History & Culture Tours & Vacations

We are a couple in our upper seventies who recently returned from a fabulous 10-day private tour of Croatia. Of the many places we have visited around the globe, Croatia is among our favorites. The country offers extraordinary national parks, a gorgeous, dramatic coastline, warm, friendly people, great food, and a cosmopolitan culture with a rich history. The weather was splendid in late May.

Zicasso's travel specialist worked closely with us to put together an itinerary that was truly perfect in terms of the pace and the types of activities we like to do. She is a great listener and truly understood our concerns as senior travelers. We were very pleased to meet her for breakfast at the end of our trip. Although we had not been directly in touch earlier during the tour, we had the sense that she was checking in with our guides along the way, just to make sure every detail was attended to. When the Meštrović Museum in Split was closed while we were there, she arranged for us to have a private tour, just one example of her thoughtfulness.

At every phase of the tour, we had wonderful drivers and guides. All were extraordinarily interesting individuals, willing to share their personal experiences and opinions about the complicated and painful history of recent decades. We feel we learned a great deal and came to admire the resilience of these remarkable people. Despite great hardship, they remain positive and optimistic, and are very proud to introduce their culture to visitors.

We visited Zagreb, Zadar, Split, Hvar, Dubrovnik, and Mostar, and had walking tours of each. Truly every place we visited offered highlights. Among our favorites: Plitvice Lakes and Krka National Parks (the two are quite different and both are worth seeing); the Meštrović Museum in Split; walking the walls of Dubrovnik; an incredible Middle Eastern lunch following a trek to the historic bridge in Mostar; the Sea Organ and Greeting to the Sun in Zadar; lunch featuring prawns buzara at a harborside restaurant on a glistening day in the Elaphiti Islands. Indeed, too many fine restaurants to mention!

In sum, Zicasso's travel company created a superlative tour for us, for which we thank our travel specialist and her marvelous team.

Our Zicasso travel specialist put together the perfect itinerary for our two-week trip to Croatia.

From our arrival in Zagreb to our visits to Rovinj, Plitvice National Park, Split, Hvar and Dubrovnik, we enjoyed our knowledgeable guides and drivers, and the special places we visited. These places included the Museum of Broken Relationships in Zagreb, the cooking class and private lunch in Hvar, the oyster and mussel farm, and the Elafiti Islands.

We also appreciated that we had the opportunity to meet our travel specialist, who graciously gifted us a delicious bottle of Croatian wine.

We traveled for 17 days, visiting nine cities and towns. In that time, we stayed at nine boutique B&Bs or townhouse apartments, were transported by nine private drivers, five trains, and a flight. We went on eight private or semi-private tours and participated in five cultural activities. Everything mentioned here was prearranged by Zicasso’s travel specialist and her team, and I cannot imagine the amount of work and time it took to make this all come together. It was an amazing trip. We experienced everything we asked for and more.

We had a lovely tour of Sicily and we thoroughly enjoyed the scenic villages, mountains and coastal areas, the delicious food, the history and culture of the region, and, of course, the many lovely Sicilians we met on our journey! This was made possible by the travel company we went with when we first engaged Zicasso. They met with us (online) and developed a great tour, for which a few highlights are summarized below. They were also very helpful during the trip to offer us assistance if we needed it. In short, they made our trip truly memorable!

On our visit to Palermo, we experienced its ancient history and fine cuisine. Touring some of the smaller towns and villages, such as Cefalù, Modica, Scicli, Marzamemi and Noto, we enjoyed many scenic streets and alleys with their many shops and restaurants, and also seeing some beautiful artwork in their ancient cathedrals. The countryside of Sicily is also lovely to see and on our tour, we were privileged to visit some farms and talk with some locals who make their living off the land.

We were captivated by the rich historical underpinnings of Sicily, as we saw when we toured Agrigento to visit the Valley of the Temples. In other larger towns/cities we visited, such as Ragusa, Syracuse and Taormina, we had many opportunities to tour food markets and taste (and to learn to prepare) some specialty dishes of the local area.

Having a walking tour around Mount Etna with a local guide provided us with a refreshing outdoor nature hike that was a great way to learn about the area. Capping off our nature walk with a gastro/wine tour at a local winery was a great finale to our two-week vacation! In the end, our only regret was that we didn't want the vacation to end!

Zicasso’s travel company worked with us to create an itinerary that combined our various interests. They were patient and responsive, and we would highly recommend them. The trip met and exceeded our expectations. It included a great mix of hiking, castles, caves, wine and food experiences, beautiful national parks, and historical private city tours. The boutique hotels were just perfect for this trip.

We had a fantastic trip through Croatia, Montenegro, and Slovenia, traveling from Dubrovnik to Hvar, Split, Plitvice Lakes, Rovinj, and Ljubljana, with day trips into Montenegro and other parts of Slovenia along the way.

Zicasso's travel company did an amazing job of helping us create the trip we wanted. From the beginning, they listened to our ideas, made suggestions, and worked with us as our plans evolved. Our travel specialist got everything started, another helped us fine-tune the itinerary and make several changes, and the third was always quick to respond and help while we were traveling.

Everything was seamlessly coordinated. We loved the hotels and excursions they selected, and the private drivers and tour guides added so much to the experience. Just as important was knowing that the company was only a message away if we had a question or needed anything while traveling. That kind of support gave us peace of mind and allowed us to simply enjoy the trip.

I’ve already recommended Zicasso and this travel company to others and will absolutely look to Zicasso when we’re ready to plan our next adventure.