Once upon a time, choosing a summer holiday was a simple thing. You would pop down to your local high-street travel agent, flick through a couple of brochures and pick one of a dozen hotels on the Costa Blanca that all looked the same. All you had to do then was pay a deposit and wait until August.

Times have changed. The arrival of the internet and no-frills airlines altered travel for ever, with many people deciding they could save money by sitting at home in front of a computer, researching and booking their own holidays. The days of the travel agent looked to be numbered.

But not all agents were ready to curl up and die. The smart ones realised that the public, faced with a barrage of infor- mation, needs expert guidance more than ever — somebody to sift through the myriad options and say with authority, “This is the right holiday for you.”

This new breed of travel agent — well travelled, educated and superefficient — is a million miles from the slack-jawed school-leaver who stuck postcards in the windows down on the high street. Think of them as fixers, or private concierges, like the superannuated assistants employed by celebrities to cater for their every whim.

Sounds good, doesn’t it? The tricky bit is finding them... and that’s where we come in. The Travel section has conducted an anonymous survey to find the best agents in the UK, and we’ve come up with five finalists. Of course, you don’t need to live near them to take advantage of their knowledge and expertise — just pick up the phone and call them.

The tests

WE STARTED last year by taking nominations from our readers and members of the Association of Independent Tour Operators, which publishes a directory of “Real Travel Agents”. We then drew up a shortlist of eight and set each a series of rigorous tests. Our team of researchers approached the agents by phone and e-mail, asking them awkward questions and explaining elaborate problems that needed solving. We gave them marks for resourcefulness, courtesy, speed of response, clarity, accuracy and price.

Test one: first, we fired off an e-mail to each agency from a fictional customer who planned to take his family to the Loire Valley during May half-term week. He explained that he lived in Oxford and wanted a daytime ferry crossing for a car and four passengers, departing on May 29 and returning on June 5. Which Channel route did they recommend for the best price and the easiest drive? This was trickier than it looked. With the help of a French website (www.mappy.com), we calculated that the best departure point was Portsmouth, 85 miles and 90 minutes from Oxford. From Portsmouth, ferries sail to Le Havre, which is 211 miles from our final destination, Tours, a drive of four hours.

However, a more convenient port of arrival would be Caen, 158 miles from Tours and a little more than three hours away. Two companies sail between Portsmouth and Caen, Brittany Ferries and P&O. We expected to be directed to the cheaper.

There was a third alternative. Using the Dover-Calais route would involve a lot of driving — 145 miles in the UK and 331 in France, a total of about 7 hours on the road — but the ferry is cheaper and quicker, and perhaps worth considering.

Test two: next, one of our research team phoned the agents saying that she and her fiancé wanted to get married in the Caribbean in September 2005. Sounding hesitant, she said she had no idea which island to choose, but didn’t want to feel part of a production line in a large, anonymous hotel. She added that her fiancé wanted to try his hand at windsurfing.

To answer this properly, the agents had to be able to find small, friendly hotels and know on which islands it is easiest to obtain a marriage licence. They also needed to know that September is slap bang in the middle of the hurricane season. If they did, they might suggest avoiding the Caribbean altogether. At this point, our prospective bride would say that she had set her heart on the Caribbean, and the smart agents would direct her to southern islands, such as Tobago and Grenada, outside the hurricane belt.

Our researcher made it clear from the outset that she wasn’t ready to make a booking. So this was also a test of the agents’ willingness to do some work with no immediate prospect of a juicy commission. To make the challenge that bit tougher, our researcher made all her calls between 4.30pm and 5pm, when agents would be tiring at the end of a busy day. Points were deducted for a brusque telephone manner or audible sighing.