The Great Escape to Tuscany Tour

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

My husband and I wanted this "trip of a lifetime" to Italy to go well and I didn't have the hours to research and then be sorry if I didn't choose right so our Italy travel company's customized travel plan was perfect!  I had put my name into Zicasso to say where we wanted to go and 2 travel agencies that specialize in Italy contacted me to find out what we wanted to do (go to Venice, Florence, Assisi and Rome) and then they contacted us with their suggested itinerary.  We chose our agency because theirs was a much more detailed itinerary and they definitely had a better knowledge of Italy.  Our agency booked our hotels (which all included breakfast), transportation and some tours and we were on our own for whatever else we wanted to do.

Our agency provided us with a detailed itinerary summarized with dates, times and phone numbers on one page and in the packet were our maps, tickets and vouchers for trains and tours.  We flew into Venice and had a map of where to get the private water taxi from the airport to our hotel.  From the dock in Venice we were very close to our Hotel which was easy to find and in a GREAT location.  The breakfast buffet was wonderful and service was very good.  We chose not to take the gondola ride and instead used the public water taxis and toured Venice on our own for 2 nights. On the third day we met our private water taxi driver at the same dock to take us to the train station in Venice to go to Florence.  

The first class train even had it's own computer for each person and lots of room.  In Florence we were met by our driver with a sign with our name and driven to our hotel with a view of the Duomo where we stayed for 3 nights.  This hotel had a private room and a shared suite with free snacks and coffee and tea and breakfast was around the corner at a pastery shop.  We followed the map provided to the tour office and toured the Uffizi Gallery, Streets of Florence Tour and a very fun cooking class with 4 course dinner and lots of good wine!  Our third day in Florence, we were met with a private driver at our door and driven around Tuscany, stopping at an abby and few small towns including Greve and eating on a veranda at a winery which we also toured. This was one of our favorite days of our trip.  

We wanted to go to Assisi and our travel agent said they do not have a place to store bags at Assisi (though the other agent who contacted me said there WAS but our agent was right!) so she at first had planned a private driver to take us to Assisi and wait for us and drive us to Rome but instead we decided to take the train to Assisi and stay overnight and take the train to Rome the next day.  The room in our hotel in Assisi had such a beautiful view we wished we had chosen to stay there another night!  

After taking the train to Rome,  our driver took us to our hotel which was just around the corner from the massive Victor Emmanuel Monument so within walking distance to all the major Rome attractions.  This hotel had a private elevator that opened directly into our suite and a little deck with a table and chairs to eat outside.  Breakfast was ordered daily and sent to our room (though they could not get our order right most days but the great location made up for this!)  For our 5 nights in Rome, our only scheduled tours were the Ancient Rome Tour and the Vatican tour.  All of our tours were with at most 10 other people and sometimes it was just us.  

In the itinerary our agent recommended restaurants and other places to see in each location which we did take advantage of and we used the Rick Stevens Guidebook extensively. Our driver picked us up right on time at the hotel the last day to take us to the airport.

We loved that we had some support but could explore on our own!  We highly recommend this Italy travel company!

Thanks for helping me organize my family (of 10 with diverse age from 15 to 63) trip to Italy, from Dec 17 to Dec 31. Whilst different member of my family have different expectation and requirement, I would like to comment you and your team on having planned an excellent trip that not only met each and everyone's interest and expectation but truly exceeded it.

Your planning have brought us to the lovely cities of Parma, Modena, Florence, Orvieto, Civita Di Bagnoregio, Naples, Rome, Venice, Cortina d'Amprezzo and back to our starting point Milan. Throughout the trip, we have a well balance itinerary that covered

- beautiful churches such as the Duomo in Milan, Rome, Florence,

- archeological site like Pompeii, Colosseum, Roman Forum, Pantheon, Pisa, Verona (learning more about romeo and Juliet)

- great local eating places (recommended by the guides you chose)

- lovely country side and unique sight in San Gimignano, Civita Di Bagnoregio, Orvieto, Lake Como,

- great gallery likes Uffizi, Academia

- Interesting activity such as Snow Mobile excursion in Cortina, Learning Cooking 

- Shopping activities

With so much, yet your team immaculate planning never have us rushing from sight to sight, we were both able to enjoy and learn as much as we can of each sight and at times added more activities.

The team of guides you chose, have truly turn stone and history into exciting stories that the provided the group deeper understanding of the sights we visited and saw. Really like to thank each on of them like our guides in Florence, Pisa, San Gimignano, Orvieto and Civita Di Bagnoregio, Naples and Pompeii, Rome, Verona, Venice and Milan.

But most importantly, thank you for getting our driver, he truly ensure our comfort whilst driving steadily through jams on our way to Naple and snow storm on our way to Cortina d Amprezzo and also took very good care of us ensuring we know what to do where we have no guides and leaving us clear instruction when we needed help. He is truly a wonder.

I will definitely tell my friends heading to Italy about this company.... A wonderfully great experience.

Last year we did a fabulous trip to Tuscany. It was our first time traveling with Zicasso and our travel company. It was an incredible and beyond-expectations trip. So this year we decided to repeat the formula and travel to the Lake Region in northern Italy.

We contacted Zicasso and our travel stylist. She knows us well and this time recommended Lago Maggiore, Lago di Como, and Milano, considering every detail - a perfect mix between quiet and astonishingly beautiful towns, active hikes through small towns, and hidden gems hardly seen by tourists. This private journey was perfect, planned as it was to avoid crowds and ensure we could enjoy the beautiful lake region without missing any highlights. We discovered timeless hidden towns and villas, and wonderful people and culture.

We were guided privately every day through different experiences by amazing professionals who gave us a good rundown in history, architecture, and botanical lessons, as well as time to enjoy the beautiful scenery by ourselves.

Our travel agent's recommendations on hotels and restaurants could not have been better.

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!