Turkey Tours & Vacations

The trip was well organized, with professional and courteous guides, transport staff, and support staff. They picked us up on time and in well-maintained vehicles. The coordination and communication were fantastic. It was seamless travel between Istanbul, Kayseri, and İzmir. 

We interacted with three guides. All of them were professional, punctual, flexible, and very knowledgeable. It felt like we were hanging out with friends or family. 

This was the best travel experience we've ever had. The team were like ambassadors for Turkey. Visit Türkiye for its people, culture, history, places, and, most importantly, its food, the best cuisine in the world.

Zicasso’s tour company did an outstanding job of planning our trip to Turkey, a trip which included everything we wanted to see in this amazing country. 

The hotels were lovely, very clean, and situated in areas that made it very easy to get around, whether with our guide or on our own. 

However, what really made the trip so special were the guides chosen by our travel agent. Each guide was extremely knowledgeable and licensed, only after extensive education and testing.  Our agent made sure our in-country flights were taken care of, tipping was included, so we did not have to worry about that, and all local tours were arranged. Finally, he was in contact with us as needed via WhatsApp to ensure things were going smoothly. I would not hesitate to recommend his travel company to anyone looking to explore this part of the world!

This was my second Zicasso trip, the first being to Peru in 2024, so I had full confidence in their travel company and was delighted by the level of care and attention to detail throughout the trip. 

I essentially had three trips while in Turkey. I arrived a day early to attend a six-day cooking school that was independently arranged. The travel company smoothly organized my airport pickup and first-night hotel. After the cooking school, I was again booked in the original hotel (old town, close to major sites, clean, nice), and my daughter joined me for a week-long tour of Istanbul, Cappadocia, and Ephesus. 

The guides in each region were knowledgeable, though we could have made do with fewer facts (height in meters of the Blue Mosque, area in square meters of Hagia Sophia, number of sheep in the country) and had more free time to explore on our own. We loved the major Istanbul sites, the Bosphorus cruise, and lunch on the Asia side. We were delighted with our cave hotel in Cappadocia and the hot-air balloon ride on my daughter's birthday. We loved strolling through Ephesus. 

All the internal flights were arranged, booked, and checked in by the agent, so all we had to do was show up on time. The vans that transported us were clean and nice, with good drivers. After my daughter left, I was booked for three nights on a gulet, with stops on the Mediterranean. It was a nice way to slow down and finish the busy trip. 

The highlight of my travels was dinner at my agent's home with his lovely family. He even arranged for me to find some earrings like those of his mother, which I had admired, and then drove me to the airport. Above and beyond!

We had a wonderful trip to Turkey that the team at Zicasso's tour agency helped to make as efficient and engrossing as possible.

We received great communication from the outset regarding our goals and interests.

We had a very active itinerary (busy every day) that didn't feel like we were overdoing it.

We received guidance toward sights and experiences we might not have prioritized, but that turned out to be highlights of the trip.

Execution of the trip was seamless and we had the comfort of feeling that, in the background, they were taking care of us throughout the trip.

Many thanks to the tour operator's team for a fantastic Turkey adventure.

Zicasso’s travel agent cares passionately about his clients. I used his company for a three-week Aegean odyssey in March-April 2025. My special request was to have a meal with a local family in their home. He arranged for immersive cooking with two families in Türkiye and Greece. He has an outstanding roster of local guides who provided private tours in Istanbul, Cappadocia, Kuşadası, Santorini, and Crete. All the guides were personable and knowledgable, and we had fun with day(s) filled with laughter. I mentioned to one that the hotel was going to charge 50 euros for laundry. He arranged his local laundry to do it for less than $10.

Our travel company pays attention to details, having the influence to get me upgraded rooms with spectacular balcony views of the Parthenon and Aegean Sea. The hotels were in strategic locations, with easy walking to restaurants, shopping, and points of interest. He ensured I had “fast pass”, so I went into the shorter security lanes at the airports. The vehicles were either Mercedes-Benz vans, sedans, or other nice SUVs for more room and better views.

For me, it is when things go sideways that one learns the value of a good travel specialist. On the day I was to fly from Athens to Santorini, all the transportation workers in Greece went on strike for 24 hours. There were no planes or ferries. That causes cascading problems. My agent arranged for me to spend the extra night in the same Athens hotel, got a new flight to Santorini the next day, even though the flights were very full, had the room ready for me in Santorini when I arrived early in the morning, and had the transfers waiting for me. I did not worry, as I knew I would be taken care of. The day before the strike, I was talking with other tourists who were scrambling to make arrangements when the internet and phone lines were jammed. The peace of mind was immeasurable.

This was a seamlessly organized trip. Many thanks to our Zicasso travel planner and her team. They put together a great window into Turkey for us. We were expertly taken care of by this incredible group throughout our travel. The guides were very informative and helpful, and made this journey even more special. It was a truly luxurious experience.