiring. Wont be booking with them again.

Positive experience: We took part in the Kilkenny Farmers Agriculture Tour to Canada and the Rockies under the guidance of Pat Moylan. This was a very busy tour but thoroughly enjoyable . we had wonderful farm visits of all varities, amazing facts and figures given throughout under our canadian guide Patrick Twomey, (of irish decent) First Nations peoples and how they are now being respected for whom they are, from mountains ,rivers, wildlife, lands, populations it just went on, absolutely amazing. Pat had us set up each day with our itineary and all we needed to know to enjoy full days, we almost needed a holiday after we did so much, but it was excellent. Bison farm, tillage farms, dairy farms, so many hardworking people involved, and all farms were family farms which is so good to see. Would toroughly recommend GTI Travel for group touring. ps Like all good men, Pat had a good woman behind the scene, thank you Catherine.

Fantastic experience: Brilliantly organised trip from start to finish - itinerary top class and guide on site was exceptional - took care of everything.

Fantastic experience: GTI has recently given our students a wonderful trip to Barcelona & Salou. From the very beginning, everything was seamless. Communication was thorough, guidance was welcome, all queries answered very quickly, and nothing was too much trouble. The bus drivers were incredibly punctual, friendly and helpful. The whole trip was perfectly planned and so easy to enjoy. Thank you Martin, Niamh and all the staff. We will be repeating this trip for years to come!

Fantastic experience: We have recently returned from a trip. GTI organised for an underage girls football team. GTI made the whole process, very stressfree and straightforward. They had some great ideas around the itinerary, and very amenable to last-minute changes. The coach service they used was very reliable. The paperwork provided by GTi arrived in plenty of time and was very organised. I would highly recommend GTi to anybody organising a large group trip. they were also very contactable throughout the whole process.

Fantastic experience: Excellent service

Fantastic experience: I just want to thank the staff of GTI sincerely for all your work and patience with organising my trip. I completely appreciate the headache that can be involved with taking a music group away, compared to a conventional school tour, so I really want to thank you for your continued hard work in making sure it went smoothly for us, in particular Martin and Niamh. They were so easy to deal with and always prompt with replies. I also want to thank Anna who met us in Dublin Airport on our departure date - it was fantastic to have a GTI rep there to help us with check-in. So thank you Anna for all your help!

Positive experience: Not just travel for people over 50 years old

Positive experience: Beautiful stay Glenn's cottage very welcome stop to get away from busy world. Beautiful little cottage lovely facilities clean and homely. Lovely stove to welcome travellers. Thank you

Fantastic experience: Just back from the WW1 Tour Flanders and the Somme 13/16 May, The tour itself was excellent, the guide Iain McHenry was absolutely brilliant, he managed to pitch the tour just at the right level for the group, answer all our questions and go out of his way to make sure we were all accommodated, he really knows his stuff and more importantly speaks from the heart. Stefan our driver was nice and made the traveling comfortable and safe. The hotel was lovely, and it will be even better when they finish and open the bar. This was my third trip with GTI (Normandy and two WW1), and was by far the best. The group was a lovely group of people, and made a few more friends. I will be back.

Negative experience: Worst travel agency to deal with , didn’t refund despite giving weeks notice of cancellation and aswell doctor report to sustain my case , staf are very rude to deal with and don’t have an knowledge of their one company that work for , my advice is don’t spend your money with them go with someone that appreciates your business

Fantastic experience: Excellent service and experience. A team that know what a customer needs

Fantastic experience: Very busy, lovely staff.

Fantastic experience: I did the Western Front tour recently. It was the best battlefield tour l have been on , being of special interest from perspective of the Irish regiments and people involved.

Negative experience: Just before the Covid epidemic I went on the Secrets Of The Third Reich Tour. Very good tour ,excellent guide.Day 4 was to be a free day to enjoy Munich.We had a return flight at 10.30 am ,day 4. Not notified by GTI of the change.Discovered this only when the ticket arrived shortly before departure.GTI insisted afterwards that all items on the itinerary had been fulfilled. I was just short a day in Munich.GTI Travel ,no thanks.There are other travel agents.Tim Sherlock .Kanturk Co Cork

Fantastic experience: We just returned from a fantastic hockey trip to The Netherlands. The crew in GTI put together a brilliant itinerary. Everything went according to plan and the accomodation was excellent. Thanks Derek and Paula in GTI for making this an unforgetable trip for the girls and parents. Ed Portrane Hockey Club

Fantastic experience: Been on several battlefield tours with GTI and really enjoyed them all and have no complaints about any of them. They were all well managed and led. The hotels were great. The sites visited were fantastic and all for a good price. Looking forward to travelling with them in the future when things get back to normal.

