Family Friendly Tour to Turkey & Greece

Zicasso’s travel agent cares passionately about his clients. I used his company for a three-week Aegean odyssey in March-April 2025. My special request was to have a meal with a local family in their home. He arranged for immersive cooking with two families in Türkiye and Greece. He has an outstanding roster of local guides who provided private tours in Istanbul, Cappadocia, Kuşadası, Santorini, and Crete. All the guides were personable and knowledgable, and we had fun with day(s) filled with laughter. I mentioned to one that the hotel was going to charge 50 euros for laundry. He arranged his local laundry to do it for less than $10.

Our travel company pays attention to details, having the influence to get me upgraded rooms with spectacular balcony views of the Parthenon and Aegean Sea. The hotels were in strategic locations, with easy walking to restaurants, shopping, and points of interest. He ensured I had “fast pass”, so I went into the shorter security lanes at the airports. The vehicles were either Mercedes-Benz vans, sedans, or other nice SUVs for more room and better views.

For me, it is when things go sideways that one learns the value of a good travel specialist. On the day I was to fly from Athens to Santorini, all the transportation workers in Greece went on strike for 24 hours. There were no planes or ferries. That causes cascading problems. My agent arranged for me to spend the extra night in the same Athens hotel, got a new flight to Santorini the next day, even though the flights were very full, had the room ready for me in Santorini when I arrived early in the morning, and had the transfers waiting for me. I did not worry, as I knew I would be taken care of. The day before the strike, I was talking with other tourists who were scrambling to make arrangements when the internet and phone lines were jammed. The peace of mind was immeasurable.

My wife, Beth, and I recently returned home after a thoroughly rewarding two-week visit to Turkey, during which we followed an itinerary prepared for us by Zicasso's travel designer.

My wife and I are seasoned, independent travelers, so only on rare occasions do we enlist the guidance of professionals. Concerns about the language barrier led us to speak with the folks at Zicasso, who, in turn, cited our travel designer as one of their premier Turkey specialists. He designed a personalized touring plan that took into account our travel experience, as well as our desire for free days throughout our stay. His lodging recommendations in Istanbul, Şirince, and Bodrum were all top-notch, as were the guides who led us across Istanbul and the ancient cities of Ephesus, Aphrodisias, and Pamukkale.

We also benefitted from the reliable and gracious assistance of our travel designer's associate, who was never more than a WhatsApp message away whenever we needed help for matters small or large.

Beth and I have already discussed a return trip to Turkey next year; suffice to say we will again reach out to him to help with the planning.

This was my second Zicasso trip, the first being to Peru in 2024, so I had full confidence in their travel company and was delighted by the level of care and attention to detail throughout the trip. 

I essentially had three trips while in Turkey. I arrived a day early to attend a six-day cooking school that was independently arranged. The travel company smoothly organized my airport pickup and first-night hotel. After the cooking school, I was again booked in the original hotel (old town, close to major sites, clean, nice), and my daughter joined me for a week-long tour of Istanbul, Cappadocia, and Ephesus. 

The guides in each region were knowledgeable, though we could have made do with fewer facts (height in meters of the Blue Mosque, area in square meters of Hagia Sophia, number of sheep in the country) and had more free time to explore on our own. We loved the major Istanbul sites, the Bosphorus cruise, and lunch on the Asia side. We were delighted with our cave hotel in Cappadocia and the hot-air balloon ride on my daughter's birthday. We loved strolling through Ephesus. 

All the internal flights were arranged, booked, and checked in by the agent, so all we had to do was show up on time. The vans that transported us were clean and nice, with good drivers. After my daughter left, I was booked for three nights on a gulet, with stops on the Mediterranean. It was a nice way to slow down and finish the busy trip. 

The highlight of my travels was dinner at my agent's home with his lovely family. He even arranged for me to find some earrings like those of his mother, which I had admired, and then drove me to the airport. Above and beyond!

