Clare Davis - Personal Travel Planner

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Clare Davis - Personal Travel Planner

I am a Travel Counsellor based in Co. Durham. I have over 22 years experience in the travel.

If you are looking for a holiday designed with you in mind then look no further! As a Personal Travel Counsellor I specilise in tailoring your holiday to your specific needs. As I work from home so I am available to discuss all of your travel needs at a time that is mutually convenient. Travel Counsellors is a leading independent travel company delivering a personal, bespoke travel service for over 20 years. Travel Counsellors give me access to 100s of reputable suppliers who I have no obligation to therefore I am completely impartial when advising you! By booking your travel through me you will receive complete financial protection.

31/10/2026

If I could spend November anywhere in the world, I’d choose…

New Zealand. 🇳🇿

And I’d want enough time to do it properly.

November is spring there, so while we’re heading into darker mornings and colder days at home, New Zealand is heading towards summer.

I’d want a car, a fairly loose itinerary and plenty of time.

Auckland and the North Island first, before heading south for the mountains, lakes and those enormous landscapes that make you want to keep stopping the car every ten minutes.

I’d want to walk.

Eat well.

Find little places we hadn’t planned to stop.

Spend a few nights somewhere beautiful rather than moving on every morning.

And probably take far too many photographs. 😂

It’s exactly the kind of holiday I love – not one big ‘wow’ moment, but lots of completely different experiences along the way.

And if I’m being greedy, I’d want three or four weeks.

If we’re escaping November, we may as well do it properly. 🇳🇿✈️

Where would you choose if you could disappear for the whole of November?

29/10/2026

One of the hardest parts of my job is knowing when to say “I wouldn’t book that”

Sometimes a client sends me a hotel they’ve found and it looks lovely.

Great photos. Good reviews. The price works.

And occasionally I have to say…

“I wouldn’t book it.”

Not because it’s a bad hotel.

It might just be in completely the wrong location for the type of holiday they’ve described.

The rooms they like might overlook the road rather than that beautiful view in all the photographs.

The transfer might be much longer than they realised.

Or I might know there’s another option that costs a little more but suits them so much better.

It’s not always an easy conversation to have, particularly when someone has already fallen in love with something they’ve seen online.

But I don’t think my job is simply to book whatever I’m asked to book.

If I spot something that makes me think this isn’t right for you, I’m going to say so.

You might still decide it’s exactly what you want – and that’s absolutely fine.

But I’d rather have that conversation before you travel than hear you say afterwards…

“I wish we’d known.”

27/10/2026

The obvious route isn’t always the one I’d choose

When you’re planning a multi-centre holiday, there’s usually an obvious route.

The places everyone visits.

The order most itineraries follow.

The stops that appear when you search online.

But I don’t automatically assume that’s the route I’d recommend.

Sometimes I’d add somewhere you’d never considered.

Sometimes I’d give you four nights somewhere most itineraries only allow two.

And sometimes I’d leave out one of the supposedly must-see stops altogether.

Because I’m not particularly interested in creating the itinerary that looks most impressive on paper.

I want to create the one you’ll actually enjoy.

If you’re happiest exploring independently, I’ll build in time for that.

If you love beautiful hotels, I want you to have enough time to actually enjoy them.

And if moving every two nights is going to leave you exhausted by the end of week one, I’d rather take something out.

That’s probably my favourite thing about tailor-made travel.

There’s no route you’re supposed to take.

There’s just the route that makes sense for you.

26/10/2026

The older I get, the more this matters to me when I travel

Time.

Not necessarily more days away.

Just more time to actually enjoy the days I have.

I don’t want every morning to start with an alarm because we’ve got somewhere else to be.

I don’t want to spend half the holiday packing and unpacking because I’ve tried to squeeze in another stop.

And I definitely don’t want to come home feeling like I need another holiday. 😂

I still love exploring. Give me a new city, a road trip or a big adventure and I’m very happy.

But these days, I want time within it too.

Time for a long breakfast.

An afternoon where we haven’t planned anything.

An evening that carries on because we’ve found somewhere lovely and nobody needs to rush off.

Maybe it’s getting older. Maybe it’s travelling with my family and realising those are often the moments we remember.

But I’ve definitely stopped measuring a good holiday by how much we managed to fit in.

I’d much rather come home having really enjoyed five things than barely remember the ten we rushed through.

These days, time feels like one of the biggest luxuries of all.

24/10/2026

If Christmas markets aren’t really your thing, I’d still consider these for December

I love a Christmas market, but I’ll admit I don’t necessarily want an entire city break to revolve around one.

December can actually be a lovely time to explore some of Europe’s cities without going anywhere near a mug of mulled w**e. 😂

If that sounds more like you, I’d consider…

🇪🇸 Seville

One of my favourites anyway, but particularly appealing when you’re not trying to sightsee in the heat of summer. It’s wonderfully walkable, there’s so much atmosphere and I’d happily spend an afternoon wandering, stopping for tapas whenever I fancied it.

🇵🇹 Lisbon

Another city made for exploring. Food, viewpoints, neighbourhoods you can spend hours wandering through and plenty to fill a long weekend without needing a festive itinerary.

