Helen Summers

My expertise

Adventure Travel
Private Tours
Honeymoons
Active Holidays
Expedition Cruise
Safari
Touring
Tailor-made travel

I'm based in

Derby

Available for new enquiries

“I haven’t been everywhere, but it’s on my list” – Susan Sontag

Hello, my name is Helen and welcome to my website. I’m a Derbyshire girl, born, bred and am still based here. Whilst I believe this to be one of the most beautiful counties, I have always been passionate about discovering new places near and far, and I endeavour to help you to do the same.

The first country I visited was Sweden on a school holiday in my teens. Since then I have been fortunate to have visited over 40 countries around the world - my favourites being Iceland, Vietnam, Canada, Cuba, Sicily. My trips have been varied - from city breaks to long tours, relaxing beach holidays to skiing snowy mountains, luxury hotels to hostels – so I have a wealth of travel experiences to delve into.

As a traveller myself, I love to explore and see as much of a country as I can. This means I spend a lot of time researching and planning ahead. Therefore, I like to offer a bespoke holiday planning service and deliver itineraries tailored to your personal requirements, packed full of all the details needed, plus additional exciting ideas – saving you hours of time trawling the internet and looking through brochures yourselves.

I am customer-focused and aim to deliver a high-quality service to all my clients. I’m here to help you fulfil all your holiday needs, big or small! As a Travel Counsellor, I’m not restricted to particular suppliers (unlike other travel agents) so have access to a huge range of options in order to meet your criteria and more. I don't just sell off the shelf holidays, I am also able to provide tailormade packages specific to you!

You may want to book something in the UK or worldwide, a long or short break, single or multi centre holiday, package or bespoke, or just a flight. The list of services I can offer include but are not limited arranging:
• Flights
• Accommodation – hotels, villas, apartments, cottages, all board types
• Transfers and vehicle hire
• Trips and activities
• Family, Couples, Solo, Group bookings
• Activity based e.g. Skiing, Golfing, Cycling
• Cruises
• Safaris
• Fly-drives

We all hear of the myriads of unexpected things that affect travel, from global pandemics to erupting volcanoes, so it's important to book your holiday with someone you can trust, who can deal with these issues instead of you!

So please give me a call to discuss how I can help and hopefully I’ll be able to find the holidays of your dreams for many years to come.

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Explore my guides and blogs

My South Africa Journey

South Africa

Adventure Travel

Honeymoons

Couples

Families

Safari

Touring

Tailor-made travel

My South Africa Journey

Thinking about visiting South Africa? I recently spent nine days exploring Cape Town, the Garden Route, Pumba Private Game Reserve and Johannesburg. Here's what surprised me, what I'd recommend, and why this incredible destination has earned a place on my "must return" list.

09 Jul 2026 7   min read

Svalbard - A fascinating destination to showcase expedition cruise!

Svalbard - A fascinating destination to showcase expedition cruise!

I'm just back from the inaugural CLIA Expedition Cruise Showcase in Svalbard and I still feel overwhelmed by this incredibly immersive learning experience in one of the most fascinating and the most northerly town in the world - Longyearbyen (Long-year-be-yen). Being in the travel industry, I am privileged to have so many amazing opportunities but I think this one tops them all and I very nearly

24 Jul 2025 5   min read

Anniversary weekend to Paris & Brussels, by train

Anniversary weekend to Paris & Brussels, by train

When we couldn't get tickets to see Coldplay in the UK, we noticed a date in Brussels, which happened to be our first wedding anniversary. Unfortunately, we couldn't get tickets on our actual anniversary, but a few days later on the Monday, and so a plan started to form. I'd never been to Paris as I'd decided to save this as a place to visit with someone special, it is the city of love after all

15 Aug 2022 5   min read

Honeymoons – not so easy after all

Honeymoons – not so easy after all

Anyone who has ever planned a wedding must agree that it’s a stressful time. The honeymoon is probably one of the most enjoyable parts of the whole process and I’ve often heard couples say, it’s the thing they’re looking forward to most! Your honeymoon is going to be one of the most special, memorable, and possibly most expensive holidays you ever have. Therefore, there can be quite a lot of press

12 May 2020 5   min read

Learn to sail in the sun

Learn to sail in the sun

When my partner Andy and I started to discuss learning to sail, the thought of the cold English waters was somewhat off-putting. So I started to look at options to do this abroad. We found a great offer at the Mark Warner San Lucianu Beach Resort, Corsica in June 2019. Somewhere I'd never visited and wanted to go, so double tick. This activity based resort offered dinghy sailing courses at vari

23 Dec 2019 3   min read

What my customers say

I have never received such good service from any other travel agent in over 30 years of holidays abroad. Helen Summers is truly exceptional. She is professional while being approachable and seems to be a mind reader, providing the perfect holiday. I have already recommended her to 4 friends.

Carole H

Ripley

Excellent service and knowledge

Catherine M

Nr Derby

Helen is my go to as soon as the word 'holiday' enters my head. I know my travel plans will be secure, well organised and very exciting !

George P

Stoke

Our honeymoon planning has been great. With Helen's planning support and listening to our needs i think we have an excellent itinerary.

Diane P

Derby

Will always use Helen Summers at Travel Counsellors from now on. Makes booking a holiday no trouble and she always takes the time to listen to what we want / need. Would definitely recommend. She has booked several trips for us now and all have been excellent !

Helen M

Ashbourne

Helen has organised a complicated last minute ‘trip of a lifetime’ with numerous locations, hotels and requirements. Helen has been patient, helpful and reassuring - she provided us a number of options, all within budget, that we could review and we are delighted with the final itinerary.

