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Based In Downtown Dubai

Sarah Pickford

Looking for help with your business travel? Find out how I can help here

It's Nice To Meet You

Hello!

If you are looking on my page you are thinking of travelling. Good idea!

As you may imagine, in my role as a Travel Counsellor I do get to travel a lot which I love. The location of UAE where I live makes it so easy to get around the globe, and so far I'm happy to have reached 86 countries with at least 2 more in my plan for the next few months. If you'd like to know about some of these destinations and if there is somewhere you are keen to explore, I'd love to have a chat with you. If you follow me on social media you will also see a bit more of what I get up to @sarahpickford_travel and Sarah Pickford - Travel Counsellors, UAE

And of course, UAE is also a great destination for visitors, so I feel lucky every day to live in such a vibrant and culturally diverse place with many wonderful properties around the seven Emirates to explore.

Originally, I'm from Bolton where Travel Counsellors was born. But prior to moving to Dubai, I was in Warwickshire, a beautiful county in central England. From there I was fortunate enough to spend a lot of time travelling both for leisure and business working in a customer care environment prior to moving into the travel industry. Trying new foods, meeting new people, witnessing different cultures and experiencing all that the world has to offer, is for me, the best way to spend my time. Second best is to help you do the same...

In 2019 I reached the status of 'Gold Travel Counsellor' which within the organisation puts me in the top 10 of all Travel Counsellors worldwide. It makes me proud that I achieved this along with regularly taking home prestigious performance and customer feedback awards at our annual conference, so I know both my customers and teammates love what I do for them. My business has evolved over the past 12 years. As it has grown I have started to work with a small team of passionate travel professionals, and it's great to have their experience on hand too for your trickier questions and requests.

So now you know a little about me, are you ready to get in touch so we can explore what is on your mind? I'd be delighted to hear from you.

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My customer stories

Sent by David G

Absolutely brilliant service to manage budgets and expectations quickly and effectively. Very happy and excited family looking forward to the summer break :)

Sent by Polly P

Quick, knows exactly what I’m after and just gets it!

Sent by Amber C

Sarah has been super helpful and honest with our booking, we look forward to the holiday in June and have recommended her to friends.

Sent by Tim H

Very responsive, and all the details are consolidated and sent over for easy review.

Sent by Faye T

I already use for work gifts and also recommended to various people to assist. Always get to an end result, through patience and expert picks.

Sent by James C

She is a rockstar!

Sent by Jan Miller

Quick service, understood what we were looking for and guided us appropriately. Will definitely use again.

Sent by Ian B

She's Amazing!

My Blog

I absolutely live and breathe travel and I love to write about my experiences! Please take a look through my posts - you might find your own holiday inspiration.

Canada and California in just 2 weeks

08 August 2023

This summer we decided to mix visiting friends in Canada with a trip to the Calgary Stampede. And since we had already done the long flight, we decided to check out a bit of California too. We did this in just 2 weeks which I know for many wouldn’t be enough time, and in hindsight, we’d have preferred longer, but we did get to see a lot and had a great experience. We Flew from Dubai to Calgary (as

Disney Magic Cruise

25 August 2022

It was with a small amount of anxiety that I woke to board my very first Disney cruise. As a seasoned cruiser, I was eager to get back on the water. But not really knowing much about Disney I wasn’t too sure what to expect. I was travelling solo but joining a group of industry professionals from various countries, all embarking on this Disney adventure onboard Disney Magic. Research told me Magi

Our first holiday during the pandemic - Gorgeous Seychelles

07 December 2020

My story of the Seychelles trip is broken into 2 parts. This second one being about the holiday experience. Part 2 At the hotel, the team were waiting for us by the helipad. I didn’t notice them at first as I was busy taking a video of our arrival. Because it was spectacular and I loved watching the daily arrivals from the beach during our trip. A very warm and friendly welcome, wave the pilot

Our first holiday during the pandemic - The Travel experience

07 December 2020

My story of the Seychelles trip is broken into 2 parts. This first one being about the travel experience. Part 1 On 27th December my husband and I embarked on our first holiday of 2020, thanks to the Coronavirus spoiling all of our previous plans. We had booked before the restrictions came into our lives. And whilst all year I had hoped it would go ahead, I couldn’t be sure even until the last

Travelling to Saudi Arabia for the first time for leisure

23 December 2019

Saudia Arabia recently launched much easier access to visit the Kingdom for leisure and business travellers. So like many people I was intrigued to know more about this country and what it would have to offer me in terms of leisure. In November I took the opportunity to visit for an event. The first step - the visa. Obtaining the visa on line was very quick and easy. The website is very clear, i

