Hi, I'm Steph and I’m your personal travel expert. I arrange worldwide travel, tailor-made bespoke holidays and honeymoons, cruises, luxury trips and adventure travel experiences.
Having spent the last twenty-five years organizing and travelling extensively myself, I know how important it is for that long-anticipated holiday to be just right. I provide a fully personalised service from start to finish, taking your initial ideas for your trip, listening to and understanding what’s important to you, then using my skills, experience and expertise to create an itinerary which is tailored perfectly to meet your needs, saving you precious time and ensuring the whole experience is stress and hassle-free. I treat all my clients as VIPs and my aim is to ensure that every trip, for every customer, is perfect, every time.
It was my passion for travel that took us to live in Australia for seven years, giving us an incredible opportunity to explore this amazing country. It was also my passion for travel that took me to one of the world’s largest travel agencies, as part of the leadership team. I’ve been successfully creating dream holidays for my clients for many years now, including European city breaks, Pacific Island honeymoons, African safaris, trekking in South America, skiing in Japan, adventure travel through India and South East Asia and cruising in Antarctica, the list goes on, but every one was a pleasure and a privilege to organize and I’m pleased to say, resulted in happy clients who went on to book with me time and again.
In addition to a wealth of expert knowledge, I have also personally travelled to every continent including: Antarctica, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Tahiti, Bora Bora, Bali, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, Borneo, Singapore, Hong Kong, India, Sri Lanka, Bahrain, Dubai, USA, Canada, Mexico, Cuba, Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Colombia, Nicaragua, Panama, South Africa, The Gambia, Rwanda, Tanzania, Zanzibar, Mauritius, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Turkey, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Hungary, Sweden, Denmark as well as Scotland, England, Ireland and Wales.
I’m available to discuss your travel requirements at your convenience, and am happy to arrange evening or weekend telephone appointments if that’s your preference.
Please feel free to get in touch - I'd love to hear from you!
My customer stories
Sent by Marimar Chapple
Edinburgh 23/08/2024
My three children, husband and I have had the best holidays of our life thanks to Steph.
Three weeks in the States flying from Edinburgh. We visited New York and the West Coast with stops in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Grand Canyon, Yosemite, Santa Barbara, Death Valley, Vegas...The trip was incredible!
Not only did Steph helped with the itinerary but also made sure we had activities for all ages from white water rafting to desert driving.
Her ability to accommodate our requests with her experience has made this trip one of a lifetime.
Previously Steph organised our family holidays to Thailand and Sri Lanka, also unbelievable experiences. She also organised holidays for my in-laws and a close friend and they were delighted.
We will be relying in Steph to organise any holidays in the future.
Sent by John Green
Dunfermline/Dubai 12/06/2024
Once again a flawless holiday planned with exquisite detail. My wife will never forget her birthday in the Masai Mara!! Even when our flight from Kenya to Seychelles was delayed Steph was right on it rearranging transfers and late check in. Seriously why do it yourself when you’ve got someone who take care of everything. Thanks again Steph
Sent by Karen Dewar
Edinburgh 24/08/2023
Steph has been invaluable supporting my family this year to plan and enjoy a trip to Greece that exceeded the expectations of some of the most demanding teenagers!! From understanding what every party member was looking for to developing options that fitted for us and finally ensuring we were ready to go I cannot recommend Steph highly enough!
Sent by Kevin McDevitt
Manchester 23/08/2023
Great holiday and great service from Steph in recommending a great destination and hotel. Fabulous ??
Sent by Alex Kinmonth
London 09/02/2023
Steph has been so helpful - she has gone above and beyond to find us the perfect holiday!
Sent by Rae Avatar Barnett
Gerrards Cross 09/02/2023
Amazing personal service - you can't put a price on that. I have already recommended Steph to a number of people.
Sent by Gerry McBride
Glasgow 09/02/2023
This is the second time we’ve used Steph to help us book our holiday, which I think is probably testament enough in itself to the way she looked after us! Brilliant service once again and as always with a real personal and professional touch. Top marks once again and would definitely (and have) recommended to others.