Negative experience: Would love to give zero stars. Travel agents have no right to keep deposits from travellers when they are entitled to get them back

Fantastic experience: Excellent company to deal with and very helpful staff .

Negative experience: Very irresponsible

Fantastic experience: Great site and simple to navigate

Fantastic experience: I recently went on a Group Trip to Madrid organised and hosted by GTI Travel. It was a mixture of 16 year football team and adults and GTI hit the perfect balance for adults and the lads alike. Everyone had an amazing time, GTI crammed so much into the trip and we were entertained and looked after every step along the way. Best group trip I have ever been on and have recommended GTI Travel to everyone I know who is planning a group trip in the future. Thanks to Derek and the team for creating and hosting a trip that will live long in our memories

Fantastic experience: I have been going on school trips for the best part of 10 years and this is the first time we have reflected on a trip and agreed that there was nothing we would change. Everything ran so smoothly, from Martin greeting us at the airport on Tuesday morning, to the perfect hotel to the wonderful varied programme of activities. The students loved every minute and were so sorry to be leaving the wonderful city of Berlin. Communication with GTI was so easy in advance of and during the trip and both Martin and Paula put our minds at ease about the daunting task of taking school pupils abroad. I am delighted to have taken a risk and gone with GTI, a company that was new to us, and in the future when planning a trip they will definitely be my first port of call. I could not recommend them highly enough!

Fantastic experience: We have been dealing with Derek, Martin & the G.T.I team since 2007 with school tours and have done one every year since and we started booking our adult trips with them in 2009. Ranging from every type of a trip from Cruises (5), Cultural tours to all parts of Europe to long haul like China, Cuba, South Africa, Vietnam & Cambodia, South America, India to name but a few. This Year we have 5 Tours booked with GTI. The first one being a a school tour to Barcelona, Followed by Devon & Cornwall in September, Rhodes and our 5th year of our Rocking The Costa Dancing Trip to Torremolinos with over 180 people in October and finally Dubai in late November. With our numbers being low enough for Dubai we were worried it might not go ahead but again Derek & the team were able to pull it out of the bag for us just not to disappoint people. Derek and his team are always at hand always responding to e-mails and phone calls promptly and what i think is very important that you can ask for the member of his staff who is dealing with your specific tour. Their 24hr emergency phone is manned at all times. Their attention to detailed is to be admired. We have built up a great repour with Derek and his staff. We have never had a problem with hotels, food etc. The guides, coaching companies they use are also fantastic. As a lot of people who organise tours know they can be quite stressful but G.T.I seem to make things hassle free. I would 100% recommend GTI,. Declan Masterson T.O.PARK GROUP MITCHELSTOWN CO CORK

Fantastic experience: We used GTI recently for a group going to Madrid and I have to say, it was a fantastic trip, well organised by GTI with an excellent host who ensured everybody in the group got the most out of the weekend. The group was a mix of 16 year olds and adults and the trip struck the right balance between sight-seeing, culture and fun for the kids to keep everybody happy. Feedback from every single kid and Adult alike was over-whelmingly positive and great memories were had. The accommodation was clean, efficient and in a great location and the food catered for the whole group. Thanks a million to GTI for a great weekend in Madrid. We look forward to using you again in 2020.

