Kimkim Trip Reviews for Vietnam

Our 13 day experience starting in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), followed by a day trip to the Mekong Delta and Ben Tre, then on to Hoi An with an add on cruise to Ha Long Bay, and finally Hanoi was nothing short of amazing!!! The accommodations were all very upscale with friendly staff and great buffet breakfasts! Every tour was well planned and informative! All of the tour guides spoke excellent English and went out of their way to make our experiences meaningful and special! The drivers did not usually speak much if any English, but were well versed in how to navigate all types of traffic without any mishaps. Our contact at Kim Kim and the tour guides kept in constant contact with us so that we always knew the daily schedule. We had enough "free time" in each of the areas to explore the sights and sounds on our own. We can't say enough positive things about the entire adventure!! My youngest son and I will forever be grateful for this trip of a lifetime!!!

Hotel Reviews

Au Lac Charner Hotel

Great location in Saigon. Well appointed with friendly staff and great buffet breakfast.

Authenticity & Character

Beautiful lobby setting.

Location

Very close to many cultural sights.

Staff

Everyone was most helpful.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Room and bathroom were spotless.

La Siesta Hoi An Resort & Spa

Quảng Nam

This resort was so outstanding that we did not want to leave!!

Authenticity & Character

There were multiple wings at this resort and each had its own unique vibe. The lobby was very beautiful and welcoming.

Location

The location made walking to various areas very feasible.

Staff

Wow! Every person at this resort was super friendly and we felt pampered every day.

Cleanliness & Comfort

The entire resort was super clean with lush surroundings.

La Sinfonía Majesty Hotel and Spa

Our stay here was lovely. Its location made walking to see local sights quite easy.

Authenticity & Character

The lobby, dining room and our private room were nicely appointed.

Location

We were able to walk to nearby sights with ease.

Staff

Every person on the staff was very attentive to our needs.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Our room and bathroom were spotless.

Dragon Legend Cruise

Hon Gai

The cruise was awesome even though we did not have any sunny days aboard.

Authenticity & Character

The cruise ship was appointed apropos to its name.

Location

We travelled aboard the Dragon legend to quite beautiful locations.

Staff

Everyone waited on the people on board with 5 star service.

Cleanliness & Comfort

As might be expected, the rooms showed some wear and tear from the constant dampness. However, the beds were comfortable and the bathroom was nicely appointed.

Activity Reviews

HCM City - Cu Chi tunnels

Ho Chi Minh City

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Ai Van (Vivian), our guide, made the whole day fabulous!! She provides a wealth of background knowledge that allows you to be fully engaged in the history.

Transport

HCM City - Cai Be - Can Tho

Can Tho

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Once again, Ai Van (Vivian), our guide, made this long day trip super enlightening and enjoyable!

Transport

Hoi An Fishing Village - Ancient Town Walking with Street Food Tasting

Hoi An

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

We were able to taste many types of Vietnamese local foods with our private guide.

Transport

Hanoi street food on Vespa

Hanoi

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Riding on the back of a Vespa at night to see the sights/sounds and taste many types of Vietnamese local foods with a local guide was super fun.

Transport

Hanoi - Ha Long Bay - Bai Tu Long Bay with Dragon Legend Cruise

Vietnam

Quality of Experience

Food

Every meal was super delicious.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

The tour guide for our trip was delightful and informative.

Transport

Further explore the Bay / On Dragon Legend Cruise

Ha Long Bay

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Bicycle Tour of Rural Villages - Cultural Tour of Hanoi

Hanoi

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Our tour guide was very informative and made sure we were safe every step of the way. Our private lunch was awesome.

Transport

Half Day Red River Delta Countryside Discovery (Morning or Afternoon session) on Jeep Car

Hanoi

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Our informative guide made this unusual trip in a Russian Army jeep an awesome experience.

