If you like what you read, please consider allowing me to plan you London visit. I am a US-based travel agent who specializes in London. I have visited London many times over the last decade and I can make your trip awesome.
So, what do I do? Many of you have probably been to my website and read through it. But, what do I REALLY do for you? I mean, we live in an age of AI and you could certainly let ChatGPT give you all sorts of 2-year-old advice. Or, BING could give you 3 suggestions it THINKS you want (out of hundreds) and then apologize for not giving you what it thinks you wanted but didn't. Or, you could try BARD who likes to insert its opinion into every answer and make you feel bad for your choices. Yes, AI can plan your trip. You don't need a travel agent. Or do you.....
I am a real live human who has been to London many, many times as a real live human. I talk to other real humans about what they want to see and do in London. I get a sense of my clients - of what they like and what London means to them before I ever make a single suggestion to them.
I read about London every day. I access tons of different news and information sites. I do trainings about travel in London and beyond. I develop relationships with people on the ground that will take care of my clients. I am looking for the good and the bad (and sometimes the ugly) for clients. If there is an issue, I'll tell clients. If there is something cool I find out about that is happening during their trip, I will let them know. If they have a special day during their trip, I'll find something to make it more special. If they have mobility issues or food allergies, I take all that into account. I even take what they want to see and try to add hidden gems and surprises that only people very familiar with London would know.
Then I make your itinerary. It's not a spreadsheet that you have to carry around all day. It's a day-by-day itinerary that runs on an app in your phone. It has information. It has live Google map directions. It has meal suggestions. It basically says, "HI! I'm your personalized and customized trip to London!"
This video is a sample of an itinerary I did for clients last Fall. They had booked a cruise leaving from Southampton prior to finding me (Fun fact- I can book your cruise!) and I was asked to help them with their pre-cruise visit. Despite not booking the cruise, I was able to add it to the app and pull in their schedule for reference. The boat icon on the screen indicates their cruise days.
I also added their flights (I generally don't book flights for reasons we'd discuss at our first contact) and the app has this wonderful feature that updates you if there are any changes such as gate changes, time changes, etc. And, there have been times when my app updated clients BEFORE the airline's app pushed it out. So, if need be, you can get ahead of the crowd if there is a massive change that you need to deal with.
After you book your flights, I do a hotel search and present a few options to look at so I can book something that fits your budget, vision of London (London has vibes - read about them HERE) and your needs like bed sizes, number of people, fridge, etc. Then I start building the days based on what you and I discussed. I will have sent you a form to fill out that tells me what you want to do, what you like to eat, your touring style, etc. It's a bit of trip psychology that AI (nor random people on a FB group) don't apply.
It can take me 3-7 days - depending on how many clients I have - to get your PROPOSED itinerary to you. I say "PROPOSED" because it's just that. I send you something based on logic and information you gave me but, it may not feel quite right so then we start refining it. We can be as detailed or general as you want - it's YOUR trip.
There will also be things in the proposal that you have to choose like which day trip you want or which walking tour you'd like to go on. So, I let you read through the options and book your choices from the links and then we strip off the ones you didn't want and add the details to what you did want. That may also then trigger different restaurant suggestions based on starting and ending points as well as navigation between activities. I tune all that up for you.
It usually takes about three go arounds to get it nearly perfect. You hit ACCEPT and then get access to this cool app like in the video. Then it sort of sits until your trip. Just prior to your trip, we'll take another pass at it and make sure that attractions are open on the day we planned for you (things change sometimes) or add anything that has come up. If you want to do something like the Ceremony of the Keys, I will have on MY calendar to remind you when the tickets go on sale so you can try to get them. If you don't get them, we'll figure out another nighttime activity. And, if it's something like a night bus tour, I'll look up and tell you what time the sun sets on that day so you make sure you get to actually see London at night. It's all highly personalized for you!!!
Hopefully this gives you a sense of what I do. It's not a generic "Siri, give me a 7-day London itinerary" itinerary. It's highly personalized with an expert human touch from start to finish.
Ready for me to plan your London itinerary? Contact me and let's get started!