Europe Travel Guide

I have just returned from the trip of a lifetime, a “bucket-list” trip with dangerously high expectations that Zicasso's travel specialist somehow managed to far exceed.

Planning began more than a year ago when I came across Zicasso during my research and was connected with our travel specialist, who specializes in travel throughout Africa.

After an email or two, we scheduled a phone call and, from the beginning, our travel specialist listened carefully to what we were looking for in an African adventure. She understood that we wanted to experience as much as possible without spending our vacation enduring arduous travel days or flying on tiny planes. As I learned more about the region, she helped us craft an itinerary that perfectly blended safari, culture, the beautiful wine country, and the history and energy of Cape Town.

Every accommodation was magnificent, and our transfers and private guides were seamless, knowledgeable, and professional. Several of the people we met along the way made such an impression that we hope to remain in touch with them. Our travel specialist’s firsthand knowledge of the region was invaluable, not only in helping us choose the places she knew we would love, but also in knowing which places could wait for another trip.

Over the course of the year, through a handful of phone calls and emails, she crafted what truly felt like the perfect itinerary. Everything was set, until the night we were supposed to board our flight to begin the adventure. Our flight was canceled due to weather and could not be rebooked for several days. Because every detail of the trip had been meticulously coordinated, transfers, internal flights, hotels, safari lodges, and private guides, I watched our carefully planned holiday begin to fall like a row of dominoes.

I immediately reached out to our travel specialist and she went to work. Tirelessly and seemingly miraculously, she managed to salvage our trip, rearranging flights, accommodations, transfers, and the first several days of an itinerary that had taken a year to plan. Because of her extraordinary effort, we were still able to experience one of the most special and memorable trips of our lives.

A great travel advisor can plan a wonderful trip. You discover just how exceptional one is when everything goes wrong. Our travel specialist was there when we needed her most and I cannot imagine how we would have navigated those first few days without her.

If you are lucky enough to visit Africa, you may come home with incredible photographs and memories, but also with something far more lasting: a greater understanding of the world, a deeper appreciation for your own life, and a little more humility about your place in it.

We are enormously grateful to our travel specialist for helping make this truly the trip of a lifetime and I would recommend her without hesitation to anyone considering an African adventure.

My trip to Italy was outstanding. The services arranged and last-minute trip requests were handled with grace and aplomb. I was especially impressed with the airline transfers on the tarmac, which were not the responsibility of our tour operator, but were arranged anyway. My companion, as well as myself, were most impressed riding along the airport tarmac taxiways in a late-model sedan.

Excellent, very easy to work with. Wonderful suggestions and planning.

Excellent overall.

We had a lovely tour of Sicily and we thoroughly enjoyed the scenic villages, mountains and coastal areas, the delicious food, the history and culture of the region, and, of course, the many lovely Sicilians we met on our journey! This was made possible by the travel company we went with when we first engaged Zicasso. They met with us (online) and developed a great tour, for which a few highlights are summarized below. They were also very helpful during the trip to offer us assistance if we needed it. In short, they made our trip truly memorable!

On our visit to Palermo, we experienced its ancient history and fine cuisine. Touring some of the smaller towns and villages, such as Cefalù, Modica, Scicli, Marzamemi and Noto, we enjoyed many scenic streets and alleys with their many shops and restaurants, and also seeing some beautiful artwork in their ancient cathedrals. The countryside of Sicily is also lovely to see and on our tour, we were privileged to visit some farms and talk with some locals who make their living off the land.

We were captivated by the rich historical underpinnings of Sicily, as we saw when we toured Agrigento to visit the Valley of the Temples. In other larger towns/cities we visited, such as Ragusa, Syracuse and Taormina, we had many opportunities to tour food markets and taste (and to learn to prepare) some specialty dishes of the local area.

Having a walking tour around Mount Etna with a local guide provided us with a refreshing outdoor nature hike that was a great way to learn about the area. Capping off our nature walk with a gastro/wine tour at a local winery was a great finale to our two-week vacation! In the end, our only regret was that we didn't want the vacation to end!

Zicasso’s travel specialist was excellent. He called me at the beginning of the process to discuss our needs—and listened. He helped us develop our itinerary based on our interests and mobility issues. He maintained regular contact and sent a detailed itinerary as we got close to our departure date. Everything went smoothly: drivers, admissions, etc.

Our guide for our three-day Golden Circle and South Coast trip was wonderful. He was extremely knowledgeable and helpful. We learned so much about Iceland’s history, culture, and its people. We enjoyed it.