Haute Couture Tour of Paris and Rome

Our trip was truly a trip of a lifetime. We absolutely loved our time in each location.

Paris: We adored our guide and were slightly sad when we didn't get to see her one day. Our guide on Notre Dame was wonderful but for our group may have been a little too in depth. She likely would appeal best to people who loves architecture and older couples. The history of couture was so much more than that. The shop our guide took us to was a craftman or creators dream. My dad and husband couldn't get enough of the shop and the things they showed us. This was everyone's FAVORITE thing we did all trip.

Switzerland: Lucerne was just amazing and actually everyone's favorite location. Our guide to was GREAT. Pilatus was amazing, the cog train was so interesting! Overall we loved seeing Grindewald, but were underwhelmed with their activities on the mountain. We ended up forgoing the long waits at the activities and just eating lunch at the top and looking at the views. Our trip to Berne and guide were great, it was a quick overview of the city which was great after our morning trip. After our amazing time in Lucerne we were underwhelmed with Lusanne. Everything was great there, but overall Lucerne was just better to us. The wine tasting was super fun for everyone!

Monte Carlo: Overall Monte Carlo was our least "liked" location. The hotel was a great hotel, but after staying at these amazing boutique hotels all week we missed the boutique feeling. Our guide that took us to explore the area was really incredible. We went to a perfume factory and WOW was it cool!

What a memorable trip for my wife and I in several ways.

Our travel designer, from this tour company, was our lead travel consultant and was the perfect person for our first visit to Europe. It was meant to be a visit to Europe in a “Nut Shell”- 3 days in London. 3 days in Paris, 3 days in Florence and 3 days in Rome. At every location we were provided with private drivers, excursions, VIP private guided tours, and boutique hotel accommodations. Our Itinerary included a myriad of daily activities that was thoroughly detailed. The execution was perfect. It was comforting to be met at every transport location with a driver who was on time and spoke English. The guides were very knowledgeable and always asked us what we wanted to accomplish in the time frame we had for the day. The cooking classes in two different countries were intimate and the wine tasting and lunch was exclusive to us. We had a sense in our discussions with the designer before our trip that he sincerely wanted us to have a special and enjoyable holiday. I mentioned the trip was memorable and it was! The anticipation of the spread of CoVid-19 was just being discussed in Europe at the time of our trip and the Northern regions of Italy were starting to report growing number of cases. The travel designer lives in Rome and has locations in Paris and London. He gave us updates from his Rome location throughout the trip. Italy was last on our Itinerary, and he was encouraging with offering alternative plans if needed before we entered the country. We chose to continue, albeit with caution and fortunately completed most all of the sites and tours in Italy. The night before our departure from Italy the government instituted a lockdown of the entire country. Thanks to the designer and the other folks at this company we had an enjoyable trip in the midst of a lot of angst around us.

This summer, I traveled to Europe for the time with my Husband. This travel agent planned a wonderful trip for us and I must say that I am still in my vacation hangover! :) We visited Italy, Switzerland, and Paris.

Italy: I had THE BEST TIME OF MY LIFE in Italy. We visited Venice, Florence, and Rome. Venice was indescribably romantic. Our hotel was hotel was located in the heart of the city so we covered the entire city by foot. We had a private tour guide and she was extremely knowledgeable and friendly. 

After two days of stay in Venice, we next traveled by train to Florence, the fashion capital of Italy. On the first day, our agent had planned a private city tour for us. Our private tour guide was amazing! She told us about the city, best places to buy leather and best gelato place in Florence. Our hotel was strategically located. It was just 0.3 miles from the train station so we literally reached in 5 mins to our hotel. The next day was group tour to Ufizzi gallery and that's where we did not have a good time. The tour company was nice but the tour guide was not all that great. We received differential treatment there. I was not feeling well that day so instead of asking how I am doing, the guide asked my husband if we are done with our tour. WOW! I don't know if it was because of our color, race, or nationality. 

