Rome Travel Guide

We (family of 4 including two teenagers) had a wonderful trip to southern Italy the last two weeks of June:  Sorrento, Naples, Matera, Polignano a Mare (Puglia region).  With Sorrento as our base we saw Positano/Amalfi Coast, Capri and Pompeii.  In Puglia we visited Ostuni, Alberobello and Lecce, went to a wine tasting (with great wine!), and visited two masserias:  one for an olive oil tasting, and another with a pasta-making class.  Our travel agent at at this company helped us to plan a great itinerary.  She was very flexible and helped us keep within our budget, and the logistics she put together were flawless.  I also felt she truly listened to what we wanted - even her first draft itinerary was very close to the mark.  Highly recommended.

Our family of five just got back from the most wonderful vacation in Tuscany and Rome.  Our agent crafted a set of amazing experiences for our family from the private tour guides to Florence, Pisa and Lucca; a private wine tasting lunch at the Capannelle Winery and vineyards in Chianti; tickets to the Papal mass at the Vatican; to a tour beneath the church of San Clemente to see the excavations of a byzantine and then a Roman street neighborhood; a day excursion to the Amalfi coast to visit Positano, Sorrento and Pompeii; and more! Our agent and the guides found excellent restaurants from a simple salumeria where the locals ate to some high end restaurants.  The hotels were right in the center of Florence – on the piazza della Repubblica - and Rome – between the Piazza del Popolo and the Spanish Steps.  Our agent was attentive to our plans and made excellent suggestions.  Everything went extremely smoothly.  All the guides drivers were very friendly, spoke English and were very knowledgeable about art, history and the local culture.  We saw so much every day because everything was so well planned.  Simply the best travel experience ever!

I have to begin by saying I've told everyone how pleased I am with Zicasso and the travel agent they recommended.  I also have to say that I was very hesitant to book my trip with a company that I had only communicated with via email.  Turns out I had nothing to worry about.

The initial response I received from my agent was immediate and continued right up until our actual trip while we were in Italy.  I let her know where I wanted to go, what I wanted to see, told her I was interested in a mix of arranged tours and time on our own.  She listened and also made great suggestions.  I honestly can't say enough about how wonderful she was to work with, along with her co-worker.

They arranged for all our hotels, transportation and tours.  Every driver and guide we had was top notch.  They made a point of keeping us in small groups, sometimes only the two of us and the guide.

Our 19 day trip began in Venice where we were met at the airport and driven to a private water taxi.  That driver walked us out of the boat and made sure we knew how to find our hotel. Our departure was just as seamless.  A guide met us in our lobby, walked with us to the water taxi, came into the train station with us and explained the board to us, pointing out our train and track number.  

We continued on to Verona, Cinque Terre, Tuscany, Florence, Naples, the Amalfi Coast and Rome.  Since we weren't in any one place longer than three days it was extremely helpful to have guides, even for just a couple of hours to orient us, which saved us a lot of time.  We had guides for a walking tour in Venice, a morning in Cinque Terre traveling with us between the villages, the Accademia in Florence, Pompeii, an Amalfi Coast drive and the Vatican in Rome.  Every one of the them was passionate and proud and we learned so much.  We had a car in Tuscany and saw many other places on our own, Lucca, Pisa, San Gimignano, Siena, Montalcino, Montepulciano.  We stayed in Sorrento, spent one day on Capri and another full day on a tour to Positano, Amalfi and Ravello, which included a short boat ride along the coast.  Spectacular.  Our only tour in Rome was the Vatican but we saw all the other major sites on our own, taking the metro, bus, taxis and walking, lots of walking.  It was the perfect mix of free time and arranged tours.

And, they also worked with our children who surprised us with a dinner in Venice for our anniversary after a gondola ride!

One great advantage to having your tour guide in the country you're visiting, you're in the same time zone.  We had one mishap with a train and were able to talk to them right away.  Other than that, everything worked liked clockwork.

I would definitely use them again and have told everyone I know what a wonderful job they did for us.

What a magical and memorable trip to southern Italy!

