Intimate Exploration of Spain: Couples Autumn Vacation

I would give the company 5 stars because the trip worked out wonderfully. However, Nuria, the original Spain travel agent I dealt with, was on maternity leave when I went to do my final details including recommendations where to eat dinner, hotel questions, etc. I worked with Patricia on the reservation andAntonio on the dinner arrangements and both turned out to be very good but I felt that Nuria should have told me she was going on maternity leave and that Iwould be working with Patricia. It was not until I had sent 3 emails to Nuria that Patricia answered back.Also, I found that the 5 star hotel in Bilbao was definitely not a 5 star (i.e. no evening turndown, small rooms - finally got the room we wanted after the third try, no doorman at the door when we arrived). I think they should have suggested the other 5 star hotel even though it was very modern and I prefer old world because of the amenities. On the other hand, the hotel in San Sebastian, the 5 star was closed for renovation so we stayed at the 4 star Villa Soro,was more than a 4 star and the people were wonderful. The hotel in Barcelona, Casa Fuster, was excellent.The drivers were all on time and the guides we had were very good especially in Figueres/Girona, San Sebastian and Bilbao. The driver who took us fromSan Sebastian to Bilbao along the coast road and spent the day with us was wonderful. He had also driven into the Basque country the day before. I emailed the company he works for to tell him so.

I cannot say enough fabulous things about the luxury tour company. It exceeded every expectation my husband and I had for customer service, care, attention to detail and planning our 12-day tour through Spain in mid-January.

We are seasoned world travelers and have been on many amazing and wonderful adventures. We've had great experiences with many tour companies, but none compare to the level of expertise and excellence of this tour company.

We simply told our trip planners that we wanted to go to Spain, and didn't know exactly where or what to do or see. They took it from there -- all by email, though they certainly were available any time by phone had we wanted to talk. We prefer email. They asked about our interests, what level of accommodations we wanted, how physically active we wanted a tour to be. They then emailed a sample itinerary. We tweeked it some. And voila. They planned a trip for us that was magical and memorable on all levels.

We were greeted at every stop by a driver and taken wherever our schedule directed. All of our plane and train travel in Spain was arranged. All we needed to do was show up. When we arrived in Barcelona, as well as Madrid a week later, there was a taxi strike. We worried how we would get to a soccer (football) match in Barcelona. Our young woman guide for two days simply said, "Don't worry about it. I am your eyes and ears, and I will take care of it." And she did. A driver picked us up, delivered us to the stadium, and waited for us at a nearby location until after the match, when he ferried us back to our hotel.

On our day in Barcelona that was planned for all things Gaudi, it was raining quite hard. Our guide that day did some quick thinking and as I told him, took lemons and made lemonade. He and our driver took us to a small company town outside of Barcelona that Gaudi had designed. In fact, the small church there that he designed served as a first impression of his large cathedral in Barcelona. Then our guide took to a former hospital that exhibited fascinating architecture and history. By the time we finished touring it, and following a delightful lunch, the rain had let up enough for us to visit more Gaudi designs.

Our guides arranged for us to visit a private Gastronomic Society in San Sebastian, which was so much fun, and our lunch was outstanding. They also got us into the private home/office/studio of two art restorers in Sevilla. After the duo showed us the type of art (old paintings and statuary) they restored, and how they did it in their studio, they invited us to their personal upstairs apartment for some refreshments and lively conversation about Spain, Sevilla, politics and food. So delightful and interesting.

Our entire trip was like this. Each and every guide at every stop was bright, knowledgeable and personable. Our trip planners laid pearls here and there along the way -- small delights and pleasures -- that surprised us and kept us totally engaged in the history, culture, food, wine, art and joy of Spain.

This tour company is 100% responsible for making our trip the amazing adventure it was. We look forward to returning next year. This tour company will plan our trip through Northwestern and Southern Spain and then to Portugal.

If you're interested in traveling anywhere in Spain or Portugal, and you want luxury and the trip of a lifetime to deposit into your memory bank to warm you when you're too old to walk the cobblestones, call or email this tour company immediately. Or email me. I'm very happy to share more details of our heavenly trip.

P.S. Our 12-day holiday covered: Barcelona; San Sebastian; Bilbao; Sevilla; Cordoba; Madrid; Toledo. We took two flights and one high-speed train during that time.

We outlined our desires to visit the Basque region of Spain and Portugal's Douro River Valley, with an emphasis on the culture, food, and wine of the two regions. We are in our mid-70s, so we asked that activities be designed at a pace appropriate for our age.

The itinerary designed by Zicasso’s travel team met all of these requests. Our guides/drivers were superbly prepared to explain the culture and culinary milieu throughout our trip. The guides were also universally punctual, open, and affable.

We were especially pleased with the excellent locations of our hotels. In San Sebastian, we had a really excellent pintxos restaurant across the street. The owner was exceptionally helpful in choosing items from the menu, as well as local beers. And in Porto, the hotel staff recommended a small, relaxed restaurant with excellent local cuisine just half a block away.

Our walking food tours of the two cities were excellent, both in the quality of the tastings offered and the pace through the cities. And our wine tours complemented our tastes perfectly. We could not have asked for more.

Had a fantastic time on our trip to Spain in September 2014. We visited Barcelona, Madrid, Seville and Nerja. The only thing I would have done differently perhaps is spend a bit less time in the cities of Barcelona and Madrid, as there was not as much to see here. I would have opted to take a few days instead and traveled north to the Basque region of Spain around San Sebastian. The modes of travel (trains) and hotels were outstanding. The tours were outstanding as well. The amount of free time was very adequate, as we were able to do what we chose to do much of the time. Overall an excellent trip!

The trip was outstanding! The tour company owner personally oversaw all of the details of our trip. My wife is originally from Spain, on our previous trips she took it upon herself to book the guides and all of the travel arrangements, needless to say it was a lot of work and at times stressful. Hiring this specialist and his company to make our travel arrangements for us truly made this a great vacation. We had ideas about what cities and towns we wanted to visit and the different sites and attractions, our specialist helped us focus on the highlights of each of the cities based upon our interests this saved us a tremendous amount of time. Samuel has a personal relationship with the guides we toured with, they were friendly and knowledgeable,  a few of them help Rick Steves with his travel guide.

The trip began in Madrid we then traveled to San Sebastian and concluded the trip in Barcelona.  We were focusing on the northeastern part of Spain during this visit,  limiting our travel to three different cities.  The Basque culture is unique in Spain we enjoyed experiencing it. Each day we stayed within the city or did day trips to sites outside of town, being able to stay in a hotel 3 to 4 days without having to move every day or two was much more pleasant than the packing and unpacking associated with multiple hotels.