Splendors of Italy 17-Day Tour

I have just returned from a holiday of a lifetime which thanks to my agent at this Italy travel company and her great organisation- was simply AMAZING !

I had always dreamed of going to Italy and somehow wanted to try and get a real feel for the country so decided to do a tour. I searched the internet for organised tours and come across the zicasso website, sent off my enquiry.

I Had a few responses however,  I was so impressed by this agent's professional but friendly approach and her ability to really understand what I wanted from my holiday. She asked my interested and main places I wanted to see. She came back to me with a tailored made itinary that was more than I could have been able to plan on my own. It took the stress out of searching for individuals hotels, worrying about long travel times and just made the whole logistics of the holiday run smoothly. My agent was on hand the whole holiday if I had any queries which was fantastic to have that service throughout the whole trip, taking away any worries. We visited lake como, Venice, florence, Rome, and sorrento.  My agent incorporated many tours and trips along the way,ensuring we had plenty to do but also out own free time. May agetn was happy to work with my budget, tweeking a few tours to get it within the price I could afford. All the hotels we stayed at were clean and of a good standard. All our your guides were lovely, we particularly loved  Our guide in Florence who had such a passion for her work that made the history of Florence so interesting. Our drivers were all lovely and very helpful with tips for nice restaurants ect. We particularly loved our guide in sorrento who was extra accomadating. 

I never take the time to write reviews, however when you have outstanding service from a company I feel I should spread the word so others can enjoy such a fantastic experience as we did. 

I'm happy for anyone to contact me via Eleonora should like any more info on the details of the trips we did. There are too many to write about! If you do anything visit Florence and do a cooking class in sorrento - FANTASTIC! :-) 

The trip that this travel agency organized for my husband and I to visit Italy ended up being my dream vacation.  We stayed in Venice, Lake Como, Cinque Terre, Tuscany, Florence, Rome and Sorrento.  All of the tours and activities that our travel agency organized were wonderful, and they were good about checking in while we were in Italy to make sure everything was going fine.  We can't wait to go back to Italy!

I can not say enough good words for the team of agents at this travel company. We are a family of 5 from North Carolina who took our first trip to Italy.  The expert guidance from this company that we received put us in a fabulous itinerary with comfortable and well located hotels and with the most the most knowledgable and amazing tour guides.  They also arranged all of our transfers which allowed us to really enjoy our time without the worry of getting from place to place. Our trip started in Venice (sadly we missed a day due to the airlines, our travel agents helped us with obtaining refunds for a missed mask making class.)  We highly recommend the hotel due to its location near Piazza San Marco and the wonderful outdoor seating for breakfast. From Venice we took the train to Florence and stayed at a hotel on Santa Maria Novella square.  Our highlights in Florence were the "Gastronomic Tour".  Our guide took us to a wonderful bakery where we met the owner and sampled the finest pastry in Florence.  From there we explored the local markets with prearranged samplings of different cheeses, prosciutto, salami, olives and wine!  

Our travel company arranged for a driver to take us to Al Gelso Bianco Agriturismo in the Chianti region where we had a cooking class making pasta, focaccia and much more followed by a wine tasting.  Following our meal, our driver took us to  San Gimignano, a lovely medieval village.

Our last day in Florence ended with a sunset Barchetto tour on the Arno. Serendipitously our tour was at the exact time as the final concert on the water during Italian brass week, 3 boats held an orchestra while we are on the only other boat on the river with crowds watching from the Ponte Vecchio bridge and the shores.  Amazing! 

Our journey ended in Rome, staying at a hotel that was 5 stars and centrally located.  Our guide was simply the most knowledgeable and engaging person you could ever hope for.

Simply put, we could not have put together a trip like this without the help of this travel team!!!!  Simply the best!

Zicasso’s tour operator exceeded all of our expectations. We knew we wanted to go to Italy to eat good food, drink good wine, and sightsee, but had no idea where to start with the planning. We told the Zicasso team our very broad plan and they whipped up an itinerary that hit four great cities in an order we felt was perfect.

That had us starting in Venice, which felt small in scale and manageable, then to Florence, a bit bigger, then Rome as the third stop, and by then, we felt ready for the bustle of a bigger city, with the last stop in Sorrento/Amalfi Coast, which was a serene and gorgeous backdrop. A perfect way to end our 11-night tour of Italy – an amazing city by the sea!

