Tina Hopkins
I'm based in
Thorpe
It's Nice To Meet You
Hello and thank you for visiting my web page. If you’re looking for a holiday personally tailored to your requirements, with support from the time you book until the moment you arrive safely back home, you’re in exactly the right place.
Do you love to travel, but haven’t got either the time or inclination to research?
Or would you like a once in a lifetime holiday and don’t know where to start?
How do you know the company you’ve found online is legitimate?
What if things go wrong before you travel or while you’re away?
I love to research holidays and have a real interest in Africa and the Far East both of which I’ve been lucky enough to visit on more than one occasion. These holidays can often involve a number of flights, hotels, excursions and transfers. I have a network of trusted suppliers based all over the world who can help me to create bespoke (100% financially protected) holidays.
Recent events have reinforced the need to use an experienced travel provider. A real person who is available for you to speak to, right up until the moment you return from your holiday.
My decision to become a Travel Counsellor was born from a love of travel and a desire to help others realise their travel dreams. I’m passionate about good customer service – something which is sadly lacking in today’s environment. I provide my customers with a personal service; they only ever deal with me and I’m delighted I have some wonderful customers I now call friends.
My love of travel goes back a long way; sparked by my first holiday abroad, a two-week Mediterranean cruise with school. As soon as I could I went to work for an airline – only leaving to bring up my two, now grown up, children. They both had their first holiday abroad when they were 3 months old and still love to travel. When the children were younger, we had lots of family trips to Europe (particularly Germany) and USA. More recently my husband and I have had some real ‘bucket list’ holidays – visiting Singapore, Vietnam, India, Australia in addition to various African and Far East countries. Our most recent family trip was visiting Lapland between Christmas 2025 and the new year. We’re busy planning more trips, but the list just gets longer!
When you’re considering your next holiday why not get in touch for a chat – I promise you won’t regret it.
Travel guides
Explore my guides and blogs
A Magical Family Adventure in Lapland
Is there anywhere more enchanting for a winter getaway than Lapland? After spending four magical nights in this snowy wonderland with my family, including two granddaughters, I’m convinced that it’s the ultimate destination for families seeking festive fun, heartwarming memories, and a sprinkle of real-life fairy tale magic.
12 Jan 2026 5 min read
The Land of Smiles
A celebratory trip to mark the beginning of my husband’s retirement took us to The Land of Smiles – Thailand. We began our adventure in Kanchanaburi – known for its dark history; the area is home to the Thai-Burma railway (aka Death Railway) and the famous Bridge over the River Kwai. There’s a memorial and two fascinating museums to visit and we also took a ride on the railways itself. It’s stil
02 Apr 2025 5 min read
P&O Arcadia ship visit
A very different day at the office as I travelled to Southampton to visit P&O Cruises Arcadia. With a maximum capacity of 2094 passengers, it’s not quite the smallest ship in the P&O fleet, although it didn’t feel small as we navigated our way up and down between the decks, and along its full length! My first impression as I boarded into the atrium was clean and fresh. We spent the morning vis
30 Aug 2023 5 min read
Winter sun in Dubai
My first holiday of 2023 in Dubai. A week in the sun and all girls together, a recipe for a great time! Only a 6½ to 7-hour flight makes Dubai easily accessible for Winter sunshine. With our itinerary to hand we set off on a holiday of discovery. We’d been told how beautiful the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi is, so that was our first adventure. It only took just over an hour and with
19 May 2023 5 min read
Berlin Christmas Markets
For my husband and I, this trip to Berlin was all about visiting the Christmas Markets as it was our third time to the city. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to see the markets on our last visit as the weather was so bad, most markets were closed! We were with my son and his girlfriend on their first trip, so we followed their lead on the attractions to visit. The Christmas Markets don’t generally
04 Jan 2023 5 min read
Where the geysers blow!
Another holiday postponed because of Covid-19, finally happened! In early September we set off for USA, travelling first to Salt Lake City where we collected a car and headed up to Yellowstone National Park. Enroute, we stopped off at Jackson for a brief visit and I think it’s one of the prettiest towns I’ve ever been to in the US. Beautifully crafted buildings gave me the feeling of being imme
27 Oct 2022 5 min read
Three visit Athens - eventually!
We finally got there, two years after we’d originally booked, we touched down in the ancient city of Athens. After dropping our things off at the hotel, we headed off – map in hand. Hotel staff directed us to the historic area of Monastiraki. The square was buzzing with sightseers visiting the open-air market to buy souvenirs, before enjoying a meal in one of the many local tavernas. There wer
22 Jul 2022 5 min read
Christmastime in Edinburgh
We usually take a short trip to Germany to visit the Christmas Markets and get ourselves into the Christmas spirit although, for obvious reasons, it hasn’t been possible for the last couple of years. So, we decided to visit Edinburgh. There’s a Christmas Market as well as lots of other things to see and do. We dispensed with any form of public transport (together with face covering, form filli
29 Dec 2021 5 min read
Late Summer in Crete
After spending the Summer months closely watching the developments with overseas travel in light of Covid-19, we were relieved and delighted when we were able to book a last-minute break to Crete. We had visited the island many years ago with two small children, so this was a completely different holiday, just the two of us. We based ourselves in the pretty fishing port of Elounda about 45 minute
24 Sept 2021 5 min read
Lake Garda during COVID-19
I don’t need to explain why 2020 didn’t turn out to be the year any of us had expected or planned for. The holidays we’d planned for the year all had to be rescheduled, but we were still keen to get away for a holiday if possible. Italy was the perfect choice as they were managing Covid well and it was unlikely we’d have to quarantine on our return to UK. We chose Lake Garda, an area we first visi
21 Sept 2020 5 min read
Disney Cruise Line
With destinations all over the world, award winning musicals, full on-board rotational dining and unlimited snacks, soft drinks and ice-cream, what's there not to love about a Disney cruise? The best bit? It's all served up with the legendary Disney service, themed deck parties and fireworks at sea, you might even get to meet your favourite Disney character on-board too! WHERE CAN I GO ON A DISNE
25 Nov 2019 5 min read
Three visit Jersey
Just a short hop from Gatwick and we were in Jersey in the Channel Islands. Although it was my first real visit (I had a flying visit over 30 years ago for 1 day) both my mum and cousin had visited before. We chose a large resort style hotel, which really did offer something for all age groups including an indoor and outdoor pool across the road, two restaurants, evening entertainment or the oppo
01 Aug 2019 5 min read
When in Rome......
