Our Sicily Travel Specialists

We just got back from an amazing two-week vacation with our children and our eight-year-old granddaughter. The travel specialists at Zicasso's tour company were incredibly knowledgeable, responsive, and professional. They took all of my ideas and managed to incorporate them seamlessly into our itinerary. I had quite a few requests and even made some last-minute changes, which they accommodated without any hesitation. One specialist, in particular, was exceptionally kind and helpful!

The organization of the trip was smooth and effortless. The transportation, drivers, and guides were all top-notch! We traveled in clean and well-maintained Mercedes vans, with well-dressed and personable drivers. The local guides were not only knowledgeable, but also spoke English clearly, sharing fascinating insights that allowed us to dive deeper into the history and culture. The hotels we stayed at ranged from good to very good. If I were to plan this again, I might choose a different location in Rome; the area was a bit congested and the hotel could use some upgrades, but it was conveniently situated.

The wine tastings were enjoyable and dinner at the vineyard was truly magical! Our standout activities were the cooking classes in Florence and Rome. The chefs were professional and imparted a lot of knowledge, giving us valuable skills to take home.
The highlight of our trip was definitely the private boat charter in Capri! We had a perfect day on a brand-new yacht, with an experienced captain and crew who took us to hidden caves away from the crowds, allowing us to swim in stunning locations. It was an absolutely fantastic trip!

The trip was absolutely beautiful and well planned. Zicasso's travel expert did a fantastic job and she was on top of everything. She texted me every night with the next day's plans. The only negative aspect of the trip was that the Sorrento hotel had no air conditioning. The rooms and lobby were extremely hot, hovering around 80° day and night.

The entire nine days of travel from Slovenia to Montenegro were seamless as far as being picked up at the arrival airport and departure as planned. Transportaion was on schedule, which was important to me in a foreign country and eliminated any stress. Each private guide and/or driver throughout our trip was courteous and spoke English, which avoided any misunderstanding about all the wonderful sites we saw.
Lake Bled was absolutely wonderful. The guide parked the van at this family home four blocks from the lake and introduced us to his mother and sister, who welcomed us, and we saw how they lived in this beautiful village. The walk of four blocks to the lake also gave us the opportunity to see more of this quaint place to live. Since the lake does not allow power boats, we and about 20 other people were rowed to the island, where an ancient church was located. We found out that this family, in the past, were the caretakers of the island and our tour guide had to row himself to the shore to go to school and, in the winter, skate to school every day.
Next, we were driven to the castle on top of a small mountain, which had a perfect, 360-degree view of the area. Beautiful!
The next day we went to Plitvice Lakes National Park, with too many waterfalls to count and water that looked as crystal clear as any natural water I have ever seen. The four-kilometer walk upstream was nothing like I've ever seen in the USA.
We spent the night in a wonderful mountain lodge, with individual lodges and an upper-end-style bed and breakfast theme.
Split was a city with parts dating back to the third century, with many Roman influences in its many buildings.
Mostar in Bosnia was very interesting and had a central arch-style bridge which seemed to be a central point for all to see. There was so much we saw that it is too much to describe here.
We also stopped at a wine tasting at the most modern winery I've ever been to. It even had 12 guest rooms, with a pool.
On our way to Dubrovnik, we stopped at Ston to have an unbelievable lunch. At the restaurant, we had an oyster tasting of fresh oysters being farmed several hundred yards from the restaurant. We were served oysters three ways, from raw to fried and baked, and they were the best I will ever eat in my life.
We next went to Dubrovnik, which was particularly interesting to me because it is where Game of Thrones was filmed. Our guide was excellent, as he worked as a "roadie" for the film company, helping set the scenes by taking down modern signs or anything modern, and putting them back after filming. He had large screen shots in a spiral binder and would take us to a cove and hold up the screen shot of the actual scene from the movie to show us the similarity. His behind-the-scenes knowledge of the actors and the reaction from the town and church was beyond expectations. My wife and I were fans of GOT and so excited that we are going to watch if all again one day.
Our last day was in Montenegro, which again was beautiful, and we spent the day next to the water there. We were ferried to a man-made island with an old church on it.
Overall, the Adriatic Sea along the coast of these countries was one of the most beautiful stretches of water you could imagine.
Our expectations of this tour were met and exceeded.

From the beginning of the planning stage, communication from Zicasso's travel agent was amazing. She was knowledgeable and professional in choosing the places to visit, stay, and tour. Any questions I had were answered timely, even with the differing time zones. Our trip was our first to Italy and she was able to make it memorable. I would highly recommend our agent and Zicasso for trip planning and will let friends and family know what a great experience we had.

Our Zicasso travel specialist was great on all the trip recommendations and planning! While we were on our trip, we encountered an airline and train delay, and she was able to move things around to quickly accommodate the scheduling issues. We also requested a few add-on changes, like visiting the Duomo in Milan, and they were able to get tickets quickly. In all, I would definitely use them again!

Zicasso matched us up with two Italian travel agencies. We provided our dates of travel and approximate travel budget per person. Each agency gave us a preliminary itinerary. We were able to request changes to the itinerary and then chose the one that we preferred. The communication through the Zicasso website was easy and comprehensive.
Our entire trip went off without a single problem. We stayed at a very nice apartment in Rome, 1,000 feet from the Colosseum. We had very knowledgeable private tour guides for the Colosseum and the Vatican, allowing us to skip all of the entrance lines. We had private transfers from the airport to the apartment and from the apartment to the train station. We took a train from Rome to Naples and had another private transfer to a very nice hotel in Ravello. We did a private boat tour of the Amalfi Coast with a captain and a first mate. Drinks and snacks were included. We did a guided hike, which ended at a farm-to-table lunch. We spent a morning in Pompeii, followed by a local wine tasting and lunch.
Every part of the vacation exceeded our expectations. The accommodations were fantastic. The planned activities were just what we were looking for. We still had enough free time to explore on our own and choose which restaurants we wanted to eat at each evening. I feel like we got a great deal for what we paid and would definitely book a vacation through Zicasso again.

Zicasso's travel company did a great job communicating with me, from initial contact (months prior to vacation) until the day we left Italy to come home. They were incredibly detail-oriented and bent over backwards to be accommodating. All the services, tours, and personnel were top-notch; professional, friendly, and kind.

We are very grateful for the work and guidance provided for our vacation. We would definitely recommend your services to our friends and family. Returning home, we are more relaxed, having had fewer worries and decisions to make during our trip. Thanks again! See you next time!