Southeast Asia Travel Agents & Reviews

We really enjoyed working with Zicasso’s tour company to plan the trip. Our agent took into account our research and made suggestions/recommendations that enhanced the itinerary. We spent 11 days visiting Vietnam (HCMC, Hi An, Hanoi, Pù Luông, Ninh Bình, and Lan Ha Bay). It was an ambitious agenda that was executed without a hitch.

The internal flights were arranged so we did not feel rushed (our guides walked us into the airport, helped us check in our bags, and stayed until we made it to security). Our driver during the latter half of the trip was extremely professional and kept an immaculate car, making sure we had water and whatever we needed during the multi-hour drives.

Some of our guides could have been more knowledgeable, but my husband is a history buff and we tend to like a lot of in-depth information. The exception was our guide in Hanoi (and for the rest of the trip). He was fantastic and we were delighted that we had such a high-quality guide during the parts of our trip we had to rely on a guide the most. We were a bit taken aback that we had two guides for certain activities, but at the end of the day, we did not feel it was extraneous.

The hotel selection was up to our standards. It was a mix of standard rooms in five-star luxury hotels and spectacular rooms in Pù Luông and on our Ha Long Bay cruise.

Working with our Zicasso travel agent to plan our amazing trip to Thailand was a delight. We told him what our general ideas were (natural world and historic sites), and he proposed three appropriate itineraries. We picked the one that most interested us, then he modified it to meet our specific desires. He was readily available and very responsive to my communication, in spite of the time difference between the US and England.

For each component of our trip, our agent found absolutely amazing guides, including guides for birding, touring an elephant sanctuary, kayaking, and a cooking school. One of our last-minute requests was to have a bilingual guide with us for the entire trip. Our agent hired an amazing young man who was very knowledgeable about Thailand and educated us while helping us navigate a country with a language and alphabet that was baffling. He guided us through temples, shopping districts, menus, and transportation. He became one of the family by the end of our week together.

The trip was amazing, the accommodations were luxurious and unique, and the activities our agent planned were just what we wanted. We would not have changed a thing.

We need to thank Zicasso, because without them, we never would have discovered such a wonderful trip planner out of England. They were fantastic.

The level of communication was stellar. Both of Zicasso's travel agents listened to our requests and provided an itinerary that balanced culture, nature, golf, food, and leisure.

This was an amazing, easy, patient, and understanding booking and tour guide process from start to finish!

Due to my job, I am not always able to check my personal email in a timely fashion and so communication was choppy on my end, but my Zicasso travel consultant was patient, kind, and understanding.

He booked tours I was interested in and made many suggestions to ensure my trip would be an ultimate success. There were even a couple of times that I asked for a late check-out or a booking for a flight between the islands that wasn't already planned for and he accommodated my requests easily.

From start to finish (and during our journey), the director of sales at Zicasso’s travel agency delivered superb service.

We are two married couples, best friends for over 40 years, with diverse interests, tastes, and requirements, who have done several journeys (at least four to give) together with Zicasso vendors. We have always felt our selected travel vendors performed at and beyond expectations, and this 15-day Southeast Asia adventure (Vietnam and Thailand) did not disappoint.

Nine months before our trip, our travel agent agreed to a phone video conference with all of us and invested at least an hour in attentively listening to our expectations while making insightful comments, including some about regions to avoid (weather-related), as well as hidden gems not to be missed. We advised him that four- to five-star accommodations were essential, as well as private drivers and guides who could be flexible in real time. It's always our experience that the time allotted at various sights can be inadequate or overkill, and improvisation, either staying longer or exiting sooner, with an alternate plan, would be essential. Our accommodations were always excellent, as were our guides and drivers.

The pacing of the trip was rigorous, but that was because we had such a long "bucket list." None of my degree of absolute satisfaction should surprise previous Zicasso clients. Their claim to carefully vet travel vendors is genuine and well-founded, and ours was such a worthy vendor.

Here are the points I want prospective clients to embrace:

You could plan your own trip (and probably save some money), but likely make a lot of missteps and suffer many inefficiencies in a region of the world where you do not speak the language. We chose not to risk that, and whatever premium we might have paid was well worth it.

