Our Guides
We’ll discover so much more thanks to the knowledge, insights and care of our local guides. With your local guide you’ll be in good hands from start to finish.
Our expert guides are knowledgeable, informative, friendly and caring. They will introduce you to their homeland and will help you create unforgettable holiday experiences. From landmark monuments to natural wonders, great tapas bars to shopping and local markets, our guides will enhance your holiday experience with insider information, recommendations and useful tips that you wouldn’t get in a guidebook.
Our guides use their knowledge, understanding and passion for travel to create the best experiences for you. From hot spots to hidden gems you can rest assured that you will be in great hands.
Our Italy Guides
Carol Noble
Lake Como Tour Guide
Carol has considerable experience working as a tour guide in Italy, particularly the Lake Como region and loves getting to meet new people on each tour. She also speaks a number of languages including Italian, English and French.
Annalisa Barozzi
Lake Garda Tour Guide
Since Annalisa finished secondary school, she has worked in the travel industry. Annalisa's favourite part about being a guide is the fact that you get to travel and meet lovely people. Apart from guiding groups around her native Italy, Annalisa has also worked as a tour guide in Germany, Austria and Egypt.
Martin Rossi
Lake Garda Tour Guide
Martin loves being a tour guide, in the Trentino & South Tirol regions of Italy, as he is constantly on the move with people of different nationalities and he loves to learn about different cultures. Martin loves introducing our customers to the Lake Garda region of Italy. Asides from Italian & English, Martin also speaks German, French and Spanish!
Renate Tielman
Lake Garda Tour Guide
Renate is a highly experienced tour guide and has led tours for Travel Department in Lake Garda for many years. Renate’s favourite part about being a guide is the fact that you get to travel and meet other people.
Karen Anderson
Lake Garda Tour Guide
Karen has been living at Lake Garda since 1981, after guiding many European tours from Great Britain. She loves walking, travelling and accompanying the groups that visit this stunning part of northern Italy.
Alessandra Conti
Puglia, Rome and Umbria Guide
Alessandra hails from Padova and has lived in London, Sydney, and Rome, where she currently resides and works as a qualified professional tour leader. For the Travel Department, she leads tour groups to Puglia, Rome, Umbria, and Marche. Alessandra loves sharing the local culture, landscapes, and cuisine with our customers.
Laura Torlaschi
Tuscany & Adriatic Coast Tour Guide
Laura was born and raised in Rome and began working in tourism over 30 years ago as a tour guide, taking guests on journeys across her beautiful country, Italy. Her work allows her to do what she loves most – travel, meet people from around the world, and share Italy’s customs and traditions. She is also a professional sommelier, which allows her to combine her skills by leading wine and food tours.
Claudia Benvenuti
Tuscany Tour Guide
Claudia is an experienced Tour Director from the beautiful spa town of Montecatini Terme, with a degree in Hospitality Management. She has worked in tourism since 1996, living and studying in Switzerland, Germany, and the UK. For over 20 years, she has led groups across Italy, sharing her love of art, history, and good food. Claudia believes travel is one of the best ways to broaden our horizons.
Desiree Astarita
Sorrento Tour Guide
Desirée is a native of Sorrento. She graduated from the Amalfi Tourism High School and is a certified tourist guide. Desirée loves meeting travellers and sharing her knowledge and passion for the region. She is also a Certified Sommelier. She looks forward to welcoming you to Sorrento – or to any of the many beautiful destinations across Campania!
Giovanna Russo
Sorrento Tour Guide
Giovanna, a native of Sorrento, has been working as a tour guide for over 10 years. She is passionate about her work and takes great pride in sharing the beauty, history, and charm of her hometown with visitors from around the world. For her, guiding is not just a profession – it’s a true privilege.
Anthony Cristaldi
Sicily Guide
Anthony was born in Syracuse, Sicily, and studied at the University of Catania. Although he enjoys travelling and learning about different cultures, his heart remains in Italy – and especially in Sicily, which he considers the most fascinating island in the world. He holds a tour leader’s licence, and for him, tourism is more than just a job – it’s a true pleasure to welcome people to his island and share the beauty of Sicily.
Our European Guides
Nancy Daigle
Tenerife Tour Guide
Nancy’s background in travel was very much office based and rarely face-to-face. She has flourished in her new role as tour leader for Travel Department and loves meeting people from different backgrounds. Nancy lives in Tenerife; she has excellent knowledge and loves exploring the island with our customers.
Suzana Cerovic
Dubrovnik Tour Guide
Suzana was born and raised in Dubrovnik but spent a part of her life living in Germany. She studied tourism and has been working as a guide for over 10 years.