Sent by Gary Simkin
Edinburgh 11/01/2023
Steph was a great help in finding the correct holiday for us. She was very accommodating in looking at various option and it was useful to have knowledge of the area as this was something we would never have had access too.
Sent by Sam Dounis
Edinburgh 11/01/2023
Steph made the whole process of booking our holiday straightforward, and took away all of the hassle and stress that is usually involved. After everything had been finalised I had a concern, and Steph addressed it immediately. She gave us the information that we needed and reassured us. We would definitely ask for Steph’s help in the future.
Sent by Yvonne Soulsby
Edinburgh 11/01/2023
Steph is amazing. She took the time to really understand us and came up with an itinerary that went beyond our expectations. We were in complete agreement with everything she suggested and she truly put together the holiday of a lifetime for us. I cannot recommend Steph highly enough.
Sent by Alex Kinmonth
London 11/01/2023
Steph has been so helpful - she has gone above and beyond to find us the perfect holiday!
Sent by Margaret McGladery
Edinburgh 25/08/2022
Steph consistently delivers professional, thoughtful and knowledgeable advice on your holiday requirements. Her knowledge of destinations is immense and because she takes the time to get to know you, it means that your holiday is completely bespoke. Her attention to detail means that you are guaranteed a seamless trip to whatever destination you choose. She is on hand at all times to answer any queries or fix any problems. A pleasure to deal with always.
Sent by Nicola Thomson
Edinburgh 25/08/2021
Steph is so thorough and detailed and is an absolute pleasure to deal with. It takes all the pain away from looking for a holiday yourself, she does everything for you and leaves no stone unturned. She is so professional and knowledgeable and always has your best interests at heart. I can’t imagine not using Steph for a holiday now.
Sent by Tracey Mellor
Oldham 10/10/2019
Steph’s knowledge and experience is second to none. This is our third year of booking with her, and I have and would highly recommend her. Everywhere we mention, she is able to provide excellent local knowledge. I’ve never booked with as much confidence as I do when booking through Steph. Thanks Steph, you truly are the best!
Sent by Denise Forrest
Edinburgh 04/07/2019
Steph was amazing organising a group holiday. This started with 2 of the group having a 10 day road trip through Nashville, Memphis, Tupelo,New Orleans and Las Vegas. Suggested trips, museums and hotels were fantastic. 6 of us then joined them in Vegas and it was wonderful. Stephs planning and advice before the trip helped to make sure we made the most of our time.
Steph spent time making sure she understood our requirements before the trip and was very patient with our changes and numerous questions. Nothing was too much trouble. I would have no hesitation in using her again or recommending her.
Thanks for helping make it a holiday of a lifetime.
Sent by Keir Andrews
Edinburgh 04/06/2019
We have had quick replies from Steph when booking our USA trip and everything has been tailored to us. It has made the whole booking experience much easier and has helped us book a holiday that allows us plenty of time to do everything we want to while we are there.
Sent by Ann Smith
Rochdale 04/06/2019
Steph is very pleasant, most helpful, nothing is too much trouble for her and I would have no hesitation to recommend her to any of my friends and family. Thank you Steph
Sent by Joanne Lee
Banbury 29/05/2019
Steph has been superb throughout the booking process. Apart from knowing we wanted to do San Francisco and LV we had no idea where to start. Steph has so much knowledge and was able to guide us through the process providing detailed knowledge and recommendations she even found us a ranch overnighter with ease. Her communication and follow up skills are excellent. We will use her again without any hesitation.
Sent by Marimar Chapple
Edinburgh 16/04/2019
Steph has been wonderful at organising our holiday! After months of vaguely thinking about it but not achieving much, Steph took on board what we discussed in our lengthy chat and came back with a dream itinerary, great accommodation and excursions. Can’t believe she managed to organise everything in less than a week. I have already recommended her to my friends and she’ll be my first call to any future holidays. Steph is a pleasure to deal with.