The Caribbean is always calling me

09 June 2019

In the new year, Travel Counsellors ran an incentive for all TCs to win a place on an educational trip to Antigua. An educational trip is a travel Trade visit to understand a location and properties to enable us to promote it more knowledgeably. The Caribbean has been a favourite destination of mine for many years with my husband regularly being told that’s where I want to retire to. So imagine

Mixing business with pleasure in Malaysia

18 March 2019

When I was invited to attend an event in Langkawi about luxury travel, I jumped at the opportunity. It's somewhere I had never been to and having only been to Penang in Malaysia before I figured it was a great time to do a little more. So after a brief discussion my husband and I decided to start my trip with a short break in Kuala Lumpur. Choosing a hotel was quite a daunting task as I didn't k

Alaska - The Last Frontier

20 September 2018

WOW. WOW. WOW. This is the word of the trip. Alaska is wonderful. Spectacular. Interesting. We spent 11 nights sailing the Inside Passage on Seabourn Sojourn. And to be honest, I don't know where to start on writing a blog. So I am going to let the photos do the talking. Some of them aren't great quality as my camera can't see what my eyes do. But trust me, it was sensational. Please contac

Krakow in the Cold

10 April 2018

We visited Krakow very briefly tagged onto a business trip. It was February and there was snow on the ground although we managed to escape more in the time we were there. At the time of Travel we had to fly via Warsaw which is available with Emirates from Dubai but now there are direct flights available with FlyDubai and it’s just 6hrs direct. If you travel from UK there are lots of options at abo

Hong Kong to see in the New Year

17 January 2018

I cannot tell you how excited I was to be going to Hong Kong for New Year. Kong Kong had been on our 'must visit' list since arriving in UAE and somehow we just hadn't got there in 5 years. So we decided to treat ourselves and visit in style for New Year. Business class flights and a high end hotel stay. So we were booked on Cathay Pacific business class and into Mandarin Oriental hotel. We lef

Armenia in Winter

07 January 2018

I was lucky enough to go and visit a new country in December with some colleagues from the industry arranged by our preferred tour company. It was a bit of a whirlwind trip visiting lots of hotels so we could see what was offered by both the city of Yerevan and also the mountain destination of Tsaghkadzor. We travelling on FlyDubai direct from Dubai to Yerevan. These are great value flights and i

A quick trip to Azerbaijan

09 July 2017

I have had a few conversations recently with people telling me they didn’t even know Azerbaijan existed until they saw it represented the Eurovision song contest a few years ago. But more and more people are keen to get to visit the city. Having now visited myself it is somewhere I would highly recommend and I hope to go back. In early June the city was bright, sunny and warm. I actually visite

A lovely weekend in Athens

23 February 2017

I’ve visited Athens a couple of times previous but only on my way to or from a Greek Island or a cruise. This time I decided I wanted to really see what the city had to offer. Visiting in February meant that the tourist season hadn’t kicked in so thankfully no long queues to any of the attractions. On the other hand it was pretty chilly so I was glad of boots, gloves and a scarf. One of the thi

A girls getaway to Romania

13 September 2016

After quite a lot of planning, in August I headed out on a girls weekend to Romania. I flew into Bucharest directly from Dubai with FlyDubai. The flight times were good and we arrived mid afternoon. I wish we had pre-booked a car transfer, the taxi system is chaotic and the ticket machine that runs the system didn't work properly. Not many people had much English language so it was difficult to co

Andalusia and Gibraltar

23 August 2016

I cannot lie, 3 days without luggage because the airline lost it wasn't a good start. But, I didn't let that ruin the trip. We started in Gibralter which is the island known as 'The Rock' due to the huge rock that's the landmark. Separated from Spain by a small border it really is England in the sunshine with high street shopping, pubs and fish'n chip shops. The island is known for the Barbary

A wonderful tour of Sri Lanka

12 May 2016

I had visited Sri Lanka before. Just to Negombo area on a long girls' weekend which was perfect with some lively bars and restaurants for our evenings out. On this, my second trip, there was a whole different experience planned. Travelling with colleagues to learn more about the history, culture and geography of the area. 6 nights and 6 different hotels and another 9 for lunch and dinner. It w

Mini Safari in the UAE

29 October 2015

Having visited lots of beautiful hotels in UAE since I moved here, it takes quite a lot to impress me. Well this place did. It's the only place we have visited where my husband said he could stay for several days, a week even, as he really felt 'on holiday' and there was so much to do. We decided to drive from Dubai and there is no doubt, it's a long drive. But once arrived at the jetty which is

