Sensational 7-Day Sicilian Escapade for Couples and Honeymooners

We visited Sicily and Rome and enjoyed every moment! All of our guides were outstanding and very knowledgable. Debra, Claudia and others customized our trip nearly perfectly!

"We had a wonderful trip to Italy in October 2024 and much thanks to the Zicasso tour company. The entire process was amazing."

First of all, I want to say that we used Zicasso for a previous trip to Spain in 2016 and we could have not been happier with our experience. Everything was exceptional and we still talk about what a great trip that was. That is why we chose to use your service to plan our recent trip to Italy. Unfortunately, this was one of the most disappointing trips we have ever taken due to the incompetence of this Italy travel company.Let me first begin with some positives.Pros: zoom meetings from initial interview to the end were very good and on time, offered lots of suggestions outside of the itinerary of places/shops/areas to visit during free time, built the itinerary I asked for, meaning down time, not too packed of a schedule, the transfers and drivers were spot on, the hotels were good suggestions.Cons: essentially day 2 and 3 of our trip as planned in Sorrento were disrupted because the itinerary was incorrect. We were prepared for our private boat trip on day 2 but it was not scheduled correctly and had to return to the hotel to change, get ferry tickets and return to the terminal to visit Capri instead. We had planned to get ready for Capri after our boat trip on day 2 but instead had to create our own itinerary on the fly and it turned out just ok and we arrived on Capri around noon and it was already about 98 degrees. We would've had a much better visit on the island had we been better prepared. Very disappointing.The private boat trip on day 3 that was supposed to happen on day 2 was not great to say the least. The boat was just a little bit larger than a row boat and the captain BARELY spoke english. He pointed at different towns and told us the names but there was no other information. We would stop in some places and he would say - "ok, get out and swim". Beyond that, the boat was better suited for a lake rather than the ocean. It was sooooooo slow and struggled to get us from one place to the next. Based on all the areas that seemed to be available to see on the itinerary description, there was no way we could get to them. We barely made it to Positano. There were a few drinks and chips provided on the boat. However, there were no cups for the Prosecco so drinking from the bottle was the only option. Given we were with our 15 & 18-year-old sons, not really the best option. Highly disappointing.I requested first-class train tickets to and from Venice via email (5/1 & 5/2) and a private Colosseum tour guide in Rome during the planning stages of our trip. Neither were done and apparently couldn't be remedied after our final itinerary review. If email is the main mode of communication between zoom calls, I (the client) should never have to chase down the confirmation of my requests. Due to the itinerary mishap with the boat trip in Sorrento, we were provided with a private guide at the Colosseum on our arrival day in Rome as compensation. ABSOLUTELY TERRIBLE GUIDE!  We will never get that 2 1/2 hours back. We met the guide at 5:30 as scheduled only to be rushed through the Colosseum because you had to get to the Forum before 6 for entry. I'm not sure what else I should say about that. We could hardly understand him and he provided very little information of interest on the entire tour. This was not the initial experience we wanted for our boys in Rome.Breakfast for the entire trip was highlighted as included with every hotel stay during our trip planning and review. The first morning of breakfast in Rome, we were presented with a bill. This happens after we had been assured while in Sorrento that our itinerary had been combed over and all details were finalized again after the boat trip fiasco. This breakfast issue was resolved through email with the local host. We showed up for dinner that night and the host did not have our reservation. He was kind enough to show us his reservation book, our name wasn't there. The local host emailed me a booking confirmation but there was no name of the restaurant provided. The owner was gracious enough to seat us for dinner but my husband felt we had to rush through the entire meal because other people with reservations were having to wait. Between this and the itinerary mishap, we then felt it necessary to personally confirm everything else that was planned for the remainder of our trip.The next night's dinner, the owner, with a British accent, provided the worst dining experience we have ever had. He was obnoxious and belligerent, trying to force our 15-year-old to drink wine and making fun of the fact that we were from the southern United States.  The last night in Rome, we had a reservation at a beautiful roof-top restaurant only to be turned away when we arrived because we didn't meet the dress code. It seems to me that it would be important to let your clients know that you should wear long pants and a long sleeve shirt to dinner when it was 100 degrees that day. Thankfully the concierge at that hotel went out of his way to find us another reservation.