France & Italy Tours

Our 16-day trip through Venice, Florence, Tuscany, Sorrento and the Amalfi Coast, and Rome was outstanding in every detail. Every transfer ran on time, every guide was knowledgeable and warm, and every hotel was a great choice.

Our favorites were the private lagoon boat trip in Venice, the Brunello wine and cheese tour, the pasta class at a Tuscan farm, Pompeii, the Capri cruise, and the Vatican tour. We couldn’t have asked for better planning or support. We highly recommend Zicasso's travel company.

The trip was very nice. Some details of timing and drive times for events could have been communicated better. We had a tour canceled at the very last minute for no reason. Another tour was a walk through a village, but didn’t include entrance to the three main sites in the town, which was strange.

In general, the trip was very good, with plenty of history and education during the various tours, whether walking through the cities, wine and culinary tastings, and day trips out into the country and medieval villages. The drivers were all knowledgeable and fluent in English.

For us, the downsides were disappointing hotels, except the last one, which was lovely; the one in Paris was okay, considering how small they tend to be. Also, our pick-up pool people, although issues were resolved, were a bit late and we waited quite a while to connect with them. We ended up having to find our own ride at one pint because a few times they were late when our connections were delayed and they didn’t check and take that into their consideration. All in all, taking those inconvenience’s into the mix, we enjoyed our trip.

The cities we visited were wonderful. We really enjoyed the tours, especially the cooking class with our chef! I will be making homemade ravioli over the holidays.

The hotels were located close to the city centers. But the hotel in Bologna was very close to the university, with lots of graffiti and live music late into the night. The hotel, however, was quaint and very nice. The hotel staff was very friendly and accommodating.

The hotel in Florence was just weird. Our travel companions' room had no windows and was small. Ours was oddly laid out but much bigger. The desk person told us both rooms were the same when we first checked in. If we came back after 9 p.m., there was no hotel staff, and we had to use a code to walk through an apartment lobby.

The hotel in Venice was situated right in the middle of lots of restaurants and gelato! The hotel was by far the best one, with much nicer amenities and rooms. It had a bar and restaurant on-site. It was a good way to end our trip.

Zicasso's travel specialist organized an amazing 12-day series of private tours, taking us from Milan to the lake regions (Como, Maggiore, and Garda) and down to Bologna. Our days were filled with visiting churches, museums (including the Ferrari and Enzo Ferrari museums), a winery, parmigiano, prosciutto, and traditional balsamic manufacturing, a cooking class, boat tours, and food tours.

Along the way, we saw testing at the Ferrari track and a small portion of the women’s Giro d’Italia. With all that, we still had sufficient downtime to search the streets to find our own gems.

Our trip coordinator checked in with us daily to confirm the daily itinerary and transportation. When we had questions or needed to make a change due to the weather, she was thorough, attentive, and responsive in a way that was reassuring and comforting. She was simply amazing.

I would highly recommend using this travel specialist and team for any of your Italian travel needs.

Excellent communication, wonderful tours — fascinating towns, smooth connections.

Amalfi and Positano would've been nice to visit had the crowds not been overwhelming. As they were, we would have preferred to have omitted them and gone elsewhere.