Experience cool mountain air in the height of summer

27 August 2015

We had dinner outside. Outside in August! If you live in the Middle East you will know how wonderful that is. On checking in to this wonderful hotel, the hostess told us that the temperature in this part of the world rarely goes above 33 degrees. Bearing in mind that on Jumeirah beach in Dubai on that day it was 47 degrees this was brilliant news to us. We were shown to our room pointing o

Qasr al Sarab - there is sand all around me

20 April 2015

So many people know that the Anantara brand represents good quality and exceptional service. This is certainly what we found at Anantara Qasr al Sarab, desert resort. This is a resort that many of my clients aspire to visit and the feedback made me want to go. So when I found a free weekend in the diary, I was booked, packed and ready to go. I hadn't anticipated the long journey. It took around

Stunning Sevilla

29 May 2014

My trip started on a train journey from Malaga. The scenery was stunning. Miles after miles of undulating fields, oranges and olive groves with very few people in sight. It took just under 2 hours into SANTA JUSTA station which is modern and easy to navigate. I visited Seville just for 2 days and it wasn't enough. It's just lovely. We were helped out most certainly by beautiful sunshine and bl

An unexpected jaunt to Al Ain

22 May 2014

I recently found myself enjoying an unexpected weekend in Al Alain, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It took exactly 1.5hours from Dubai Marina to reach the centre of the town, and we filled our time of the journey watching lots of camels in the desert either side of the road. I'm not sure what I expected from Al Ain but I was pleasantly pleased with what I found. It's known as 'The Garden City' d

Holiday shopping Mistakes

09 April 2014

I've been looking around my house at some of the souvenirs I have from my travels. I love bringing reminders back from my holidays but sometimes I make mistakes. Have you any holiday shopping disasters? Here are a few of mine- 1, Istanbul tall lamp. I toured the Grand Bazaar many times and then haggled extensively to get the exact coloured glass shades that I wanted. Finally price agreed and

A quick weekend retreat from Dubai

25 March 2014

We decided that we needed a break away from the "Bright Lights of the Big City.' After pouring over pages and pages of short breaks and trying to make flight times work we decided to go closer to home and opted for a the short drive to Abu Dhabi instead. We narrowed down the search and based on pure reputation alone we decided to try Eastern Mangroves by Anantara. Many would be put off by th

Home from Home

05 January 2014

I spend a lot of time in Torrox near Nerja on Costa del Sol. My mum live's there so it means I get to be looked after for a while! Over the years it's become like my own second home. 44 kilometres east of Málaga between Vélez-Málaga and Nerja, protected by the Sierra Almijara and Tejeda mountains, it has a very temperate climate. In fact, Torrox is widely accredited as having ‘the best climate

The Algarve - Albufeira

19 June 2013

Visiting The Algarve in July means long, hot days. Not a cloud in the glorious blue sky from 7am to 7pm. There is something for everyone here. Young or old, wanting to party or relax, The Algarve is a playground of luxury hotels to more affordable apartments and stunning villas with private pool. If you don't want to spend time relaxing on one of the many sandy beaches in rocky coves, there

Singapore

19 June 2013

I visited Singapore with some friends to celebrate my birthday. There were 14 of us in the group and each and every member of the party found something about Singapore that they loved. For some it was the glamour and opulence of the hotels. I particularly loved The Fullerton which was grand and imposing. We enjoyed the most spectacular brunch here with a vast array of the fresh seafood and exqu

Lapland

13 June 2013

Do you believe in Father Christmas? You will by the time you leave Lapland! What an amazing adventure for children. I have never seen such excitement before. As the plane started to land and the kids saw snow out of the windows, the atmosphere started to build. But nothing could have prepared me for the giddiness of the little ones when Elves, yes Elves, greeted us as we reached the term

Istanbul

13 June 2013

I hadn't expected Istanbul to be so cold! A friend and I visited in April and hoped for sunshine. Instead we wrapped up warm and instead of walking to the sights, we hopped on a city tour bus. What a good decision. The bus took us to all of the main historical attractions and many less known sights. Mosques, museums, monuments and towers galore. The operator was friendly and the multi lingual comm

NCL Cruise

13 June 2013

My partner and I cruised on Norwegian Sky in the Bahamas. I had never cruised with NCL before so wasn't sure what to expect but I wasn't disappointed. In the weeks before we set sail I was able to check in online to speed up the boarding process. It worked very well and embarkation was quick and easy. Unlike other some other cruise liners, this was casual and relaxed without any 'fanfare' as we bo

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