Negative experience: Very dissapointed with GTI. We will NEVER use them again. 1* is too much. Also, they haven't had the decency to get in touch with us about our experience with them, which is probably even worse than our original annoyance with GTI! My mother & I went on their Highlights of Austria tour from 02 Oct - 09 Oct. Upon return I emailed them on Wed16Oct. We waited 1week. No reply. I sent a letter on Fri25Oct. On Fri01Nov we recieved a standard acknowledement from them, saying that their manager had been out of the office recently, but would contact us next week. To date we've heard nothing more from them... EXCERPTS OF ORIGINAL EMAIL TO GTI TO COMPLY WITH GOOGLE REVIEW CHARACTER LIMIT. Innsbruck (3rd Hotel) Hotel Tyrol: To start with, the omens were not good when our coach arrived & the hotel was in complete darkness. Our guide had to go in to check that they were open before giving us the all-clear to disembark, whereby some lights duly appeared. There were several faults with our rooms. The curtains were so wafer thin that you could have read a paper through them, there were ancient wire coat hangers in the wardrobe, duvet covers that dated from the 1970s, the carpets were well worn & stained, and there was no shampoo in the bathroom. This was all in a very cramped room, even for a single. Overall, I would describe the room as shabby & grubby. When we convened with the rest of the group for the evening dinner in the ground floor restaurant, which was in close proximity to the kitchen, we had the disturbing sight of seeing a mouse run across the floor. The whole group observed the mouse during our meal. Vermin in a hotel restaurant was not something we expected to see on our holiday, and for the price we paid, I wouldn't expect to stay in such a place. We saw the mouse again the following morning @b/fast. The food for the evening meal was utterly forgettable & bland, especially the main course which consisted of 5hot plates: rice, pasta noodles, some kind of lumpy strange sauce, chicken wings and vegetables (broccoli & carrot). Additionally, the chair that I was sitting in had a broken back and by the end of my meal, it had collapsed backwards and fallen over resulting in my nearly crashing into the group member sitting behind me. Fortunately, there was no damage done to either party. The breakfast food was also disappointing, not being anywhere near the standard in variety and quality of the first two hotels. In particular, the breakfast orange juice was so dilute as to be merely orange coloured water. Moreover, the choice of hot food was paltry, with there only being a boiled egg on offer. In addition, we noticed that the cordials and water jugs that were on display for the Monday night dinner had been left overnight for breakfast the following morning. Furthermore, there was no bar in Hotel Tyrol, at least not one that was open during our stay there. This added to the depressing lack of ambience in Hotel Tyrol, which I would describe as soulless. Overall, it had the look and air of a place that was getting ready to close for the season and would have preferred not to have any guests at all. Salzburg: Hotel Heffterhof (2nd Hotel) On Saturday and Sunday, there were no catering or bar facilities available at all, not even a chance to buy a cup of tea. In fact, the only catering service/facility that I saw was a vending machine in the hotel lobby. In addition, the Hotel Reception desk was not even manned after 6pm on Saturday & Sunday! This is more akin to an Airbnb, not a top quality hotel for which we had paid top dollar. In conclusion, while the first 2hotels in Vienna & Salzburg were OK (with the above mentioned caveats c/o Heffterhof), I would certainly advise you to take a close look at using Hotel Tyrol in the future, as it's a pure dump. If you persist in using this soulless, characterless, outdated & vermin ridden zombie-like dump of an excuse of a hotel, then we are certain that you will continue to receive many more letters & complaints like this. We look forward to ur reply. Charlotte Fay & Robert Fay

Fantastic experience: Great company to book your group tour with. I have done business with this company for 15 years and never had a bad experience. The staff are very professional and helpful. Do not hesitate to use this company.

Fantastic experience: I participated in the GTI Flanders war-graves tour out of Cork in May 2017. The tour exceeded all expectations and represented excellent value for money. It was very well organised, with the hotel in Ypres and our coach being top notch. However, what really made the tour was our excellent guide Ian, who proved to be extremely knowledgeable, in the most pleasant and patient of manners. I hope to return on another of the GTI specialist tours in 2018,

Fantastic experience: Recent tour with GTI Ireland - Highlights of Austria - was a was most enjoyable and extremely well organized. Choice of hotels and the the service of a most competent guide added to the enjoyment.

Fantastic experience: "I just want to record my thanks and appreciation to everyone in GTI for organising a fantastic trip to Italy. We had a wonderful time - the hotels were lovely and all the transport and arrangements were fantastic. In particular I want to commend all the staff who helped us on our last day as we had to change our transport arrangements to get us to the airport on time - due to a major traffic holdup on the motorway. It is in times like this that having a tour operator helping us with our trip - really makes a difference. You quickly organised a new plan - which ensured we all made our flight on time. And kept in contact with us all afternoon - sorting out any minor issues as they arose. In my opinion - your service to us was fantastic - and we are indebted to you all for your efforts. We deeply appreciate everything GTI did for us that day and over the whole trip. We will highly recommend you to any other choirs or groups who are planning similar trips” June 2017

Fantastic experience: Did the cycling holiday last year with GTI, it was so good we went back again this year. Great to deal with.

