UK Tours & Vacations for Seniors

We enjoyed our trip and got to see and experience everything we set out to do. However, our itinerary lacked attention to detail. When we arrived in London, we were on our own to catch the Express to Paddington and our 5-hour ride to Penzance. This is what was designed and expected, although our itinerary still showed a "meet and greet". First class train tickets were provided by the contractor, but not reserved seats. My wife and I started the trip sitting separately. The contractor reported that reserved seats were not available, although three-quarters of the passengers in first class had tickets with reserve seat numbers.

The next day, the itinerary showed us starting and ending in St. Ives, although we were booked in a Penzance hotel, and did not get to St. Ives until the next day. The itinerary stated that the Penzance hotel was only 500 meters from the train station, so we walked with our luggage to discover the last 100 meters were up a very steep hill with almost no sidewalk. We are both 75.

Day four included three stops that included two national parks. Our guide said that would be impossible to cover, so we saw one of the parks listed in the day four itinerary. The third location was Wells Cathedral. Our guide dropped us at a small old neighborhood church that we discovered was the wrong location, but we only had a 7-minute walk to the correct location. Not a big problem, but we only had an hour total to tour. At pickup the guide stated, "if you seen one church, you have seen them all".

On day six, we were booked to tour Criccieth Castle, and upon arrival, we found it was closed on Tuesdays. These are details we would expect the travel company to know. We went to another castle instead.

On day seven, the itinerary stated that we had a free day until our Mountain Cog Railway at 11:30. We discovered on our own that the railway required us to be there 30 minutes ahead of time. That did not leave time to do anything before. We went early and changed our time so that we had the afternoon.

Overall, we enjoyed our trip, but it was different from our previous Zicasso trips. With the exception of the railway, we were responsible for all of our admissions, unlike other trips, while this was probably the most expensive of the trips. As experienced travelers, we were able to deal with the blips in the itinerary, but it was not at the level we have had previously with Zicasso.

My wife and I enjoyed a perfectly glorious 17-day adventure in Scotland, thanks to Zicasso’s travel specialists.

The trip was amazing. The perfect route, well-paced, excellent (and varied) accommodations. It was a wonderful blend of scenery, culture, history, and independence, everything we had discussed during the planning phase. We hardly even noticed a few boating glitches (rescheduled and cancelled ferries). They really did not impact the journey much at all.

The travel company could not have planned better weather for us, mostly sunny days with blue skies. My photos are fabulous. Even the locals were shocked at how lovely it was for an extended period of time. We packed with just the right layers and never needed to use rain gear. For Scotland we were indeed very fortunate. The food also was a pleasant surprise. Of course breakfasts were consistently delicious and ample, but we really enjoyed our bites out, mostly for dinners and occasional lunches in a wide variety of settings, from pubs, to higher-end restaurants, even some ethnic establishments. All were great.

We were inspired to visit Scotland thanks in part to our fascination with the series Outlander, the history, culture, scenery. None of it disappointed. The trip was planned as a road trip, renting a car following two full days exploring Edinburgh on foot. Our route took us to Dunnottar Castle, Balmoral, Inverness, Ullapool, the Outer Hebrides (Lewis and Harris), Skye, Glencoe, Loch Lomond, and Stirling. As 70-somethings, we were incredibly active on each day, hitting 20,000 steps on many of them. Lots of town/city walking, and many hikes along the way as well, including waterfalls and beaches. And castles, museums, battlefields everywhere, so much to explore.

A few random things:

Lake Katrine boat ride and bicycling was definitely a highlight, so glad we fit that in.

Taking the train to Glasgow on the final day was definitely worthwhile (actually our longest day on foot, 27,000+ steps). Loved the Kelvingrove Art Gallery, made it to the Cathedral and Necropolis, and lingered for dinner in Merchant Square. We felt that city was vastly under-rated.

Our greatest challenge was the driving. We had done Australia the same way last year, so were comfortable with the left-right issue. But we found the roads throughout Scotland to be very narrow, often one-laned, and in terrible disrepair, with potholes at every turn. Thankfully we were not there in high season. We could only imagine how difficult it could be with way more tourists on the road. Having additional car insurance was very wise planning indeed, thank you!

