Cannot begin to thank Guido and the rest of the staff at Bethesda Travel for the Italy vacation of…read morea lifetime. Down to our airline seating preference, no detail of the trip was overlooked. We simply gave Guido an idea of what we wanted to see & do and he did the rest. Only an experienced agent of the highest caliber could have handled our late in the planning process schedule changes. A few weeks before departure a package arrived with everything from travel bags to luggage tags, detailed itinerary, maps, vouchers, and suggested restaurants at each city along the way. Guido then set up a meeting to go over every page to aaddress any questions or concerns we may have had. Once in Italy, Guido called the Venetian restaurant where we were dining to make sure everything was going well. In Rome, the hotel clerk had a message for us from Guido, whom she had worked with for years. In Italy, everyone knows Guido. Simply put; Bethesda Travel should be the first stop for anyone planning a vacation.

Another great family vacation planned by Guido and his staff--two weeks in Spain! (We did a similar…read moreItaly trip planned by them several years ago.) Hotels, transportation, tours, and tour guides--all planned to perfection and excellent. The hotels were in perfect locations, all the tours were private with priority entry into the busy attractions (no waiting in lines!), and most of the tour guides had 10-20+ years of guide experience with education in history and/or architecture matching the tour. Also, having them provide train and airline reservations and drivers eliminated all stress getting from one place to another on time and kept us from driving and getting lost in crazy city traffic. If you want a no-worry, low stress vacation while seeing many attractions in an European country, Bethesda Travel Center is the place to go. Worth every penny and highly recommended!

From the owner: I am a travel agent with 12 years of experience. My objective is to provide the best quality…read moreservice to my clients. (Soy agente de viaje con 12 años de experiencia. My objetivo es brindar el mejor servicio a mis clientes.)

Great service with super helpful staff. I would recommend them to anyone looking to avoid the DMV…read morefor tag and title help.

Overall, I had a decent experience at this AAA office. I stopped by this location to pick up an…read moreinternational driving permit (IDP). While I did not see a directory in this multi-level building, which is shared with other business, the AAA office is located on the first floor, immediately to left of the main building's entrance. I'll say the entire process of getting the permit took about 20 minutes (maybe even less), which was faster than I anticipated. Fortunately, you can take and purchase the passport pictures for the permit in the office. The permit and the set of passport pictures (two pics in a set) will run $20 and $14, respectively. The service was fine. One agent, the one who processed my paperwork, was really nice. The other agent, the one who greets customers, was moderately nice. He was not mean, but he was not super friendly, which is fine I guess. For instance, he started to get a copy of the IDP application. However, when I mentioned that I already completed and printed the online form, he seemed to be annoyed that I did not provide this information before going to the filing cabinet, which was less than two feet from his desk. *Note: he didn't ask or give me a chance to let him know that I already completed the application. Who knows, perhaps, he was having a rough day dealing with other disgruntled customers.

The travel consulting company Enlighten Excursions, owned by Deirdre Swinson, provided my husband…read moreand me with outstanding services in planning the five-week trip we made to Europe in May, 2022. This was a complex trip, and we were not familiar with most of the places we wanted to visit. It involved five countries (France, Czech Republic, Germany, Austria, and Switzerland) and 13 stops. Generally, we stayed at hotels, but sometimes with friends. Except for air travel to and from Europe, we traveled by train. Enlighten Excursions (EE) managed this complexity adroitly and provided us with a highly satisfactory trip experience. The company arranged our train travel, hotels, and tours, and suggested things we could do on our own. At the onset of planning, we decided together with EE on a budget. Except for an initial consultation fee, we did not pay anything extra to EE. The company's compensation was taken from bookings. We received regular updates regarding spending. Deirdre and her team seamlessly incorporated into the itinerary our desire to visit four different sets of friends in three countries, including transportation to these cities. Our trip itinerary was presented in a highly organized way in an app that was easy to read on our PCs and mobile phones. The walking tours they arranged--both private and group tours--were superb. Our guides were knowledgeable and lively, with a love of history. We enjoyed nearly all our hotels, which were conveniently situated close to train stations and the historic areas of the cities. Several of the hotels had "old world charm." Breakfasts, which most of the hotels bundled into their lodging services, were delicious. It was evident to us that Deirdre Swinson genuinely enjoys travel and wants for her clients to enjoy their travel. She is the consummate travel professional: highly collaborative and thorough, responsive to our needs and requests, and personable. She and her team actually arranged our trip twice: a 2020 trip which we had to cancel because of the pandemic, and the 2022 trip we just took. We cannot recommend Deirdre and EE more highly.

