Hidden Beauty Tour of Rome, Venice, and Florence

When we decided to plan a family trip to Italy, I did some research and found Zicasso. They were very highly rated, and we reached out to them. Zicasso’s travel agent responded very quickly. She was friendly, professional, and asked us questions to ensure she knew what we were looking for in our trip. The travel agent planned an exceptional family vacation for us with a customized itinerary that included traveling to Rome, Siena, Florence, and ending in Venice. She tailored our trip to include private transfers from the airport to the hotels, as well as traveling city to city.

Each hotel had an excellent location that allowed us to easily walk and explore. The hotels were beautiful, clean, and comfortable, each with impeccable service.

They set us up with private tour guides, who not only allowed us to skip the lines to major attractions, but also personalized the tour so we were able to spend time viewing the things that were important to us. The guides were friendly, informative and engaging.

Every aspect was meticulously curated and the travel company checked in with me via a messaging app daily to share the next day’s itinerary. They were always available if we had any questions or if any issue arose, which never did because of how well they planned everything. I reached out to them asking if they could please make a dinner reservation for me and they were quick to secure that for us.

I would highly recommend this travel company and will definitely use them again in the future.

Overall, I would give this trip 4.5 stars.

It was well planned and Zicasso's travel company was easy to contact and communicate with.

The itinerary took into consideration our interests and desires. The hotels and tours were very nice. Our private guides were knowledgeable and also catered to our interests.

When things came up, they were easy to contact and quickly corrected issues that arose.

Here is why I would give it 4.5 and not 5 stars:

Some transfer days were left open for free time, but we were new to each city and did not really know where to go or what to see. In retrospect, we should have had a half-day tour or introduction to the city that day and then maybe free time later to explore the parts that we liked. A few times, we had a tour right before leaving that left us wanting to come back to a particular spot, but we had no time to do so. An experienced travel company should know that and plan accordingly.

Specifically in Venice, a private transfer dropped us off in a small alley and we had no idea where to go, fresh off the plane with all of our luggage. The travel company guided us to our hotel, but this is not what a luxury travel company should plan for. It should be a door-to-door transfer, with luggage taken care of.

There were a few times when the transfer time or location changed and we were notified at the last minute.

Tickets to see Michelangelo's "David" had the wrong date on them and our guide had to scramble to get new tickets. This situation was resolved and was not a big problem, but the response by the travel company was not adequate. A simple apology for the inconvenience would have worked, but instead, it was played off as no big deal.

At the end of the trip, I reached out to offer a detailed review of the hotels, transfers, and guides to help them plan better for the future, but I received no response. The trip was over and it felt like they were done.

Overall, the travel company felt a lot less personal than companies we have used in the past in other countries.

All of these were very minor issues and overall the trip was great, safe, and pleasant. However, in the setting of luxury travel, small things matter.

Hopefully this helps the next traveler.

Zicasso’s travel company was wonderful to work with before and during our trip! They listened to everything we had to say regarding how we like to travel, what experiences were important to us, food restrictions, and more. They then designed the perfect itinerary for us.

The trip was a total white-glove experience. A prime example was our arrival at the Venice train station. Someone met us inside the station and walked us the very short distance to our reserved water taxi, which took us to the dock right next to our beautiful hotel.

We had a WhatsApp group with the travel company and there was always someone available to answer questions and problem-solve if necessary.

We had a beautiful week in Sorrento, with days in Pompeii, Capri, and the Amalfi Coast. Zicasso’s travel specialist planned the trip exactly as we discussed and we loved every minute!

The one thing that was a bit challenging was that all of our excursions were booked under my middle name, which I do not use, and we had to explain several times to the trip operators.

The hotel was lovely, our room was perfect, and the pool was excellent. Unfortunately, there was a very long ramp required to walk up and down every time we left the hotel, and even though all of the rest of the hotel was excellent, we would have preferred a little less of a distance from the lobby to the street. These items were not at all a big deal, but we are learning what sorts of things to be sure to discuss when planning the next trip.

The travel company was very responsive throughout the trip and communicated with us regularly, which we appreciated!! Overall, I highly recommend this trip and can't wait for the next one!