Determined to spend my birthday away this year, my husband and I decided to visit Rome for a few days. My favourite European city and my third visit, although it was my husband’s first. It took about ½ hour to transfer from the airport in a private car after our flight, which had taken a little over 2 hours. Our hotel was perfectly located in the centre of the city about 100 yards from the Trevi
10 Jul 2019 5 min read
Three visit Vienna
Vienna is a bit further away than some European cities at just over two hours flying time from London. However, the time (literally) flew by as I chatted with my mum and cousin and we arrived about 13:20 local time. It only took half an hour to get into the city by car and before we knew it we had arrived at our lodging, Hotel am Konzerthaus. Check-in was very efficient, and we were given a w
12 Aug 2018 5 min read
Gorillas, chimps and animals galore!
We had so much planned for our trip to Uganda and Tanzania that we flew into Kigali in Rwanda to minimise our travelling time as much as possible. After a good night’s rest, we were collected by our guide who transferred us to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest over the border in Uganda for what was undoubtedly the highlight of our holiday – gorilla trekking. We were lucky enough to spend one hour in the
28 Jun 2018 5 min read
Munich for Christmas
We decided we’d like to go a bit further afield for our visit to the German Christmas Markets this year and visited the bustling Bavarian City of Munich. We chose to stay in a hotel just outside of the city in Dachau where hotel prices are much more reasonable. A train ride back into the city only takes about 10 minutes on the fast train or 20 minutes on a local train. Another reason for stay
12 Dec 2017 5 min read
To cruise or not to cruise - that is the question
I was surprised to learn, when I joined Travel Counsellors, that cruising is the fastest growing sector of the market. Most of us think of a cruise as something where you’re told what to wear for dinner and where you’ll sit in the restaurant. However that isn’t for everyone and cruise companies have recognised that. Cruise companies have re-invented the concept and now there’s a cruise to suit e
14 Sept 2017 5 min read
Portugal
As we were travelling with my daughter, son-in-law and year-old granddaughter, we decided not to go too far for our family summer holiday. Cascais is on the Atlantic coast slightly west of Lisbon – Portugal’s capital city. Our flight from London took a little over two hours and then it was a 40-minute transfer to our hotel – Cascais Miragem. The hotel is well located, just a 10-minute walk into
10 Sept 2017 5 min read
Club Med and Marrakech
Hosted by Club Med we spent a few days in the sunshine at Club Med La Palmeraie in Marrakech. Never having visited before it was an ideal opportunity to enjoy the Club Med experience and travel to a new place. Landing after a 3 ½ hour flight we could see immediately that we’d landed in Northern Africa, the red square sandstone buildings were visible from the runway. Transfer to La Palmeraie took
05 Jul 2017 5 min read
Cracking Krakow
An interest in visiting Auschwitz was the main reason for choosing to visit Krakow for our short break this year. Our flight from Heathrow to the small Krakow Airport took about two hours where we were met and transferred to our hotel in the city centre. The hotel was very well placed close to the historic town centre and the main market square. The sun was shining and we ate a lovely meal o
30 Jun 2017 5 min read
Incredible India
We arrived in Jaipur, our first port of call, following a short flight from Mumbai where we’d landed the previous evening from UK. Nothing can prepare you for the hustle and bustle that is India – people, cars and rickshaws, camels pulling heavily loaded carts, pigs, and cows ambling along (or even just biding their time) in the middle of the road! Amber Fort is the major attraction and it w
19 Apr 2017 5 min read
Trier, Germany
Four and a half hours after we drove off the Eurotunnel at Calais, we arrived in the car park of the Park Plaza Hotel in the ancient German city of Trier. We were there for a three night break, the week before Christmas. Our hotel was really well placed for us to reach all the main areas on foot and there was plenty to see during our stay. The city was originally founded by the Romans in 17BC
20 Dec 2016 5 min read
Beautiful Bath
Just over two hours from home and we found ourselves in a beautiful hotel amidst the Somerset countryside. The hotel only has 21 rooms, an outdoor pool and spa facilities (sauna and steam room free of charge and treatments at an additional cost). We made the most of the hotel facilities on our first afternoon as the weather was warm and sunny and enjoyed an evening meal in a local pub. Unusually t
12 Aug 2016 5 min read
Budapest
Every year we take a ‘girls trip’ to a different European city and this year it was Budapest. I’ve never visited Hungary before, so I felt I was embarking on a real adventure. The flight took just over 2 hours, so it is easily manageable for a long weekend, with a 40 minute transfer into the city. Our hotel was perfectly placed on the Buda side of the River Danube, close to one of the many brid
14 Jun 2016 5 min read
Incredible Singapore, Cambodia and Vietnam
We began our trip in Singapore for three nights; it was my third visit but it had been 27 years since the last time. I was surprised at how much development has taken place in the intervening years, but it still had the charm I remembered from years ago. With bustling Chinatown and chaotic Little India adding to the general ambience, and of course the obligatory visit to Raffles for a Singapore Sl
04 Apr 2016 5 min read
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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.
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.
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.
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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