About Silver Travel Advisor - the only holiday, travel and trip advisor for mature travellers
Over 50 Holiday Advice
Silver Travel Advisor is a friendly website run by a team of mature travel industry professionals with more years of experience than we care to number! Members can join for free and we invite you to contribute to our growing collection of impartial mature travel reviews, travel advice and travel tips written exclusively by and for mature travellers. It's no wonder that we are sometimes referred to as Silver tripadvisor. New members are warmly welcomed to share their over 50 holiday experiences, and we also offer free mature travel advice from our team of "oldie" holiday and trip advisors.
Welcome to Silver Travel Advisor, where you'll find first-hand and independent travel advice from people like you - to tell us more is Silver Traveller, Peter Marshall:
"We all love to travel and there is nothing better than travelling with the personal recommendations from people who actually been there. Here on Silver Travel Advisor, you'll find reviews and recommendations and advice about the places you want to go to. Not written by hotel operators or travel agents but by mature travellers like you and me. So now you can get independent advice you can trust and also you can help others like us by writing your reviews and comments on the site. I hope you'll join us on a journey for you to discover places that other Silver Travellers recommend and for us to discover the places you recommend. See you there."
Silver Travel Advisor - personal advice for mature travellers
On our site, we invite you to:
Meet the team
Our backgrounds are diverse, but we are all united by our passion for travel, and our aim is to gather and offer impartial advice, information and recommendations which can be trusted. The team includes...
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Managing Director, Debbie Marshall, has nearly 25 years travel experience including Crystal Holidays and Jetsave (where she was Managing
Director until 2001), and until 2010 at the helm of the award-winning villa specialist CV Travel, and its sister company Ski Verbier. A keen
skier, walker and adventurer, she is delighted to now be a part of the Silver Travel Advisor team. Her favourite destinations, in no particular
order, are Switzerland, the South of France, Corfu, the Amalfi Coast, the Caribbean and especially the British Virgin Islands where she dreams
of spending a lot more time one day…
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IT Director, Taki Sirianos, is of Greek origin who has spent many years working in the travel
industry developing reservations systems and websites. Taki works closely with our web
developers, Sysaio. His favourite destinations are those with architectural and historical
significance such as Istanbul , Meteora, and Granada (besides London, Paris and Rome
of course). He also enjoys visiting the Greek Islands and his native Princes Islands in
Istanbul, as well as touring & trekking in national parks & nature reserves including Jasper
in Canada and the Grand Canyon.
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Account Manager, Jennie Carr, comes to us from The Prince’s Trust. A keen traveller, with experiences in the Caribbean, Europe and Africa, her notable overseas moments include
celebrating the millennium in Phoenix Arizona, hill climbing in Gocek & Kalkan in Turkey and
a 4 day trek in the Namibian desert. Jennie has worked with people from many countries and
has a good knowledge of cultural differences, and what to expect when travelling to Japan,
Russia and Kazakhstan! She loves islands and has visited many in the Indian Ocean (her
challenge is to equal Ben Fogle, 'The Teatime Islands'). Her favourite quote (which in fact
speaks for all of us): 'The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page', St Augustine.
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Mary Stuart-Miller is responsible for PR and promotions, and is one of the travel industry’s most energetic and hard-working
figures. She has successfully helped Slovenia, Slovakia and Estonia’s tourist offices put their countries on
the tourist map in the UK over the past decade; the vibrant city of Vienna has relied on her expertise to maintain the
British public’s awareness of the city as a short break destination; she also advises a number of cruise lines, tour
operators and winter sports companies on how to optimise positive editorial coverage. Mary’s favourite destinations are
Estonia, Slovenia and Corfu, and anywhere accessible by tall ship. Skiing doesn’t appeal but she loves to be in the
mountains and her ambition is to go on a wildlife holiday or eat her way through India, ideally travelling by train.
Any press or media enquiries, please contact Mary at news@silvertravel.co.uk.
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Silver Travel Advisor News Editor, Roger Bray, is one of the UK's longest serving travel journalists and Chairman of the British Guild of Travel Writers. A veteran skier and
hiker, he is a frequent contributor to Scotland on Sunday, Ski & Board magazine and welove2ski.com and has written for many
other publications including the Financial Times, Independent and Mail on Sunday, as well as his own blog www.thematuretraveller.co.uk .
He is a former Travel editor of London's Evening Standard, and has covered most major news events in travel and aviation over more
than three decades. He was a passenger on the first commercial flight of Concorde, covered the rise and fall of Laker Airways, air
disasters and the after effects of 9/11. He is the joint author, with Vladimir Raitz, of Flight to the Sun, the definitive account
of the expansion of mass package tourism. Bray has won recognition for his work, most recently for special contribution in the
Travel Press Awards and also as Travel Writer of the Year and Best Travel Writer on France. He is a Francophile who loves eating,
cooking (after a fashion) and the outdoors. In another life he would love to have been a jazz musician.
