Personalized trips to Turkey
for independent travelers

KimKim travel and their local specialist Burcu helped me make the most of my short time in Istanbul. They crafted an itinerary that combined traditional sight seeing with hands on experience ( mosaic lamp making, cooking class, food tour). The food tour with Bhari was outstanding. Not only did we taste local flavors he shared stories about the buildings and neighborhoods while we wandered. And unexpected bonus, everyone in the group left with tips for places to try that were in the neighborhoods they were staying. The lamp mosaic experience was also pleasant surprise and resulted in a souvenir on my desk. This is my 3rd experience with KimKim Travel. They consistently help me make the most out of my time and budget. Their support is amazing and they add that extra level of confidence while travelling knowing they are there. This trip I had to postpone, but KimKim and Burcu helped me rebook everything when I had the new dates. I can't say enough about the care they put into helping travellers get the most put out of their trips whatever the length.

Hotel Review

Dosso Dossi Hotel Old City

Well located. Easy walk to sites and restaurants. Staff is friendly. Breakfast has a lot of options.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Bosphorus & Two Continents Tour - Full Day

İstanbul

My knowledgeable guide Furkan showed me the spice market, provided a histical back drop as we toured the Bosphorus by boat and then we went to the Asian side of Istanbul including stops fir wonderful vistas. Oir lunch break even included trying a local snack.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Cooking Class in Kurtuluş, Istanbul

İstanbul

A great way to taste local flavors andtake some recipes back with you. The chefs were funny and made every step feel easy. It was interesting to see and use some special knives. And the reward at the end is a lovely meal.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Turkish Mosaic Lamp Workshop

İstanbul

The team presenting the workshop we're terrific. They explained each step of the process. They're we're lots of colors to choose from and they provided guided patterns as well. Plus they offered tea.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Day Trip to the Princes' Islands

İstanbul

On the boat ride out to the islands the guide shared a lot of history about Istanbul, the islands and various sites usable from the water. We went to 2 islands and had free time at each to explore.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Istanbul Street Food Discovery: Istiklal & Galata

Turkey

Bhari was amazing. As we wandered tasting local flavors we also learned about the neighborhoods. An amazing bonus we all left with notes about places to try in the neighborhoods where our hotels were.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Zehra was amazing. Very quick to deal with our requests and answer our questions and she kept an open dialogue with us throughout the trip ensuring we had all the contact info on all our guides and drivers.
Our guide Eda in Istanbul was very good. She showed us how to you the transit system and sent us directions for our outings on our free day.
a tip for other travellers - air flights in turkey only allow 15kg checkin whereas international is 23kg. We had to pay extra on every flight.
Pera Palace Hotel was excellent. In Cappadocia, Alan and I were in a small room much Lower Than the rest of our group and little space for our luggage. The 2 at the higher level had separate rooms with fireplaces and plenty of room. We ended up upgrading 2 level and they gave us a complimentary upgrade to be at the same level as our friends. Otherwise you had to wait for golf carts to get back and forth. The room we were given was amazing. Also the pool was heated. The hot air balloon was amazing. I would recommend it to everyone!
Our guide in Antalya, Fatih Babaoglu, wasn't sure what he was supposed to show us until I showed him our writeup. It was a long day visiting the Roman ruins which made a very late lunch.
The boat from Olympos to feithye was a disappointment, partly because it was so rough and cool we weren't really able to swim. We could barely move around the boat when it was moving. We couldn't get into Blue Lagoon. Secondly the food was not great. There was very little protein in the meals so we were hungry sooner. Very basic meals, little variety and desert really only 1 night. Also no power outlets in the cabins so my husband could not use his sleep apnea machine and had to store his insulin at the bar (making it easier for him to forget it). Cabins were extremely small and not well laid out. My husband and I had a double and single in our room so had to crawl over each other to get in and out of the bed.
Bodrum was great. The Marmara Hotel was great and the views awesome. It would have been great to have had a heated pool as it was chilly. As it was up in the mountain we needed a taxi to get back up but it wasn't too expensive.
We really needed a full day in Pamukkale . It had some amazing sites but we didn't arrive til around 1pm and had to get lunch before we toured the main attractions. We ended up taking a golf cart to see the Roman ruins (which I think might be the best way as they are really spread out). We would have liked to have gone in the Cleopatra pool as it was open again but we didn't have time and we couldn't go in the limestone laden springs as it was too slippy. It was still wonderful to see. The Richmond Pamukkale Thermal Pool was not up to the standard of the rest of the hotels on our tour. It was a very worn resort hotel and catered to huge groups. Even the dinner wasn't great - too crowded too many people and buffet style!

Hotel Reviews

Richmond Pamukkale Thermal

Denizli

it was set up for large groups of tourists. Not our style. The pool wasn't heated. lightbulb needed replace and a napkin stuffed in the smoke detector. Maintenance took a photo of it but didn't remove.

Authenticity & Character

Location

isolated.

Staff

Buffet not great.

Cleanliness & Comfort

The Marmara Bodrum Hotel

Muğla

Beautiful hotel. Beautiful views but very isolated. Pool not heated.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Isolated but taxis reasonable to get to old town.

Staff

restaurant staff slow at dinner.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Ruin Adalia

Antalya

Room was adequate.

Authenticity & Character

The Roman ruins could be viewed through glass windows on the floor.

Location

very central to Old Town.

Staff

Very accommodating even with a mix up on our tour. We had messed up but they helped us get our money back.

Cleanliness & Comfort

More options on pillows would have been nice.

Argos in Cappadocia

Nevsehir

Beautiful location but isolated!

Authenticity & Character

Omg - it was as if we were staying in caves!

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Pera Palace

Istanbul

beautiful central hotel

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Day trip to Pamukkale

Turkey

Long drive, short time for seeing the attractions of Pamukkale

Quality of Experience

drive took too long.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

very good. He suggested the golf cart so we could see it all.

Transport

didn't like limo style car!

Olympos to Fethiye Blue Cruise - Day 1

Antalya

there wasn't that much for us to see and it was too rough when we were moving and food wasn't great.

Quality of Experience

Food

No real variety. Not enough protein.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Exploring Antalya & Historical Sites

Antalya

Long walk in the hot sun!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

same comment re the limo style transportation. Half the group couldn't see.

Explore The Landmarks of Cappadocia

Cappadocia

Just amazing - all the rock formations, how the people carved them out and lived in them and the hot air balloon.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

the limo style seating was bad as 2 of our group had very long legs.

I have been very fortunate to have taken my grandchildren on 3 amazing trips through the help of KimKim and their amazing travel specialists. This trip we were just on was to Istanbul and Cappadocia. Both places we stayed in were beautiful and our accommodations were excellent thanks to Burcu, my travel specialist. She also made sure we ate well in wonderful restaurants. We couldn't ask for a better and most knowledgeable tour guide, Cengiz in Istanbul, showing us the Blue Mosque, The Topkapi Palace, the Bazaar, taking us on a Food Tour and explaining the history of each place we visited, making the trip even more enjoyable. The Turkish Bath was the hit of our tour in Istanbul as the girls absolutely loved it. We flew into Cappadocia to do the Air Balloon which was cancelled due to poor weather conditions. This did not matter as their tour in the Underground City and the Perfume making made up for it. Not only that but our accommodations in the Kayakapi Premium Cave Hotel was incredible and the sun came out for the kids to enjoy the pool and a swim before flying back to Istanbul. This trip was absolutely wonderful thanks to Burcu, our drivers, and our tour guides. I only wish we were their a few more days to enjoy this beautiful city!