Spain & Portugal Tours

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.

This travel company organized a 3 week trip through Spain and Portugal for my wife and me in late September and early October. We couldn’t be happier with the outcome.

We started in Barcelona (side trip to Montserrát) and worked our way to San Sebastián (and Bilbao), Madrid (and Toledo), Granada, Málaga, Ronda, Sevilla, and then to Lisbon (and Sintra, Casçais, Estoril). Our travel company arranged 4 star accommodations and activities for us at each destination. The hotels were mostly boutique style - smallish and well appointed, with excellent service and very nice rooms in great locations.

Each stop included a private guide for 3-5 hours, longer for the day trip excursions. These proved to be the difference maker. The private guide experience has so many intangible benefits. It allowed us not only to see the sights but to learn about history and culture and people in a more intimate way. The guides were all high integrity people — punctual, professional, thoughtful, and knowledgeable — and most of them were born and raised in the city or region we were visiting. They looked out for us and took their time to ensure we were having a great experience. They offered recommendations on how to spend the rest of our time in the city and places to eat. We never felt rushed or burdensome. Our stupid questions were met with patience. We laughed a lot and learned a lot. 

It was clear that our travel agency was staying on top of our travels and reconfirming arrangements with service providers ahead of us as the trip unfolded. With the dozens and dozens of detailed arrangements, pretty much everything came off without a hitch. That said, you can often tell the character of a company in how they deal with things that go wrong. We had one minor hiccup in Sevilla when a service provider failed to arrange a horse carriage ride for us. The provider was incredibly apologetic and offered us a meal in the way of making amends, which we accepted. I emailed out travel agency that evening to make them aware and was surprised the next day when our travel agency had booked another carriage ride for us. This minor incident spoke volumes about this company and the quality of the providers they do business with. 

We are eternally grateful to our travel agency and team for making this a trip of a lifetime. Thanks!

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.