Mary Foyle
My expertise
I'm based in
Cork
It's Nice To Meet You
This year, I celebrate my 50th year in the Travel business and 21 years as a Personal Travel Counsellor. Where has the time gone? Over the years I have availed of wonderful travel opportunities which have helped me put together amazing, special itineraries for my clients.
I specialise in bespoke holidays for special occasions – retirement, significant birthdays, special anniversaries to name a few. Everyone nowadays has their ‘bucket list’ and once the kids have finished College and left home, it is time to start putting a few ticks on it.
Many of you, like me, will probably have children living in Australia, New Zealand and Canada. Isn’t that a great excuse to travel? Mine are all home now but I have been to all three places visiting my children over the years and have extended the holidays to take in the sights. A large part of what I do now is help my clients ‘kill two birds with one stone’ and plan a fabulous holiday whilst visiting the kids and grandchildren at the same time.
Many of my clients will take a career break of 3 – 6 months and want to travel the world. I help plan their itinerary making the most of their time abroad. Japan at the moment is hugely popular and South Korea and China are making a big comeback. These countries can easily be combined in a ‘Round the World’ itinerary including other countries in South East Asia along with Australia, New Zealand, the Pacific Islands and the USA.
And of course, there are so many other ‘bucket list’ trips. Popular combinations would include a deep immersion in South East Asia visiting Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. An Alaska cruise combined with the Rocky Mountaineer train through the Rockies, South America including highlights of Machu Picchu and/or the Galapagos along with a multi centre tour in Argentina, Tanzania or Kenya safari combined with a luxury beach destination - these are just a snippet of the types of holidays I can design for you. Just contact me for a chat and we can get the ball rolling.
Travel Counsellors are licensed and bonded here in Ireland with the Irish Aviation Authority, licence No TA 621 and so your money is completely safe. Furthermore, my years of experience are an invaluable asset and the fact that all my business comes from referrals is testament to the high level of customer satisfaction I receive. I take great pride in matching the right holiday with the right person.
So, if you are planning that special, once in a lifetime holiday, please pick up the phone and give me a call.
Travel – tailor made for you, with care.
Vietnam Revisited: My Journey From Hanoi to the Mekong
Vietnam has a way of drawing you back. I first visited in 2014 and promised myself I would return to see the north. This year, when our Gold Conference was announced for Hanoi, I grabbed the chance to further explore this beautiful country.
06 May 2026 5 min read
Luxury 5 star Adriatic Cruise
I was so lucky and felt so privileged to have been invited to experience a 5 star, ultra luxury cruise onboard the Silver Spirit. The ship, recently renovated, is the largest in the Silversea fleet and holds just over 600 passengers and has a crew of just over 400. Our cruise commenced in Athens and visited the Greek islands and mainland before heading to Montenegro and finishing in Dubrovnik, C
14 Aug 2022 5 min read
New Zealand continued.....
Over the past few years, I have noticed a marked increase in the number of people asking me to design holidays for them to New Zealand. This magnificent country is high on everybody’s bucket list but generally speaking, when people approach me, they are thinking of the South Island – mountains, lakes, fjords, glaciers, adventure sports – so much to do and the scenery is incredible. On my recent
14 Feb 2020 5 min read
Canada revisited
I had a fabulous trip to Canada back in 2018 and was so lucky to have experienced the Rocky Mountaineer from Vancouver to Banff. This year I decided to revisit and see the country from another perspective - a self-drive tour. I also had the added incentive to go as our son, Kevin who moved there just over a year ago. We flew into Vancouver and spent the first 4 nights there. We did all the ‘touri
04 Sept 2019 5 min read
The Rocky Mountaineer Rocks!
Another tick on the bucket list! I have just returned from a fantastic trip starting in Vancouver and journeying through the Rockies on the iconic ‘Rocky Mountaineer’ followed by 2 nights in magical Banff before finishing off with a night in Calgary. We arrived to glorious sunshine on Sunday afternoon and checked into the lovely Sutton Place Hotel in downtown Vancouver. We took it easy that e
19 May 2018 5 min read
Spectacular New Zealand
What magnificent scenery! Think Kerry but with bigger mountains, bigger forests and bigger lakes – New Zealand far exceeded my expectations. We arrived into Christchurch in late November to visit our daughter who has been living there for the past few years. After a welcome barbecue to meet Eileen’s friends, we headed off on a whistle stop tour of the South Island. First stop was Nelson,
26 Dec 2017 5 min read
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka – another tick on my bucket list! In October 2017, I was lucky to experience an amazing trip to Sri Lanka hosted by Turkish Airlines and our superb local agent Columbus Tours. Like so many other countries in Asia, Sri Lanka has it all – history, culture, beaches, wildlife, weather and lovely people. Sri Lanka is basically a year round destination with 2 monsoon seasons – the sou
15 Oct 2017 5 min read
Lovely Lisbon - March 2017
This year our annual ‘girls’ city break took us to Lisbon. At this stage we have narrowed down our criteria – warm weather, good value, interesting sights and a good choice of bars and restaurants. Lisbon is known as the City of the Seven Hills and is twinned with San Francisco. They both still have the old-fashioned tramcars and the 25th April Bridge spanning the River Tagus resembles the Go
21 Mar 2017 5 min read
South Africa has it all!
