Seven Days of Family Fun in Athens and Santorini

Fabulous, Fantastic, Fun! We had an absolutely amazing 10 days traveling in Athens, Naxos, Santorini, and Crete. We were traveling with four 20somethings with varied interests. Zicasso's tour planner listened to my description of what we were looking for and created a masterpiece of a trip!

The itinerary is not the best for the price we paid and for a family with two children. We thought we could come back to Greece, but after this trip, we might not come back or even use Zicasso again. Here are the reasons: 1. The hotels are subpar for the price we paid for this tour. Our hotel in Athens felt like a 2-star. Our hotel in Santorini has a great view, but it's just a view, no pool, etc. nearby. Our hotel in Crete is not near a beach, a 20-minute walk. 2. Too much time was wasted on travel from one location to the next (Santorini to Crete and Crete to Athens). 3. Four nights in Santorini with two children is overkill since there is not much to do other than take photos, hike, and that's basically it. 4. Some of the tours are okay but nothing special, i.e., the hiking tour in Crete where they call the "little forest" is merely just for the name. It has nothing to do with the tour guides. All tour guides are great. However, we feel the tour company is crafting ordinary tours, labels it special, and calls it private. 5. In Delphi, we could have had more time to look around after the two hours. If any of the tours were great, it was the tours we had in Athens and Delphi. If we had known this type of tour we received, we could have done an all-inclusive resort in Greece and done our own without having to go through Zicasso and the tour company.

Hello, Zicasso and our travel company. We cannot say enough good things about our trip to Greece and the excellent service from you!

Our travel agent was our primary contact for the majority of the planning of the trip and we had excellent assistance from her team. All of them were fantastic in every way, providing us assurance that we were listened to for what we wanted. They also provided us well-informed guidance on what we did not know, but needed to make the best decisions for our trip. They were genuinely invested in us having a memorable experience with their caring tone and patience, especially being available to answer our questions, and always doing it promptly and thoroughly.

Our trip was absolutely seamless! We had a daily update the day prior via WhatsApp for the next day's agenda. All transfers were on time and courteous hosts educated us about Greece and got to know us personally. They supported us throughout the trip with restaurant recommendations and coordinating any other interests we had. For example, on our free day in Santorini, they helped us coordinate a day at the black-sand beach, which was relaxing and beautiful.

We absolutely loved Greece, from the charming streets of Chania to the deep, navy blue Aegean Sea on our day boat trip seeing all of Santorini and the bustling city of Athens, with the Acropolis and its rich history dating back to 2500 BC. And of course, the delicious fresh food wherever we were!

It was a fantastic, memorable experience for our family in a beautiful place that we will cherish. Thanks for all your team's work in making it so enjoyable and easy for our family! We will be sharing the experience we had with you with our friends, family, and co-workers, encouraging them to use your excellent services!

Thanks again.

Our travel specialist was an exceptional travel planner. I have planned many trips and my experience with her was at the top. I actually investigated working with Zicasso because I was interested in leveraging the planning of my trip as a cultural exchange with someone in-country who could provide their personal perspectives and insider tips. She delivered!

Our travel specialist had dinner with us the first night and gave us all sorts of insights on Athens and her recommendations. She also gave us her cell number and was available 24/7 for any needs we had throughout the trip. I have never had service like this. She was truly incredible and helped us navigate last-minute changes or additions flawlessly and with no stress.

She found small, family-owned hotels with lots of character for us to stay in. She organized a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Santorini to participate in all of the many festivities surrounding Greek Orthodox Easter; so many traditions and so very different than our American Easter. It was authentic, joyful, and an incredible cultural exchange in that we were welcomed wholeheartedly by the people of Santorini.

The guides she provided were locals who had deep knowledge and high academic credentials, so traveling with them was like going back to school and learning in the most amazing fully immersive manner.

Our guide in Santorini mentioned we must not miss Akrotiri on Santorini, so we made time to fit in this unexpected tour; turns out it blew our mind: an ancient Minoan city... and some say it may have been the lost city of Atlantis. The story of the town and its demise is stunning. Then, a visit to Knossos in Heraklion, Crete, with our PhD guide, a cultural anthropologist and archaeologist. She was able to share the historical perspective on the Minoan Palace of Knossos, but also the contemporary study of the subject and how the work of "pre-history" civilizations is done with limited Minoan language and documentation.

Our travel specialist planned a flawless trip of a lifetime for us, but we also made a friend in Athens. We are so very grateful.

We had a wonderful experience with our Zicasso travel specialist while planning our vacation in Greece. We had a group that consisted of two families; in total, eight people. Our travel specialist gave us recommendations based on the types of activities we wanted to do and the types of islands we were hoping to experience.

We stayed two nights in Athens, three nights on Naxos, and three nights in Santorini. The accommodations were fantastic! Every tour guide and driver was helpful and so kind.

When we wanted to add a stop in Naxos for an impromptu lunch, our guide was happy to detour and bring us to a place with the best gyros that the locals really enjoy! Everyone made us feel at home. Thank you for a beautiful trip and all the lovely memories!

Zicasso's travel company made our bucket-list trip to Greece come to life! They organised all our tours and transportation, worked with us to provide activities that were in line with our interests, and even gave detailed information on suggested itineraries for our free days.

Some highlights included the walking tour(s) of Athens, our trip to see Santorini, and the best steak I have ever had at a beach hotel in Naxos! Our only suggestion is that we went on a day tour to Delos which was self-guided. There is so much history there though that a guided tour would have been helpful. I would definitely recommend booking your tour with them!