Transport

Hien was our trip organizer and she is very patient and accommodating. During the planning stages of the trip she amended our itinerary many times until we were completely satisfied. She also checked in with us several times during our trip to make sure everything was going well.
The selected accommodations were better than expected, the drivers were polite, professional and reliable and our guides were friendly, informative and very passionate about Vietnam.
All in all a great experience! We will definitely use Realistic Asia for our future travel plans.
Brian

Ashley planned an amazing trip for us to Vietnam for our family group of 4. She was incredibly responsive to our many questions and requests, and tailored the trip to our timeline and preferences. We had a busy itinerary, but we felt so relaxed and enjoyed every day since the details were taken care of at each step of the journey! Our transportation was arranged, a driver met us at each airport with a guide, and Ashley even checked in with us almost every day to confirm that our hotel was good, our guides were good, etc.

Our hotels were beautiful, all were clean, modern, and the service was impeccable. The guides were great as well, Susan in Hoi An was especially memorable, she felt like a friend by the end of three days! We had a nice variety of cultural experiences, including cooking classes, cycling tours, museums, both rural and urban experiences. One of many highlights was our vespa night food tour in Saigon-- don't miss that!

Thank you Ashley and KimKim-- we loved our time in Vietnam!

I strongly recommend Kim Kim Travel for a Vietnam itinerary, we had an amazing trip!

Hotel Reviews

La Siesta Premium Sai Gon

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hidden Charm Ninh Binh

Ninh Thang, Hoa Lu, Ninh Binh

Large guest rooms, friendly staff, enjoyed the spa after a busy (and cold) day in Ninh Binh

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Soleil Hanoi Boutique Hotel

Hanoi

Clean, modern, great staff - took off one star due to small size of the guest rooms. Otherwise it is a perfect place to stay!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Erina Cruise

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

La Siesta Hoi An Resort & Spa

Quảng Nam

On site restaurant is amazing!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Saigon By Night - Vintage Vespa Street Food Tour

Ho Chi Minh City

Amazing-- after a week in Vietnam dodging scooters in the street it was great to ride one ! The food stops were way above our expectations - delicious, fun, we loved it! Thank you to our guides, they were so much fun:)

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Day Trip to Ba Vi Countryside & Cooking Class

Hanoi

Cycling through villages and along rice paddies-- amazing. The cooking class was great too!

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

My trip to Vietnam was wonderful thanks to Trang! She created a perfect mix of days between Hanoi, Pu Luong and Ha Long Bay. My guide for Hanoi and Pu Luong was punctual and knowledgeable. The hotels were in great locations and transportation put my mind at ease as one less thing to worry about. I would recommend kimkim to anyone and am already booking my next trip with them!

Our trip to Vietnam was well planned and executed by Dat and his team mates. The guides in Hanoi, Sapa, and HMC (Saigon) were excellent and highly knowledgeable. The team made us feel at ease throughout. They were punctual and filled our days with sightseeing at a relaxed pace when needed and hectic when required. We couldn't have done this on our own and having English speaking local guides along with all local travel arrangements that were carefully designed to accommodate our wish list made it easy on us. Highly recommend KimKim for anyone planning a trip to Vietnam.

Had a very good experience with Kimkim connected my family with local travel agent Huyen in Hanoi Vietnam and the customized, private family tour that she helped us put together for us to make our way from Hanoi to Hoi An and Saigon. It was a packed itinerary but traveling between locations was very streamlined with her help and the guides she found for us in the various parts of the country we visited, and our day plans included many creative activities and visits to terrific restaurants we might never have stumbled on otherwise. Given the cultural and language difference having a plan with set meals that offered a wide selection of local delicacies for many of our lunches and dinner was great and we were happy with the mix of unstructured time and predetermined destinations. Vietnam is such a beautiful country and it was a huge privilege to spend time exploring and are grateful to the hospitality of Huyen and our travel guides Pham, Vo, and Vinh.

