Best 8-Day Tour of Croatia's Highlights

Overall

We loved the Zicasso process - from the intake form, to the screening interview, to matching process with a local agent - we absolutely would leverage the same process for our future trips

Our travel agency (and in particular Ivana) were amazing - communicative - both ahead of the trip and during, made great recommendations based on our style, and advocated on our behalf in the few instances when things didn't go exactly according to plan

We loved the "private" nature of everything we did - our own drivers, our own tour guides, our own activities - certainly we paid for it, but if that's the kind of holiday you're looking for, our travel company certainly delivered

Pre-Trip / Itinerary Building

We were clear with our travel agency that for us, food > wine, so we had more activities geared that way (truffle hunt in Split, Oyster farm in Ston, Peka in Hvar, Food tour in old town Dubrovnik). But of course, given that it's Croatia, they recommended a couple of wine-centric activities - which were fantastic

We questioned whether it was worth it to have 4 stops in an 11-day itinerary - it seemed to us like a lot of packing/unpacking - but the team at our travel agency were especially insistent that we leave Korčula in the itinerary - and we're so glad we did

We went back and forth on a few of the activities and in particular, the "right" hotel in Dubrovnik. In the end, the itinerary was nearly perfect, and the Hotel in Dubrovnik was the right choice for us

Each time we adjusted the itinerary, we received an updated PDF file with the updated schedule, costs, etc. And perhaps my favorite communication - in the days before the trip, we received an email with three things: 1) a final pdf overview of the entire itinerary; 2) a one-page summary with dates/times for every activity and transfer; and 3) a separate, detailed pdf voucher for each activity/ticket/transfer across the whole trip

Final observations

Croatia is gorgeous. The best word I can use to describe it is "Dramatic". The people are incredibly friendly. And there are delicious things to eat and drink everywhere you go

It was *hot* - 95F/35C every day (from late June through early July. And we did *a lot* of walking. Just be prepared :)

There is *a lot* to do - between old cities with tons of history, beautiful beaches, restaurants, vineyards, farms, markets - we could easily go back to the same spots for another two weeks and have an entirely new experience

If you want to see Croatia in comfort, with no worries about logistics, and always feel well looked-after, I highly recommend this travel agency

My wife and I absolutely loved out first-time trip to Croatia. We visited Split, Hvar, and Dubrovnik through this travel company, where Ivana helped plan an amazing vacation. She was helpful to provide suggestions and work with creating a detailed itinerary for what we wanted to experience while staying within our budget.

From the moment we arrived we were in good hands, with private vehicle transfers in nice and clean Mercedes-Benz Metris passenger vans or C or E class sedans. The drivers were very friendly, professional, and experienced with a lot of local knowledge. Ivana even came to meet us the following day and welcomed us!

Our hotel arrangements were all great! In Split we had a cute apartment where we were close to the locals, so it felt like we were a part of the community. In Hvar, we had a gorgeous room with an amazing view of the waterfront. What made this special was the restaurant just below that would play live music. I really enjoyed hearing it at night with the window open, the beautiful view of the sky with full moon, and all the lights and people buzzing around. In Dubrovnik we stayed close by to the old town, where we had a nice place with another beautiful view of the waterfront.

Our tour guides were all friendly and very knowledgeable of the history of each city and local towns we visited. We liked that they kept us in the shade as much as possible and gave us little breaks to get a drink or relax. The tours were all at a relaxed paced, and not at all rushed. Each guide would provide recommendations of local shops that offered items unique to that region or town.

We visited two wineries and an olive grove, again amazing! The wineries provided us a private and relaxed lunch experience, while tasting their signature wines, and local mouth-watering cuisine! In Hvar, we had a delicious lunch with an amazing view of the gorgeous countryside. The family hosting us for lunch was super sweet and made us feel at home.

We appreciate all the hospitality, professionalism, and care provided by Ivana and the whole Team in making sure our trip was amazing in every way. So much more to talk about…delicious restaurants, beautiful skylines, historic architecture, great beaches, and friendly people. Most everyone speaks English too!