Crystal Travel & Tours

Thank you Crystal Travel. We had the trip of a lifetime to Tokyo. We were nervous about this trip with it being so far away and the culture being so different. But you took all those fears away with a terrific schedule and great advice and suggestions along the way. Thank you for all the support. Looking forward to the next trip already.

We recently returned from spending 25 days in Scotland and couldn’t have done it without Crystal Travel. This was our second time using Crystal we cannot say enough about how great they are to work with! Sean was assigned to work with us on our Scotland experience and he did not disappoint us! Sean was excellent to work with as our travel guide. We contacted Sean in the Summer of 2024 about a trip to Scotland in August 2025 for our 30th wedding anniversary. We had a roughed out itinerary that had too many places on it. We appreciated that Sean was able to speak with us after regular work hours as we could not find a time that worked otherwise. After our initial call, we all agreed to a first itinerary and Sean formalized it with some other suggestions and bed and breakfast style inns and hotels added as our accommodations. We reviewed the first itinerary and then really started working through the details. We were focused on having a solid itinerary by August 2024 as we had several particular things that we wanted good tickets or reservations for such as the Military Tattoo, a stay at the Gearrannan Blackhouses, and a stay at Barcaldine Castle. After we decided on the timeline of our trip (where we accidentally added two days that we ended up keeping), Sean started booking events and accommodations. As we learned over the year, just because you have a booking, it does not mean that you will keep the booking. Sean did an excellent job staying on top of these issues and finding alternative accommodations for us. As our departure day approached, our communications with Sean increased. He was helpful with thoughts on how much cash we needed, tipping customs as tipping does occur as “service fees,” transferring a large suitcase from the beginning of our trip to the end of our trip between two hotels, what to do with possible ferry delays, and other smaller issues. It took a little longer for our final packet to arrive but we received it a week before we left. Some tickets could only be managed electronically and those arrived before or during our trip. During our trip, Sean added little surprise touches that personalized our trip. For example, there was a box of chocolates in the hotel when we arrived in Edinburgh, a box of chocolates on the Jacobite Train with a book explaining the route, and a box of chocolates and a bottle of excellent prosecco for our final stay. Each of these gifts was accompanied by a wonderful note wishing us a good time. At one point during the trip, we became concerned about whether we would be able to make a distillery tour. We reached out to Sean who checked into changing the time and immediately let us know what our options were. This was so helpful as we were in an area where we could not easily make calls and would not have been able to check. On the morning we left, there was some confusion with our car to the airport. We called the 24 hour help line and, after waking up the poor man who was covering, had another car at our hotel before an Uber could even arrive. Sean also called or texted several times during our trip to see how things were going and to let us know that he had confirmed items such as the times of ferries and scheduled events. As we told him during our trip, it was very reassuring to know that Sean was watching out for us. Sean also checked in to see how we enjoyed major events, such as the Military Tattoo and the Jacobite Train ride, and for smaller things like how our room was at the sister hotel in Edinburgh. It was clear to us that Sean arranged for a gorgeous room at the sister hotel with a spectacular view of the city and the Firth of Fourth for our final stay! We could not have ended on a better note! It is quite clear to us that Sean was focused on us having a great trip and we so appreciated that! We really enjoyed working with Sean and have recommended him to friends who are thinking of traveling to Ireland and Scotland. We will definitely work with Sean again!

Vivienne and the Crystal Travel team are simply the BEST! I am frequently needing to book travel abroad - and make numerous changes to those itineraries - and Vivienne has worked around the clock to make every flight and booking as smooth as I could ever want. Call her - she will make sure you get a great deal, outstanding service and response, and you will be happy!