Cinque Terre Tours & Vacations

Thanks for helping me organize my family (of 10 with diverse age from 15 to 63) trip to Italy, from Dec 17 to Dec 31. Whilst different member of my family have different expectation and requirement, I would like to comment you and your team on having planned an excellent trip that not only met each and everyone's interest and expectation but truly exceeded it.

Your planning have brought us to the lovely cities of Parma, Modena, Florence, Orvieto, Civita Di Bagnoregio, Naples, Rome, Venice, Cortina d'Amprezzo and back to our starting point Milan. Throughout the trip, we have a well balance itinerary that covered

- beautiful churches such as the Duomo in Milan, Rome, Florence,

- archeological site like Pompeii, Colosseum, Roman Forum, Pantheon, Pisa, Verona (learning more about romeo and Juliet)

- great local eating places (recommended by the guides you chose)

- lovely country side and unique sight in San Gimignano, Civita Di Bagnoregio, Orvieto, Lake Como,

- great gallery likes Uffizi, Academia

- Interesting activity such as Snow Mobile excursion in Cortina, Learning Cooking 

- Shopping activities

With so much, yet your team immaculate planning never have us rushing from sight to sight, we were both able to enjoy and learn as much as we can of each sight and at times added more activities.

The team of guides you chose, have truly turn stone and history into exciting stories that the provided the group deeper understanding of the sights we visited and saw. Really like to thank each on of them like our guides in Florence, Pisa, San Gimignano, Orvieto and Civita Di Bagnoregio, Naples and Pompeii, Rome, Verona, Venice and Milan.

But most importantly, thank you for getting our driver, he truly ensure our comfort whilst driving steadily through jams on our way to Naple and snow storm on our way to Cortina d Amprezzo and also took very good care of us ensuring we know what to do where we have no guides and leaving us clear instruction when we needed help. He is truly a wonder.

I will definitely tell my friends heading to Italy about this company.... A wonderfully great experience.

THE BEST VACATION EVER!!!!

I must admit that I was somewhat uncomfortable arranging a group tour to Italy with someone I communicated with only via the Internet and telephone.  However, after my first communication with our agent -- I knew that she “had it.”  She understood exactly what we wanted to do.  She was right-on in both concept and execution.

Our ten-day adventure in Italy began with a private transfer with an English speaking local driver from the Rome airport to our fantastic 3 star boutique hotel located right in the historical center of Rome.  During our three days in Rome, we had fantastic private tours of Ancient Rome, the Coliseum, and the Vatican Museums.  Extremely knowledgeable, English-speaking guides led all of our tours.  Sense of Italy had arranged for VIP, skip the line, priority entrance for all tours -- saving us from long waits in long lines.

After our busy 3 days in Rome, we departed via private van transfer from our hotel in Rome to the Chianti Region of Tuscany.  The transfer included stops on the Val D’ Orcia to visit the amazing Villages of Montalcino and Montepulciano.  The “light lunch” and wine tasting we enjoyed in Montalcino was one of the highlights of our trip.  In Tuscany we stayed 7 Nights in a beautiful, historic villa located on one of the best wine estates of Chianti (Villa Le Corti near San Casciano) where we were met with a fantastic welcome dinner. During our time in Tuscany we were transported by private van from our villa to private tours of Siena, San Gimignano, Florence, Pisa and Lucca.  On each of our stops we were met by knowledgeable English speaking guides that clearly were proud of the history of their country, and were anxious to share it.  Interspersed in all of this activity were numerous exceptional meals with opportunities to taste (and drink) very fine Italian wines.

When we finally were forced to leave Italy, our agent arranged for private transport accommodating our varying departure times from the Florence airport and train station.

Thanks to this travel company and our agent for designing the perfect vacation for our group.  The only complaint that I heard was that we ate too much — wow was all the food delicious.  I really don’t know how she did it.  All of the tours were great — the van drivers friendly and helpful, the guides knowledgeable, and the sites spectacular.  Our stay in the villa was a great experience.  We were treated royally everywhere.  We all marveled at our agent's ability to get us, the vans, the guides, the food and wine, etc. all at the right place at the right time.  She is a genius!!!!

Jeff E

Our family of five just got back from the most wonderful vacation in Tuscany and Rome.  Our agent crafted a set of amazing experiences for our family from the private tour guides to Florence, Pisa and Lucca; a private wine tasting lunch at the Capannelle Winery and vineyards in Chianti; tickets to the Papal mass at the Vatican; to a tour beneath the church of San Clemente to see the excavations of a byzantine and then a Roman street neighborhood; a day excursion to the Amalfi coast to visit Positano, Sorrento and Pompeii; and more! Our agent and the guides found excellent restaurants from a simple salumeria where the locals ate to some high end restaurants.  The hotels were right in the center of Florence – on the piazza della Repubblica - and Rome – between the Piazza del Popolo and the Spanish Steps.  Our agent was attentive to our plans and made excellent suggestions.  Everything went extremely smoothly.  All the guides drivers were very friendly, spoke English and were very knowledgeable about art, history and the local culture.  We saw so much every day because everything was so well planned.  Simply the best travel experience ever!

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.

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.