South Island Romance Tour: New Zealand’s Intimate Excellence

The organization was perfect! I especially liked all the excursions and the special chauffeurs who picked us up at the airports.

All four of us who traveled to Australia and New Zealand this fall agree that Zicasso’s travel specialist did a fantastic job assisting us with planning and the actual trip itself. She listened to our itinerary, wants and desires, as well as the time constraints and budget. And while we did spend quite a bit more than what we originally intended, we had the trip of a lifetime. We are all completely satisfied with our journey, as organized by the travel specialist.

From planning to execution, Zicasso’s travel specialist was fantastic. They were very responsive through the app while we were on the trip. They were extremely helpful in helping us recover our passports that we forgot in one of the hotel safes.

Our trip was incredible. Zicasso’s tour operator was fantastic in planning and executing this special trip. We were in New Zealand for almost nine weeks.

Twice during our travel, we were able to get instant help to adjust our travel schedule, once because we wanted more time in one place and later to accommodate for being sick for a week.

Our trip involved 20 different hotels, inns, and guest houses, while experiencing boats, trains, and car driving to navigate both islands. The tour operator helped to arrange about 50 different events for us and then we added in many more ourselves before we left.

It has been almost a year since we traveled (Feb-Apr 2025). We have praised the tour operator (and Zicasso) to all our friends for its incredible attention to details and help anticipating all contingencies. The app for the trip was incredible in supporting the travel and collecting all the details of the arrangements comfortably in one place on our cell phones. We drove more than 2,000 miles during our trip and used Google Maps continually to navigate everywhere.

All our accommodations were comfortable. We carefully planned our packing to match the temperatures predicted for each location. We each traveled with a carry-on suitcase and a small backpack, and had everything we needed.

What helped with our planning was that we actually rehearsed the trip for several nights two months before we left and pre-planned special dinner reservations.

This was our second trip organized through Zicasso and both trips were great. In retrospect, we might have changed a few things, but by an overwhelming margin, the trip was great. Interesting tours, knowledgeable guides, nice hotels.

It was so easy to work with Zicasso’s travel designer and the travel company. After her phone call, she worked up the trip of a lifetime. It was just perfect for us.

As we traveled, if there were any changes, we were alerted in a timely fashion. We were notified of delayed departures and possible cancellations. The only cancellation was quickly rescheduled as per our preferred time. No worries! We just have to check about two cancellations that were weather-related and how we get reimbursed for those expenses. Those cancellations were understandable and not the end of the world. We will be in contact with the travel designer to find out about those and know it will be an easy process, like everything else has been.

We will, and have, recommended this process to friends who want to visit New Zealand.