I found Deidre Swinson after deciding to visit Andalucia, Spain. She suggested ways to simplify our…read moretrip of two weeks by staying in 4 cities with day trips to see more rural areas of interest. We loved meeting locals who cooked us a meal and gave me a Flamenco lesson! She arranged personalized tours of each city (Seville, Carmona, the small white villages, Córdoba, Granada and Málaga) so that my husband and I could ask questions and learn. Each of our apartments/hotels were central to the best areas to explore on our own. Deidre is a pleasure to work with and I intend to use her again. Her rates are very reasonable. Instead of going on a huge tour, try calling her to hear her suggestions for a memorable vacation! Cathy

Vicky did an absolutely remarkable job for our Mediterranean trip. She really listened to our…read morewishes and tailored the details for us.

Vicki is the best! She heard my needs and helped me plan a wonderful birthday celebration! I…read moreappreciate the time and attention taken to provide me with wonderful service. I will definitely book my future trips through Greenbelt Travel Services. Thanks much! Ennis

Jeannine helped setup our honeymoon to Tahiti (Tahiti; Moorea; Bora Bora). It was absolutely…read moreamazing! In fact, it may of been the best vacation I ever had (I've traveled the world). Jeannine made sure each detail with the transport to and around the islands were taken care of. My wife and I just showed up and enjoyed the experience. In addition to all that, Jeannine made sure to find the timeframe we desired while keeping the budget manageable. She even arranged everything in a short time!!! As far as my wife and I are concerned, she is our permanent travel agent (lol). I highly recommend using her!!!!!

When my husband and I learned that we were expecting, I knew we had to get a babymoon to Europe…read moreplanned but the thought of where to go and what to do was overwhelming. I reached out to Jeannine and she helped us through it. After talking with me, we decided on Germany and Austria, Munich and Salzburg specifically. With our interests in mind, and some imagination on her part, she mocked up an itinerary for us. Since we were flexible on dates there was some back and forth on exact dates and activities. She patiently worked with us to plan an itinerary that we liked and after realizing our trip was longer than initially thought, also worked in a few days in Innsbruck. The trip was great. We had two small hiccups while in country but Jeannine quickly and flawlessly worked it out. It was great to be able to shoot her an email and know she would work it out, we could continue on our trip stress free. You're in good hands with Jeannine.

Travel agent was great on our first trip, but not on the second trip. I would not use her again and…read moreI'm not sure I would use this company again as well because they only book you in hotels that are very high rated and obviously very expensive and they get a kickback, of course. Just not the most pleasant experience because of the second trip.

I worked with Deborah on our trip to Scotland and Ireland. She was wonderful...had great…read morerecommendations on our entire vacation. Her suggestions were helpful and end of the day after discussing our thoughts, she was able to hit the ball out of the park. She was also super flexible as we booked some of the smaller tours during our trip as well as some of the transfers...however, she provided the guidance we needed. I believe that to have the experience we had, communication is key...and that was achieved beyond my expectations. Looking forward to working with Deborah on a future adventure!

