Azores Islands Travel Guide

My husband and I had a wonderful week touring central and northern Portugal with this Zicasso travel company. The itinerary developed by our travel specialist was excellent, as were the hotels she selected.

Above all, we appreciated our driver. He was kind, patient, and full of knowledge. He guided us through many sites and provided a history of each place we visited. He answered all our questions. We would never have had the depth of understanding on our own. He was also flexible if we needed to make changes and had the patience of Job driving through the busy streets of Lisbon and Porto, and through winding roads of the medieval towns... again, something we could not have done on our own.

Our entire trip was very personalized to our interests. We have already recommended the travel company to our friends. We look forward to coming back because we had such a beautiful trip.

The communication was great on the front end. We were planning the trip with another couple and Zicasso's travel specialist was very good at answering any question quickly and thoroughly.

The drivers we had on the trip were outstanding, on time, very helpful, and friendly. Our tour guides were also fantastic! Very knowledgeable! Very fun to be with.

All in all, great trip, just like Italy was last year, and we are currently in the planning stage for a trip to Paris/Normandy in 2027!!

The trip was simply amazing. It exceeded our expectations. The accommodations were first class and conveniently located in Lisbon and Porto. The guides were all top-notch. They were both informative and entertaining. We never felt like we were sitting in a lecture hall.

Also, my group just turned 70 in age and the guides and drivers accommodated our pace. In Porto, the guide acquired taxis to get us from the river up the hill to the cathedral. In the Douro Valley, the guide was able to arrange for us to be dropped off on the far shore to avoid some of the mountain roads. The drivers were also a delight and we felt safe with them at the wheel.

In addition, we would all recommend Zicasso’s travel company and, in particular, our travel specialist. He was easy to work with in laying out the itinerary and it was obvious he knew the best guides, drivers, and accommodations. He was always attentive. We experienced no problems at all on the trip and my only communication with him was to tell him how excellent everything was going.

The entire trip was wonderful. I would like to give a special thanks to our driver. He was always so kind and fun to be with. All of our guides were friendly and very knowledgeable. Their pacing was just right. We spent enough time at each venue. The information they gave us was thorough but concise. As we requested, our accommodations were well located.

Zicasso’s travel company was great to work with to plan our 16-day trip for 12 people. Our travel specialist met our needs by considering the age of the group (62 to 72). We were all vegetarian and had some accessibility needs.

We requested city-center hotels with breakfast, so the ones chosen were perfect, with so much entertainment, restaurants, and shops within walking distance. The hotels chosen were well maintained, had friendly staff, and great breakfast selections.

Having a WhatsApp group created with the team and my group made communication very easy and quick for all our needs. The team replied quickly and made changes where necessary, going as far as to book several vegetarian restaurants for us and providing tuk-tuks for the narrow roads, so we didn’t have to walk so much.

The tour guides who were chosen were all very knowledgeable. This kept my group entertained and engaged with all the tours and activities. The guides made sure we were able to see the best parts of the museums, palaces, churches, gardens, and castles. We are seven couples who have been traveling together for the last 14 years. This was the most memorable trip for us.

Thank you to the entire team.

Zicasso’s travel company did a fabulous job preparing our itinerary and working with us to customize it as necessary. When we finally arrived in Portugal and Spain for our trip, everything went smoothly and as described in our itinerary. We had zero issues with any part of it and people always showed up (guides/drivers) exactly when we were expecting them.

The guides the travel company picked were also very good and knowledgeable. What I really appreciated was the hotel selection, as in every case we were in the best location in each city, whether that was Lisbon, Porto, Madrid, or Barcelona. This made a massive difference when it came to sightseeing because most things were walkable or very close by. Also, the nearby restaurants and shops were great.

Overall, I think this was one of my family's favorite trips and I highly recommend this travel company if you're thinking of doing something similar.