England & Scotland Heritage Tour: Retracing Ancestral Lands

We had a wonderful time and enjoyed many of the features of the trip. All of the hotels were very nice and the overnight stay in the castle was the cherry on top. We were able to get a tour of the castle and I would recommend to others that they include the stay in their trip, and that they request a tour to get the full experience.

Having free time in Edinburgh with just a few tours was very nice and then getting to see the countryside and the beautiful Isle of Skye was great. As Mark said, our driver was excellent or, as he would say, lovely. He really helped to give us some local insight and took us to some off-the-beaten-track places, in addition to getting us to all the stops on the tour. My husband and I would highly recommend our driver for any Scotland tour.

All in all, an excellent trip. Thank you!

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.

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 tour planner and her associates at the travel company did an excellent job of putting together a long-awaited trip to the UK to explore our father's roots.

Starting in Edinburgh, Scotland, and extending down into London and on to our father's birthplace in mid-Wales, she and the company found us great accommodations centrally located within our areas of interest. Our various walking tour guides were excellent and our agent's recommendations for places to see were wonderful and fit within the timeframe and parameters of our travels.

Our wonderful Welsh guide was able to locate our father's childhood farm and even discovered some previously unknown family members still in residence there. We had a truly memorable trip and highly recommend our agent and her travel company!

After 15 years of vacationing on small, live-aboard, scuba-diving ships around the world, we wanted our first land-based tour to be extraordinary. We sought a plan to include all drivers, transfers, and hotels, and an itinerary to include private walking and car tours of culturally significant sites and museums. Our goal was to cover, on our first trip to Scotland, the Scottish lowland and highlands, significant city centers, as well as the legendary palaces, lochs, castles, and museums. Moreover, my husband requested we focus on the Pict time period, especially the carved stones, swords, and other fighting devices used throughout the last 3,000 years of Scotland’s “recent” past.  

Our travel company was one of three firms we solicited for a proposal on a luxury vacation in Scotland. Only this Zicasso company hit these targets out of the box with a much better agenda than the competition and very competitive pricing. Moreover, their tour included a recommendation for a two-hour sword-fighting lesson, followed the next day by a visit to a private sword-fabricating forge!!

We returned home four days ago from our remarkable 13-day trip. The highlights of our trip are too exhaustive to even list. Three fantasy-fulfilling high points comprised three nights in a luxury castle bed and breakfast on the west coast, and visits to Inner Hebrides islands, including Iona, where I purchased two sterling Celtic penannular brooches. This was topped off with the commissioning of two swords from the forge, a Claymore and a basket hilt to be custom made using ancient techniques that will result in a pair of one-off customized designs including scabbard carvings and decorated multi-layer battle-ready blades.  

Overall, the tour used amazing guides, including two who wore kilts and full Scottish dress throughout their tours, provided a plethora of castles, and enough alone time to explore the local area and relax while eating the best meat and seafood imaginable, culminating end-to-end in the best vacation of our lives!!

Based on our experience, I cannot entreat you strongly enough to at least get an offer of services from this travel company. We submit you will not be disappointed in the offer or the fulfillment.

Our experience with the travel company began very positively, but unfortunately, deteriorated over time due to a series of booking and communication issues.

After confirming our itinerary and paying our deposit, we were later informed that the original agent handling our trip had left the company and had failed to properly book our accommodations. As a result, our hotel arrangements had to be changed. The travel company did cover the price difference and reconfirmed our itinerary at that time.

Approximately two months before departure, I requested the names of the accommodations for a small-group, multi-day tour that was included in our itinerary. Instead of receiving the information, I was asked to schedule a phone call. During that conversation, I learned that our originally booked tour had never actually been reserved. The travel agency then had to rearrange portions of our travel schedule, book us into a different hotel, and secure spots on another tour. Again, they covered the additional costs, as the replacement tour increased from three to five days.

Unfortunately, the issues continued after our arrival. On the first day of our trip, our hotel informed us that no reservation existed under my name, and the confirmation number provided by the travel company was not recognized by the hotel. After contacting them, I spoke directly with the owner, who stated he would investigate and call me back. Although he contacted the hotel, he never followed up with me. We later discovered that the reservation was under his name rather than mine. A similar issue occurred with one of our day tours, which had also under his name instead of ours.

Additionally, the “small-group” multi-day tour we were placed on consisted of 32 people, which was far larger than we had expected. I cannot say with certainty whether this was due to the travel agency or the tour company itself, but it did not align with the experience we believed we had booked.

The accommodations during portions of the tour were also disappointing and lacked adequate disclosure. On our first night, the room was heated only by a portable heater, and the included breakfast was a minimal continental offering with no staff present. During the following two nights, while the breakfast service and host were excellent, our bathroom was located down the hall rather than attached to the room. We would have appreciated advance notice regarding these accommodations or at least the option to decline that room type. Notably, other rooms at the same property did include private bathrooms.

The tour itself involved five days of bus travel through the Highlands of Scotland. The bus did not have restroom facilities, requiring stops approximately every two hours. Some restrooms required payment, and coordinating restroom breaks, food, and drinks for 32 passengers within limited stop times was often difficult.

Many of the villages we visited appeared unprepared for groups of that size. Several restaurants struggled to accommodate the influx of travelers, and some staff were noticeably unfriendly. In many cases, restaurants recommended online or by the driver were either closed or unable to seat our group. At every overnight stop, restaurant seating was limited and reservations were necessary for dinner, something we were never advised about in advance. As a result, several travelers spent considerable time walking around unfamiliar towns in cold and rainy weather simply trying to find food.

Despite these frustrations, we genuinely enjoyed our time in Scotland and made the best of the experience.