Off-the-Beaten-Path Puglia Discovery Tour

My wife and I have wanted to travel to Italy for almost a decade, so picking the right travel agent was a very important step for us. Zicasso connected us with several agencies. We ultimately selected this company and worked with this travel agent to plan our trip. We could not have been more pleased with our experience.

One of the reasons we selected this travel agent was because she was based out of Italy. We felt more comfortable with someone living in the country as opposed to a travel agent who had simply visited Italy. Her expertise definitely improved many aspects of our trip. Our must-haves included a multi-night stay in Rome and Pompeii. Our agent crafted a 11-day vacation for us that included Rome, Pompeii, Sorrento, Matera, and Puglia. Each detail of our trip was planned perfectly.

We were picked up by private automobile transport at the airport and had private tours through almost our entire trip. Our tour groups ranged in size from just us to 10 people. The tour guides that our agent selected were incredibly knowledgeable and personable. They were enthusiastic and clearly very passionate about their tours. She also recommended a variety of restaurants and made reservations for us for every evening we were in Italy. She offered options for each day and we were able to select the tours that best suited our interests (Roman Catacombs, Food tour, Jewish Ghetto, etc.). We had 4-star accommodations throughout the trip. Not only were all the hotels great, they were in perfect locations in the center of the cities we visited.

When it was time to travel to Sorrento, our agent arranged travel by train and then private automobile pickup to our final destinations. We spent a day in Sorrento, another day in Capri, and our last day touring the Amalfi coast. We were able to take a boat tour around Capri and visit multiple cities along Amalfi. We tried our first ever Michelin rated restaurant and it was delicious. We couldn't believe that she arranged for a private driver to spend 12 hours with us along the Amalfi Coast (he dropped us off at designated cities and picked us up an hour or two later).

For our next step, our agent took us off the common tourist path and had us visit Matera and Puglia. It was a great cultural contrast to Rome and Sorrento. We slept in a Grotto (hotel) in Matera and had splendid views of the country and old city. In Puglia, we visited a winery and dined along the Adriatic Sea.

It was a memorable trip that we could not have been more thankful for. During multiple times on the trip, my wife and I remarked how lucky we were to have a travel agent so knowledgeable.

Our agent called us several times to check-in on us and immediately remedied a situation where our itinerary was forced to change. We had her number 24-7 for any needs. We had a stress-free trip. We could not have planned this trip on our own, so we are grateful to have had our agent's wisdom. We had contemplated doing our own research, but we could not have recreated the magic of this trip.

When we travel to Italy again, we will definitely be using this travel company!

Our agent, Lisa, did an excellent job of providing great accommodation throughout 4 cities in Italy, each one beautiful and unique, and exactly what we asked for. She listened to our requirements and quickly provided revisions to the plan to suit what we were looking for. On top of this, all of the connections were seamless and stress-free, allowing us to relax and enjoy the trip. Thank you.

We ate at some really lovely restaurants. Unfortunately I can not remember the names of them. We also stayed at amazing hotels. We especially loved our stay at Hotel Kriss at Lake Garda and Garden Hotel in Siena. Such great places to stay. Loved it.

Very helpful and communications were timely and accurate. The original plan was detailed and step by step daily plan was well planned. 

The communication however between them and the actual sites in Italy was not always correct for us, that said each time we found the days filled with fun and adventures!

Our agent at this Italy travel company was very helpful at every step. She put together a wonderful itinerary for us that was very balanced. We stayed in Rome, Sorrento, Florence, and Orvieto. We had private guided tours in Rome, Pompeii, Amalfi Coast and Florence, and group tours to Siena/San Giamagnano/Pisa and Capri. Everything was planned out perfectly. We were extremely happy with every accommodation. We did use the trains, and drivers met us at each destination so we did not need to worry about cabs. For the most part, we were able to avoid large groups. This was a wonderful way to see Italy. 

The trip was wonderful. Our travel company did an excellent job of asking our needs and then meeting them. I really appreciated the fact that each day of the trip was planned out and sent to us in great detail so that we knew where we needed to be and at what time. Not only did this help us effectively see the things that we wanted to see, but also allowed us to know when our leisure time was and plan accordingly. This was our first trip to Italy and since we were travelling with our three children, including a seven year old, we needed a trip that was well arranged and thus low stress. In 8 days, we saw Rome, Sorrento, and Florence. Having pre-arranged transportation to pick us up from airports, train stations, and hotels was perfect. We had the same drivers in each location so we felt very relaxed. We arranged for at least one tour or activity each day not lasting more that 4 hours. This gave us time afterwards to explore the cities at our leisure.  We stayed in small hotels which were Bed and Breakfast places. It did take some time to understand the way these places work but overall, we enjoyed them. We had tour guides waiting for us when we toured places such as Pompeii and the heart of Florence.

We had the most wonderful time on our 12 day tour around Northern Italy. We gave Lisa our budget and target cities and she made it happen - all we had to do was arrange our flight in and out! I love how the first half of our trip was filled with tons of tours and excursions (plus plenty of on-our-own time) and the second half was a more relaxed pace. We loved the restaurant recommendations, some of which we took, while others we looked at Yelp reviews to determine where we wanted to eat.