Culture in December: Winter Spain and Portugal History Tour

Zicasso's travel specialist and his team were awesome! All we knew was that we wanted to go to Lisbon and Barcelona, and see some local culture in Spain. He designed a trip from Lisbon to Sevilla to Córdoba (day trip) to Grenada (with a stop in Ronda) to Barcelona. The guides and tours were all excellent, and his hotel and travel choices were spot-on. Our guide in Grenada (our travel specialist himself!) was awesome. I can't recommend more highly.

The trip exceeded our expectations and enlightened us about Spanish history and culture. We greatly appreciated the way Zicasso's travel specialist and his team worked to accommodate our travel needs, interests, and preferences, providing a thoroughly enjoyable adventure.

I continue to use Zicasso because of the quality of their local agents. Spain and Portugal were no exception. From the first phone call with our travel agent and all throughout the tour with our trip coordinator, I was extremely well taken care of. The individual guides I met were experts at local culture and history. I highly recommend the travel company.

I didn't understand the relationship between Zicasso and its travel company, and it took me a while to get the triangular reporting scheme. It was easier for me to reach out to someone directly, but we managed.

The people at the travel company were very accommodating. However, I learned a lot about my own travel preferences through this trip. We spent four days in Porto, the first being arrival from the US via Lisbon, so we did not do any touring that day. We only had half a day to explore on our own given the activities that were planned for us. I would like to have had more downtime in Porto to get to know the city.

The foodie tour that we took was fabulous. Our guide took us on a very personal tour, introducing us to her favorites and including all the things we wanted to achieve. Please send her our regards and personal thanks.

We spent a day in Vinho Verde. As the harvest had been completed the day before we arrived, the experience felt contrived. We could easily have skipped this.

The Douro Valley exploration was more interesting to us. We visited two wineries, the second of which was more special, so we enjoyed the tasting more thoroughly. Again, the guide was delightful!

We took a train back to Lisbon feeling like we had missed much of Porto. As we expressed interest in Jewish history, we booked our first morning tour through a tour booking platform to supplement what the travel company provided. While they said their guides would be knowledgeable in this area, there was no guide that provided that background.

Our train ride to Lisbon ended in a surprise. We were about to descend the stairs to the Oriente platform when the doors closed suddenly and the train left. Fortunately, the next stop was not far and we were able to turn ourselves around and return to our awaiting driver.

Our day in Sintra and Cascais was disappointing. We drove to Cascais and had 25 minutes to explore. We then continued to Sintra. We were not sure what access we were provided, but another couple had full access and their admittance was for 12:00, so we had to be there by then. While it is a spectacular site, it was way too crowded to see anything, and a guided tour of the site would have been desirable.

We were able to include a visit to an estate due to a working relationship that exists with them. They have cork forests on their property, so there was no reason to visit Évora for that purpose.

All in all, the drivers and guides we were given were thoughtful, professional, helpful, and concerned… always helping us with doors, luggage, footing. Having them immediately available was extremely useful. On the other hand, we learned that we were not as interested in camp for adults, where all of our activities were planned for us, as we were in learning and feeling the culture and spirit of the country. The country is beautiful and its people quite warm and friendly.

Special thanks to our travel coordinator for picking up the pieces of our trip and finalizing the details for us.

Our family had an absolutely amazing experience traveling through Portugal, thanks to Zicasso’s travel specialist and her company. Every detail of our vacation was thoughtfully planned and customized to fit our family's interests, making the trip completely stress-free and enjoyable.

We spent the first half of our trip in Lisbon, with unforgettable day trips to Sintra, Nazaré, and Óbidos. Our tour guide was exceptionally knowledgeable and brought Portugal's history and culture to life. She was also wonderful with our family and made every excursion engaging for both adults and children.

Our travel specialist was outstanding from start to finish. She greeted us at the airport, coordinated all of our transportation, checked in with us throughout the trip, and ensured everything ran seamlessly. Her attention to detail and genuine care for her clients truly set her apart.

For the second half of our vacation, we traveled to Lagos in the Algarve. Our kids had an incredible time at the waterpark and loved kayaking through the stunning sea caves. These experiences were perfectly chosen for our family and created lasting memories.

One of the things we appreciated most was that all of our guides and drivers were Portuguese. This gave us an authentic perspective on the country, its culture, and its people that we never would have experienced otherwise.

I highly recommend our travel specialist and her team to anyone looking for a unique, personalized, and memorable trip to Portugal. Their professionalism, local expertise, and outstanding service made this one of the best family vacations we have ever taken.

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.