Scotland Treasures for Seniors: Immersive History Tour

This was a family vacation celebrating my husband’s 70th birthday and my son’s 40th. To say it was spectacular would be an understatement. Zicasso’s travel professionals made all the arrangements and met all of our expectations. The planning was made more difficult due to my husband’s mobility issues, but they were so sensitive to the accommodations needed.

The hotel accommodations were superb, with special touches to celebrate the guys’ birthdays. So appreciative! Restaurant recommendations were excellent, with the best table locations, often near windows with a view. And the private tours were the icing on the cake! All guides were knowledgeable of the areas and so kind and accommodating to my husband’s needs. A big shout-out to our guide for pushing my husband around in the wheelchair so my son could also enjoy the tour. Also, thanks to our other guides. We enjoyed your humor and banter.

Of note, if ever in Pitlochry, the hotel on Strathview Terrace was a special place to stay. It was so peaceful and the staff were so helpful. Oh, and the Highland Games in Pitlochry and St. Andrews Old Course were two of the highlights of our trip!

Thanks to the tour company for going above and beyond in making our trip so special!!!

After 15 years of vacationing on small, live-aboard, scuba-diving ships around the world, we wanted our first land-based tour to be extraordinary. We sought a plan to include all drivers, transfers, and hotels, and an itinerary to include private walking and car tours of culturally significant sites and museums. Our goal was to cover, on our first trip to Scotland, the Scottish lowland and highlands, significant city centers, as well as the legendary palaces, lochs, castles, and museums. Moreover, my husband requested we focus on the Pict time period, especially the carved stones, swords, and other fighting devices used throughout the last 3,000 years of Scotland’s “recent” past.  

Our travel company was one of three firms we solicited for a proposal on a luxury vacation in Scotland. Only this Zicasso company hit these targets out of the box with a much better agenda than the competition and very competitive pricing. Moreover, their tour included a recommendation for a two-hour sword-fighting lesson, followed the next day by a visit to a private sword-fabricating forge!!

We returned home four days ago from our remarkable 13-day trip. The highlights of our trip are too exhaustive to even list. Three fantasy-fulfilling high points comprised three nights in a luxury castle bed and breakfast on the west coast, and visits to Inner Hebrides islands, including Iona, where I purchased two sterling Celtic penannular brooches. This was topped off with the commissioning of two swords from the forge, a Claymore and a basket hilt to be custom made using ancient techniques that will result in a pair of one-off customized designs including scabbard carvings and decorated multi-layer battle-ready blades.  

Overall, the tour used amazing guides, including two who wore kilts and full Scottish dress throughout their tours, provided a plethora of castles, and enough alone time to explore the local area and relax while eating the best meat and seafood imaginable, culminating end-to-end in the best vacation of our lives!!

Based on our experience, I cannot entreat you strongly enough to at least get an offer of services from this travel company. We submit you will not be disappointed in the offer or the fulfillment.

To celebrate our daughter’s graduation from the University of Glasgow, Julie and I decided to organize a family driving trip through the islands and Highlands of Scotland. We wanted to see everything in Scotland.

Zicasso's travel agent helped us refine our plans to fit our timeframe and budget. She planned an efficient route and found us memorable accommodations in each of our stops. She also suggested some places not on our original wish list, including a boat trip to Staffa, which turned out to be one of the most memorable parts of our trip.  

Our driver truly made it feel like the family vacation we had envisioned. While on some days we had a definite timeline to meet (the ferries will leave without you!), most of the time we were able to decide what we were in the mood for and he would happily accommodate us. We even were able to have an unscheduled stop on the drive back to Glasgow to see where our daughter had spent time last summer on an archaeological dig.

Where we stayed and what we ate were not big factors in our vacation planning request, but our travel agent found us lovely accommodations that made our day trips and ferry trips convenient. The restaurant specialist made dinner suggestions that made sense for where we were staying and arranged reservations for us so that we did not have to worry about finding a place to eat at the end of a long day.

We just spent two weeks in Scotland and Ireland, arranged for us by Zicasso’s travel specialists. What a five-star experience! Both of them have traveled extensively in the UK and Ireland, with one having grown up in the UK. They always seemed to know where we wanted to be.

This trip was a bit more challenging due to unexpected spine surgery a mere eight weeks prior to the trip. Between the perfect selection of lovely hotels at all the right locations and the nice people of these two countries, everything was accessible, despite using a walker. We could not have asked for more beautiful vistas, castles, and cultural amenities, ranging from lively Irish pubs to the finest museums (we’re art buffs). We also ate at spectacular restaurants selected by the travel company, in addition to terrific tours tailored to our specific interests.

Not only was the planning for the trip exceptional, but the travel specialists were there for us at a moment’s notice when things went awry. All trains in Scotland were canceled for a day due to 100mph winds from Storm Amy. We were pinned down in Edinburgh (a great place to be trapped) and took in additional sites, while the travel company saw to it that we had a lovely hotel room to spend our extra night in Edinburgh. Many people wound up sleeping in the train station. Our train was rescheduled strategically for the next day by the travel specialists, while we enjoyed Scotland’s National Art Gallery and our vacation continued seamlessly.

The transition from Scotland to Ireland was delightfully easy and our time in Ireland was spent exactly as planned. As I’m unable to drive and did not want my wife to be unable to sightsee while we traveled, the travel company got us (per our request) to far western Ireland and the Aran Islands, where Gaelic languages are still spoken and centuries-old Irish traditions are still maintained. We traveled by train so we could both sit back and take in the beautiful countryside.

There, we used our castle hotel in County Clare as a base for travel by car and enjoyed several days pursuing our own agenda and taking in the splendor of castle living. This was amazing, likely the most elegant place my wife and I have ever stayed, yet the venue had a comfortably casual vibe and an incredibly helpful staff that made accessibility problem-free. We would definitely block out a day just to stay on the castle grounds and enjoy the property and activities if we are able to return.

The Cliffs of Moher were spectacular, as were the Aran Islands, right down to a rainbow which vanished before we could find the “pot of gold” at the end. That being said, we think “the pot of gold” is Ireland itself... the sites, the people, the music, the food… the list is endless. We cleared US Customs in Shannon so we were able to fly to the US with no TSA or customs issues.

We returned to find an itinerary summary prepared by the travel specialists for submission to our travel insurance company for any storm-related refunds that the travel company had not already arranged for us. Simply a wonderful, stress-free trip, with the travel company at work continuously to assure that the experience was optimal, and it was five-star from start to finish. We can’t extend a higher recommendation to Zicasso’s travel specialists for a wonderful, intimate tour of the UK and Ireland.      

Zicasso’s tour planner did a wonderful job responding to us and tailoring our 8-day Scotland trip to our desires. At her recommendation, we utilized a driver rather than rent a car, and that maximized our experience and minimized driving anxiety. Our driver was fantastic! He moved us comfortably and smoothly through our itinerary with humor, local knowledge, and history.  Lodging and required entry tickets were prearranged and any questions that arose were speedily handled by our driver and agent.

Trip highlights to the central Highlands included garden and ground visits at Edinburgh, Glamis, Drummond, and Sterling castles, Scone Palace, Branklyn Gardens, Jupiter Artland, and The Kelpies. My wife wanted to include The Great Tapestry of Scotland in Galashiels, which is not a convenient spot to visit. By having our driver pick us at the Edinburgh airport upon our arrival, we were able to maximize our first day and include Abbotsford House. Our tour company was great.