Northumbria Tour of England's Wild Land

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.

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 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!

We absolutely loved our England adventure and already wish we could go back. It was a perfect balance of English countryside, history, and culture.

All our hotels were wonderful. The lodge in Broadway was such an extraordinary place to stay—the property was so historic, but the rooms and amenities were modern. We loved the pool and gym, and delicious food/drink they offered. We also took advantage of the playground down the street every evening after dinner—it had a zipline and a beautiful vista. The lodge at Warwick was also amazing, such a fun place to stay for families with young kids. We also really enjoyed our hotel in London. The location was ideal as we could walk to restaurants and we had a tube station right there.

Our drivers were also very professional and friendly, and made the transfers between locations so simple and stress-free for us. Honestly we have nothing but good things to say about every moment of this vacation, from the afternoon tea to the "Harry Potter" studio tour.

Our trip was guided by our suggestions and planned accordingly by Zicasso. It was an excellent trip. Everything ran smoothly.

One time, we expressed a preference for spending more time in the Cotswolds, since we had only about 45 minutes the day before. Our guide worked with us. At our request, we were able to drop a half-day cathedral visit to Wells and spend the day in the Cotswolds. Also, we were able to switch another trip, the Yorkshire Moors for the Yorkshire Dales, due to the weather. Our drivers were knowledgeable and flexible, patient and helpful. They were also cheerful and kind.

We had a wonderful time in the Yorkshire Dales and in the Lake District, hiking in your beautiful country!