Barcelona, Madrid, and Lisbon Tours

My travel specialist planned an absolutely wonderful trip for my daughter and myself. I had already planned an eclipse viewing on my own two years ago so I consulted with Zicasso which led me to a specialist to help plan the rest of our trip. She picked up right after the eclipse for us.

We had a few days in Madrid where we had a great guide to the Prado. The parks in Madrid are beautiful and we had plenty of time to explore. Our day trip to Segovia was so interesting. An easy excursion by train and another great guided tour. Finally, we spent five days in Barcelona with a day trip to Montserrat.

She completely understood the pace I wanted for the trip. She found absolutely delightful guides, all private tours. The hotels she chose were beautiful, clean, and had wonderful breakfasts. She directed us to great restaurants and also provided info on many other churches, markets, and parks to explore.

My daughter and I will definitely be heading back to Spain. We would love to explore more and we enjoyed the friendly people so much. Without a doubt, we will ask for her expertise in guiding our next trip to Spain!

Good afternoon,

We are reaching out regarding a review request for our recent trip. Recently, we booked a 10-day trip to Portugal through Zicasso. This is our third trip booked through Zicasso, and we chose Zicasso because the previous two trips were fantastic; they were well organized, and we had very enjoyable experiences in two countries we had never visited. The previous agents built our itinerary based on their vast knowledge of the country, confirmed all logistics, were communicative, and provided us with a great and luxurious experience in line with the cost. 

Unfortunately, we cannot say the same about our recent experience with this travel company. We approached the collaboration with the travel company and agent similarly to our past two vacations. Based on the provided itinerary and our conversations with the travel agent, we understood, as before, that the itinerary items that required guides, reservations, and transport details had been worked out with the respective parties. However, on our trip, there were many miscommunications between the agency, ourselves, and our guides and drivers. The itinerary listed many places we thought we would be shown on the tours, but in reality, we did not visit many of them, they were just listed as options for us to explore ourselves, which was unclear from how the itinerary was initially presented to us in the planning stage. When the tours started, the tour guides were often asking us what we would like to see instead of having a list of stops to take us to. As this was our first trip to Portugal, we were not informed enough to provide that input and did not expect to have to do so. The guides were very good, they were knowledgeable, often kind, and tried to help us, but it was clear that they had also not received proper communication from our travel agent, which was upsetting and made the experience feel very disorganized. Additionally, the private transport drivers were not clear as to where they were taking us, again due to miscommunication from the travel agency. For example, when we traveled from Lisbon to Porto, as per the itinerary, we were supposed to stop at Obidos and Coimbra along the way for specific sightseeing and tours. Our driver was not aware that we were meant to make those two stops along the way. Luckily for us, we found out the previous day that the same driver would be taking us to Porto, and our guide worked with him to figure out the stops and timings for our scheduled activities on that trip. However, it was stressful to learn that our driver was not aware that we had a stop at Obidos, he did not know that we were going to have a tour guide in Coimbra who he had to coordinate with regarding pickup and drop-off. Additionally, we were meant to have lunch at a restaurant where the agent was supposed to have made a lunch reservation. However, when we went there, they had no reservation on record but they were nice enough to accommodate us. As this was happening and we reached out to our travel agent to request that she communicate with the driver, we just received a text message back saying that the driver was already aware, which was clearly not the case.

In the Azores, because of the weather, our whale tour was cancelled, which we completely understand due to safety, but we still had a jeep tour portion of the excursion. The guide for this jeep tour did not provide a good experience at all. He did not stop at a lot of viewpoints though we saw other jeep tours stopping at them, and he spent a lot of the trip complaining about tourists. The jeep ride was very uncomfortable as they made several of us sit in the back rear facing seats, even though we had specifically mentioned to the agent during planning that my mother is 70 years old and cannot easily climb in and out of some of these types of vehicles. As part of the itinerary for this day, a lunch was also included but the tour guide was not aware of it, and when he learned about it, he said he could not arrange the lunch because he needed to go to his next tour. We ultimately left and had lunch on our own. When planning, our agent said that although this was a jeep tour it would be comfortable and that the tour the next day would be in a minivan. However, the next tour was also in a jeep. The tour guide was very good but the ride was uncomfortable, and again did not accommodate the mobility issues we had identified with our agent previously. 

On the last day, we were supposed to be picked up for our transport to the airport for our flight home. The driver did not show up and the hotel staff tried to help us by calling the travel company’s emergency number. It was surprising that instead of helping us they were being very rude to the hotel staff who were actually going out of their way to help us. We found out that the agency communicated the wrong time to the pick-up driver and finally the hotel arranged for a taxi to take us to the airport, otherwise we would have been late for our return flight. 

Overall, the trip was not on par with the level of quality we have come to expect from a Zicasso identified travel agency. In addition to the general logistical issues we experienced, the agent never checked on us at any time to see if all was well. Whenever we had a question and we reached out to her, we received unclear responses via text, and nothing further. We wanted to provide this feedback as we know Zicasso takes pride in providing luxury travel experiences to their customers, and we have experienced that first hand in previous trips. As return customers, I would not recommend this agent/company to anyone who wants a Zicasso experience.

 Sincerely,

Jyotsna R.

I didn't understand the relationship between Zicasso and its travel company, and it took me a while to get the triangular reporting scheme. It was easier for me to reach out to someone directly, but we managed.

The people at the travel company were very accommodating. However, I learned a lot about my own travel preferences through this trip. We spent four days in Porto, the first being arrival from the US via Lisbon, so we did not do any touring that day. We only had half a day to explore on our own given the activities that were planned for us. I would like to have had more downtime in Porto to get to know the city.