The next day we went to explore the wilderness, the cypress-lined vineyards of Tuscany. We visited a small medieval town and then headed to wine tasting. There, we spent hours in lingering over a meal in the open air, had one of the best meals of our lives as the fresh ingredients were picked up from the market that day and the hosts were as gracious as your own grandmother. We truly enjoyed the glace of Italian culture there. The trip to Chianti was the best part of our entire journey.

The next day we traveled to the sun-washed city of Rome. We had a beautiful time there too. 

Then We flew to Zurich. Our room was amazing and had a breathtaking view of the lake Lucerne with the city line of Lucerne. After two nights in Lucene, we then traveled to Lauterbrunnen. As they say, Switzerland is "Heaven on Earth" we actually did witness that heaven in Lauterbrunnen. The view of the valley of 72 waterfalls was incredible. Our hotel was located near the train station and the had a spectacular view from our room. Unfortunately, the hotel did not have any help available. Even for a glass of hot water, we had to climb up and down 3 floors, which was disappointing. Plus restaurants were super expensive and the food was terrible. 

Then we went to Paris. Paris was again unforgettable. Because of our travel agent, we got to see the Batille's day parade and the gorgeous view of Eiffel tower in fireworks! That experience was unforgettable.

Overall, the trip was amazing. Our agent did put together an amazing itinerary for us and we had a time of our life there.  Highly recommended!

Our trip was absolutely perfect and incredible in every way. It was amazingly well planned, with very personable private tour guides and the ability to skip all the lines. It could not have been arranged better. We flew into Rome and our drivers and tour guides were promptly waiting for us throughout the week, with well-planned tours daily!

We spent our first day in the city center, followed by an incredible pizza place for dinner! The next day we visited the magnificent Colosseum. The Vatican was massive and we were awestruck in the Sistine Chapel. We had fabulous gelato and a pizza-making class. We then took a train to Venice, where we had a beautiful hotel and a tour conducted by a Venetian. The gondola was perfect!

The magnificent Duomo in Milan and seeing The Last Supper in person were awe-inspiring! We had great food, lodging, shopping, and warm and friendly people throughout.

I couldn’t have had a better trip than what the fabulous and passionate people at Zicasso planned for me and my two daughters, aged 16 and nine! I recommend them most highly and can’t wait to do Sicily, the Amalfi Coast, etc, with you all soon. The attention to detail in everything was insane, with impeccable communication! I’m full of tremendous gratitude forever and always! Ciao, until we speak again.

Our travel agent was wonderful from the very beginning.  We had a brief conversation after she received my first overall idea of our trip, she listened to what I said and put together an itinerary.  After several discussions, we reached agreement on a final trip.  She was so fun and easy to work with.  I appreciated her comments on what was worth spending money on and where our money was better spent.  The itinerary itself was terrific. The hotels were wonderful, the guides for the most part were top notch and the side ideas she put on our itinerary really helped for our free time. 

There was only one mix up that our itinerary said to meet in our lobby at 10 but the tour was supposed to start in Siena at 10.  There was no worries, we did our best to finish breakfast and be ready sooner (9:30) and our driver alerted all the tour guides and scheduled stops for that day so it was no problem.

Our driver from Rome to Florence was very sweet - our daughter from all the driving, then flying and driving again was motion sick and he was very accommodating.

The tours that our travel agency set up with the "skip the lines" were invaluable and the tour guides themselves had so much knowledge that we could really appreciate what we were seeing.

My only suggestion for the written itinerary was for the airport and train stations is to make it clear that the driver will meet us outside security with a sign with our name on it.  We weren't sure at the airport due to our flight being delayed and the bags taking so long to come up where our driver would be.  He was waiting clearly for us - we just weren't quite sure where to look. 

I made it clear that I wanted to be picked up and driven from Rome to Florence because it was our firs time, even though our agent suggested a train.  Next time, I would definitely take a train from Rome to Florence.  Although the ride is pretty and the stop at Ovierto was nice, the train would have actually been better but next time....