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Some of our Silver Travel Advisors
Our Advisors are a special team of vastly experienced travellers, who between them have visited an impressive list of countries and enjoyed a whole range of different experiences, from cruising to elephant riding. They have contributed some fascinating reviews to our site, and are happy to share their experiences with you and to answer any questions that you may have to assist with planning your next trip. Here are just some of our growing team of advisors.
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Alan Fairfax retired from the hustle and bustle of professional life just before his 65th birthday. Alan is a passionate "big ship"
cruising expert since being talked into a cruise by his wife in the 90's and becoming totally hooked. He has travelled all over the world on
many different ships with a variety of cruise lines. In particular he loves the various ports in the Eastern Caribbean with their silver
sand beaches and green tropical vegetation. Alan has also visited Australia, South Africa, Nigeria, The Gambia, Senegal, Morocco and
Tunisia as well as Cyprus, Turkey, Jordan, Israel, Egypt, Sweden, Mexico, Columbia and the USA. He has over the years visited most
European ports enjoying in particular the Greek Islands. Alan says "There is something magical about stepping aboard a beautiful cruise
liner, visiting multiple countries and ports but only unpacking once" He enjoys answering questions from Silver Travellers, particularly
when he can use his research skills to search out the right answer! He is also a moderator on our Forum which can be found at
www.silvertravelforum.com
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Dinah Holland spent the first few years of her working life in France and Italy. Armed with a fluency in these languages a career in the travel business beckoned. Her first job was with Thomas Cook
as an overseas representative in La Baule, on the Brittany coast of France. Jacques Tati stayed in
her hotel whilst making the film Monsieur Hulot’s Holiday, and was a hugely entertaining guest.
Then followed several years in Italy, France, Austria, Greece and Switzerland, returning to the UK in 1974 where, she worked for various tour operators, culminating as Product Director in charge of Italy. Now retired, Dinah has more time for travel, and the last ten years have seen her visiting both polar regions, dog sledging in Norway and Sweden (sleeping in a tent in minus 5 degrees) horse riding in Mongolia, in the Sahara in Tunisia, Wadi Rum in Jordan, Mexico, Costa Rica, across the Thar desert in Rajasthan, India and across the Andes from Argentina into Chile. Recent holidays have included small ship cruising in the Indian Ocean, Indonesia, French Polynesia and the South Pacific islands.
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Keith Betton is an avid world birdwatcher, having visited almost 100 countries and seen nearly 7000 species along the way.
An active conservationist on the international stage, Keith is Chairman of the African Bird Club, while locally he is County Bird
Recorder for Hampshire and a trustee of the British Trust for Ornithology. Professionally he is a public relations consultant,
advising travel companies and tourist boards on a wide range of issues. He is also used by companies as a public speaker, trainer,
writer and broadcaster. A familiar personality in the travel industry for the last 25 years, he is best known for having been the
face of the travel industry to the national media for much of that time. As Head of Corporate Affairs at ABTA he acted as the industry's
main spokesman and was responsible for making the association the best-known travel body in the UK.
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David Powell started his career after obtaining a degree in Environmental Health, and spent many years working for Local
Government in a senior managerial position. With a combined love for travel and writing, David took up travel journalism over 15
years ago and now writes and edits regular travel sections for papers in south east England. He covers a wide range of destinations
that he considers will appeal to a wide and varied readership. David comments: "There are so many wonderful places to visit and
experience, both in the UK and abroad. I love Snowdonia in North Wales, and short breaks generally in the U.K. I love being at
sea on one of the latest amazing cruise ships, I can't wait to return to friendly Cyprus and discover more of New York and I
consider myself something of an 'expert' on Disneyland Paris! Being so close to France, it’s also exciting to hop on a Eurostar
train, and onward by TGV, a great way to explore Europe.
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Chrissy Nason spent several years in the late 70s living and working in Greece which was the springboard for her long career in
the travel industry. Starting at the sharp end as a holiday rep, on returning to London she worked for a wide range of tour operators
before becoming a specialist consultant in all aspects of the quality of the product. Latterly Chrissy was a director of an upmarket
serviced-apartment hotel in Kensington and now undertakes interior design projects. A great lover of travel and adventure, each summer
Chrissy would set off with her family and surfboards to drive a different route through Europe to the Greek island of Lefkas, one
year via Istanbul, another via Spain, another via Holland, another via Berlin – why go straight there when there are so many wonderful
places to see en route! Whilst adventure is still high on the list, she likes it to be ‘stylish and comfortable’ and has spent the last
few years saying in some exceptional hotels in beautiful locations both overseas and in the UK. Boutique hotels are a particular favourite.
Recent holidays have included Sri Lanka, Jordan, Boston, Egypt, Argentina and Brazil as well as some memorable ones in the UK.
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Peter Lynch is our specialist Rail Advisor. He is an author, travel writer & hotel reviewer and has written internet travel guides to England, Albania, Macedonia, Luxembourg and the cities of, Darwin, Dubrovnik Oxford and Reykjavik.
