Azores Islands Travel Agents & Reviews

This is my fourth trip booked with Zicasso, not only do I recommend them but I would not hesitate to use them again. The travel agents they use are excellent. They listen and craft the prefect trip. The service and follow up is exceptional.It was a pleasure dealing with the travel agency from beginning to end. Haley was wonderful to deal with. She listened to what we wanted and put the perfect trip together. All the guides and drivers were top notch. She made our travels care free. 

Our trip was perfect! Mariana from the travel agency provided us with extraordinary service and expertise. We decided early on that we wanted to experience as much of Portugal as we could during a two week stay. That meant visiting different areas of the country, which made creating an itinerary a challenging task. We started in Lisbon, then headed to the Algarve, to the Azores, to Porto, and then finishing back in Lisbon...with many stops along the way. Mariana set us up with excellent hotel accommodations and restaurants, excellent transportation, superb guides throughout,  and activities that suited us perfectly.Mariana's attention to detail was exemplary, and she worked very hard to accommodate our unique requests. Our communications with her couldn't have been better...when we needed her she was there for us in a timely way. I can't say enough about Mariana. She epitomizes what a travel consultant should be.

We were exceptionally satisfied to work with Mr. Jorge from the travel agency.  He spent a great deal of time with us prior to the trip in order to get to know us by phone and in writing.  He did not try to fit us into a one size fits all package.  Instead, he attentively listened to our preferences and got a sense of our personas.  In so doing he designed our personalized dream vacation.  He made sure that our special needs were met. He provided us with first class guides, hotels and transportation.Whenever we needed to speak with him during our trip, he was available to us and responded with patients, grace and humor.  Mr. Jorge went beyond his usual services and arranged a vegetarian meal for our flight as well as to reserve a wheelchair for me.  He was even able to intervene on our behalf at the Madrid airport when we arrived and could not get a wheelchair that was specifically reserved for me.It has been a great pleasure for us to work with Mr. Jorge.  Thank you Ziscasso for recommending this travel agency.Sincerely,  Henie Kurzman 

Zicasso put us in touch with Filomena at the travel agency. The whole experience was fantastic! I'm a hands on vacation planner so in the months leading up to the trip, Filomena and I had multiple conversations and email communications. She really listened to what we wanted and used her expert knowledge to guide us into a trip better than we imagined. Filomena and her business partner George met us at the airport. That kind of personal attention was symbolic of the entire trip, including on the fly text messages to anticipate issues or make recommendations for changes based on local conditions. We couldn't be happier, and I've already told friends about their service.In anticipation of crowds and in consideration of us being foodies, Filomena also made multiple restaurant recommendations which all turned out to be fantastic. Every detail was attended to. When rare minor issues arose, Filomena either anticipated them and dealt with them quickly. The guides that they used were all top notch, knowledgeable and adaptable to our desired activities.The connections were seamless and therefore zero stress. 

The travel agency was easy to work with.  Our US contact, Brianna, connected initially with a phone call which allowed for a more personalized itinerary and made discussing adjustments very easy.  The special excursions that the agency was able to create for us were the highlights of the trip.  Portugal is beautiful with amazing food, wine and scenery.  However, it was the unique access to talk directly with wine makers, tour rural vineyard with small group lunch and conversation followed by a property tour that really allowed for immersion into the uniqueness of Portugal.  There local guides know how to maneuver an ever increasingly busy tourist season and find ways to make your time used efficiently.  Every guide was knowledgeable, personable and added so much to our trip.The accommodations that the travel company chose, the local guides they worked with, and the travel suggestions - like restaurants, shopping and travel tips - really made it like traveling with family support.  They continually provided contacts in case there was any need to discuss issues.  Having the guides who took over managing the logistics made it a true vacation for us.  We loved it and can't say enough about how the travel agency and their contacts made the trip so memorable.I would highly recommend them!

The travel agency was fantastic.  The price was reasonable, as was the cancellation policy.  The same was not true for the other travel company that we talked to.  We did our travel planning with Jose, who was very responsive and a pleasure to work with.  We wanted to customize our tour to emphasize history and architecture, and not beaches, and he was very accommodating.  We started in Lisbon and met our guide, who was terrific.  He was very knowledgeable and pleasant, with a good sense of humor, and he went out of his way to take great care of us.  Many of the places we went were very hilly, with uneven sidewalks, and he would sometimes bring the car to us rather than having us trudge up another big hill.  In Lisbon we did one day for a city tour, one day for the palaces in Sintra, and one day on our own.  We then drove to Porto, stopping in Obidos, Tomar, and Coimbra.  We had requested Obidos as a stop based on what we had read but found it to be touristy and not that interesting.  In Porto we repeated the pattern: one day of city touring, one day in the Douro Valley, and one day on our own.  We booked the hotels on our own, and the company provided transportation to and from the airports.

Overall, we were completely satisfied with our travel experience to southern Spain and with Zicasso. In truth, our expectations were surpassed exceedingly. Certainly the towns and sites we visited were amazing. More importantly, we felt that the experience was thoughtfully planned according to our shared needs and expectations. We felt the experience was crafted specifically for us. Everything transitioned smoothly. We were at times challenged to do some significant walking but not so much that it was burdensome. On the contrary, we commented on how much we enjoyed getting to know people and places through our walks and also how strong we felt our legs had gotten, especially walking in the Al-Bayzin neighborhood of Granada. We discovered different restaurants and shops, as well as the unique Andalusian personalities inside them: What a delight that was! We felt accompanied when Marta would send us messages along the way to update us on changes in schedule or when our train encountered some onboard but manageable problems. All in all, this was the best vacation and trip we have ever had during out almost 46 years of marriage. Thank you, Marta and all the staff at the travel agency and Zicasso!

Our family of 10, ages 20-80, recently spent a wonderful 12 days in Portugal.  I initially contacted Zicasso - a travel company I have used successfully in the past- to recommend a travel agency in Portugal to customize our trip.  The advantage to using Zicasso is that after requesting information as to where and what type of trip the client is interested in, they put the client in direct touch with a local agency.  In this case, Zicasso considered our requests and needs and recommended 2 agencies in Portugal. After some correspondence with both, I chose this travel company, based in Porto, Portugal.  I worked with Nuno, who planned a perfect trip for our family.  We travelled from Porto to Lisbon to the Algarve with private drivers and transportation.  The drivers and guides at each destination were excellent - knowledgeable and fun.  Nuno was responsive to all our needs and requests and planned many special surprises for us along the way.  I highly recommend Zicasso as a starting point to planning any travel and, in this case this travel company and Nuno for a special and splendid trip to Portugal.