The foodie tour that we took was fabulous. Our guide took us on a very personal tour, introducing us to her favorites and including all the things we wanted to achieve. Please send her our regards and personal thanks.

We spent a day in Vinho Verde. As the harvest had been completed the day before we arrived, the experience felt contrived. We could easily have skipped this.

The Douro Valley exploration was more interesting to us. We visited two wineries, the second of which was more special, so we enjoyed the tasting more thoroughly. Again, the guide was delightful!

We took a train back to Lisbon feeling like we had missed much of Porto. As we expressed interest in Jewish history, we booked our first morning tour through a tour booking platform to supplement what the travel company provided. While they said their guides would be knowledgeable in this area, there was no guide that provided that background.

Our train ride to Lisbon ended in a surprise. We were about to descend the stairs to the Oriente platform when the doors closed suddenly and the train left. Fortunately, the next stop was not far and we were able to turn ourselves around and return to our awaiting driver.

Our day in Sintra and Cascais was disappointing. We drove to Cascais and had 25 minutes to explore. We then continued to Sintra. We were not sure what access we were provided, but another couple had full access and their admittance was for 12:00, so we had to be there by then. While it is a spectacular site, it was way too crowded to see anything, and a guided tour of the site would have been desirable.

We were able to include a visit to an estate due to a working relationship that exists with them. They have cork forests on their property, so there was no reason to visit Évora for that purpose.

All in all, the drivers and guides we were given were thoughtful, professional, helpful, and concerned… always helping us with doors, luggage, footing. Having them immediately available was extremely useful. On the other hand, we learned that we were not as interested in camp for adults, where all of our activities were planned for us, as we were in learning and feeling the culture and spirit of the country. The country is beautiful and its people quite warm and friendly.

Special thanks to our travel coordinator for picking up the pieces of our trip and finalizing the details for us.

Our trip was fantastic. The guides were excellent. The Madrid wine tour guide was excellent, our guide for the walking tour of Barcelona was excellent, our guide for the walking tour of Madrid city was excellent, and our guide for Tarragona and Sitges was excellent. We were so pleased with all the tours that I will not change anything for our next trip with you guys. I appreciate your company and the way you handle things. Zicasso’s travel specialist was so helpful. Thank you so much. I can't wait to do this all over again.

A month later and we are still reminiscing over the amazing family vacation we had to Barcelona and Costa Brava. The unique sights, tour experts, delicious foods, cozy accommodations... none of this would have happened (quite literally) without Zicasso’s travel specialist.

Our vacation started with multiple flight delays and interruptions that delayed the start of our trip by nearly three days. Our travel specialist was in constant communication with us as she simultaneously helped reschedule our tour details and accommodations. All the while, she was always optimistic and genuinely happy to help us. I cannot express my appreciation for our travel specialist's help managing our schedule in Spain so I did not have to worry about those details while we worked to get our family's stressful travel situation resolved.

Our accommodations for myself, my husband, and our two teenagers were wonderful. Our travel specialist managed to find us a boutique hotel experience that fit well for our teenagers and ourselves. Every detail was turnkey and if we had questions, our travel specialist was quick to respond.

A few highlights of the trip:

Sagrada Família: We booked these tickets months in advance and missed our tour due to the flight delays. Our travel specialist managed against all odds to get us tickets and book us with the most incredible guide. If you are traveling to Barcelona, this is an absolute must-see. Stunningly beautiful. See as many Gaudí attractions as you can. There is nothing like his work and artistry.

Cadaqués day trip: If we return, I would definitely spend more time in this beautiful coastal town. Our guide grew up in the area and was very knowledgeable. We had a driver as well, which worked great, so we could relax and take in the scenic views. Salvador Dalí's home is also worth the visit! On our return, we stopped in Figueres to peruse the Dalí Museum which, all four of us greatly enjoyed.

On our last day, we went sailing, which was a first for us. Our captain was friendly and knowledgeable of the area. Our travel specialist organized a picnic for us, which was delicious. I'm still thinking about the gazpacho! We stopped at multiple locations to snorkel and use the paddle board.

Although our travels started out a bit rough, I am so glad we went and had the unforgettable experiences that we did. Thank you to the travel company and specifically our travel specialist! We are truly grateful for all the time and effort you put into making our family vacation so special.

Our travel specialist and his team were superb in every aspect of the trip planning and execution. First, our specialist is exceptionally knowledgeable. He knows Barcelona and the surrounding areas, and was able to make recommendations for the trip that allowed us to really experience the area as fully as possible within the eight days we were there.

Second, he responds quickly to communications, and always provides helpful information or suggestions. He makes it a policy to be available by text, email, or phone when he has clients on his trips. And indeed, since the Pope came to visit during our trip, and we were uncertain how it would affect our plans, we appreciated being able to reach him so easily.

Third, he really listened to our interests and needs, and customized the trip accordingly. We had some special requests and needs, and he incorporated those issues into the trip planning. He communicated with us throughout the planning process to discuss those requests and needs and how they fit into the plan for the trip.

Fourth, our specialist is a very kind and compassionate person. We needed to reschedule our trip at the last minute due to the serious illness of a family member. Our second attempt also led to a rescheduling due to my travel partner's back problems. Our specialist was patient and understanding. Fortunately, we made it to Barcelona on the third try! We are very grateful to him for his kindness throughout the process.

Fifth, the partners our specialist hired to serve as tour guides and so on were all excellent. He also timed things very well, such as on the day when we took trains to travel to Girona and Figueres. Everything proceeded perfectly, without a glitch. I cannot remember another trip that I took in which everything proceeded so perfectly. While things like the weather and lack of issues with the airlines were not under our specialist's control, everything that was under his control was also perfect. Thank you!