Andre Leavitt is to be commended for her attention to detail and ability to translate our travel…read moredesires into a well-organized excursion that combined all the elements that both my husband and I requested. Our goal was to travel overseas for 3 weeks with a minimum of packing and unpacking. The Queen Mary II transatlantic crossing was on our bucket list and we had not been to France. The itinerary was perfect - a combination of Ocean Liner, Trains, Chunnel and River Boat. We were able to have a long weekend in Bath in between the crossing and river cruise and to enjoy a few days in Paris. We loved the boutique hotels, time spent in the villages of Normandy, visiting the D-Day sites and spending time in Paris. Logistics were smooth and Andre made sure we had all our ducks in a row. Her recommendations and planning were invaluable.

I've wanted to go to Hawaii for many, many years - this trip met and exceeded my hopes and…read moreexpectations! André works quickly, efficiently - knows her stuff and makes excellent suggestions. Thanks to her, we got great rates, all our connections were smooth and our accommodations were wonderful. (I was surprised to read the previous review and see that it is from 2016. Our experience was completely opposite and I feel completely comfortable recommending André to my friends.)

Knowmad gets my highest recommendation from our initial phone conversation to having a Knowmad…read morespecialist see us off at the airport for our return trip home. We spent an unforgettable 10 days hiking the (express!) Inca trail to Machu Picchu and visiting Lima, The Sacred Valley, Aguas Calientes and Cusco. I could write 10 pages about how much we loved traveling with Knowmad so I'll try to stick to the highlights. My husband and I usually handle all of our own travel planning, but when we came across Knowmad while researching how to visit Machu Picchu we realized we would probably get a lot more out of a trip to Peru traveling with specialists from the country. This was 1000% true and working with Knowmad made planning our trip so easy and fun. Our travel specialists Renee and Shannon found a way for us to do everything we wanted to do (and so much more!) while staying within our budget. They were remarkably thorough with answering my countless questions and we could not have been more prepared for our visit, with very minimal effort on our end. Once we met up with our Knowmad guide, Fernando, in Cusco every day of our trip was amazing and we learned so much about the Inca culture and the Andes while having a ton of fun and going at our own pace. By the time we made it to Machu Picchu it was so much more meaningful because we had an understanding of what makes it such a special and mystical site. The Inca trail was absolutely breathtaking (and I'm not talking about the altitude ) and we couldn't have done it without Fernando as our fearless guide. He looked out for us every step of the way and made us feel like family throughout our time with him. Our trip wouldn't have been nearly so memorable without him. Another highlight was our e-bike ride through the Sacred Valley with our awesome guide Kirvi, who was so kind and on top of making sure we were safe and even getting some awesome photos and videos along the way. Our driver Abraham made us feel so welcome and kept us moving along and safe throughout our trip. The restaurants and hotels Knowmad arranged for us were excellent, and our picnic in the Sacred Valley and Pachamanca experience were unbelievable. Thank you Knowmad for making our trip such an incredible experience we will never forget!

Knowmad planned our trip to Argentina in March. They listened to what we wanted and then arranged…read morea flawless trip. They were also very responsive whenever I had questions. I highly recommend them if you wish to have a special excursion to a South American country.

I am typically the person to plan our family trips, but recently I decided to work with a travel…read moreagent. I mainly made this decision because the stakes are too high for a big trip for me to do it all on my own. It was one thing when I was planning a trip for ten or so, but recently I needed to plan a trip for 20 people from two continents to head to Yosemite. Since I've never done Yosemite, I decided not to chance it. That's when I found Eric Jensen with Pocket Map travel. I specifically searched for someone who had experience with both Yosemite and Disney, and Eric fit the bill. Even though he is based in Minnesota, we're in the same time zone, and we do everything by phone and email. He is absolutely wonderful to work with. He helped me narrow down my choices from dozens of hotels that could have worked down to the one that would perfect for what we were looking for: Rush Creek Lodge. He had helped us get our rooms and was starting to help us look into activities for all ages and fitness levels when Covid-19 started to ruin our travel plans. Eric took care of our cancellations. He's also planned all the hotels for eight of us to go Mexico for my 40th in October. While that trip is also up in the air, it's nice to know I can trust Eric to help me figure out what we need to do and when depending on what happens next.