Hotel Reviews

Acoustic Hotel & Spa

Hanoi

Spacious rooms and very good food with an amazing old city view in a unique, very atmospheric city.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Violet Train

An adventure traveling an iconic route along the coast through lush mountain passes between northern and central Vietnam overnight. Be aware that though the private sleeper bedrooms on train are reasonably comfortable it is not necessarily immaculately clean especially the public bathroom on board.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Orchid Saigon Hotel

Ho Chi Minh

Beautiful hotel in a good central location with verdant tree lined streets and museums nearby. Rooms weren’t huge but totally adequate and very clean and comfortable.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Review

Saigon By night street food tour (Join in Group)

Ho Chi Minh City

Great experience having our family ridden around Saigon on motorcycles to highly recommended restaurants for delicious food. Guides were great and very accommodating, friendly and knowledgeable.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

We were 4 friends coming together from different parts of the world for a holiday together. We were meeting after a really long time . Doris from Asia Aventura put together a trip to remember. Planning this trip with Doris was a dream - I found her to be prompt, extremely responsive, quick to understand what we wanted and intuitive to plan ahead. She was unafraid to give us advice when we were overdoing our itinerary and I found her to be extremely forward thinking. The trip itself was seamless. From the selection of the hotels, the guides, the drivers, the kind of sightseeing/experiences - everything was on point. Whenever I reached out to Doris with a question or concern, she responded in less than a minute. Doris is an absolutely wonderful travel planner and I strongly recommend her. She is the kind of travel planner you'd want on your side when planning a dream holiday.

What a fantastic trip to Vietnam and kudos to Long, my local Travel Specialist at kimkim (Real Asia) in planning and booking a memorable action packed trip.

Long was professional and responsive from the initial planning phase to the last day of our trip. The itinerary went through various iteration due to unexpected flight changes (no fault to kimkim), and from planning a solo trip to a couple's trip. Long was flexible, always with a positive attitude and made changes (sometimes on the same day) as needed.

We had a short 9 days in Vietnam and covered quite a lot of grounds & sights (Ho Chi Ming City, Hue, Hoi Ann & Hanoi). Some of the highlights were:
- Saigon vespa by night : street food with female riders in traditional Ao Dai. Our tour guide Jenny and her team mate Titus were both lovely and we had the most fun zipping around on a Vespa the city eating, and sightseeing.
- We enjoyed visiting the Cu Chi Tunnels and learning about the network of underground passages used by Viet Cong during the Vietnam War.
- Visit to the Hue imperial citadel & Hoi Ann is a must
- 1 day cruise to the HaLong Bay with Jade Sail - It was the perfect day on a luxury vessel with attentive staff and good food.

We were more than thrilled with the hotels. In particular, we were most impressed with La Siesta in Hoi Ann and Silk Path Grand in Hue. These two properties are just wonderful and exceeded our expectations in everyway (the service, the ambience, etc). We wished we had more time to enjoy the spa, amenities & facilities thoroughly.

Overall, we were very happy with our Vietnam trip and we have Long and the wonderful local guides to thank. Big shout out to Jenny, Titus & Tony in Saigon and James in Hue/Hoi Ann.

Hotel Reviews

Caravelle Saigon

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

La Siesta Hoi An Resort & Spa

Quảng Nam

The spa is phenomenal! Wished our stay was longer!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Silk Path Grand Hue

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Saigon By Night - Vintage Vespa Street Food Tour

Ho Chi Minh City

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Jenny & Titus were superb and so much fun to spend the night with.

Transport

Stylish and well maintained Vespas!

