Personalized trips to Austria
for independent travelers

We arrived at Avellera through Kim Kim, a platform we have used a few times now. We were immediately partnered with Clemens and his team who were very responsive every step of the way.

The communication during the planning phase was excellent, and my questions were typically answered within hours, or over night, as I am in North America. The responses were professional and detailed. An initial Zoom meeting with Clemens also helped, as it puts a face to the communication and personality that made me feel comfortable that he cared about our trip.

After two Zoom meetings and around 7 or 8 different versions, we set out on our trip.

We stayed in 5 different hotels during the 12/13 day trip. Each one had a different personality and if I was planning the trip myself, I would have never found them, or been comfortable enough with the area (since I knew nothing about Austria) to book myself.

This is perhaps the biggest benefit. When using a travel agent, my goal is to save time and have a fantastic experience and make zero decisions. I knew nothing about Austria when setting out, so I wouldn't know one area from the next. You pay for this - the trip was not cheap - but for us, it was worth it and we knew that going in. If you could fix your own teeth, you wouldn't need a dentist. But we all need dentists and pay accordingly. This is not different.

A BBQ high in the hills in Obergail complete with accordion player and his family follows by the most magnificent hike with views that will fill your camera, is something I would have never found on my own.

Breakfast in Austria (at one of the most jaw dropping and insane hotels we have ever stayed at), lunch in Italy and zip lining in Slovenia - all in the same day - is something else we never would have found.

Tour guides, who were all mostly some of the nicest and friendly and excited to show us their country is something else we never would have found. When a tour guide doesn't look at their watch the entire day and even towards the end of the day asks "would you like to go see that?" means alot to us.

When we show up at a hotel and they say "your tour guide called us 10 times with questions" that is a WOW moment for me, since it showed that the team at Avellera truly cared about us and making sure all would be to our satisfaction.

Planning and executing a trip is never perfect. There are always things that come up and hiccups along the way. How a company handles this is what sets the tone and decides whether we would recommend them and use them again.

When we arrived in St Gilgen, it was late, we were hungry and we didn't realize restaurants close at 8 or so. There was one shower for the 4 of us and we didn't have the code to access our hotel and there was no air-conditioning. (Ironically this ended up being one of our favourite hotels of the trip, as simple as it was). Naturally I was "less then friendly" in my What's App messages to the team. I was pretty upset. The response from Avellera (looking back when i had a clear head finally) was a lesson in customer service. They apologized profusely, called around to many restaurants in the area to ensure we would have somewhere great to go (our second best dinner of the trip) and never, at any point treated me like I was treating them. They put the customer first and solved the problem.

The next day we had a professional report delivered to us with ALL future dinners reserved at the best restaurants in the area. It was very impressive. Days later we also had the codes we needed to check in to the hotel in Obergail a day in advance. Another very nice touch and showed that they were listening to my complaints from the day before.

On another location, our guide was very poor for a long full day hike. I'll spare the details, but he couldn't have tried harder to show how disinterested he was in taking care of us on a very difficult (but spectacular full day hike). Avellera sprung into action and they are working even now (after we are home) to make it right. Dealings with the guide were poor but Avellera was clearly on our side.

Overall, there were a couple of things from the itinerary that we would change, but that happens with every trip we've had planned for us, but this truly was an exceptional trip to Austria and we would enthusiastically recommend Avellera to anyone considering using them. The team will take care of you and plan a trip of a lifetime.

We really enjoyed our entire trip, including little things like inner courtyard rooms in Vienna vs outside room (much quieter), curated tours (touring a cheese making farm with our family only-which meant interacting with the owner/farmer himself vs a tour guide), and access to Sara for a few specialized items (she expertly directed us to a laundry service in Vienna). Thank you!

Hotel Reviews

Hotel Center

Bohinj

Excellent location close to the lake. Accommodations are pretty basic, with nice breakfast buffet and attached pizza/italian restaurant

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Urban Hotel Ljubljana Center

Ljubljana

Authenticity & Character

Location

Easy walk to town center, quiet and easy access to busses.

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

🧀 Taste & Traditions: A Genuine Visit to Tourist Farm Gartner in Bohinj

Austria

Private, detailed tour of how cheese is made with visit to tasting room to enjoy the various cheeses made on his farm. Amazing.

Quality of Experience

Transport

Directions here were difficult. More details provided would be helpful.

🥾 Bohinj to Triglav Lakes Hut — Alpine Classic Day Hike

Austria

We modified this to start at Blato instead so that we could enjoy some alpine meadows. This hike was a trip highlight.

Quality of Experience

We took two granddaughters with us to Hungary and Austria (girls were 12 and 16). Our trip included four cities: Budapest, Graz (Austria), Salzburg, and Vienna. The planning was stellar, with tours and events that each of us loved. The guides in each city were excellent. Of special note: in Budapest: Zoltan Bosnyak went out of his way to show us where scenes from "Gloomy Sunday" were filmed. In Salzburg: Ben Aouicha took great care of us, and became like family. We even took a picture with him, and he texted to ask us how we liked Vienna (where we went after Salzburg). In Vienna: Roland Zucker was incredibly knowledgable, and took us on the "Third Man" tour. He was able to explain all about the Habsburg dynasty and who was who in the lineage. kimkim support was excellent. The few times that something was unclear, or a small problem arose, they responded immediately and made it right. We would recommend kimkim for anyone looking for a special vacation, with fine hotels, great sightseeing, and fun special events. Highlights included: dinner boat tour on the Danube in Budapest, dinner concert of Mozart's operas in Salzburg, Vivaldi concert in Vienna, and adequate time for the Prater Amusement Park in Vienna.

Activity Reviews

Discover Culinary Diversity @ Naschmark Food Tour

Vienna

Perfect for "Foodies". The tour gave us a chance to see and taste lots of international specialties, dried fruit, nuts, spices, falafel, cold cuts. We didn't need any lunch after this tour.

Evening Cruise and Dinner with Champagne

Budapest

This may have been our favorite event. The food on the cruise was excellent, and floating down the river was delightful. It was spectacularly beautiful as it got dark, and the lights on the buildings were turned on. Just magical. And we had great weather for this tour.

Private Guided Visit — Austrian National Library (State Hall)

Vienna

This is the most beautiful library. Our guide, Roland Zucker, knew everything, like who were depicted in each statute, and the ceiling frescoes, he pointed out the coats of arms. He also described how the library came into being, and the ages of the books. I would highly recommend this visit. It is really an amazing experience.

Half day Retro museum + Palatinus Baths Margaret Island

Budapest

The Retro museum was fun. I was not prepared for the baths, and we didn't really have enough time, since there was a long walk to get to and from the baths. Lunch options were poor, and took time away from the baths themselves. I didn't realize until too late that the different pools were different temperatures, so I didn't make full use of the experience. More preparatory information would have helped.

“The Third Man” Filming Locations Tour

Vienna

Our guide, Roland Zucker, had an annotated book of the Third Man, and he showed us filming locations all over central Vienna. We did a lot of walking. Very interesting.

🎬 The Sound of Music: Private Salzburg Experience 🎶

Salzburg

Our guide, Ben Aouicha, was very personable, and very knowledgable. He showed us the locations, and where the best camera angles were. His driving was careful and competent.