Immersive Classical Music Austria Tour

We found this company through Zicasso.  We were contacted by our travel agent within couple of days.  We exchanged communications both via email and phone call for the next several weeks.  Our trip were to three cities in Germany and Austria and we wanted to splurge a little.  A few weeks before hand, we were given a day to day itinerary.  She gave us options for lunch and dinner each day as well as suggestions and options on the tours each day that we did not have a tour guide.  We travel to Munich, Salzburg, Oberammergau and Rothenburg.  

We were pick up when we arrived in Munich.  As we entered our hotel room, our travel agent had already left the package with day to day itinerary,  maps as well as a I-phone for us to use.  All the locations were input in the contact list so that we can easily retrieve time.  Any of the non-guided tours, our agent has given suggestions on where to park.

We had booked a private tour to Neuschwanstein Castle and Linderhof Palace.  We were surprised that private tour was really a private tour, just my wife and I!!!  It was definitely worth it, no line and the guide answered all our questions and did not rush us along.

The dinner suggestions were fabulous.  Most of them were walking distance to our hotel.  However, if you are not a smoker, you might want to skip Carpe Diem in Salzburg.  They have great food, the restaurant is on the 2nd floor (non-smoking), however, the bar is on the first floor (smoking).  The smoke comes right up the center stairway.  Food is great though. 

All the hotels that we stayed at were wonderful!  We had a room that overlook the Viktualienmarkt in Munich, a corner suite overlooking the river and historic city of Salzburg.  An awesome room in Oberammergau.  And a charming suite in a 800 year old building in Rothenburg where the hotel staff were friendly and attentive.  

We wish we could have make it a 3 week vacation and tour more cities in Germany.  If we ever go back, we will definitely use  this company again.

My wife and I and another couple asked this European travel company to plan a trip for us to Berlin, Prague, Vienna and Budapest, with a stop in Cesky Krumlov and a separate visit by our friends to the High Tatras and Krakow. With the exception of a coupe of glitches in Berlin (the hotel, while very nice, was not near the central city, as portrayed, and a day trip for me and my wife to Potsdam was not what we expected and extremely disappointing, for which our agency reimbursed us), the trip was wonderful. We had requested well-located 3-4 star boutique hotels and Maggie and Lindsey of at our agency really delivered. The Abba in Berlin, in the main shopping area, was sleek and hip; the Am Stephanplatz in Vienna was quite nice and in an absolutely great location, directly across from the magnificent St. Stephan's Cathedral and within walking distance of everything to see in Vienna; the Century Old Town in Prague and the K&K Opera in Budapest were also great hotels located near many or most of the main attractions the Ruze (Rose) hotel in Cesky Krumlov was old, but the best in town. All of them included good service and excellent breakfasts. But it was in the tours that our agency really sparkled (Potsdam aside). We asked for individual tours rather than group tours, and our guides were either very good or outstanding, as were the drivers who took us from city to city (the difference in price between private cars and four Eurorail passes was not as much as we thought, and the drivers were anxious to act as guides as well, making the additional cost well worth it). Joe, our guide in Prague for two tours spoke fluent English, was trained as a lawyer, and had been part of the crowd that was fired on when the Russians moved into Prague in 1968. Not only was he full of stories and opinions, he was a cheerful and affable companion as well. Our guide of the Jewish Quarter in Budapest, Kata, was tenured professor who gave us tremendous insight into Jewish-Hungarian history and current European politics. We followed that tour up with an ourstanding traditional Jewish dinner at the home the widow of a rabbi of a congregation in Budapest. In addition to these tours, our agency arranged for fascinating tours of a food market (Budapest) and vineyard (also Budapest), and walking tours in Berlin, Vienna, Prague, Cesky Krumlov, Dresdan and Bratislava, the latter two as part of the drives between cities. We would not have changed a single one of these. As for our friends' extension to the High Tratas and Krakow, they said it was just as great as the part of the trip they shared with us.

The Zicasso tour company proved to be a super travel partner for my wife and me on a two-week trip to the central European cities of Prague, Salzburg, Vienna, and Budapest. They worked with us closely on the front end to identify our goals and interests, and structured the trip to fully meet those goals and interests.

While traveling, their operational manager was in regular contact with us and available on relatively short notice. The itinerary was completed without any hitches, and the guided tours, landmark sights, classical concerts, and timing all worked out well.

Each of the four selected hotels were winners! They were located at central spots for easy walking to most activities. The day-by-day tour itinerary was immensely helpful.