I asked one of the agents at Adler Travel to help me book a trip to Madrid and Paris so that my…read moredaughter, an art student, could see the great museums. The agent did competently book flights and hotels, and I'm choosing to see that as a "glass half-full". But she needed a couple of reminders and she took a couple weeks longer than she said she would. And really, in a world where we all have TripAdvisor, I'm not sure that saved me more than 4 or 5 hours versus doing it on my own. Where I really could have used help, there was none. I was very clear about the purpose of the trip and the museums we intended to visit. Those museums are currently deluged with tourists and all now require booking time slots weeks in advance. If we had shown up without pre-booked tickets, we would have been turned away, negating the entire purpose of the trip and wasting thousands of dollars. This kind of information - learned from personal trips to the destination or previous bookings - is the real added value a travel agent should provide. Our agent provided none. Luckily for us, I learned about the need for pre-booking from Rick Steves' books before it was too late to get in. It was too late to get the time-slots we wanted, however. Some of the slots were decidedly inconvenient. A few weeks' earlier start would have been extremely helpful - a heads-up from the agent would have made a huge difference. Our agent was simply MIA after the initial bookings. She did finally respond to an email requesting help booking flights from Madrid to Paris - after I'd already booked them myself - with apologies about missing my email in her very full inbox. I had to do all of the research and booking for the museums myself, something that took many hours. Every agency has multiple agents with different levels of experience and enthusiasm for the job. Adler has a good enough local reputation that I'm sure some of the other agents are more helpful. But my experience with my agent was not great. I credit Rick Steves for a successful trip, not my agent. If I hadn't checked those books, it would have been a complete fiasco.

My husband and I were referred to John at Adler Travel by a friend when planning our honeymoon…read more Neither of us have traveled very much, and honestly the thought of sorting through thousands of different options, and then planning flights in the midst of wedding planning did not seem apealing. Luckily, John made everything beyond easy! We went in for a meeting with a few key ideas: all inclusive, on the beach, adults only. After a few more questions John quickly came up with several options. He made the process even easier by reserving everything for us, and telling us what to expect at each step of our travels. We had the BEST TIME in Mexico at El Dorado Maroma! Completely stress free vacation, exactly like we wanted :) We can not wait to go back and plan our next vacation through Adler Travel!

It was Rush Hour. I was in South Glastonbury retrieving our CSA box from a local farm market. I…read moreneeded to pick up my dog in Rocky Hill. Is there a better time to use the Rocky Hill - Glastonbury Ferry? What's that you say? Medical emergency? Yeah, I guess that would be a better time. You're in South Glastonbury and you realize you forgot your purse at a picnic table at the Ferry Park Grill? Hmm. That's better too. Can we just agree that the CSA/Dog thing is in the top quartile of best times? Thanks. It was a lovely $5 trip that probably saved me a good 20 minutes. Service was historical, prompt, friendly and nautical. Five Stars

9/19/21 Being the oldest continuously operating ferry in the country makes me wonder how I've never…read moreused this historic treasure before now. It's actually a barge, guided by a very small tug boat, making it a quaint and interesting mode of crossing the Connecticut River. It holds a mere 3 cars (and in my case, 3 cars plus my motorcycle). Crossing takes about 5 minutes, and affords a scenic view of the river and environs. Six bucks for passage on a weekend is a bargain in my book, considering how enjoyable riding a piece of floating history it is. It also is invaluable to some commuters and bicyclists that have no real other way to get across the river, without going eleven miles to the next closest bridge crossing. It's great as no more than a tourist attraction in my case! Loved the ride. You will too! From "the Rocky Hill Ferry CT.gov" website. ***** History***** "The nation's oldest continuously operating ferry service crosses the Connecticut River between Rocky Hill and Glastonbury. The original ferry, which dates back to 1655, was a small raft pushed across the river using long poles. Under State charter, the ferry service was operated by local families throughout most of its existence. The ferry service was such a vital transportation link within the region that crossing would cease only during the most adverse conditions."

Dianna is an excellent travel agent. She is diligent in asking a lot of questions in order to…read moreunderstand exactly what is in your bucket list. She then creates a perfect itinerary! We have not travelled until recently and were a bit anxious. Her added tips on airport hotels and parking made everything so so easy. By the time she worked her magic all we had to do was pack our bags and go! We will continue consulting with Vacations Abound for many adventures to come!

I used Dianna at Vacations Abound to plan family vacation and everything was perfect. Her…read moreattention to detail is amazing. Highly recommend!!!!

Nice motel - clean/ reasonable and very nice people. Parking…read moreis Free. No handIcap access to second floor, but the first floor is great!

How do I even put into words exactly how I feel?!?! With…read moreHarvey still on everyone's mind and Irma making her way in, we were at a loss on what to do. My sister has a new freshman down at Nova University in Ft. Lauderdale. The school announced this afternoon that they were closing. Students are leaving the campus due to Cat 5 status. We as a family hit the computers in search of tickets for him to fly home before the storm. We looked from Ft. Lauderdale, Miami and Orlando to JFK, Bradley, Newark and Logan. All we saw was $1035-$2395!!! Crazy! I have been using Fara at Travel by Fara for 5 years for my personal vacations planning. Desperate, I took a shot in the dark and at 835pm tonight, I messaged her over Facebook. Immediately. Immediately!!!! I got a response, requesting I call the office right away. My sister called and provided all info. Within 30 minutes, we got a ticket home for my nephew. She literally went "all in" to help my sister, understanding what she was going through as a mother. Fara has been and still is professional, diligent, knowledgeable and caring for all of her clients. Thank you Travel by Fara for always being there and at the top of your game!!!

My husband and I have used Fara for over 15 years. She is always our go to person and wouldn't…read moretrust anyone else with our travels. She quickly responds to phone calls, texts and emails. She has sent us on many vacations over the years and has alway been spot on with knowing what we would like and always gets us the best deal. I highly recommend Travel by Fara she is a top notch travel agent!

Pino helped my husband and I plan our honeymoon to Italy. He did a wonderful job of planning…read morethrough the entirety of the trip, including his coordination with a great limo company (La Dolce Vita) to get us around the Amalfi Coast. Pino was lovely to work with during the planning phase and easy to contact if we had any questions while we were out of the country. Thank you for such a memorable trip!

We recently went on a Royal Caribbean cruise which we booked with Alice from Klingerman Travel…read more Her service was spotty at best. The office is physically closed and only operates by phone. She wanted us to make our own show/reservations and/or excursions. This had always been done for us as travel agencies should. We will never use the services of Klingerman again and will advise our friends against doing so as well.

Been using them for years and they truly make it easy. They are by far the best, first class!read more

This is a fun spot to kill an hour or so. It's priced decently at $15 per adult, and kids under 6…read moreare free. The history and submarine are cool, but what really stood out was the train exhibit on the top floor. Just a super cool and detailed train set. Very fun for younger kids!

We recently visited the Connecticut River Museum. I had learned that a ship that my great-great…read moregrandfather emigrated on was built in the shipyards near Essex, Ct. Wanting to learn more about the shipping history of the area we stopped in to the museum. It is packed with three floors of ship building and shipping history. The staff was excellent and helpful, and we learned so much about the history of the area. There is a replica of the "turtle" considered to be the first submarine and the history of wars and British ships in the harbors. Some exhibits are interactive. On our visit the third floor covered the history of boat racing on the river which was fascinating. We were thrilled with what we learned and saw. The museum is very well done. There is plenty of parking and it sits right on the water. Definitely worth the visit if you are in the area.