Holiday Season Travel Vacations & Tours

Thanks to the amazing, perfectly planned Australia and New Zealand vacation itinerary provided by Zicasso's travel agency, and specifically the travel agent and her wonderful colleagues, this was the perfect vacation. We were well taken care of and flights were planned within the countries, with someone always greeting us at the next stop to move us through to our next adventure.  

We were always busy and saw the most wonderful things... a sunset dinner cruise on Sydney harbor, the march of the penguins at Phillip Island (she arranged for us to have a front-row seat!), snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef, and touring the rainforest with an Aboriginal guide was very interesting! She arranged for many tours and activities, like a jet boat ride up the Dart River, a helicopter ride onto a glacier, and a TranzAlpine train ride in New Zealand. We also had a first-time-ever encounter with a pod of orca while on a boat tour in New Zealand. The whole trip was an unforgettable experience!

We wished we had taken the travel agent's advice and stayed longer. There was so much to see. We packed a lot into our four short weeks thanks to them. We highly recommend using them to plan your Australia and New Zealand itinerary.

We loved all of our drivers and tour guides, and had a wonderful trip. We especially enjoyed the cooking class and the wine tour and tasting. 

We were disappointed in the restaurants booked for us on December 24 and 25, and would not recommend them to future guests. Our Christmas Day lunch was outrageously expensive and the food was not excellent. It began with our server telling us that prices would be 20% higher because it was Christmas and they were not doing flambé. They also did not have a full bar to order the drinks we wanted. We should have known that on the front end. There were plenty of restaurants open in the city and we would have had a much better and more reasonably priced meal elsewhere. We found a restaurant that we loved and went to several times. The service was outstanding and the food and wine were superior. We recommend it.

Zicasso's travel company was very responsive to what I wanted on the trip. They had just the right level of activity for an older couple traveling. Our guides were all great. All the details worked perfectly... no problems at all. Everything was as advertised in terms of the hotels and what to expect. I was extremely pleased with this tour company.

Zicasso’s trip planner did an excellent job. Communication and the quality of the experiences were everything we'd expected and more, especially in New Zealand. The accommodations were first rate; the highlight was the lodge in Queenstown. The guides and drivers were professional and knowledgeable, especially those in Queenstown and Auckland. We loved the dedicated website for reference, as well as the detailed booklet and maps for both countries. 

For future itineraries, I would add another day in Queenstown and a full day in Christchurch. If days were limited, I would recommend one less day in Auckland and/or skipping the drive/train from Franz Josef. 

The only complication was the day we spent 10 hours going to and coming from Milford Sound.  I recommend doing Milford Sound by plane/helicopter from Queenstown, which would also permit seeing the glaciers/southern alps from the air. The only things we missed were the zoo in Auckland and the Blue Mountain day tour in Sydney. Next trip!

The trip was well planned for the visits to each stop. All of the hotels were lovely and comfortable. Every driver and tour guide did an amazing job, was on time and very knowledgeable. My only issue was that my agent wasn’t good at communicating and getting me the roadbook two weeks prior to the trip, as promised. It caused me some anxiety before the trip because I had to send messages and call to get a response.

Our trip was amazing! The transportation, accommodations, drivers, and guides were all excellent. Zicasso's travel agency helped us plan exactly the type of trip we wanted. The tours were great and provided good variety. The level of communication was excellent and we always felt as if we could contact our guides if necessary. I strongly recommend this group!