He spent four years working as a freelance travel correspondent for an American newspaper and now writes regularly for the West Australian. Currently he is working on the second edition of his book Wildlife & Conservation Volunteering (Bradt, 2009), which is due out in 2012. He is also a contributing author for Great Train Journeys of the World (Time Out, 2010).
He has travelled widely throughout America, Australia, New Zealand, Europe and the Far East and his favourite cities are Hong Kong and Venice. His areas of special expertise are rail travel and wildlife conservation volunteering.
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Steve Newman is a former teacher who gave it all up to become a writer and photographer specialising in cruising. In
particular he is passionate about eco/adventure cruising allowing you to get up really close to view wildlife from polar bears
to penguins (he's seen both!) and visit areas of the world in five star luxury small ships that the huge modern day liners can
never get to. When he's not travelling he's walking the hills of Northumberland.
His clients include cruising publications for both consumer and trade publications including the Daily Telegraph and writes
several blogs including one for our affiliate member The Cruise Line. An avid birdwatcher he loves his job as it allows him
to see birds around the globe he'd normally only see on a TV screen. His favourite destinations are Antarctica, India, France
and Italy although he's always keen to explore new areas of the world!
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Harry and Pam Pope have always enjoyed their travels, which have encompassed a lot of Southern USA, Europe (especially
France and Germany), the U.K., and many visits to Madeira - ten at the last count. They are now in their 60s, and write
from the viewpoint of the experienced traveller…as ex-hoteliers, Pam has the eye of the inspector, and Harry is the casual
observer. Harry has been writing for many years, starting as a TV comedy writer in the 1980s, with three books currently
available on-line. Harry and Pam love to share their travel experiences, and have come to enjoy travel writing in their very
early retirement.
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Angela Papageorgiou has lived on the island of Corfu for almost forty years, raising a family and working
in the field of travel. Her family is now grown-up and has expanded to include grandchildren. Angela has always
been interested in ‘faraway places’, and wasted no time in going abroad for a holiday as soon as her parents would
let her. Since then she has covered most of Europe and been to Canada several times, but Greece remains her first
love and is, indeed, her permanent home. Working in travel has never lost its appeal and interest for Angela, and
though Greece, and Corfu, have inevitably changed over the years, the essential vitality of life there remains
undiminished, with undiscovered secrets and lesser-known aspects, which she intends to share with as many people
as possible for a long time yet.
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David Graham has been a professional journalist all his working life, starting as a provincial reporter, then moving to national
newspapers (18 years with the Daily Mail in Manchester, as a sub-editor and then assistant picture editor); national Sunday newspapers;
and the Manchester Evening News for 20 years as a sub-editor/writer; and has been fortunate enough to travel widely - at the last count,
he had visited more than 20 countries. Many of these have included ski destinations, with repeat trips to favourite spots in Switzerland
and Austria in particular, as well as trying out new areas. He and his wife Dorothy - she ran their home in the Pennines as a thriving
guest house for many years - have two daughters, one who specialised in travel as a career and lived and worked in Majorca; and the
other who lived in Greece and the Greek islands for 13 years, both providing a perfect excuse, if one were needed, to spend as many
weeks a year as possible in and around the Mediterranean and Aegean. Another favourite area is the Gulf Coast of Florida, where his
father spent more than 20 years of his retirement.
David Graham is a Life Member of the National Union of Journalists and a member of the British Guild of Travel Writers.
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Sally Dowling has been involved with the travel industry since the age of just 16 in her local travel agent. From there she decided
to try the high life in London and spent some happy years working for US Carriers, Pan Am & Continental.
When marriage and family came along Sally began a ten year career at Tropical Places, a long haul tour operator, eventually becoming Operations
Manager. A fabulous perk of the job was the chance to travel throughout the Caribbean, Far East and Kenya. Away from work she developed a love
of walking holidays in the Pyrenees and Mallorca and European city breaks. The USA also became a firm favourite; especially the quite side of
Florida that often gets overlooked.
In 2003 came the chance to source holiday prizes for Take A Break magazine. This led to writing and researching travel features and in 2006
she won the Visit USA award for best consumer magazine feature.
Sally continues to travel whenever and wherever she can with her husband Clive and if possible Bella the Labrador. She likes to seek out
lesser known areas of popular destinations and to stay in small family run hotels. It gives her great pleasure to recommend somewhere
that she has enjoyed so that others can share the experience.
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Could you join our Silver Travel team of advisors?
We are always looking for travel enthusiasts to join our group of advisors. If you have a passion for travel, with stories to tell, and a few spare hours each month to work for us, please contact service@silvertraveladvisor.com with a brief summary of your areas of experience, and we will take it from there. We find that this role best suits retired professionals who travel extensively and enjoy sharing their experiences.
Our UK offices are based near Euston in central London. Postal address: Silver Travel Advisor, c/o Age UK, 4th Floor, Tavis House, 1-6 Tavistock Square, London WC1H 9NA.
Silver Travel Advisor Ltd. is a UK company (no. 7408308), registered at 82 Bridge Road, East Molesey, Surrey, KT8 9HF.
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