We went for almost all of their suggested activities in each city and they all completely blew us away. The trip was well paced, with one activity per day (a tour of the local galleries or a walking tour of the city, etc), and that was perfect for us. We were so grateful for these bookings because they gave us a sense of the history of each place and made us appreciate it all the more. And we loved that we didn’t have to parse through tons of websites and review each one to determine who to pick – that was all done for us!

Zicasso’s travel company uses excellent vendors. Every tour guide and driver we encountered was incredibly knowledgeable and personable, and we really enjoyed spending time with each one. Every hotel was a winner, from the charming B&Bs to the larger hotels. We have virtually nothing negative to report. They also recommended many great restaurants in each city and booked dinner reservations at our request, which took a lot of stress off us since we don’t speak Italian!

Our tour operators created a WhatsApp group and were available whenever we needed them throughout the trip, answering our messages within minutes if we had a quick question about anything. They were also very communicative via email during the planning process leading up to our trip.

I really can’t say enough good things about the entire experience with Zicasso’s tour operator. We will recommend them to anyone we know who’s planning an Italy trip!

We had a wonderful trip for our wedding/honeymoon to Italy. It lasted 13 days, going Capri ->amalfi coast ->Naples -> Rome -> Florence ->Venice -> Lake Como. It was absolutely wonderful. Our travel company and especially our agent (the owner), was truly amazing. She took each of our ideas for our trip and turned it into an amazing itinerary. She was always available night and day for anything before and during our trip. I will highly recommend her to all of my family and friends traveling to Italy. 

I know it has been over two years since this trip, but it was without a doubt the trip of a lifetime. It was my father, my boyfriend and I that spent 12 days in Italy, visiting four cities in total: Venice, Florence, Rome and Sorrento (on the Amalfi Coast). This trip was incredible, with the perfect itinerary. We got to see everything we wanted to see, in such an efficient way. Having everything planned and set in advance (including transport to and from the airports, hotels, tours with tour guides paid for, etc.), made the whole experience more enjoyable and stress free. We wanted a mix of busy times exploring, and lighter, more relaxing days as well. It’s exactly what we got, and the perfect travel pace!

The travel company was amazing, especially our contact. She was extremely helpful, responsive, positive, and accommodating throughout the entire process. I truly could not have asked for a better contact to work with and would love to work with her again! Right from the beginning, she wanted to understand our needs and preferences to create the best itinerary possible. She is clearly experienced with Italy, as she recommended everything we were hoping to see and do. She kept well within the budget too, which is important. We had a couple drafts of the itinerary, to ensure we were getting the most of our time in each city. The final draft included contacts for each hotel, tour, tour guide, transportation company, etc. as well as detailed time instructions. It was thorough, which is much appreciated when traveling to a brand-new place. Our contact even included notes on each day with what to bring, any safety concerns, and other relevant notes. This helped us be prepared each day and have a one-stop shop for our entire journey. This itinerary was invaluable for our trip, we took it everywhere, made notes, leveraged any contact info we needed, and referred to her notes. It was well appreciated the time and effort that went into the itinerary, as it made the trip seamless and stress free!

Not only did our contact provide the itinerary, she also included all sorts of helpful documentation, with recommendations on restaurants, shopping, great things to do in each city outside of the pre-planned tours, and so much more! She also included dress code information for churches, etiquette on tipping, and other great tourist information. I brought all of this with me on the trip, and we referred to the material every day! It was extremely helpful and added to the experience!

Our contact also kept in touch throughout the trip, to ensure everything was going smoothly, and see if we had any questions. She connected with me to ensure we arrived safely in Venice, and got settled in. Then she connected with me towards the middle of the trip to make sure we were enjoying ourselves and see if we had questions. Finally, she connected with me on our second last day to confirm our flight details, and transportation to the airport (and to say it was sad we were leaving Italy soon!). It made the experience more pleasant to have someone to ask questions to, and ensure we were enjoying all that Italy has to offer! Of course, our contact also connected with me a couple days after we were back, making sure we made it home safely, and that we enjoyed the whole trip. She was a wonderful contact, friendly, and helpful. If I ever go back to Italy, I will connect and work with her again!