We wanted to visit Buenos Aires and Uruguay for a week in June of this year. This is my second time using Zicasso. I had an excellent experience with them for a trip to Switzerland two years ago and wanted to give them another try. I was not disappointed.
I was offered two proposals from local travel experts in South America, both of which were promising. I made the choice because our Zicasso travel specialist was personally familiar with the places I wanted to visit, so he got the nod. I identified the places I wanted to visit and the kind of experiences I wanted to have, and he turned that around with a specific itinerary in a few days, after asking some qualifying questions about hotel, location, and traveling preferences.
For the Uruguay portion of the trip, he partnered with our travel specialist, our concierge for Uruguay and guide for Colonia del Sacramento, and travel through Montevideo.
Our guide for the tour of Buenos Aires was so knowledgeable that describing her that way is quite an understatement, given her mastery of the neighborhoods and their historic, cultural, residential, and shopping aspects. But even better, she had a talent for describing what real life in Buenos Aires was like historically and now.
Our hotel in fashionable Palermo was more than comfortable, with staff inviting us to share their sandwiches and pulling up chairs for the Argentina-Austria match being watched in the lobby. Very hospitable people, which we found everywhere, actually. We did a tango night with dinner and a show that left us speechless at a cabaret in Buenos Aires. We’ve never seen such grace, athleticism, and talent so up close. Bravo!
We reached Colonia del Sacramento in Uruguay by ferry and were met there by our travel specialist for a tour (with our driver) of the colonial old city, where she explained how to tell which street or which building was built by the Portuguese or the Spanish during the contentious colonial period by looking at the stone arrangement and roof treatment. We had lunch and a lovely drive along the coast to Montevideo. Along the way, our travel specialist and our driver carefully explained how to avoid getting caught inadvertently by the prevalent speed cameras and be in compliance with local driving practices. Our hotel in Montevideo was our world-class HQ for touring the city, the beaches, and the wine country, before renting a car and driving to Punta del Este and surrounding areas.
From our hotel in Punta del Este, we could cross the road and walk along the beach for long distances. The dining staff greeted us like old friends after the first meal. The car always appeared immediately when we wanted it. The place is also rumored to throw one of the best New Year's parties in South America, but we weren’t there at the right time of year for that. Yet.
Our travel day home included a couple of hours' drive and rental car return (very easy), then boarding the ferry to Buenos Aires for a two-and-a-half-hour cruise. In Buenos Aires, we were delighted to meet up with our guide, who recommended that we spend our few hours until leaving for the airport at an excellent restaurant on the water, and then easily accommodated our need to buy some gifts for family back home. Along the way, he showed us how previous strangers can become good friends in a very small amount of time.
We saw and experienced everything we wanted to on this trip, and then some. It was well organized and scheduled, and the people were terrific. I would strongly recommend these people for traveling in South America. They really know their stuff.
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