Spain Vacations in August

Our trip was fantastic. The guides were excellent. The Madrid wine tour guide was excellent, our guide for the walking tour of Barcelona was excellent, our guide for the walking tour of Madrid city was excellent, and our guide for Tarragona and Sitges was excellent. We were so pleased with all the tours that I will not change anything for our next trip with you guys. I appreciate your company and the way you handle things. Zicasso’s travel specialist was so helpful. Thank you so much. I can't wait to do this all over again.

The owners of Zicasso’s tour company were amazing from start to finish. They curated a custom trip for us to Barcelona, Madrid, Seville, Málaga, Toledo, and Granada. They listened to our requests and came up with a brilliant itinerary that included personal drivers, hotels, dining recommendations, and tour guides. They were also so quick to respond to our questions and pivot our plans when needed. This was a very special 30th-anniversary trip for us and they knocked it out of the park.

I know we worked together on content, so none of the activities or the schedule were a surprise. We enjoyed every activity and just loved Spain. Our trip was worry-free and we were in the country during the power outage. We were not able to visit a cathedral due to the power outage, but were able to do a different tour. Our guide was enthusiastic and we barely noticed any inconvenience.

Each guide was on time and personable. We had a couple of substitutes and that was not noticeable at all. In general, each guide was knowledgeable and we learned so much. 

Our first guide, in Madrid, was so kind when he realized jet lag was going to cut our tour short – not his fault. He was the best choice for our first tour. He was so knowledgeable and helped to orient us to Madrid. It was so great to have a personal guide so we could ask questions. 

Toledo was fantastic. We loved the guide and the city. The train ride was our first and we had to navigate the train station, but we did just fine after a few wrong turns. We took the bus to the station. The bus worked great. We were exhausted from our day in Toledo, but still walked from the train station. The information on how to get to the station was accurate and it was a lovely walk.

Sevilla was magical. We were surprised when our driver drove through a public square to let us out to walk to the hotel!  We loved our tour, really liked the hotel, and had great meals in the restaurant. We got to know the bartender and she helped us experiment with local wines. 

Our trip to Ronda was beautiful and our guide and driver were both excellent, especially our driver, who had to work around a running and walking event going on that meant our meeting spot was inaccessible. But he was on time and close, and we made it work! 

Our trip to the olive oil museum was great, but we were part of a group and some of the people in the group were just stupid. I am allergic to olive trees and my allergies completely kicked up. We enjoyed the tour and bought olive oil, but I just couldn’t understand why some people on the tour were so rude.

The wine tasting also got us a spontaneous flamenco demonstration, which was fantastic. We stayed and did a wine tasting with the owner. We could have stayed all afternoon. She was lovely and interesting, and we enjoyed our time there very much.

Málaga was a joy and it was there we had the power outage. We had a great tour with our guide, who took so many pictures of us and slowed down to compensate for my tired legs. Touring was catching up with me. The Picasso Museum was open and we thoroughly enjoyed it. We loved our hotel and were very grateful there was a good restaurant with an excellent bar, and we took advantage of that! 

Granada was worth a visit and our trip to the Alhambra was amazing; our guide was five-star.

The recommended activities were amazing for our trip.

We started in Madrid, then went to Toledo, Seville, Córdoba, and Barcelona. Highlights for my kids (15, 13, and 13) were the cathedrals, mosque, cooking class, walking tapas tour and e-bike tour.

All of our drivers and tour guides were prompt, knowledgeable, and listened to our preferences.

The hotels in Madrid and Seville were perfection and located close to major areas.

The only reason I gave the trip four instead of five stars was that the travel company made a mistake booking our hotel in Barcelona. We found out the night before that our hotel was switched and the new hotel was not in the best area and far from major attractions. The company did offer to reimburse us for taxis and sent us a gift and apology letter. However, I would have preferred to book my own hotel in Barcelona but the day before it was too late for me to research and change the hotel. That particular experience marred what was an otherwise fantastic trip.