Sent by Mags Hood
Edinburgh 02/04/2019
Steph has yet again been most responsive to our inquiry and found what we were failing to arrange ourselves. She is readily available and the consummate professional when I ask ridiculous (or outrageous) questions. We have come to rely on her for holidays outside of our previous experience.
Sent by Jill Sherriff
Edinburgh 21/03/2019
Steph was very attentive at short notice and gave us so many options that would have taken us months to agree on ourselves. A brilliant service and would definitely use again.
Sent by Lisa Towers
Edinburgh 24/08/2018
Steph made the whole holiday booking process so easy for us. I normally find fun in researching all the possibilities myself and putting together a plan that is specific and meets our holiday objectives. This year time is just not something we have - we have an extra baby in the mix, we are launching a new business and planning a major renovation to our house. We had not planned a family holiday this year for financial reasons. Then we realised we desperately need it this year more than ever. We gave Steph a tough set of parameters to work within along with a pretty tight budget and her knowledge and experience meant she knew exactly where to look to get the best value for our modest budget ticking not just most but all of our boxes. Steph is responsive to questions and although we are yet to travel I truly believe that she will be here to help if we need anything while we are away. Loved the hand written thank you card - great example of personal service. Thank you Steph!!
Sent by Fiona Gordon
Edinburgh 19/06/2018
On behalf of myself, my husband and our little girl Freya we would like to say a big thank you to you Steph for making our 1st family holiday a memorable one. You were so helpful and listened to what we were wanting out of our holiday to Crete and met our needs for Freya with all the children’s facilities in our Hotel which made our holiday even more fun knowing that Freya was having a ball. Everything from the booking of the flights, choosing the hotel and with the transfers to and from the airport just put everything at ease for us knowing that everything was taken care of and incase of any problems we knew we had easy access to contact Steph for assistance.
We came away from our holiday with fantastic memories and that with any future holidays we will be going on will be done through Steph at Travel Counsellers and we will be recommending Steph to our friends.
Thank you again for everything
Fiona
Sent by Cheryl Cameron
Edinburgh 11/04/2018
Steph was incredibly thorough and ensured she understood what our holiday preferences were - I felt she took time to investigate and explain in great detail the most suitable options. She was also very quick to respond to queries - at all times during the day and evening - excellent service.
Sent by Rachael Anderson
Livingston 06/01/2018
Steph was absolutely brilliant in planning our trip to NYC! Nothing was a bother and she was able to offer great advise on where to stay/where to go/where to eat! We had an absolutely amazing time and this was down to Steph making sure everything ran smoothly for us - will definitely be booking through Steph again.
Sent by Isla Kidd
Edinburgh 19/09/2017
Steph puts her all into getting you the perfect holiday. Answers all questions without delay and has a very efficient and friendly way of dealing with people. I look forward to dealing with Steph again in the near future.
Sent by Son Patel-Kendall
Reading 06/09/2017
Steph is an absolute star! Such personal service and helped with every little detail, nothing was too much for her, and if she didn't know about something, she would find out straight away. We booked our Honeymoon to Australia and Dubai with her, she arranged everything from transport, flights (international & internal) even booked all our seats in advance for us too. All our excursions were booked for us, had plenty of advice on where to go & what to see. Chose wonderful hotels for us to stay with great locations. I am quite a selective person when it comes to the finer details on things, but my husband and I were absolutely delighted at the entire package Steph put together for us and she stayed within our budget too! The app was an amazing tool when we were on our trip, also Steph printed out all our documents and sent lovely wallets for us to store them in too along with luggage tags etc. Would highly recommend her to any traveller, and will not be using another high street travel agent ever again. Thank you Steph for making our Honeymoon so awesome. She is a no nonsense lady, listens carefully to your needs and delivers, she is the complete package. Travel Counsellor is exactly what she is!