Fantastic experience: Great tour. The guide was very knowledgeable and helpful.

Fantastic experience: I booked a holiday to Romania with GTI. and from start to finish this was a well organised and a hassle free holiday.Travel arrangements were Ideal and everything went smoothly with no worries. The hotels were all spotlessly clean and very comfortable.All three hotels had breakfast buffet which had a wide choice of hot and cold food and fresh fruit on offer, enough to please all tastes. The tour guide was very knowledgeable, giving that extra touch on to all the very interesting places we visited and was always on hand to answer any questions the coach driver was very courteous and a very safe driver. Overall an excellent and enjoyable holiday so much so that time passed too quickly and sadly I had to come home from historic,interesting and scenic Romania. Thank you GTI. William Muldowney

Fantastic experience: With both my father and father in law survivors as soldiers of the Great War, a visit to the War Graves had always been on our family's 'bucket list'.In October 2016, my son and I booked a trip to the Battlefields of Flanders and the Somme ex Cork, with Group Travel International.We had certain expectations: these were not only fulfilled but well surpassed. With four countries in four days, it seemed rather daunting, but efficient scheduling, a comfortable coach with excellent visibility and a perfectly sited Hotel in the centre of Ypres made travelling a pleasure.The Novotel was within pleasant walking distance of major sites such as the Menin Gate and Flanders Field Museum.We listened on our first evening to the Last Post, sounded as it has been since 1928 as a gesture of gratitudefrom the Belgian people, surrounded by visitors from many countries and of all ages, gazing at the moving sight of names written all over the walls and ceiling of the monument, 54,896 of them,'missing' soldiers with no known burial place. Notwithstanding the high standards for our physical wellbeing, the success of such a trip is ultimately down to the personnel involved.I have only one word: outstanding! Iain our Manager: military historian, archaeologist and speaker par excellence,interested in all his passengers' personal stories, he was generous withhis time and knowledge and meti culously maintained a friendly absorbed group, meanwhile, somehow, remaining both calm and energetic,he ran the varied programme smoothly and on schedule. His very able colleague, Driver Karl (Carl?)inspired confidence that we would always arrive at our varied destinations safely and on time and was always courteous and helpful. Many memories will always remain, some moving,someharrowing, all enlightening.Familiar, of course, with photographs of thousands of little white crosses 'where the poppies grow'.reading the actual inscriptions was a salutory experience, varying from, perhaps, the homely personal 'I'm all right, Mum. Cheerio.'(From a letter home written by a 20yr.old.) to others more classically profound.Or noting, for instance three white headstones minus the white cross emblem, but bearing the Star of David and a German name and Regiment, tucked in the corner of a Commonwealth graveyard,but buried in humanity by their enemy,just where they had fallen.Meeting the living too; for instance the young Canadian Univ. student who comes every summer to work in helping to maintain the Caribou park in France, in memory of the 733 Newfoundlers out of the 801 who went. They had never returned to their homeland so far away.Outlines of the actual trenches can still be followed here. Big memories, the beautiful Irish Peace Park, set in magnificent countryside, sit with little memories: the tiny wooden crosses planted in the ground at intervals, bearing handwritten messages from descendants in our present generation: "We never met you but we will never forget you",with love from a grandson. Random notices fixed on a fence or a tree: "Beware of unexploded ammunition." (Shells are still being collected weekly.) The architecture of Thiepval, designed by Lutyens,in a position on the Somme,72,000 names carved in stone, one of a 14 yr.old, Reginald Giles of the Gloucestershire Regiment.The parties of uniformed young schoolchildren chattering in many languages, accommpanied by their teachers, coming to explore and learn. I hope they will. I hope the world will. Thank you, GTI, for all this (very) Senior Citizen found out. I have a lot to think about. Oh, and I would wholeheartedly recommend GTI as great people to travel with!!

Fantastic experience: Did the Battlefield tour of the Somme and would like to say we (myself and Dawn) enjoyed the whole experience, but it was the knowledge and enthusiasm given by tour guide Ian McHenry, assisted by tour bus driver Carl that made the whole experience, I'd highly recommend this tour to all, regardless of having a family ancestral involvement or not.

Fantastic experience: I have worked with GTI for over six years. The staff have been brilliant in finding excellent value options for the holidays I am interested in plus are always at the end of the phone 24/7 if any emergency arises. I really trust GTI to provide high quality services and trips around the world.