Unbeknownst to us, torrential rains and flooding occurred just as we were about to visit a particular city (Chiang Mai, Thailand). Our agent tracked us down at lunch, gave us the bad news, and even brought a video on his iPad to show the destruction and chaos. He had already taken the liberty to cancel plane flights, drivers, and hotels, and had ready alternative plans. Chiang Mai is known for its elephant sanctuary, and without missing a beat, he reserved a tour in a different region of Thailand at an equally suitable elephant sanctuary, and backed it up with a visit to the town/railroad made famous by the classic 1950s film, Bridge Over the River Kwai. That was a great initiative on his part. When we pointed out to him that the rain and flood were not his fault and any financial loss he might suffer from the unexpected and sudden change in plans should go on our bill, he would have none of it, stating that was not his concern, but salvaging our trip was his only endeavor. There are lots of vendors who can accomplish a canned trip or, in our case, a highly customized one, but it's the rare travel vendor who personally steps up and exhibits great initiative when the wheels start to come off the cart. All credit to our agent and his company.

At our initial interview, we made it clear to him that one of us is severely allergic to shrimp and even a misplaced utensil in a buffet tray could be dangerous. Every guide we had, every restaurant we went to, had been put on advance notice by our agent and, without even asking, we were reassured that our request to avoid shrimp was being carefully honored.

We had a great trip to Japan with this Zicasso travel company. We booked pretty late, so there wasn’t great flexibility in creating the itinerary, but the locations and activities chosen were excellent. The guides were professional and organized, and the transfers and other arrangements were pretty flawless.

We could have used more downtime/fewer guided hours on a long, two-week trip. Despite the internet hype, Japan is not hard to navigate, especially once you’re in country and can ask for help from your hotels. We didn’t need as much handholding (a person at the airport, a person to take us to the train station, etc). The experiences were excellent, though perhaps pricier than necessary.

All in all, it was a great trip that required little thinking on our part.

After returning home from a month-long trip to Asia, I am still wowed by the service provided by the travel agency and our guides in Vietnam. Since this was our first visit to the country, I reached out to the agency for itinerary recommendations, and thankfully, I was connected with Albee. She was incredibly responsive before and during our trip, and she paired us with such knowledgeable and hospitable guides.

Our first guide during the trip hosted us in Hanoi and SaPa. We opted to stay a bit more off the beaten path at an ecolodge which we can highly recommend, which is about 30 minutes away from the SaPa village center. We let our guide know we were interested in learning more about the local culture and exploring the countryside, and wow, he delivered! 

We went on the most memorable hike through the rice terraces and stopped to chat with several villagers along the way. He knew everyone. On top of that, he taught us about local flora and customs while on the hike and then the bike ride. We are already looking forward to returning to the North and further exploring the Vietnam/China border, but only if we can do it with him! The mountains were truly the highlight of our trip, and it wouldn't have been possible without him as our guide. If you are lucky enough to add SaPa to your itinerary, do yourself a favor and request him.

Our guide in Saigon, which was the last leg of our Vietnam trip, was so accommodating to our changing needs. After a couple of weeks of travel, we arrived in Saigon wanting a more relaxing pace. She seamlessly made alternate arrangements for us that were a perfect end to the trip. The most hospitable moment from our entire trip to Asia came when we expressed an interest in visiting a local family. She immediately suggested that she and her family host us for lunch at their home in the Mekong Delta the next afternoon. This was such an unexpected yet memorable end to our time in Vietnam. Our guide’s and her family's hospitality were unmatched, and we were so fortunate to have her as our guide.

We really enjoyed our experience with Zicasso’s travel company. The agents and team curated an amazing itinerary all over Thailand for my family (including two girls aged 11 and eight). The private transfers and tours were amazing, the hotels they picked were fantastic, and while not all were five-star resorts, where we did have them, it was truly a treat for us all. 

I will not hesitate to recommend this company and Zicasso to friends and family going forward.  Already, so many people have asked for our itinerary!  We are so happy we took the leap to do this adventure with our girls, a truly once-in-a-lifetime experience!