Thank you to Zicasso's travel agent for planning such a wonderful and very special itinerary for us. It was the trip of a lifetime! We asked you to plan a trip to southern Italy for us and our adult children to celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary, and the itinerary and our experiences exceeded our expectations. We asked to visit authentic Italy, not the touristy areas, and you nailed it!

Puglia was beautiful and magical, and all of our accommodations were lovely and exactly what we wanted. We really enjoyed the different areas you chose for us so we could experience different environments. We are not sure we have a favorite place, but our sea-view room in Polignano a Mare was spectacular and the rooftop made-to-order breakfast was phenomenal! We all loved that town and also really enjoyed the boat tour of the caves!

Our other favorite towns were Ostuni, Alberobello, Martina Franca, Locorotondo, Lecce, and Otranto, and hiking along the Adriatic on the Salento Peninsula.

Another highlight was going to a Primitivo winery and having a delicious traditional lunch with tastings. What a lovely afternoon!

The most surprising and awesome place was the Sassi in Matera! The pictures you see do not do it justice. It was like going back in time or onto a movie set; simply amazing to see. Our travel team planned special accommodation for us – staying in caves – and it was an unbelievable bucket-list experience!

For this trip, the team recommended using private transport between towns because we were a family of five traveling with luggage, and navigating parking with a large van in these small towns would have been very difficult for us. We were very happy we took their advice. They hired a wonderful transportation company and the owner and driver provided us with excellent service and were so much fun to be with on our trips to each destination.

The last leg involved five days in Agropoli on the Cilento Coast (Mediterranean Sea), south of the Amalfi Coast. It was perfect. So beautiful and authentic! Our tour guide, driver, and translator were awesome, and took us on many interesting and fabulous adventures, including a visit to the Greek and Roman temples, ruins in Paestum, a tour and tasting at an organic buffalo mozzarella farm at a family-owned fig producer, and a small family-owned organic winery. All were fabulous and beyond our expectations. Experiencing the traditional foods and local wines in all of these places was another highlight.

If all of this isn’t amazing enough, we also experienced my Italian heritage. Our travel team planned a stop in Casalciprano, a very small village in the Campobasso province where my paternal grandfather was born. With the help of our new friend. I was able to meet a few townspeople who were able to find the house where my grandfather was born. I never expected that and I will treasure that moment forever. Also, we visited a museum in the house where another relative was born.

He is a famous detective from NYC and I have heard stories about him my whole life. So along with our agent's help translating for us, we enjoyed learning more about his life in Padula, a very small town in the province of Salerno. I donated some letters and a photo to the museum, and felt so connected to the people in the town. Our travel agent found a wonderful restaurant where we ate traditional foods from that region.

This was the trip of a lifetime and I thank our travel team for making our 40th anniversary a dream vacation come true! We had such a great time and can’t wait to plan our next vacation!

We did a 12 day trip that included Venice, Florence, Tuscany, Rome, Pompeii and the Amalfi Coast. It was a 30th anniversary trip for us. My brother and sister-in-law also travelled with us. It was our first trip to Italy and we wanted to make sure that we could enjoy our vacation without worrying about logistics, transportation, etc. And having never been in Italy, we needed guidance and recommendations for the right accommodations. Our travel agency met or exceeded all of our expectations. Our agents paid close attention to our wishes and carefully planned out the perfect itinerary. They did so while also honoring our budget. They put us in great hotels in the hearts of Venice, Rome and Florence. And we had spectacular views from our hotels in Tuscany and Sorrento. Great drivers and guides were arranged at every stop. In addition to private tours of traditional sites (Vatican, Coliseum, Uffizzi Gallery, St. Mark's Basilica, Pompeii), Our agents also arranged a one of kind wine-tasting and lunch at a small Tuscan farm and a special cooking class at a Michelin starred restaurant. Even with all of the activities, we still had plenty of free time to wander on our own or simply relax. Plus, our agents were always available by phone or e-mail both before and during the trip if we had any questions. They are incredibly responsive. And all of this cost about the same as a high quality group tour. We felt like we got the perfect 30th anniversary trip and that it was an excellent value. I highly recommend this company.