Southern Germany Tour: Beauty, Fairy Tales & Romance

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.

We decided to do a river cruise in Germany which started in Berlin. Since this was our first visit to Germany, we worked with the Zicasso travel agency to develop a nine-day exploration of a small part of Germany prior to starting our cruise. Working with our agent, we decided to start in Munich and explore areas easily reachable from there and then travel to Berlin for the remainder of the time. We arranged private tours in Munich, Salzburg, and Berlin. We also had a private driver for the day who drove us to Neuschwanstein Castle and the Pilgrimage Church of Wies. She also arranged train tickets to Salzburg, Berlin, and Leipzig.

Our accommodations in Munich and Berlin were excellent. We could easily walk to the Marienplatz and train station in Munich, and tram and bus stops were near our Berlin hotel. She also made recommendations about things to do on the days we explored on our own. The detailed itinerary with photos and suggestions was available on the app and as a hard copy. It was very useful and kept us on schedule! While we did not need to reach out for help during our stay, they provided contact numbers, including if we needed assistance out of hours.

All the guides were excellent. They first asked what we were interested in and then provided the history of the cities, along with suggestions on things to do during our free time. In addition to sharing their knowledge, they provided pictures to enhance our understanding.

I would definitely use them again.

Our travel agency set up the perfect trip!  My wife and I were coming to Germany to attend Oktoberfest and pick up her new BMW (through European delivery).  We were set up with these travel agent and they set up a perfect itinerary.  We spent 2 nights each in Munich, Oberammergau, and Berchtesgaden.  We also had a day trip to Salzburg since it is so close to Berchtesgaden.  At Oktoberfest, we were drinking Mass Biers and dancing on table our travel company set us up vouchers for  Mass Biers, a large appetizer tray, and large meals included).  We also had a private tour of Dachau and Munich by our guide who I cannot say enough about.  Extremely knowledgeable and personable, she was like a walking encyclopedia about the history and culture.  While in Bertchtesgaden, we had a private tour of Eagle's nest and WWII sites.  His knowledge of the history there is unparalleled and it was interesting to hear some of his own research and theories in WWII history at the sites.  During our day trip to Salzburg, it rained but my wife was happy to shop!  In Oberammergau (which we loved), we had tour of Linderhof palace, as well as, private tour of Neuschwanstein castle before the public is even allowed inside!  There was so much more!  Our travel company had everything set up, called us everyday on a phone they provided, and when the weather didn't cooperate they rearranged things to make it all work out.  Lastly, they even made restaurant recommendations everynight for us and made reservations for us.  We would of never have found these restaurants on our own.  We cannot thank them enough!

Thank you to our travel planner and her company for helping us plan and schedule an amazing trip to Europe for our grand daughter’s graduation from high school.  This was a multi-generational tour - grandchildren, parents and grandparents.The trip was a year in the making to see the highlights and do some of the not to ordinary experiences in London and Paris, plus an extension to Budapest, Salzburg and Munich for the grandparents.  Our travel planner was attentive to our desires to do and see certain attractions, but also she suggested sights and activities unique to the places we were to visit.  She located condos in center city which were accessed by walking or public transportation to the major sites on our itinerary  ( We purchased Oyster Cards in London to make for quick and easy access on public transportation.)

Upon arriving in London we settled into our condo and then took off on our first adventure to ride on the Coca-Cola London Eye with  beautiful views of the city and then do a thrilling ride on the River Thames.  To highlight the activities in London: (the parents had previously visited London and Paris two times and the grandparents three times)  tour of Westminster Abbey and St. Paul’s Cathedral; in the evening  of the second day it was a dark, cold and rainy setting the stage for our Jack the Ripper Tour.  It made the walk on the cobbled alleyways eerie and thrilling reminding us of days gone by.  On our second full day we visited Wimbledon with behind the scenes visits of facilities used by the press, broadcasters and the world’s best tennis players.  Our grand daughters and their mother play tennis so it was very exciting for them to see the grass courts and to envision the championship players on center court.  Back to center city to visit the Tower of London to see the royal jewels and to hear the history of the castle and of those who were executed there.  Day three we were able to see the various stages of the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace,.  We didn’t have to stand in line for hours, as we had done in the past, but instead were able to see the inspection, Old Guard, New Guard, Palaces and were even able to march alongside the Guard and the Ceremonial Bands.

Leaving London, we arrived in Paris and were met and transferred to our centrally located condo.  On our first full day in France we traveled to Normandy via train.  We visited the Caen War Memorial, the Normandy Landing Beaches walking on the beaches where so many lost their lives fighting for our freedom and for those in other countries.  After lunch we visited the American Military Cemetery to remind us of the human sacrifice.

