Trailfinders

It can be hard to know where to start when booking a bit of an epic trip. Sure, the Internet is a hotbed of amazing travel deals but there is something about going into a shop and talking to someone directly about your needs and if you want to do that you could do a lot worse than head to Trailfinders. Staffed by young experienced travellers if you’re doing the predictable Thailand, Aussie, New Zealand trip then chances are your advisor will have been there. I was pleasantly surprised at their prices (we got flights to New York for our honeymoon last Christmas for about £300 return each — don’t even start to talk to me about the strike threat mind!). They are not pushy and if you just want help booking flights then they’re not going to force hotel bookings on you. They also have no shortage of brochures, ideas and cool map notepaper. Forget Sta Travel they’re very student focused and can be quite stand offish, Trailfinders is a much better place to help you plan your Round the World Trip.

I am always really envious of the Trailfinders staff whenever I book a holiday via them. They are all really well-​travelled and seem to get to expand those horizons as a requisite part of their job. This is great because it means you can usually talk to someone who is well-​versed in all aspects of the country you are visiting or can ask a friend two seats away those crucial questions most tour operators can’t tell you like tips on overland travel, the best day-​trips and night spots etc. It can be more expensive than going direct but if you are going to be staying at the same place for more than 7 nights, Trailfinders has access to some fantastic deals and has a vast database they can check dates and availability for you. We booked our honeymoon via them and uncharacteristically decided we would not cheap out on anything and would hire things like pre-​arranged pick-​up to and from the airport. It may be more expensive but sometimes you just want the hassle factor dealt with before you even arrive. And with both our hotels we had a free night and upgrade thrown-​in. The staff at the Bristol office are really friendly and personable and give excellent advice. I will definitely book my trips further afield that are less on a shoestring via them in the future.

Though many people are finding the Internet as the place to book a trip, I’ve still found that Trailfinders can beat (in many cases) anything found on the Internet.
This branch is located in the St. Nicholas Market area of Bristol, and is easy to get to via bus (parking is not easy to find in this area, though there are parking garages nearby). This branch is staffed with friendly, helpful people who do their best to find you a great deal for your holiday.
I looked online first when planning my last two overseas trips, but Trailfinders found better deals and had suggestions for saving even more money. The last trip included car hire and when things went wrong with this aspect of the booking, Trailfinders quickly resolved the problem.