Sent by Fiona Melvin-Farr
Edinburgh 11/05/2017
Steph arranged my travel to a business conference in Las Vegas. It was so easy having her take care of all the arrangements including monitoring flight changes, offering better routing and saving me money. Fantastic, friendly, knowledgeable, professional service - highly recommend.
Sent by Mally Strydom
Brisbane, Australia 02/05/2017
Steph's professionalism unsurpassed all other travel agents we had experienced. She always kept our interests at the forefront of everything she arranged. Looking forward to doing future business with her.
Sent by Gary Forrest
Edinburgh 02/05/2017
Steph is efficient, knowledgeable, helpful, honest - sorted within a week from idea through to complete booking and associated activity passes too. Not only would I recommend her I will be using her regularly myself going forward.
Sent by Susan Logie
Edinburgh 04/04/2017
Steph made the arrangements for our recent trip to Melbourne and Hong Kong. Her attention to detail, expertise and personal service saved us time, money and stress. Thanks also for checking us onto flights, even though that must have meant working very odd hours. Would highly recommend
Sent by Jason Carvalho
London 24/02/2017
Fantastic prompt superb service. I had lots of potential combinations and Steph was an absolute star. Nothing was too much trouble and she got me the best rates relevant for the trip combo and also gave me other advice on various options and benefits! Much appreciated and I've referred other friends to her who have subsequently booked with her as well! Thanks a million!
Sent by John and Denise Green
Fife, Scotland 06/09/2016
We lived in Australia for a number of years and wanted to ensure that our holidays were really memorable. We used Steph to book anniversary breaks, special birthdays and long weekends. The service was unsurpassed. I have never experienced such high quality accommodation, attention to detail and all the little special extras that make holidays so memorable. I would use Steph every time if I could.
Sent by Joshua Sawyer
Brisbane 02/09/2016
Myself and eight of my best mates booked a trip through Steph back in 2014 to Vegas, Mexico & South America. From the moment I first sat down with Steph, I knew I'd chosen the right person to get our trip sorted from start to finish. I gave her the vaguest of blueprints and she responded by articulating the absolute trip of a lifetime! I'd recommend Steph to anyone booking travel or accommodation. I shopped around hard to see if I could better her prices at the time and I came up empty. Her personalised customer care was exceptional and I'm planning on using Steph to book my honeymoon in the next 12 months!
Thanks again Steph!
Based in
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My Blog
I absolutely live and breathe travel and I love to write about my experiences! Please take a look through my posts - you might find your own holiday inspiration.
The most southerly continent, Antarctica is the home to the South Pole.
It covers an area roughly twice the size of Australia, has no resident population apart from a few scientists working at base stations, is the highest, the windiest, the coldest, and the driest continent.
And it’s the most fantastic destination to visit if you get the opportunity.
With only a limited season when visits are
Having fallen in love with South America after my trip to Brazil, I knew I’d be back, the only question was which country? With just a 10-day window, I wanted to keep travelling to a minimum, which leant itself perfectly to the beautiful city of Buenos Aires, followed by some down-time in Uruguay.
Seductive Buenos Aires
After an overnight flight direct from London, we arrived into Buenos Air
South America has been high on my wish list for as long as I can remember, and having tailored many bespoke itineraries for my clients over the years, I knew there was only one place to start – Brazil!
Rio – The Marvellous City
We couldn’t see the whole of Brazil in 2 weeks, so decided to focus on the South for this trip. We spent five days at the lovely Miramar Hotel, Copacabana, and our fi
I’ve had a love affair with South East Asia for 18 years now, but despite many visits, there are still a few countries that I haven’t seen. So, in March, I made my first trip to Cambodia on a 10-day solo tour. It was also a great chance for me to try out our fantastic local partners' products for myself. I always say that adventure travel doesn’t have to mean shared dorms and sweaty backpacks, so
Whatever your holiday needs I'm here to help you, so simply give me a call or send me an email with your contact details on and I can get things started for you:
