Italy Tours in June

It was great, had an excellent time in Tuscany with the cooking class and the wineries/tastings. Cinque Terre was beautiful, we decided to hike from Levanto to Monterosso one day.... the hike was good, and the views were stunning. Positano and the Amalfi coast was spectacular, lots of stunning views and great memories. Great food,wine and people....everything went perfect.

My husband and I, along with our 2 children (age 20 and 17), enjoyed a wonderful Italian vacation booked through Zicasso and this travel agency.  Our travel consultants listened to my ideas and arranged for us a fantastic custom itinerary.   They stayed within the budget allotted, offered choices for beautiful hotels and private tours, and made several revisions as per our request.  We departed from New York on our 25th anniversary, and spent 10 days traveling the country within the month of November.  This off-season time proved to be a great decision as reservations were easy to obtain, crowds were minimal (mostly all locals), and the weather was conducive for walking and sightseeing (average 60 degrees F).  Transportation and the personal drivers were top notch; with Mercedes SUVs or minivans to take my family from Milan-Chianti-Florence-Verona-Venice and then the high speed train down to Rome.  Accommodations arranged for us were phenomenal!  We stayed in a 12th century castle in Chianti, in the heart of the city center in Florence, and near the Spanish Steps in Rome.  The personal tour guides were friendly and knowledgable, and were happy to recommend eateries preferred by locals.  All in all, everything was flawless. We plan to return some day to see the Amalfi coast, Positano and Capri.  We would absolutely recommend these travel consultants, and the travel company team to anyone who is looking for a personalized Italian vacation.

We experienced a fabulous twelve night first trip ever to Europe staying in Rome, Sorrento, and Florence with day visits to Naples, Pompeii and Herculaneum, a drive with stops and photo-ops through the beautiful Amalfi coast villages to Ravello, and a day trip to historic Siena and San Gimignano through the Chianti region of Tuscany. Our travel consultant and her colleague at the company in Rome, proved to be perceptive to our interests, resourceful in finding spot-on solutions within our budget and patient professionals as we explored various itinerary options. Both women spoke and wrote english very well to thoughtfully help us plan our itinerary for three adults with private transportation and guides. Our private guides in Rome; in Pompeii and Herculaneum; in Naples; one a Canadian ex-pat in Florence; and in Siena, informed our discovery of each locale and its many treasures.  We also did two small group tours. First, a farm/food tour near Sorrento with an incredibly informative and entertaining guide, and catacombs at Saint Sebastian with a nameless guide and small group of 9 during our Appian way visit and final full day in Rome. At times we were chaperoned in private vehicles with english speaking drivers knowledgeable of their territories. In Rome, in Naples, in the Bay of Naples Sorrento area, in Tuscany, and in Amalfi. We wouldn't hesitate to recommend this company to help others plan the vacation of a lifetime.

We had a fantastic trip that exceeded our expectations. We had an excellent trip planned with Marilisa and she was open to our ideas and to our requested changes and implemented them quickly and got back to us with the confirmation that it was done. The travel arrangements at the airports and daily for tours and excursions were always on time and with great drivers who were helpful and had fun conversations about where we were going and in-depth history. Their skills in driving the vans along the Amalfi coast was amazing and we were all so glad that we were in the hands of expert drivers on these extremely tight and curvy congested roads. Each tour guide was extremely knowledgeable about the area we went to. More commentary on the tour guides below.The hotels that were provided were great for the two groups. Each one had a good reason why they chose them. In Naples it was right in the center of the old town beaming with life and restaurants. The hotel had a fantastic breakfast room and a great bar service in the afternoon. The rooms were ok, nothing special.The hotel in Vietri sul Mare was a gem. Great location, great views of the ocean, friendly and helpful staff and had some great restaurants nearby. The hotel in Palermo was also right in the middle of the city center with great restaurants in walking distance, but the rooms were just ok, and the breakfast area was very tight to move around. The Resort in Taormina was fantastic also. Same owner as the hotel in Vietri sul Mare. Great location on the beach, easy to get to downtown Taormina. A great bar cafe on the beach and the breakfast area was overlooking the beach. A great place to spend our two free days at the end of the trip. The hotel in Naples was also beautiful for our last night, but we didn't get to use it much as it was the last night before flying home. Our only real disappointment was the first transportation of the trip from Naples airport to the hotel. The driver seemed to be in a hurry when getting us to the hotel. He didn't know the area very well and said he couldn't get any closer to the hotel due to the small roads. He pointed up the road and said it should be up there. We all had two bags to drag around while searching for the hotel. Luckily, we had our phones to use. He wasn't even on the right street, and we had to walk around to find it. The next morning our driver was right outside the hotel, so there was no problem with the road. 

I have to begin by saying I've told everyone how pleased I am with Zicasso and the travel agent they recommended.  I also have to say that I was very hesitant to book my trip with a company that I had only communicated with via email.  Turns out I had nothing to worry about.

The initial response I received from my agent was immediate and continued right up until our actual trip while we were in Italy.  I let her know where I wanted to go, what I wanted to see, told her I was interested in a mix of arranged tours and time on our own.  She listened and also made great suggestions.  I honestly can't say enough about how wonderful she was to work with, along with her co-worker.

They arranged for all our hotels, transportation and tours.  Every driver and guide we had was top notch.  They made a point of keeping us in small groups, sometimes only the two of us and the guide.

Our 19 day trip began in Venice where we were met at the airport and driven to a private water taxi.  That driver walked us out of the boat and made sure we knew how to find our hotel. Our departure was just as seamless.  A guide met us in our lobby, walked with us to the water taxi, came into the train station with us and explained the board to us, pointing out our train and track number.  

We continued on to Verona, Cinque Terre, Tuscany, Florence, Naples, the Amalfi Coast and Rome.  Since we weren't in any one place longer than three days it was extremely helpful to have guides, even for just a couple of hours to orient us, which saved us a lot of time.  We had guides for a walking tour in Venice, a morning in Cinque Terre traveling with us between the villages, the Accademia in Florence, Pompeii, an Amalfi Coast drive and the Vatican in Rome.  Every one of the them was passionate and proud and we learned so much.  We had a car in Tuscany and saw many other places on our own, Lucca, Pisa, San Gimignano, Siena, Montalcino, Montepulciano.  We stayed in Sorrento, spent one day on Capri and another full day on a tour to Positano, Amalfi and Ravello, which included a short boat ride along the coast.  Spectacular.  Our only tour in Rome was the Vatican but we saw all the other major sites on our own, taking the metro, bus, taxis and walking, lots of walking.  It was the perfect mix of free time and arranged tours.

And, they also worked with our children who surprised us with a dinner in Venice for our anniversary after a gondola ride!

One great advantage to having your tour guide in the country you're visiting, you're in the same time zone.  We had one mishap with a train and were able to talk to them right away.  Other than that, everything worked liked clockwork.

I would definitely use them again and have told everyone I know what a wonderful job they did for us.