I'm happy that others had 5-star experiences here. Mine was definitely a "shudder and run" lesson…read morelearned. VERY important anniversary - big plans for a European river cruise led us to decide to seek help from a professional rather than booking it ourselves online. Our consultant gave us some brochures and asked other consultants to lend expertise on the trip we were interested in. We left the appointment with a 72-hour window to complete the reservation AND for the consultant to provide the "how to" move forward. On the third day, I made contact to see how we could move forward before the deadline passed and the reservation would be lost. The consultant, having forgotten about where we were in the story, failed to provide what was needed ---- the reservation was lost. The promise was an attempt at a do-over once 24 more hours had passed. Rather than risk another blown opportunity, I called the vendor myself --- and booked the same dates/cabin/destination as a new reservation. Anniversary saved - go ME. The next day, received an ALL CAPS email from the consultant: "IF YOU DO DEPOSIT TODAY I CAN REBOOK. NEED TO KNOW." Needless to say, I won't be a repeat customer of this business.

We just completed our second trip arranged by Carla at the Travel Place. Our first trip last year…read morewas to Costa Rica. Carla created a wonderful experience and arranged for us to stay at resorts she had been to herself. All three that we were at were fantastic and everything, including transportation was fantastic. Our most recent trip to Spain was also perfect. Carla arranged every detail so all we needed to do was enjoy a totally stress free vacation. We will be working with Carla in the coming months to arrange our next trip. She is easy going, friendly and incredibly knowledgeable. Five stars to Carla and the Travel Place! John and Andrea P.

If you're currently searching for a travel agent and may have missed my earlier review from a few…read moreyears ago, let me say this clearly up front: after many more trips since then, my opinion hasn't changed -- if anything, it's stronger. Val Kittson of Connoisseur Travel, Ltd. continues to be the only travel professional I trust with my trips, both domestic and international. Over the years she has planned numerous journeys for me, and every single one has reflected careful thought, expertise, and attention to detail. Her technology alone sets her apart. The app she provides keeps us informed in real time and has often had updates before the airline ticket counter even knew what was happening. That level of preparedness removes stress and gives us confidence wherever we are in the world. What truly elevates her service, though, is the work she does behind the scenes. When we travel internationally, she doesn't just assign guides -- she personally interviews them before recommending them. So far, every guide she has selected for us has been a 10 out of 10, which speaks volumes about her standards and her commitment to her clients' experiences. Some people may think they can plan trips themselves or rely on AI tools. As a software architect, I use AI every day and appreciate what it can do. But I can promise you this: AI won't give you the insider knowledge, trusted relationships, and human insight that can turn a great trip into a truly unforgettable one. Val provides that difference. I am already planning trips for 2027 and 2028, and she is my only consideration. I trust her recommendations completely based on the itineraries I provide, and I know she will translate them into experiences that exceed expectations. I plan to share this review in multiple places because I genuinely hope it helps as many travelers as possible find the kind of trusted expertise that has made such a difference for me. If you want seamless planning, trusted guidance, and someone who truly invests in your travel experience, I recommend Val without hesitation. Val Kittson Connoisseur Travel, Ltd. Phone: 202.469.8914 ext. 138 Web: [www.ctltd.com](http://www.ctltd.com) Email: [val.kittson@ctltd.com](mailto:val.kittson@ctltd.com) Facebook: [www.facebook.com/TheWaterwayTravelTeam](http://www.facebook.com/TheWaterwayTravelTeam)

Unfortunately I was given a lot of lip service and no results during the month I tried to work with…read morethe Washington DC Connoisseur Travel associates. My experience began with a very pleasant phone conversation about my hopes to plan a Washington DC trip for my grandmother with Connoisseur Travel's assistance. It was followed by no communication, help, or results with airfare, hotel recommendations/bookings , or tours over a 2-week period. I contacted Connoisseur directly to notify them of the lack of service and professionalism I had experienced. They responded with apologies, detailed questions and statements about how they planned to rectify the situation, and ideas about my Washington DC trip. With reservations, I decided to give the new associate a second chance because she seemed genuinely apologetic and knowledgeable. 2 weeks later my trip had not moved forward with Connoisseur's help. I ended up booking and reserving everything on my own and the prices had gone up because of all the time that had passed. I foolishly did not reach out to any other travel companies and trusted this company to help me and they failed. I am posting this review because I hope it helps others that might find themselves in my situation.