As for our guides:

Our guide in Florence was fantastic.  Her youth was so fantastic as my 23 year old daughter really connected with her.  The way she introduced us to sculpture really built up to seeing The David in a way that made us all understand it and appreciate it a way I never expected.  Also, she had excellent tips for restaurants away from touristy areas that we loved!

Our chefs were phenomenal.  We had so much fun seeing their neighborhood, going to their shops for the meat, veggies, and cheese (we met the king and queen of cheese :) ) The let us pick the dishes we wanted to prepare offering suggestions but leaving the choice up to us.  The helped us learn in a very fun way and sent us the recipes after via email.  The setting and the people made that experience top notch.

Our driver to Siena and Chianti was great in that he shared some thing s about the landscape and history along the way - the other drivers we had were friendly but just driving (not that that is bad it just make our driver good for that trip).

Our guide in Siena was also excellent - I appreciated her humor and showing us such beauty and sharing het culture of the neighborhoods and the upcoming race.  Siena is so steeped in culture, I was so glad we stopped there - that was all our agent's suggestion as we wanted to do a winery in Chianti and experience some of the Tuscan countryside.

Our guide in Venice was extremely knowledgeable but a bit harsh.  For some reason (my own fault) I hadn't put together that the women would need knees and shoulders covered for that day and it was very hot.  However, she informed us and my daughter and I ran back to hotel to change.  This was fine.  During the tour she "corrected" anyone not following the rules and I appreciate that but she not only corrected but berated them.  It was just a bit extreme. Her knowledge was unsurpassed but there was so much thrown at us, it was hard to retain and it was a bit overwhelming  she kept saying "we only have two hours and that's not nearly enough time so we need to keep moving".  There was way more than we could retain but bits and pieces got to each one of our family and we did learn a lot about the beautiful San Marco church and Doge palace but compared to the style of our other guides, this was our least favorite

Our guide in Rome was also superb.  She took us to the Coliseum and the Forum and with her ipad, showed us the "missing pieces" so we could appreciate what it had looked like.  She did a great job of balancing showing us things, teaching us things and letting us look.  My daughter was especially impressed with her photography skills (not an easy thing for that to happed) and she got some great photos of the 4 of us. Also, she suggested great places to eat neat the area (which was EXCELLENT) and the place (pompi) to get the best Tiramisu in Rome (it was!)

Our guide in Rome for St Peter's and the Vatican was phenomenal.  Her super power is surfing the wave! it was so crowded she instructed us to clearly on how to navigate the crowd, she found places to stop to inform us of the major things to look for = especially in the Sistine Chapel since there is SO much to look at and it is EXTREMELY crowed. (I described it to my friends back home and overwhelmingly beautiful and also hell on earth because of the crowds)  I loved our guide's "lightness"/sense of humor while dealing with these sacred sited that also are overrun with tourists.  In St Peter's we could feel the closeness of an individual experience and not  be too "beaten down" by the crowds.

Our guide for the food tour was fun.  She had said upfront she wasn't' really a "tour guide" but a chef.  Well, this made for a great walk through the food region. She explained the history of the neighborhood (I think the "I'm not really a tour guide was modesty) and took us to some great places to sample pizza, cheeses, Soupli (Iife changing!) and the tiny calzones that contain dough the rises longer than usual and is deep fried.....OMG!  Also, she took us to the central market and one of the vendors was so kind, he gave us apricots to sample and she bought us figs to try.  Then we got to pick our cookies for our dessert for AFTER.  We went back to the studio location where we could have wine and a light pasta dish.  Overall, an incredible day.  The afternoon lent itself not to shopping as suggested but napping!

Some suggestions: Highlight on itinerary when shoulders/knees on ladies need to be covered (we should have know but would have been helpful).  Maybe point out that the names/numbers are for the servicesetting up the driver or guide and are not necessarily directly to the person you are meeting.  It's a small point but surprised me at the airportwhen I called to see where we were meeting our driver