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Travel to Paris and Lyon/Zicasso travelagency

I am planning a trip for July 2022. I will be staying in Lyon for 3 nights and Paris for 5 nights. My boyfriend and I are foodies. So we are trying to do tours and some cooking classes. Any tips, tricks and recommendations? Also had anyone use Zicasso travel agency or know anyone that used them.

Posted by
1337 posts

I was on a trip that used zicasso. They are legit. You tell them what you want and they give you the names of 2 or 3 local tourist agencies who you then contact and decide between.

Posted by
7280 posts

On several trips to Lyon, I’ve not used a travel company. But for cooking classes, look no further than Lucy Vanel, an American who’s lived in Lyon for a long time. She’s an expert taking students around the Croix Rousse Market (she knows which vendor sells the best produce, where to get the right cheese, etc.), and provides exceptional cooking classes. She loves Lyon, and is really nice too. She can even provide some great tourism advice. Her cooking classes are called Plum Lyon. https://www.plumlyon.com/

Posted by
45 posts

We used Zicasso to help us plan a trip in Italy and another in Spain. Zicasso isn't one travel agency, but will connect you with travel agencies. You answer questions on an online form that indicate what type of trip you want, where you would like to go, how much you want to spend, what your interests are, etc. Within a day or so you'll get a response from one or more travel agencies (I think it is up to 4 agents) located in the country you want to visit. If there are more than one agent responding to you, you'll need to decide which one to use. You can ask each agent any questions you like. By asking questions, you can see how comfortable you are working with that agent and whether you think they'll give you the service you're looking for. They'll suggest an itinerary, hotels, tours, guides, etc. You give them feedback on these, what you like or don't like about what they offered, and they'll adjust the plan for what you asked for. It's a back and forth process to create a trip very much tailored to your interests, how fast or slow you want to travel, etc. We were very pleased with the trips we arranged and would recommend using Zicasso. If you don't like any of the agents that contact you, you aren't obligated to use any of them.

The agents I used were American ex-pats, so they spoke English. I like having an agent in the country I'm visiting since we're in the same time zone; no waiting for hours to hear back from an agent in the U.S. On the Spain trip, our agent was in Madrid. We started out with a rental car. When we decided we wanted to turn the car in and switch to trains for the remainder of the trip, it was easily and quickly handled. The train tickets were delivered to our hotel the same day. These are higher level agents, so they wouldn't be helpful if you want to stay at inexpensive hotels, backpack around, etc. They will deliver a high level of service. Unless you speak French, a Zicasso agent in France would be very helpful for making reservations in the restaurants that require reservations weeks or months ahead.

I have a cousin who lives in Lyon now and I can't wait until we can travel again to visit her there and try out some of the Lyon area restaurants. Good luck and have fun!
Cynthia

Posted by
334 posts

Cyn’s recommendation of Plum Lyon is an excellent one. We even stayed in their AirBB apartment.

In Paris I recommend La Cuisine (near Hotel de Ville) and CooknWithClass-Paris. Both teach classes in English.