Sarah C

London

Fabulous service. Helen is patient & thorough making sure we got exactly what we wanted. 10/10

Donna B

Derby

Personal, very professional and efficient service. Helen took care of everything for us and I would not hesitate to approach her again in the future and recommend her to friends and business colleagues. 10/10

Helen P

Derby

Helen is amazing and the only person I trust to sort my holidays ! She’s arranged some fabulous trips for us where everything has run smoothly. Would definitely recommend.

Helen C

Ashbourne

Helen was very supportive, I am new to Travel Counsellors and Helen was very supportive

Julie M

Derby

Helen is amazing. I would definitely recommend her. She is extremely helpful, efficient and friendly.

Catherine D

Solihull

Helen is great at getting the best deal and looks after you before, during, and after the holiday!

Alison K

Herts

We wanted a holiday to Morocco. We looked a lot on line, however we just couldn't be sure about the details. We told Helen our wish list and she came back with some really good options and a range of choices - one of which was perfect. Helen has a really nice way of talking to us, We liked our experience with her a lot and have already recommended her to some of our family.

Malcolm H

Burton-on-Trent

Top score given due to top service received. Helen is extremely approachable and efficient. She kept me informed of the process of organising our trip and came up with the most competitive quote. We had no hesitation about booking with her.

Carole H

Ripley

It takes all the worry off me. Fabulous.

Margaret B

Belper

Helen was very knowledgeable, full of good advice and listened to all our questions. She came up with some excellent hotel choices and helped take a huge amount of stress out of organising a multi flight trip. No question that we will use her service again and confidently recommend her business to friends and family.

Jon M

Stoke-on-Trent

Helen is a travel expert. If you are looking for an amazing holiday service, forget the rest and go straight to Helen!

Georgina P

Stoke

Without Helen's help - I don't think we could have arranged a cruise by ourselves. We told her what we wanted as first time cruisers, and she tailored a package to suit our wishes.

Margaret V

Derby

Helen is incredible. So supportive and really listens to what you want. She does everything she can to make sure you get what you want and is really knowledgeable. You can ask her anything and if she can't answer immediately, she will get back to you as soon as possible. I will now be using Helen to book all my holidays, I can't sing her praises enough.

Louise L

Derby

Very quick response and provided a tailor package that met our needs precisely. Excellent to deal with

John G

Newbold-on-Avon

From the first moment of contact Helen's approach is, friendly, professional and knowledgeable.. I would have no hesitation in recommending her to family and friends. 10/10

Lynette E

Stoke

A great experience arranging our holiday; a friendly, informative and efficient process throughout. Thank you Helen!

Georgina P

Staffs

Helen has been fabulous! So patient and supportive throughout the whole process, working with us to develop the bespoke honeymoon of our dreams! 10 out of 10

Karen H

Staffs

Helen is always so helpful. She’s approachable and friendly and she’s always there to ask questions and remind us what we need to do. I would recommend her to anyone.

Catherine D

Birmingham

Very helpful, knowledgeable and always available for any help needed.

Fabiola H

Derby

Helen is brilliant! Understanding, helpful, patient. Everything you'd like from someone helping with a holiday. I can't recommend her highly enough!! 10/10

Kate S

Derby

Helen has been outstanding! So helpful and has guided me through the whole process wonderfully, helping me with my enquiries and finding solutions to difficulties and changes of plans along the way to total perfection. Will definitely be having Helen sort out further adventures, with 2 more already in the pipeline to come. Couldn't recommend Helen more highly, simply fantastic, so knowledgeable and awesome customer service, can't wait for my trip :)

Jon M

Derby

Helen went to loads of effort to build a holiday tour to match our needs and budget. Various options were explored and nothing was too much trouble. Thanks Helen 10/10

Donna E

Derby

Helen always offers a friendly, knowledgeable and efficient service which makes the whole experience of finding and booking a holiday hassle free and pleasurable. 10/10

Alana C

Nottingham

Helen has yet again found us a great holiday which we're really looking forward to. She took the time to ask and suggest options for our trip that we may not have thought of ourselves. Gave a final choice of hotels and deals taking the hassle away from searching for a holiday ourselves. 10/10

Janet W

Derby

Discover the world with me

I take care of everything!

I take care of everything!

As a Travel Counsellor, I can take care of all your travel arrangements.... whatever they are.

09 Jan 2024

UK Staycations

UK Staycations

Staycations - please ask me about your next holiday in the UK, whether it be something coastal, in the countryside or even a city break.

26 Mar 2021

Additional offers

More destinations to enjoy

Let's plan your dream trip together

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Tailor-made for you

Your holiday isn’t just a trip away. It’s a longed-for escape, time to reconnect with loved ones, or a dream adventure you never thought possible. That’s why I take the time to truly get to know you and understand your hopes and expectations, then use my experience, connections and passion for the destination to create a trip that makes those dreams a reality.

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Personalised service. Always

When you plan a holiday with me, you’ll be given my personal mobile number from the very first call. I’ll listen to your thoughts and ideas like I would a friend and arrange accommodation, activities, and flights that are all personalised to you. And I’ll share my personal tips and recommendations, so you can experience the true beauty of each destination.

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Stress-free travel, and more time
for what matters most

I believe your time away should be stress-free, easy, and seamless from start to finish. So, I take care of all the details for you - from ATOL protection, insurance, and flexible payments to access to the myTC app, which keeps everything in one place.

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Support when it matters most

If the unexpected happens, you can rest easy, knowing that I’ll handle any last-minute changes, flight cancellations, or disruptions before you even pick up the phone. So you always feel happy, carefree, and ready to make the most of every moment.

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Start planning with me

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Give me a call

Let’s talk through your ideas, no pressure.

01332 960019

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Finding your match...

Every unforgettable journey starts with the right person by your side.