We purchased 4-day Museum Passes in Paris in order to visit the museums on our own time frame: the Louvre, the d’Orsay, the Rodin and the Palace of Versailles.  We put on our walking shoes and walked to the museums and other major sites: Notre Dame, the Eifel Tower, the Arc of Triumph and the Cimetiere du Pere Lachaise over the next four days.  In the evening of our second full day in Paris we did a Gourmet Food Tour walking in the Les Halles-Montorqueil section of Paris.  We sampled wonderful pastries, cheese, sausage, wines and candies from this famous area.After seeing Versailles three times before we were excited about the unique visit our travel planner had arranged for us.  We did a bike tour in the town of Versailles, purchased items for a picnic lunch and then pedaled out to the Palace grounds.  We explored Marie Antoinette’s Hamlet, and the Petit and Grand Trianons, picnicked at the end of the Grand Canal and skipped the lines to tour the Palace.

To end our tour in Paris and to send the grand daughters and their parents off to home, we highlighted the last night with a dinner cruise.  We all enjoyed the fine cuisine and the beautiful night time views of Paris along the River Seine.

We as grandparents continued our journey to Budapest, Salzburg, and Munich.  Staying in centrally located hotels we were able to walk to main attractions and to easily meet our guides for our tours.  In Budapest we did a walking tour of Pest learning about the history, legends and myths while visiting the major sites.  Our second day we took a market tour in one of Europe’s finest halls while sampling several foods and drinks.  Leaving the city we visited a winery-owned restaurant in Etyek for lunch and then drove to a family run winery for a wine tasting.Leaving Budapest we went by train to Salzburg via train.  (We found the trains comfortable, clean and an easy way to move from city to city and country to country. 

Doing the “Sound of Music” Tour was a highlight for us after enjoying the movie over the last fifty years.  We also visited the Fortress of Hohensalzberg, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s birthplace, did a Mozart concert at the Fortress and toured the beautiful Salzkammergut area. 

Onto Munich for three days.  We enjoyed a walking/driving tour of the city with stops at the Bavarian monarchs palace, the 1972 Summer Olympic Park, the BMW Plant and the famous Hofbrauhaus.  On day two we went outside the city by train to the see King Ludwig‘s castles.  We marveled at the natural beauty of the Alps and villages and the magnificence of the Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau Castles.  To complete our stay we took a five hour tour to the Dachau Concentration Camp.  Our guide gave us a detailed tour of the camp and the memorials.  A sobering experience and “lest we forget” all those who lost their lives.

The total trip was remarkable and a special thank you goes out to our tour designer for her expertise and diligence in making everything work together in our time frame.  Her attention to detail was awesome: we had a detailed itinerary, all necessary vouchers for attractions and travel, excellent guides and accommodations.  We highly recommend this company and our outstanding agent.

My husband and I recently visited Germany for our honeymoon.  The task of planning a 10 day trip to a foreign country was super overwhelming, especially while planning our wedding and renovating our house.  I decided to search for a travel agency and was paired with this agency through the travel website Zicasso.  I am SO glad that we found this travel company. We could not have asked for a more perfect trip. Our agent was with us every step of the way.  From the first email to our last day in Germany, our agent was working behind the scenes to ensure that we got the most out of our limited travel time.  Our travel agency worked with us months in advance to tailor the trip to our preferences.  When we arrived in Germany, the agency had our transportation waiting for us to take us to the hotel.  At the hotel, our detailed travel itinerary (when I say detailed, I mean a thick bound book complete with tickets, brochures, driving directions and maps, dinner and hotel reservation information) and cell phone were waiting for us. We spent a few days in Munich, Salzburg, Oberammergau (our favorite), Rothenburg, and the Rhine Valley. In Munich, we had an absolutely wonderful tour guide who was very knowledgeable and made sure we didn't get lost in our jet lag daze. The rest of the trip was self-guided (as was our preference), but our travel agency made sure that we had ideas for activities each day. If we had questions about anything, our agent was just a call or text away.  Without this company, we would not have gotten to go on half the adventures we did (Linderhof Palace, Neuschwanstein Castle, Berchtesgaden salt mine, winery tour, Rhine River cruise, Rothenburg nightwatchman tour, an overnight stay in a castle, climbing the St. George Church's steeple in Nordlingen...). All of the restaurant and hotel suggestions were excellent.  If we are fortunate enough to return to Germany in the future, we will definitely use this travel agency again. They deserve 5/5 stars in every category.  

The travel specialist and her crew planned the most amazing trip for us.  They literally saw to every detail and we were blown away by the service: from our personalized tour of Neuschwanstein castle to the most incredible hotel in the medieval town of Rothenburg, down to the smallest details of hotel transfers and meal reservations (including my dietary restrictions of being gluten free). We enjoyed the guidance of the personal tours in Heidelberg and Munich with the added ability to reach our tour company by phone at any time of the day or night when we were on our own (a unique perk that they provide in their top notch service). Their well thought out itinerary was perfectly detailed but also allowed us the freedom to adjust at our own leisure to explore separately. This was truly the most wonderful trip that we have ever experienced and this was due to the incredible service and hospitality of the travel team (more specifically the travel specialist) and the wonderful people that we encountered at the hotels and restaurants suggested to us.  For anyone considering traveling to Germany, there is no other travel company to consider!!