Central Vietnam Coastal Vacation for Seniors

The recommended hotels were nice. All flights were well coordinated; however, travel time between regions was not well thought out; in some cases, it took 2 days to get from one itinerary destination to another. We were dropped at the wrong hotel in one instance and pre-arranged fast track service was not provided in a major airport. Tour guides and drivers were ok. Many of the tours need to be revamped; some being pointless (planting rice in mud, taking a concrete boat ride through a shallow cave, cycling through rice fields on rickety bikes), others being unhealthy (a salt rice lunch, food tours), or way too far of a drive out of the way (the Mekong Delta from Ho Chi Minh City). More guidance should have been offered in selecting the travel months so as to avoid extreme heat and smoke pollution conditions in the first 3 weeks of our 6 week trip.

We had a fantastic trip to Vietnam! Zicasso’s travel specialist put together a great itinerary, communicated well throughout the planning process, and was supportive during the trip. We would definitely use the tour company again.

We had a fabulous time in Vietnam and Cambodia. The accommodations were top-notch and the suggested activities were spot-on. We would not change anything about the trip.

Zicasso’s travel agency worked patiently with us over several months to organize a perfect four-country tour through Indochina, doing exactly what we asked, including a Khmer cooking class with a local chef.  

We were met on arrival in each county by an experienced English-speaking guide who was well-versed in the history, geography, and culture of each location, and they were just delightful people too. They took us to rural villages and through urban mazes to get a close look at the daily life of the citizens. We chatted with farmers in the field and had meals in local homes. Our agency booked amazing hotels for each stop, from an eco-lodge in the mountains of Vietnam to a spectacular seaside resort in Thailand. 

We had contact names and numbers for agency representatives in each country. They were incredibly responsive, even after hours, when we had a small medical issue. They gave us a completely seamless experience from arrival to departure, with no wasted time. Vacation time is very precious, so we prefer to work with professionals who know the area intimately and take the time to understand our objectives rather than pushing a canned itinerary.

Our trip to Northern and Central Vietnam was excellent, and we were so impressed by our Zicasso travel company. Our travel agent was extremely responsive prior to and during our trip. In the planning phase of our trip, he expertly answered all of our questions and adjusted our itinerary, as needed, promptly. During our time in Vietnam, he checked in by phone to ensure our trip was going smoothly.

We were very happy with our itinerary, the sites we visited, and all of our guides and drivers. We could tell the itinerary was planned with a lot of care and attention to detail. Just as a couple of examples, on days with longer drives, we had plenty of rest stops and opportunities to get coffee and snacks, and our guides did a great job of mixing indoor and outdoor activities to ensure we stayed as cool as possible as our trip to Vietnam was during the summer.

We'd also like to highlight the meals that were included as part of our tour. They were mostly set menus and the travel company did a wonderful job selecting each dish and taking us to restaurants with delicious food! It was a fantastic experience all-around.

Excellent trip.

For improvements, there are a couple of items.

The first tour guide in Hanoi did the minimum. He didn’t escort us through some of the exhibits and explain what we were looking at, for example, the "Hanoi Hilton." He also didn’t escort us into the airport on departure. All the other tour guides escorted us through the exhibits and brought us into the airport for check-in.

Flights in-country were middle seat and window. We expressly stated we did not want cheap seats on a 30k trip.

We wanted a cooking program one day. None of the activities met our stated expectations.