From the owner: Active & Adventure Travels in North & South America…read more I specialize in matching travelers with North and South America's premier adventure tour operators, small ship cruise lines, and expedition cruise companies. If you dream of exploring the Americas as a participant rather than an observer, I'll help you find the perfect trip to fit your interests, activity level, and budget. Whether you are traveling with family, friends, or solo, joining an adventure tour or cruise provides insider access to experiences you can’t find on your own. I will help you select the right trip and take care of all the planning details so you can focus on getting out into the world.

Our 25th anniversary is coming up so we've been planning a vacation to celebrate. Yes, 25 years…read more Wow. One of the options we are considering is a cruise. Doing some research we had some specific dates, destinations and even the cruise line. I found Travel Leaders so I emailed one of their agents to get some information and questions on the benefits of working with an agent. I initially contacted Karen Malone due to the experience and reviews listed on her bio. Karen called me within 24 hours and briefly reviewed the detailed information that I had emailed. She stated she would put together some information and numbers and email those to me. A couple of days later I receive an email from a Karen Soltis. Her email had other ships and dates that I had not described in my initial email and conversation. I replied to Karen advising her of the details and apologizing if the information I had discussed with Karen Malone was not clear. Karen Soltis did reply and stated she would get the additional and correct information to me. That was over three weeks ago. Since that time I met a representative from the cruise line we are considering and also met a travel agent that specializes in cruises. I doubt that I will hear from Travel Leaders and I doubt I will ever contact them again. I will however work with the individuals that I have recently become acquainted. Sometimes fate works out better than the plan. That certainly seems to be the case here.

This was our first experience with Travel Leaders. My fiancé and I take a tropical vacation every…read moreyear and were introduced to Kristi (our travel agent) through a mutual friend who had used her service multiple times. It only took one simple phone call to let Kristi know when and where we wanted to go. She took care of the plane tickets and hotel reservation in two simple phone calls and emailed me all of the information right after I booked. It was quick and convenient! She also includes our airport transfer in the package which was very helpful. There were no details she didn't cover! We booked our stay at the El Cid Castilla in Mazatlan. We were impressed with the location of the hotel as it was right down town close to the golden zone and lots of restaurants and bars. The staff was accommodating and friendly and the service at the restaurants was great. Our favorite was the Italian restaurant which was included in our all inclusive package. We also enjoyed our room! It was probably the most comfortable bed I've ever had on a vacation out of the country and was a king size bed! We had a great view of the ocean from the 7th floor and even received a welcome basket including tequila upon arrival thanks to Kristi. We visited during Carnival week and there was lots of festivities going on as a result. Kristi worked with the hotel to set up transport to old Mazatlan to see the fireworks one night and also arranged for us to attend the parade a different night. Both were great experiences and something we wouldn't have probably done without her assistance. She went above and beyond to make our trip fabulous! We are looking forward to planning our next vacation with Kristi in the future! She was friendly, prompt, and made the whole process from start to finish very easy!

I was in the early stages of planning our recent trip to Tanzania and had been working with a…read morecompeting travel consultant. She was doing a so so job, but I a little less than satisfied with her response time. It was then I called a friend of mine. He is experienced in adventure type travel and thought he might be able to give me a few hints on who to call. He did not even hesitate when recommending Access 2 Tanzania. From our very first contact with Casey (our EXPERT travel consultant), he demonstrated that they are truly professionals when arranging trips to Eastern Africa. Every step of the way, Casey made sure that our needs were met and every detail was thoroughly covered. Our final itinerary was near perfection, contact numbers both here and in Tanzania were included. Not a single time during our journey were we left out in the cold wondering what would happen next. Our guide was (Alex) top notch (which by the way are full time employees of Access 2 Tanzania) and went above and beyond to make sure we were fully taken care of. In fact we met 8 of the 10 guides during our stay and every single one of them were awesome! Obviously I am little biased and will always recommend requesting Alex, but if for some reason he is booked you will be assured of a highly skilled safari guide. There were a few pleasant surprises along the way, for example on our flight to Zanzibar we had a two hour layover in Arusha. One of the guides caught wind of this and made sure to greet us at the airport and stayed with us the entire time. This is one of the easiest five star reviews I have ever written. Access 2 Tanzania proved to be one of the smartest decisions I have made.

Highly recommend Access2Tanzania. We did a two week Safari with our two kids ages 6 and 8 and had a…read morewonderful time with impeccable hotels and our fantastic guide Nasibu. He was really flexible with our kids and they loved him. He knew every animal, plant and bird. They really know what they are doing.