Anke Feisel
France Tour Guide
Anke is originally from Germany and has guided our Travel Department groups on the Cote d’Azur and Provence tours since 2016. She loves travelling, discovering new places, visiting historic monuments and beautiful natural places.
Dimitra Potsika
Greece Tour Guide
Dimitra has been a guide since 1998 and has worked with Travel Department for many years. She speaks four languages, English, Italian, Russian and Greek. Her favorite destinations in Greece are Macedonia, Epirus , Crete and Ikaria because they are off the beaten track and yet full of history, monuments, folk music and wonderful dishes.
Paula Bizarro
Portugal Tour Guide
Paula has many years experience working in the travel industry. She believes the best part of being a tour guide is having the opportunity to share the fascinating culture and beauty of Portugal with our visitors and to help them to discover the secret stories behind the monuments and places.
Ivan Nikolov
Costa Brava Tour Guide
Ivan has extensive experience in leading tours through the Spanish regions of Catalonia and Valencia. His teaching background has helped to enlighten our Travel Department customers, he loves meeting new people, hearing their stories and making new friends.
Sara Rodríguez
Costa de la Luz Tour Guide
Sara is a certified Spanish Tour Guide and joined Travel Department in 2017. She spent several years living in Africa and this early experience made her realise her passion for travel, so she studied Tourism in Seville. Sara loves History, Art and showing her homeland to many guests and making their holidays unforgettable.
Claire Mellor
Spain Tour Guide
Claire has been working as a Tour Manager for many years, she studied tourism and used to work in Asia, but Spain is where her heart is. She loves to show the best of a destination, from iconic landmarks to the hidden gems.
Meltem Karamete
Turkey Tour Guide
Meltem holds a masters degree in Tourism Management and has been working as a tourist guide for the last 25 years. She loves her job and showing our customers the beautiful country of Turkey, which has so much to offer nature, history, ancient cities, real life, fun and architecture.
Our Guides From Across The Globe
Dodi Fathy
Egypt Tour Guide
Dodi was born in Cairo and he received his tour guide licence from the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism. It is a dream come true for Dodi to share his passion and knowledge for Ancient Egypt and he has been leading tours around Egypt for Travel Department since 2007.
Jimmy Chung
Vietnam Tour Guide
Jimmy was born and raised in Ho Chi Minh City and earned a degree in tourism from Ho Chi Minh City University in 2005, before becoming a full-time tour guide and travelling extensively throughout the country. Helpful and attentive, he often has guests laughing with his jokes, and he truly makes a difference to everyone’s trip to Vietnam.
Gertie Tuinder
South Africa Tour Guide
Gertie has guided tour groups throughout the beautiful Rainbow Nation of South Africa since 2003. She loves to show our Travel Department customers the natural beauty of South Africa, delicious cuisine, and most of all, South Africa’s friendly, kind and unassuming people.
Jack Dai
China Tour Guide
Jack has been a guide for Travel Department since 2004. He likes to make friends worldwide and showing our customers the Great Wall in Beijing and the Terra Cotta Army in Xian, as well as highlighting the local life in China.
Anu Mishra
India Guide
Anu is from a village near Lucknow in North India, a region steeped in history and culture. He enjoys sharing India’s rich heritage and diverse traditions with our customers, focusing on the real India beyond the usual tourist routes. With a background in science, he offers unique insights into the spiritual, cultural, and architectural aspects of the places visited, making each journey both engaging and enriching.
Cleetus Kuzhikanny
Kerala Tour Guide
Cleetus has been leading our Classic Kerala tours since 2014. He finds the most rewarding part of his job is seeing the reaction on travellers’ faces when they experience a beautiful part of India. Whatever is missing from the guidebooks, Cleetus loves to show the hidden gems.
Shameer Idroos
Sri Lanka Tour Guide
Shammeer has been working in the Travel Industry for nearly 10 years and in his spare time he loves to DJ! Sri Lankans are well known for their warm hospitality and Shammeer loves welcoming our Travel Department customers, teaching fascinating facts about his country and ensure all guests are safe and happy.
Nelson Araujo Lopez
Cuba Tour Guide
Nelson has been working as a tour guide since 1995. Nelson loves teaching Travel Department customers the culture, history and the natural beauty of Cuba. Nelson is extremely passionate about the outdoors so when he is not leading one of our groups, he can be found hiking or bird watching.
Our Service Guarantee
We know that a holiday may be the most important and precious time of the year for most people. We take pride in our local Travel Department guides, who have been meticulously selected to ensure you experience the best of your chosen destination. Our team at Travel Department are extremely passionate and have an unsurpassed reputation for excellent customer service, quality holidays and value.