Me and my five friends did a girls' trip to Greece for 11 nights. I was nervous about planning a trip that far and did my research online. Zicasso received great reviews and I thought it was great to connect with a travel team in Greece. We worked with our travel agent for months to plan our trip of a lifetime. She took the time to listen to our needs with patience and also asked lots of questions to determine what the best itinerary for our vacation would be. She was amazing. 

The transportation company that picked us up from locations and took us from hotel to hotel was amazing too. 

We stayed in Athens the first few days and that was a great hotel. The rooms were spacious and we were right in the middle of town. We could walk anywhere we wanted to go, even to the Acropolis. We had wonderful tour guides, doing mostly private tours, and the guides felt like family at the end of our trip. We loved Athens, all the shopping and food and hustle and bustle of the city. 

Our next adventure was Chania. That hotel was fabulous too. We loved the city and again, our hotel was within walking distance to everything. Our agent also provided us with ideas for restaurants the days we didn't have tours planned, as well as other things to see. Chania was one of our favorites, especially the tour of the 7 Villages of Apokoronas. What a beautiful tour, and we got to stop at a cheese factory, try cheese, hike, and learn about the olive trees and history. Our tour guide was amazing; so full of knowledge and such a wonderful and friendly personality.  

Our next leg was the town of Rethymno. We loved it. It was so quaint and our hotel was the most beautiful boutique hotel, with so much history. We also did a walking tour of Rethymno Old Town and learned about the town and its historical places while snacking on Greek cookies and coffee. Our guide was amazing too. We had another private tour the next day of the Eleftherna and Rethymno villages, which were amazing to visit. Our agent kept us busy with lots of tours and we loved every minute of it. 

We saw monasteries and also visited Heraklion, where we did a food and wine tour. That was so amazing too. The food in Greece and all the villages was also fresh and delicious. Every place we visited was fabulous. Our tour guide and his team did an amazing job. 

We did a Heraklion Village tour and toured the Lasithi Plateau, which was beautiful. We stopped at a little café for coffee and ate lunch at a wonderful restaurant the tour company's owner suggested. It was the best food ever.

The hotels we stayed in were all top-notch. We requested four- and five-star hotels, which we got. Our drivers were always on time and went out of their way to make us happy. The breakfast in every hotel was amazing and delicious.

I had never been to a country that was so stress-free and where everyone was so nice and accommodating. I felt like we needed to stay another two weeks, but we will be back. Our agent was in touch with us the entire time and we appreciated that. She went above and beyond to ensure we were happy and having a great trip. We had no mishaps and can't wait to go back. 

Thank you, Zicasso and our travel company, agent, and teams, for making the trip a memorable one and the trip of a lifetime. We love you all and you are family now. 

Yamas!! Roxanne, Barbara, Nora, Frances, and Annette – California girls and Texas girls!

Words cannot describe how wonderful this trip to Greece was! Zicasso’s tour operator did a wonderful job planning out our days so we could experience the highlights of Athens, Santorini, and Crete! The accommodations at all three spots were more than comfortable and had lovely staff and a good breakfast. 

We did run into one problem in Crete at the hotel, where our rooms were up on the third floor and there was no elevator and no staff to carry our bags. I had to ask for room changes. We could all walk up the steps, but not carrying 50-pound suitcases! The staff quickly offered us rooms accessible by elevator and the rooms were beautiful! They gave us a complimentary bottle of wine for our troubles.

All of the drivers arrived on time, many giving us information about what we were seeing as they took us to destinations. The tour guides who had been arranged were knowledgeable and had a great way of presenting archeological sites, as well as museums. 

We especially enjoyed our private tour to a small town in the mountains in Crete, where we were given a tour of a family's olive gardens, as well as a fabulous meal with them! We had such a good time with them and we all had tears when we left them! I cannot give enough stars for this fabulous vacation!

Our agent was available to us the whole time as we ran into a few questions. Nothing major, just a few small things. I will definitely be using Zicasso and our travel agency in my future travels. Bravo to our agent!

Zicasso's tour operator helped us plan the perfect vacation for a family of five. We were able to do everything from food tours (highly recommend!) to historic tours to beaching it! The entire trip ran smoothly. Our agent and his team were always there to help throughout the entire process and the vacation itself.