We definitely want to report how pleased we were, with the trip and the travel company’s services. The travel specialist was always incredibly responsive and reassuring as things surfaced along the way. Communications were never a problem. We would definitely use this travel company again, perhaps they might even suggest our next great adventure. Scotland is a must-see for everyone.

Amy and David P.

In the end, we were not happy with the level of service and planning this travel company provided. I can give three specific examples.

We had a travel day from Kent to the Cotswolds, which was a three-hour drive without traffic (in actuality, it was a five-hour drive the day we did it). You booked us for a 1 p.m. tour at Chartwell on the same day we would be transferring to the Cotswolds. We requested this be changed because, had we kept to this original plan, we would not have started our journey to the Cotswolds until 15:00 at the earliest, and we would not have arrived in the Cotswolds until very late in the evening. I requested the Chartwell visit be rescheduled, but this is something I should not have had to do. You should have had the foresight to look at the schedule for that day and see that a 1 p.m. tour of Chartwell, followed by a three-plus-hour drive to the Cotswolds, was not advisable.

We had a car, but when we arrived at our hotel in Bath, we did not have hotel parking reserved, and we had to park the car in a public car park far from the hotel.

We requested twin beds at the hotel in Bath and were told we would have them. Yet, when we arrived at the hotel in Bath, they had no record of the request for twin beds. Because of all this, we would not work with the travel company again, and we would not recommend the company to others.

Zicasso’s travel specialists were excellent to work with, as we adjusted our itinerary many times from initial contact to the time of travel. Our travel party significantly reduced in number and they worked with us to put together a great tour of Scotland (Edinburgh, including the castle, Royal Holyrood Palace, and a day trip to Stirling Castle with a great chauffeur/guide) and Ireland, arranging our flight to Dublin with transportation to Galway, then return via train for activities in Dublin. We had a wonderful trip and would highly recommend the travel company.

Zicasso's travel company formulated a graduation trip for myself, my wife, and my son in July 2026. They arranged drivers, airport transfers, train fares, hotel accommodations, tours, and logistics. We visited Bath, the Cotswolds, London, Portsmouth, and the Goodwood Festival of Speed while in the United Kingdom. They made the itinerary seamless and logical, allowing us to visit all the sights and landmarks we wanted to experience. They were also available via WhatsApp for any concerns or issues that arose.

Our hotel in London was so nice, especially because it was equipped with air conditioning, as it was hot in London! It was conveniently located in the heart of Covent Garden, with so many shops, restaurants, and things to do just steps away, while also being within walking distance of Piccadilly, Chinatown, and many other areas.

Our accommodations in Portsmouth were comparatively lackluster, but kudos to the travel specialists for making valiant efforts to rebook alternate accommodations. Unfortunately, due to the Goodwood Festival of Speed, most, if not all, hotels in the region were fully booked. Thank you for the kind gesture!

Overall, it was a wonderful trip and enjoyed by all of us.

I would recommend the travel company if you're ever seeking a personalized holiday itinerary in the United Kingdom!

Our trip to Scotland and the Isle of Man was fantastic! Every detail was thought out and executed flawlessly. The travel company listened to our thoughts and worked with us to make our vision a reality. They were exceptional.

Our hotels were first-rate, our tour guides were friendly, knowledgeable, and personable, and our tours were informative. The "extras" like the falconry experience and luxury picnic in the Highlands were outstanding.

They used a travel app to communicate and update us throughout the trip. I can't say enough about how useful the app was and how it took all the stress out of the trip. The app contained our schedule, names and contact information for our guides, tickets for our pre-paid tours, etc. It also was the means of communication with their staff.

We wanted to give a special thank you to one of the travel specialists. We had one day where we decided to rent a car and drive ourselves from Heysham, England, to Inverness, Scotland. While they were not involved in renting the car or coordinating the day, she proactively sent us suggestions for stopping spots along the way and even arranged for food and drinks upon our eventual arrival at our hotel in Inverness that evening. She went above and beyond our expectations to ensure we were well cared for.

I will definitely recommend this travel company to anyone I know who is planning a trip to Scotland. And I will be using Zicasso again in the near future as I begin planning a family trip to Spain in 2027.