Best of Northern Germany’s Tales and Treasures Tour

Zicasso's tour operator did a fantastic job of listening to our requests and putting together a well-orchestrated tour of southern Germany. The four of us had a number of requirements, some of them conflicting, and the tour operator was able to help us fulfill all of the requirements. We didn't want to be moving hotels every couple of days, so they arranged for us to have a couple of base cities and travel from there to other locations. Great job!

We just returned from one of the most fabulous trips we have ever taken. I lived in Germany back in the 80s and wanted to share some of the most beautiful areas with my husband.

We were most fortunate to come in contact with Zicasso's travel expert. After our initial phone call with her, we knew this would be a great trip.

We had several phone calls and emails with her and her colleagues to talk about the trip in general. With each phone call and with their recommendations, we would get more and more excited about our trip.

When we arrived in Germany, waiting in our hotel room was a beautiful book of our itinerary. All we had to do was go page by page each day. Each page included details of what we would be doing for that day, along with tickets (if needed) for events, brochures, and all details for that day. Also included was a phone for us to use while in Germany. They had pre-programmed contact numbers of anyone from the agency we might need to contact, phone numbers of our tour guides, GPS, a digital copy of our itinerary, hotel contacts, etc. They were available to us 24/7 for any needs or concerns. The agency also checked with us throughout the trip to make sure things were going well. Their tour guides in the various cities were very knowledgeable, personable, and very thorough with their tours. We really enjoyed them all.

This was a very memorable and wonderful trip for us. We give all the credit to our travel company for listening to us and making it happen in ways we would not have expected. This was a trip of a lifetime for us! Many thanks to all for your hard work! We would highly recommend them to anyone!

This was the trip of a lifetime. Zicasso's tour company was incredible to work with from start to finish. Our travel designer asked all of the right questions to understand our travel vibe and, along with the team, she ensured every bit of the trip was planned and executed to perfection. We could not be more impressed. We could not have enjoyed our trip more. Absolutely the best!

To everyone at Zicasso's travel agency, thank you, thank you, thank you! The private trip to the most remarkable European metropolises you curated for us was, well, in the words of the countries we visited, csodálatos/wunderbar/wunderbar/and trés magnifique!!!!!

Everything and everyone you arranged for us was not only to our liking, but perfect.

The hotels were as we like, boutique, not large conglomerate chains. Each was nicely situated, with the staff attentive. The one we found best was in Berlin, with the others not far behind.

The drivers were all nice, on time, and helpful. The tour guides were all informative and knowledgeable, and answered our many questions with aplomb. While all were good, we found the two guides in Berlin to be our favorites. And while she knew her subject matter, we found the one in Vienna too religious and opinionated. We suggest maybe not using her as much.

We did not really use any of the restaurant recommendations you supplied because we like to find local eateries close to the hotels. Two we went to twice because the first experience was so good – in Berlin and in Paris.

One note: there were two times we took a cab whose driver, after taking us, said they did not accept cash and passed a card scanner for me to tap. Afterward, I received an alert from Visa that the charge was $98 rather than the $9 quoted in Budapest and $168 rather than the $12 quoted in Paris. We suggest letting everyone know to only take cabs that accept cash or take an Uber.

Once again I would like to thank all of you who endeavored to make this adventure such a pleasant and memorable one.

All the best,

Rick and Barb Boyko

I think it was a pleasurable trip and we enjoyed it. I think it was a bit overpriced for what we were getting.

We thought the guides were outstanding. We would have paid an additional amount for more upscale properties. Also, the location of the hotel in Munich was some distance from the city center and we would have liked to be presented with other options prior to booking.

A major glitch was that the scheduled tour of The Eagle's Nest could not occur because the site had not yet opened for the season. Fortunately, the great guide suggested the alternative of Herrenchiemsee Palace.

Regarding Neuschwanstein, we requested a "behind-the-scenes" tour, which was listed in the itinerary. I anticipated a tour similar to one my wife took years ago, where they visited areas of the palace that are off-limits to the general public. Instead, we had the "standard" (although interesting tour). Our guide did show us some construction-era photos before we took the tour, which were helpful.