🇮🇹 Rome

I’d much rather explore Rome in a jacket than in the middle of an August heatwave. You can still have those long lunches, wander through beautiful piazzas and see the big sights, but with a completely different atmosphere.

Of course, you’ll still find plenty of Christmas lights and festive touches at that time of year.

But that doesn’t have to be the reason for going.

Sometimes December is simply a very good excuse for a few days away. ✈️

22/10/2026

When spending more on the flight can change the whole holiday

I’m usually quite happy to save money on a flight if I think there’s somewhere better to spend it.

But on some trips, I’d do the opposite.

A long-haul holiday can look like much better value with an indirect flight, an awkward connection or a departure time that saves a few hundred pounds.

Then you look at what it actually does to the trip.

Arriving exhausted late at night.

Losing most of your first day.

Spending hours of a relatively short holiday in an airport waiting for a connection.

Or having to leave your hotel at an unearthly hour on the way home.

Suddenly, the cheaper flight doesn’t feel quite such good value.

And then there are the occasions when I’d consider spending more on the cabin too.

I don’t think everyone needs to fly Business Class to enjoy a long-haul holiday, but for a special trip, a very long journey or an overnight flight, Premium Economy or Business can sometimes change how the holiday begins.

You arrive feeling ready to enjoy it rather than needing a day to recover.

I’m always looking at the whole trip rather than the cheapest combination of flights and hotels.

Sometimes I’d tell you to save the money and spend it when you get there.

But sometimes?

I’d spend it on getting there better. ✈️

20/10/2026

The enquiry I’d happily have land in my inbox tomorrow

If I opened my inbox tomorrow and saw…

“We’re thinking about Australia. We’ve got three weeks and we don’t just want to do the obvious route. Where do we start?”

I’d be very happy. 😂

These are the enquiries I absolutely love.

Not because I already know exactly what I’d book.

Quite the opposite.

I’d want to know whether you’d rather wake up overlooking Sydney Harbour or somewhere completely remote.

Whether wildlife is important.

If you’d happily drive part of the journey.

Whether you want beaches, cities, food and w**e, the Outback… or a bit of everything.

And I’d almost certainly start suggesting places you hadn’t originally considered.

Australia is enormous, and three weeks sounds like a long time until you start trying to fit everything into it.

For me, the fun is working out what we don’t need to include.

Creating a route that feels like an adventure rather than a race around a country.

So yes…

Three weeks. Australia. A fairly blank sheet of paper.

I’d happily take that enquiry tomorrow. 🇦🇺

19/10/2026

It’s often the smallest things I remember about a hotel

I’ve stayed in some beautiful hotels over the years.

And strangely, when I think back to the ones I loved most, it’s rarely the grand entrance or the expensive furnishings that come to mind first.

It’s the little things.

Someone remembering your name.

Noticing how you take your coffee the following morning.

Coming back to your room and finding something has been taken care of before you’ve even thought to ask.

None of those things sound particularly extravagant.

But they’re often the difference between staying in a beautiful hotel and feeling genuinely looked after.

My early experiences working with American Express Centurion Travel probably made me notice service more than most.

I learnt quite quickly that real luxury doesn’t need to shout about itself.

Quite often, it’s the tiny detail you weren’t expecting that you end up remembering years later.

And that’s still something I look for when I’m choosing hotels for my clients today.

17/10/2026

Japan in spring or autumn? They’re two very different trips 🇯🇵

Japan is one of those destinations where when you travel can completely change the experience.

Spring gets a lot of attention, and understandably so.

Cherry blossom season can turn parks, temple gardens and entire streets pink. There’s a real excitement around it, and if seeing the blossoms is something you’ve always wanted to experience, it’s incredibly special.

But I’d be just as tempted by autumn.

The intense reds, oranges and golds around places like Kyoto can be spectacular, the temperatures are generally comfortable for exploring, and there’s something about Japan in autumn that really appeals to me.

Neither is necessarily the better time to go.

They’re just different.

Spring has that unmistakable cherry-blossom atmosphere.

Autumn brings completely different colours and a slightly different feel to the landscapes and gardens.

And I’d plan around those seasons differently too, rather than simply taking the same Japan itinerary and changing the date.

So if Japan is somewhere you’re thinking about, one of my first questions would probably be…

Pink or red? 🌸🍁

Because your answer might just decide when we go.

15/10/2026

The trip I’d plan for someone who says “I’ve done all the obvious places”

Every now and then, someone comes to me and says:

“We’ve travelled a lot. We want somewhere different.”

That’s when things get interesting.

One place I’d be very tempted to suggest is Uzbekistan.

I’d put together a journey through Tashkent, Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva, travelling through cities that once sat at the heart of the Silk Road.

Incredible architecture, colourful tiled mosques and madrasas, bustling markets, centuries of history and a culture that feels completely different from the usual long-haul itinerary.

It’s not somewhere I’d choose for a week of doing very little.

I’d choose it for someone who genuinely enjoys travelling.

Someone who wants to explore, learn, eat somewhere new each evening and come home feeling as though they’ve experienced a completely different part of the world.

I think there’s something really exciting about reaching the point where you’ve visited many of the places you once had on your list.

Because that’s when you can start looking a little further.

And that’s often where some of the most interesting trips begin. ✈️

Address

Crook
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Website

http://www.travelcounsellors.com/clare.davis

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