Tour of Italy: Milan, Lake Como, Venice, Tuscany & Rome

The 2 weeks in Italy our travel agent planned for us  was fantastic. We has a fantastic schedule with experienced and excellent guides. This was my first time in Italy, a 60th birthday trip with my sisters, we have varied interests and she hit the mark on them all! The hotel location in Sestri Levante was the perfect location. The weather was beautiful for late Sept., we enjoyed the beach and calm Mediterranean waters when we were relaxing back at the hotel.  The guide on our hike in Cinque Terra was very good. We did not know what to expect. His knowledge on the history of the area kept us more than expected. The guide knew the area and was able to rearrange our schedule due to rough winds that cancelled the ferry.

I would have never taken a pesto making class, but it was a highlight!

The sailing day was absolutely perfect. The weather was beautiful, and the skipper was a true sailor!

On our way to Florence we stopped in Lucca and a winery that were fantastic. The driver was prompt and informative. Our hotel in Florence had the perfect location! Close to both sides of the river to explore by foot every day. The 2 days with our guide were fantastic! She was excellent in every way, she knew the history, art and even helped with restaurant suggestions and reservations. Having a guide was the perfect way to not only see the sights but understand the time period and history. The day trips out of Florence to Chianti, Siena and San Gimignano, were perfect with wine-tasting interspersed with visiting the smaller towns in the Tuscany region. The weather was beautiful both a weeks we were in Italy. 

The trip exceeded our expectations in every-way and we will all be repeat customers!! 

Thanks for making my 60th birthday trip, the trip of a lifetime!

THE BEST VACATION EVER!!!!

I must admit that I was somewhat uncomfortable arranging a group tour to Italy with someone I communicated with only via the Internet and telephone.  However, after my first communication with our agent -- I knew that she “had it.”  She understood exactly what we wanted to do.  She was right-on in both concept and execution.

Our ten-day adventure in Italy began with a private transfer with an English speaking local driver from the Rome airport to our fantastic 3 star boutique hotel located right in the historical center of Rome.  During our three days in Rome, we had fantastic private tours of Ancient Rome, the Coliseum, and the Vatican Museums.  Extremely knowledgeable, English-speaking guides led all of our tours.  Sense of Italy had arranged for VIP, skip the line, priority entrance for all tours -- saving us from long waits in long lines.

After our busy 3 days in Rome, we departed via private van transfer from our hotel in Rome to the Chianti Region of Tuscany.  The transfer included stops on the Val D’ Orcia to visit the amazing Villages of Montalcino and Montepulciano.  The “light lunch” and wine tasting we enjoyed in Montalcino was one of the highlights of our trip.  In Tuscany we stayed 7 Nights in a beautiful, historic villa located on one of the best wine estates of Chianti (Villa Le Corti near San Casciano) where we were met with a fantastic welcome dinner. During our time in Tuscany we were transported by private van from our villa to private tours of Siena, San Gimignano, Florence, Pisa and Lucca.  On each of our stops we were met by knowledgeable English speaking guides that clearly were proud of the history of their country, and were anxious to share it.  Interspersed in all of this activity were numerous exceptional meals with opportunities to taste (and drink) very fine Italian wines.

When we finally were forced to leave Italy, our agent arranged for private transport accommodating our varying departure times from the Florence airport and train station.

Thanks to this travel company and our agent for designing the perfect vacation for our group.  The only complaint that I heard was that we ate too much — wow was all the food delicious.  I really don’t know how she did it.  All of the tours were great — the van drivers friendly and helpful, the guides knowledgeable, and the sites spectacular.  Our stay in the villa was a great experience.  We were treated royally everywhere.  We all marveled at our agent's ability to get us, the vans, the guides, the food and wine, etc. all at the right place at the right time.  She is a genius!!!!

Jeff E

Our family of five just got back from the most wonderful vacation in Tuscany and Rome.  Our agent crafted a set of amazing experiences for our family from the private tour guides to Florence, Pisa and Lucca; a private wine tasting lunch at the Capannelle Winery and vineyards in Chianti; tickets to the Papal mass at the Vatican; to a tour beneath the church of San Clemente to see the excavations of a byzantine and then a Roman street neighborhood; a day excursion to the Amalfi coast to visit Positano, Sorrento and Pompeii; and more! Our agent and the guides found excellent restaurants from a simple salumeria where the locals ate to some high end restaurants.  The hotels were right in the center of Florence – on the piazza della Repubblica - and Rome – between the Piazza del Popolo and the Spanish Steps.  Our agent was attentive to our plans and made excellent suggestions.  Everything went extremely smoothly.  All the guides drivers were very friendly, spoke English and were very knowledgeable about art, history and the local culture.  We saw so much every day because everything was so well planned.  Simply the best travel experience ever!

If I could give more than five stars I would!

I just returned from the best vacation of my life. I have traveled extensively through different tours, cruises and travel agents. This agent is a travel Goddess. The trip to Italy she set up for myself, my mom and my daughter exceeded all of our expectations. This agent and I worked together on the itinerary for a few months prior to my vacation, she listened to what I wanted, and what I didn’t want and put together the most perfect tour package. Never in my life have I had a trip to multiple cities, go so smoothly, there was zero stress for us during our trip. We did not go with a tour group this is a tour she set up for the three of us. Our agent meticulously thought through each and every detail of our trip.  There were maps and pictures to help us find where we needed to be to go on our tours.

Venice-was marvelous, the hotel was quaint and in a perfect location to walk to all the sites in Venice. The staff was friendly and the room was very nice. We had a group tour of the Doge Palace and St. Marks, our tour leader was interesting and knowledgeable. 