South Africa is definitely the ‘in’ place at the moment. With the fabulous exchange rate of euro v rand and the extra flight availability, it is now one of the best value destinations to visit. And yes – it has everything - beaches, scenery, wildlife, great food and wine and fabulous accommodation. I spent 2 wonderful weeks there from the end of November to mid-December. The weather was magn
22 Jan 2017 5 min read
AMAZING ARGENTINA
I just knew I was going to love Argentina! I love the fact that it is Spanish speaking. I love the variety it offers – the sophisticated capital city of Buenos Aires, the majestic glacier region at el Calafate in Patagonia, fabulous Bariloche the ‘little Switzerland’ of Argentina, superb wines from the Mendoza region and the thundering Iguazu Falls in the north of the country on the Brazilian bo
02 Nov 2014 5 min read
Southern and Central Coast Vietnam experience
I have just returned from a fabulous trip to South Vietnam and the Central Coast; it was my first time to visit Vietnam and it won’t be my last. Vietnam is a long very narrow country - over 2000 miles in length but in parts of the Central Coast, only 25 miles wide. Due to its size, each area has a totally different climate and it is so important when planning a trip, to visit the right part at the
13 Apr 2014 5 min read
Cambodia - Kingdom of Wonder
A trip to Cambodia has long been on my hit list and I finally managed to combine it with a trip to Thailand in October 2011. The first morning, my husband John had planned out our sightseeing. He hired a local taxi driver (tuk tuk driver really) and arranged that he would stay with us until we had seen everything we wanted to see. We set off and it was lovely and cool flying round in the tuk
17 Feb 2014 5 min read
We're going to Barbados!
I was very fortunate to win a place on a trip to Barbados with British Airways, Elegant Hotels and the Barbados Tourist Board. We flew business class with BA and stayed at three fabulous hotels in Barbados - Turtle Beach, Crystal Cove and the Tamarind. Every day we were brought on the most fantastic excursions and I was amazed at how much there is to see and to do on Barbados. Here I will giv
17 Feb 2014 5 min read
MAGICAL MALAYSIA
What a holiday! We arrived into Kuala Lumpur Airport on 3rd Dec to catch our connecting flight to the island of Langkawi. We landed late in the evening and headed to our beautiful hotel The Danna. The hotel is small – only 125 rooms and consequently, the service was very personal and at all times we were greeted by name. There was a marina right beside the hotel with a collection of excellent
02 Jan 2014 5 min read
DUBAI
Last April, I headed to Dubai for a week with a friend of mine. I had seen a sharp rise in the number of enquiries for this destination and really had to see what it was all about. I couldn’t make up my mind whether to stay in Dubai ‘Downtown’ or out by the beach and so I solved the problem by splitting the holiday between 2 hotels. We started off at the beach hotel ‘The One and Only Royal
10 May 2011 5 min read
VIVA LAS VEGAS
Viva Las Vegas! Our ‘Gold’ conference this year took place over 5 days in Las Vegas in June. I have to say that Las Vegas was never on my wish list, but I thought it was the most fantastic place and I can see why it is so popular with clients of all age groups. We arrived on a Thursday and were transferred to our hotel in a stretch limousine. The strip was buzzing and we just sat back and
10 May 2011 5 min read
New York...New York
After years of pressure from our 4 children, we finally succumbed to their request for a holiday to Orlando. After careful consideration, we decided to include a few days sightseeing in New York at the beginning of the holiday and a Caribbean Cruise at the end of the trip for the purposes of relaxation. We made our plans early and announced them to the family at dinner on Christmas Day. It was
24 Nov 2009 5 min read
Barcelona
This year, the girls and I decided to return to Barcelona for our annual ‘catch-up’. We flew out at the end of February and booked into the Hotel Catalonia Princesa – a 3 star central hotel. We arrived in the evening and as it was dark outside, we were directed along the main road by the reception staff to Las Ramblas, the centre of tourism in Barcelona. I was a bit worried as it seemed to t
14 Oct 2008 5 min read
Orlando - Best Family Holiday
We arrived at Orlando Airport late evening 1st July 2007. The first thing to hit us was the humidity as we made our way by taxi to our accommodation. We were all a bit tired what with the heat and the jet leg and we headed to bed determined to be fit and ready to tackle the theme parks the following day. The next day we were up early and headed off to Universal Studios. I had purchased the Orl
14 Oct 2008 5 min read
Bali - Paradise!
It is quite a while since anyone asked me to quote for a holiday to Bali. It seems to have disappeared off the radar during the past few years. This was mainly due to the bombing at Kuta some years ago and also the fact that Irish citizens had to apply in advance for visas to enter Indonesia. However, this changed recently and John (my husband) and I decided to head off in September. This w
30 Sept 2008 5 min read
MADRID
Every year, myself and 3 buddies meet up for a short city break. Three of us live in Cork but Marie lives in Edinburgh and so the main reason for the weekend is to catch up on each others news. Our criteria is simple – good restaurants, a couple of decent pubs (not the loud disco variety) and some easy sightseeing. In February 2007, we headed to Madrid for 3 nights. We all arrived at more or
11 Aug 2008 5 min read
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