Expert support, at home and away

We’ve been working with John O’Leary and his team of experienced guides at Insider Tours in Berlin for over 3 years now. Along with being our ‘meet and greet’ representatives, the guides will provide half or full day guided tours of the city. They have a range of standard themed tours based around study themes such as Jewish Life, The Cold War and Life in Nazi Germany.

John always allocates guides to our groups who are experienced at guiding student groups. Barnaby, Tariq and Nikolai are regular fixtures in our itineraries.

All our school tours to Iceland include a local Icelandic guide who has been hand chosen to work for the company due to being the best on the country. They have good geographical knowledge of the sites as well as detailed Icelandic culture and historical knowledge.

If you want to maximise the geographical content of your trip, we highly recommend using the services of one of our specialist Geography & Geology Guides instead. With their curriculum knowledge combined with their first hand experiences of leading student groups in Iceland, they can deliver a high level of educational content at each site in line with you learning objectives for the trip.

The Galicia Museum is a hub of information for Jewish and Holocaust Studies in Poland. Unlike most companies, instead of using the general city guides of Krakow, our guided tours are all led by qualified guides from the Galicia Museum. This means that your guide will take your students around key areas of Krakow to give your students a real insight into the story of the Jews in Poland in the 20th Century, helping you tick the boxes for your learning objectives.

All the guides are graduates of Jewish Studies or Holocaust Studies and have a real passion for their subject. We are constantly receiving great feedback about Gosia and her team of guides from the museum, particularly about how much the students have learnt and how well the tour was pitched.

For all your guided walking or coach tours in London we work with specialist Blue Badge Guides. These guides have qualifications and demonstrate real passion in their fields of expertise. So whether it is a graffiti art tour, a religious studies tour, a walk around the Olympic sites or just a highlights of London tour, the guides will work with us to ensure you fulfil your objectives.

Run by Garry Zafrani, a real New Yorker, he and his team of guides provide a fantastic experience around the streets of New York. Garry is also our 24 hour support in the city, so we know him really well and he’s always there provide lots of extra help and information to our customers. He understands the extra needs a student group has compared to adult groups and so no matter what your group size, they’ll guide you around the city in smaller groups of around 8 students. This way everybody gets to hear and see everything and its easier for teachers to supervise.

Your Tour Consultant will talk to you about what you want to include and then Alex and the team at Discover Walks will tailor make a walking tour around Paris to suit your learning objectives.

If you’re on a coach they’ll also cover a guided tour on board your coach which may enable you to see sights which are a bit further out of the city. Current themed tours include Montmartre Paris, Left Bank Paris or Marais Paris. And if you’re a language group they’ll always do the walking tour in French to help improve their listening skills.

Simonne Debel is an experienced guide in the WWI Battlefield region working with both school and adult groups. Her job is to bring to life the now peaceful landscape of the battlefields so that visitors can understand and empathise with the hardships and the events of war. Due to the distances covered Simonne will either join your coach or drive ahead of your coach and then take you through the stories of each particular sight when you disembark.

Sandra Angulo – Our Local Agent

Sandra is our local expert in Barcelona, Catalonia. WST staff have been working with Sandra for more than 10 years now. We chose Sandra to be our key partner in Barcelona, Catalonia because she has over 15 years experience in the educational travel market and has a great understanding of teachers and students needs. She is always striving to develop the service and product that she and her team provide so that our customers can really enjoy a tailor made trip. Sandra’s team liaise with our Tour Consultants to plan your accommodation and transport arrangements. They’ll work with them in planning your itinerary and once you’ve agreed it they’ll book all the visits and restaurants too.

Sandra and her team are there to make your trip as enjoyable and easy as possible. After they meet you on arrival at the airport and assist you with your check in, they’ll go through your itinerary in detail to check if you have any last minute questions, provide you with local maps and help you in buying public transport tickets if you need them. Sandra or a colleague will then give you a call each day to check how things are doing and are there 24 hrs for you for any emergencies or questions. With Sandra and her team we know you’re guaranteed to be well looked after.

Sindri Þór Þorgeirsson – Our Local Agent

Sindri and his team based in Reykjavik work with us to organise your whole package in Iceland. From hotels and coaches to excursions and guides they work hard to cultivate strong relationships to ensure the best service for our customers.

When you visit Iceland you'll be met on arrival by a specialist guide who will assist you with your transfer, check in and any en route activity. Then each day you'll have a specialist guide who will ensure that each day runs smoothly from start to finish.

Marco Orlandi & Marinella Porzio – Our Local Agents

Marco and Marinella have offices based in Rome and Naples and have been working in the travel industry for many years. Over the last 6 years working with WST, they have learnt how different educational travel can be and spend a great deal of time researching accommodation and visits that will suit our customers learning objectives and expectations. Things can change quickly in Italy and we rely on them to keep us up to speed at all times.

Marco works with our Tour Consultants for Rome and Marinella works in the Bay of Naples. They support our Tour Consultants in planning your itinerary and booking all the visits, accommodation, guides and restaurants. They arrange your ‘meet and greet’ service from their team of guides, who will travel with you from the airport to your hotel and assist with check in, orientation and help you to buy public transport tickets if you need them. Their teams provide 24 hour support for any emergencies or questions on tour.

Barbara Marchewa – Our Local Agent

Barbara and her small team in Krakow work meticulously to ensure our Krakow trips run smoothly. Barbara has spent some time living in Cambridge so she not only speaks perfect English, she’s also in tune with the needs and expectations of her UK customers. She has sourced ideal accommodation for us in Krakow all really well located in the centre and which will provide a warm welcome.

Barbara works closely with our Tour Consultants to book coaching and visits to ensure you maximise your time in Krakow. She arranges your meet and greet at the airport, who will travel with you to your hotel and assist with checking in. They’ll be there to help with any questions and double check you are happy with everything on your itinerary. Barbara and her team will be on hand 24 hours a day to provide emergency support.

Adriana - Our Local Agent

Adriana is our local expert in Madrid. WST staff have been working with Adriana for 3 years now. We chose Adriana to be our key partner in Madrid because she has many years experience in the educational travel market and has a great understanding of teachers and students needs. She is always striving to develop the service and product that she and her team provide so that our customers can really enjoy a tailor made trip. Here's what Adriana does for WST and our customers:

• Plans accommodation and transport arrangements
• Books all attractions, excursions and restaurants
• Meets all our groups at the airport and then assists with check in at accommodation
• Help with buying public transport tickets
• Provides local maps and support on route planning

What is extra special about Adriana's service to WST customers is that she will call you each day to check how your trip is going and to see if you have any questions, just to remind you that she's there to help you. She has a 24 hour helpline to support in any emergency situations. With Adriana we know you’re guaranteed to be well looked after.

Jason Wood – Our Accommodation Agent

Jason and his team have built up great relationships with many hotels in Manhattan. We work with Jason for each individual group giving him a brief on location, budget and standard so that he then negotiates with the right properties to give us the best possible value for you. Jason gives us invaluable advice on the changing accommodation laws and new properties in New York.

New York Quiz

If you want to entertain your students as your transfer from the airport Garry can arrange for your guide to do a fun quiz all about New York city on board your coach and each student will get an I Love NY t-shirt as a reminder of their trip. It’s a great start to your trip and the learning begins already.