A driver picked us up and took us to Verona, a beautiful city. At the hotel, the staff was friendly, and the hotel was in the center of the city, where it was easy to walk around.

A driver picked us up from Verona and drove us to Florence, we stayed at a beautiful hotel, and our room was spectacular, with high ceilings and a lot of space. The hotel staff was fantastic, friendly and helpful. They went above and beyond for anything we needed.  In Florence our agent set us up with a fabulous cooking class, this class is a must if you visit Florence, we made potato soufflé, eggplant, homemade pasta, chicken and Tiramisu. The class was a perfect size about 10 people, we laughed, we cooked and had a blast. Once the cooking was done, we all went downstairs where they served us the delicious meal we just made, with wine. At the end they gave us a recipe book for everything we cooked. The chef was delightful, it was one of the many highlights of our trip.  The following day we had our tour of Florence with a fabulous guide—she shared her incredible in depth knowledge of Florence. This was a private tour with just the four of us, she shared, interesting facts about the beautiful city of Florence without overwhelming us with information. Took us for coffee, showed us how the locals do it. She is perfection. We really enjoyed our tour with our guide.

The Chianti vineyard dinner was fabulous, this is also a must. We arrived by bus to this beautiful family run vineyard. There were tables and antipasti set up for us on the top of the hill near the restaurant. There also provided blankets for everyone, as it got cold once the sun went down. We were served tasty Chianti and met the rest of the guests before heading down the hill to one of the most delicious meals we had eaten. There was so much food and wine. Everything cooked to perfection. Everyone who attended quickly bonded and were fast friends by the end of the night. Did I mention the delicious wine?  It flowed freely. Good thing we were on a bus on the way home. This was another highlight of our trip.

The following day we had a day trip to Siena and San Gimignano, our driver and tour guide kept us laughing with stories and history of the area. He was the perfect host and made our tour of these two beautiful cities fun. We were a bit tired and sluggish (remember the wine from the night before?) He showed us some of the most beautiful spots around the area and would always pull over so we could take a photo. We adored him. If you get to Florence, have the agent book you with this guide!

From Florence we went to Rome, our agent set us up at a lovely hotel in the heart of Rome. The tours we did in Rome were educational and inspiring. We did a small walking tour the evening of the first night. This was helpful as it helped us know where things were for our next few adventures. The tour guides were very nice.

After three days in Rome a driver took us to Ceccano where we stayed at a quaint ville. The beautiful woman who runs the hotel was incredibly nice and accommodating. She made us feel like family. We enjoyed our stay at that hotel.

Our final days were spend it Positano. Positano is picture perfect, the town is gorgeous, there is great shopping. The factories that create the beautiful lacy clothing is in Positano. Let me start with our hotel, it was beautiful, our view from the balcony was the water. It was perfection.  The staff at the hotel, especially the two gentlemen behind the desk. They were the best. They were incredibly helpful, charming, and funny we adored them. They made our trip even better. The room was spacious, clean and had a lovely balcony with a view.

This trip was just fabulous, we had the best time, it was relaxing, exhilarating, educational and most of all fun. To our agent, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts. You made this trip everything we wanted and more.

When we inquired about a trip on Zicasso, they told us a few companies would reach out to us with different offers on our desired location. It only took one reply back from this agent for me to know that we would have a more personable experience with this travel agency. (Mainly because he was straight up with us concerning itinerary ideas, especially regarding weather and how it is unpredictable in March. He patiently worked with my fiance and me for quite a while before we approved the final itinerary filled with transportation to and from hotels, private tours (some meant to be small group, but we ended up being only ones), and pre-planned relaxing train-rides. There wasn’t a moment of our trip that we had to worry or even think about- really. Our first stop was Rome, where we spent 3 days. Upon arrival at the airport in Rome, we had a driver waiting for us, which was a huge relief since we were tired and last thing we wanted to stress about was how to get to our hotel. Our local point-of-contact for the agency also called once we arrived to make sure we had everything we needed. He was great! Once we reached our hotel, we slept off the jet-lag and then our holiday started. March is the early beginning of the tourist season, so we were able to do many things without waiting. Not saying it was empty, but we had room on the sidewalks and were in and out of restaurants in no time at all. I also highly recommend planning free days in each city, as you will want to look around for yourself and take your time in certain parts. Even if you spend a week in every city, you always leave feeling like you needed much more time, as there is so much to do and so little time in a day. We spent 3 days/4 nights in Florence. It was in Florence that we were able to easily tour a good bit of what Tuscany has to offer. Through tours our agent set up for us, we visited the beautiful cities of Siena, San Gimignano (Our Favorite), Lucca, Pisa, and the Chianti Region. We tasted sooooo many wonderful wines and privately ate at local restaurants for lunch. We also took a short train ride to Venice for a day trip, as I craved a gondola ride. Everything was planned so perfectly. The minute we stepped off the train in Venezia our guide to get us to our marked location was there with a water taxi to take us to St Mark’s Square. There, she directed us to our gondola and we spent the day wondering around Venice until meeting up back with her and the water taxi to take us back to the train station. After Florence, we traveled to Sorrento (our other favorite!) along the Amalfi Coast. It was magical and the weather was perfect. We had our own boat to visit the grottos (no wait for the Blue Grotto either!) and to the Isle of Capri; and although most of the shops were closed on the isle (early season still), it was beautiful and we were able to relax on the beach. We saw Pompeii and even hiked up Mount Vesuvius. Sorrento was a quaint and charming city and we made friends with quite a few locals. We truly had a wonderful honeymoon and I would recommend this agency to everyone. We could not be happier!