Northern Spain Road Trip Adventure Tour

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.

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.

Zicasso.com connected us with this agent and her company and from the start things could not have gone better.  After submitting an itinerary, our agent called me and discussed the proposed trip to Spain for 6 people.  She helped me narrow down the cities to visit to something manageable and relaxing rather than something hurried and rushed.  We decided on Madrid (4 nights), Barcelona (5 nights) and Donostia-San Sebastian (3 nights).  We stayed in large, modern, well-appointed apartments in very central areas of each city each time.  Our agent also arranged tours for us to various places, including the Prado museum (saw Velazquez' 1656 Las Meninas considered by many to be the best example of composition in painting ever), the Royal Palace and a side trip to Segovia.  Our tour guide was great, with degrees in art history and over 30 years experience, she educated us beyond our expectations.  We went to the Reina Sofia (saw Picasso's Guernica) and the Thyssen (private collection spanning many decades) museums on our own.  Our tour guide in Barcelona also was great, showing us and educating us about La Rambla, the Picasso museum (where we saw paintings from his blue period, cubism and 57 sketches of Las Meninas which he studied meticulously), the Gothic quarter and Gaudi's masterpieces including La Sagrada Familia (which is still not finished, but is supposed to be in 2026, the 100th anniversary of Gaudi's death).  Lastly Donostia-San Sebastian was a beautiful town, sandwiched between La Concha beach and the mountains.  We hiked Monte Urgull and saw the Sacre Couer and ate pinxtos at the best places, introduced to us by our lovely guide.  A side trip to the Guggenheim in Bilbao was probably not worth an entire day of leaving town for, however.