Southeast Asia Travel Agents & Reviews

After returning home from a month-long trip to Asia, I am still wowed by the service provided by the travel agency and our guides in Vietnam. Since this was our first visit to the country, I reached out to the agency for itinerary recommendations, and thankfully, I was connected with Albee. She was incredibly responsive before and during our trip, and she paired us with such knowledgeable and hospitable guides.

Our first guide during the trip hosted us in Hanoi and SaPa. We opted to stay a bit more off the beaten path at an ecolodge which we can highly recommend, which is about 30 minutes away from the SaPa village center. We let our guide know we were interested in learning more about the local culture and exploring the countryside, and wow, he delivered! 

We went on the most memorable hike through the rice terraces and stopped to chat with several villagers along the way. He knew everyone. On top of that, he taught us about local flora and customs while on the hike and then the bike ride. We are already looking forward to returning to the North and further exploring the Vietnam/China border, but only if we can do it with him! The mountains were truly the highlight of our trip, and it wouldn't have been possible without him as our guide. If you are lucky enough to add SaPa to your itinerary, do yourself a favor and request him.

Our guide in Saigon, which was the last leg of our Vietnam trip, was so accommodating to our changing needs. After a couple of weeks of travel, we arrived in Saigon wanting a more relaxing pace. She seamlessly made alternate arrangements for us that were a perfect end to the trip. The most hospitable moment from our entire trip to Asia came when we expressed an interest in visiting a local family. She immediately suggested that she and her family host us for lunch at their home in the Mekong Delta the next afternoon. This was such an unexpected yet memorable end to our time in Vietnam. Our guide’s and her family's hospitality were unmatched, and we were so fortunate to have her as our guide.

Overall, Zicasso’s travel company did a pretty good job of planning the trip. The staff were very friendly and welcoming. The spacing of the events on the itinerary was well-balanced, with a good mix of activities and free time!

The South Korea portion of our trip was flawless, with excellent guides and events planned for each day. Our local tour guides knew to change the itinerary when they noticed there was a chance to optimize timing for certain events to avoid crowds or that we were doing too many activities that were similar, which was excellent!

One point of feedback: Key transfers were missed (eg, We were expected to find our own way out of Hakone to get to the train station to Tokyo, only to find out the night before that taxis were refusing to come out to our hotel for fares because it was too far, and the hotel didn’t offer any good solutions. We were very lucky that our wonderful tour guide for Hakone offered to drive us at the last minute, otherwise we would’ve missed the train and our subsequent booked teamLab Planets and food tour in Tokyo.)

Overall, we had a great time. First, I want to thank our Zicasso travel consultant, who helped us plan an itinerary that met all of our needs. She was very prompt and incorporated our feedback.

We had a great trip to Japan with this Zicasso travel company. We booked pretty late, so there wasn’t great flexibility in creating the itinerary, but the locations and activities chosen were excellent. The guides were professional and organized, and the transfers and other arrangements were pretty flawless.

We could have used more downtime/fewer guided hours on a long, two-week trip. Despite the internet hype, Japan is not hard to navigate, especially once you’re in country and can ask for help from your hotels. We didn’t need as much handholding (a person at the airport, a person to take us to the train station, etc). The experiences were excellent, though perhaps pricier than necessary.

All in all, it was a great trip that required little thinking on our part.

We had a very interesting 18-day trip to Laos and Vietnam in February. We worked closely with our Zicasso tour operator to plan a customized trip that included a number of stops and different experiences.

We started in Laos, with the monasteries, waterfall/hiking, cooking classes in Luang Prabang, and outdoor activities in beautiful Vang Vieng (hiking, caving, and kayaking).

We spent the next 13 days in Vietnam – chaotic Hanoi; beautiful Ha Long Bay and Ninh Binh, with the fantastic limestone karsts; historic Hue, the Imperial City; picturesque Hoi An, with the serene and spectacular resort; ending up in Saigon for a day.

We had three knowledgeable guides with different personalities and backgrounds – Laos, northern Vietnam, and central Vietnam. We had interesting and detailed discussions which enhanced our understanding of the history of the region, as well as the US impact on Laos and Vietnam. Although we liked our guides, we realized they were independent contractors and did not really have any input in our day-to-day itinerary (which did have changes from the original). Although most of the changes were fine, we would have liked better communication – letting us know about the changes and options. As a result, we spent more time managing each day's itinerary with our guides to ensure we liked the next day's itinerary.

In summary, we truly liked and enjoyed our well-planned trip.

We really enjoyed working with Zicasso’s tour company to plan the trip. Our agent took into account our research and made suggestions/recommendations that enhanced the itinerary. We spent 11 days visiting Vietnam (HCMC, Hi An, Hanoi, Pù Luông, Ninh Bình, and Lan Ha Bay). It was an ambitious agenda that was executed without a hitch.

The internal flights were arranged so we did not feel rushed (our guides walked us into the airport, helped us check in our bags, and stayed until we made it to security). Our driver during the latter half of the trip was extremely professional and kept an immaculate car, making sure we had water and whatever we needed during the multi-hour drives.

Some of our guides could have been more knowledgeable, but my husband is a history buff and we tend to like a lot of in-depth information. The exception was our guide in Hanoi (and for the rest of the trip). He was fantastic and we were delighted that we had such a high-quality guide during the parts of our trip we had to rely on a guide the most. We were a bit taken aback that we had two guides for certain activities, but at the end of the day, we did not feel it was extraneous.

The hotel selection was up to our standards. It was a mix of standard rooms in five-star luxury hotels and spectacular rooms in Pù Luông and on our Ha Long Bay cruise.

Zicasso’s travel planner and her team did an excellent job of understanding the kind of vacation we wanted and gave it to us without cluttering it up with lots of obligations. We had the freedom to explore on our own terms, with enough support to make the most of our time in Japan. The information package got star marks for detailing everything we needed to know very clearly and for its suggestions.

Our trip with Zicasso’s travel company was wonderful. Our agent and his staff were on top of everything. They found child-friendly, knowledgeable, fun guides for us. Our agents planned interesting sights and delightful activities for us. They worked hard to arrange transportation pick-ups to protect us from the downpours of rain.

When an unexpected conflict developed one evening, the company was happy to change one of our tours to the following morning. We appreciated their flexibility and helpfulness! They aim to please!