Touch the History of Former Imperial Capital - Hue Full Day Sightseeing

Hue

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Hoi An Night Market and Boat Trip With Lantern Releasing

Hoi An

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Explore the Cu Chi Tunnels

Ho Chi Minh City

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Halong Bay Day Trip (Jade Sails)

Hanoi

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Cycling in Cam Thanh & Thanh Dong Organic Farm Visit

Vietnam

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

We had many changes going into this trip and Ashley handled everything very well. The trip was great

The guides were good and all the dinners were wonderful

Guides: The guides on our trip were all good, but our favourites were Victor Tran (Hanoi, Pu Luong, and Ninh Binh) and Wibol (Siem Reap). Victor was very accommodating to our interests and took many photos for us, took care of all payments during our tours and we felt generally very well taken care of. He had a cup of ginger honey lemon tea made for my husband one morning when he was feeling unwell.
Chanh Cao - accompanied us from Hue to Hoi An via Danang - he gave us so much information and was an excellent guide, albeit for a short time

Hotels: I will rank each hotel below:
Hanoi - San Boutique hotel - 3.5* - a quaint hotel with very nice staff; the room was small and bathroom was okay, but shower was a bit dirty as there was a blind in the shower; hotel was feeling a bit dated; breakfast buffet and service were excellent and the rooftop breakfast area was lovely.

Pu Luong - Pu Luong Eco Garden - 4.5* - I would give it 5* except for the first night in room 101. The room had a strong moldy smell throughout and the bathroom tiles smelled of urine. The room was very ‘wet’ in the morning, as the windows were completely covered in moisture. There was mold on some of the wood furniture legs. We were moved to a villa for our next two nights which was lovely. Again, an issue with moisture in the bathroom, but otherwise it was great. The restaurant was very nice and the breakfast was good. The main desk staff and manager, Mr. ?… I would HIGHLY recommend this hotel for its beautiful setting and lovely villas.

Ninh Binh - Le CLos Du Fil - 4.5* - absolutely lovely hotel; great attention to detail; rooms were a good size, bed and bedding very comfortable; lovely robes, slippers and linen touches throughout the room. Blow dryer not attached to the wall was a bonus. Very nice breakfast buffet and dining area. Staff were professional and excellent location. Spa was a bit disorganized and think they recruited people who work in the massage parlours on the street to come for our appointments. Massage was fine. Bikes may need to be updated as some were in disrepair. I would recommend this hotel, however better maintenance is required to keep the hotel in good condition.

Stellar of the Seas - 4.5* our room was on second floor and was very nice. Very clean and lovely amenities, such as robes and a nice tub, shower combo. The boat was very nice and we enjoyed the small size with only 40 people plus staff. Food was excellent and breakfast buffet was also very nice. BBQ one night on the deck was a lot of fun and food very good.

Hue - Rosaleen Boutique Hotel - 2* - this was the worst hotel of our trip. The room was dirty , especially the bathroom area. There was a moldy smell - our friends’ room didn’t have this odor. Hien was good about communicating with the hotel, but aside from adding a room freshener and ‘cleaning’ it more thoroughly, it was still not a nice stay. The photos on the website are deceiving. I would NOT recommend this hotel. The breakfast in the adjacent building was very nice in a nice setting. I will send photos separately.

Hoi An - Cozy A Boutique Hotel - 5* - this was by far the best hotel we stayed at. Every detail was very high quality and the staff were exceptional. The room was well appointed with robes and slippers, a blow dryer that wasn’t attached to the wall. The breakfast and dining area was bright and clean and the food was excellent. The pool area was inviting and there were lots of areas to sit and relax. The bicycles were in new condition and easy to obtain for use. The location was perfect, a nice walk to the busy area, but a bit outside of the area so quieter. I would HIGHLY recommend this hotel.

Ho Chi Minh City - Blue Diamond Luxury Hotel - 3* - Our first room was dark and dreary and the furniture and walls banged up; an update is needed; the second ‘upgraded’ room was on a higher floor, but was tiny with a smaller bed (not King sized) and the bathroom was terrible - a big tub, but a tiny shower with a huge shower head and no room to move, the area shared with the toilet. The bathroom was difficult to use with two people. There was no hot water in the shower. It was generally cleaner than Rosaleen. I wouldn’t recommend this hotel.

Siem Reap - Royal Crown Hotel - 4* - originally we were put in a double deluxe room, and were supposed to be upgraded. We checked and they hadn’t upgraded us (they did upgrade our friends, and we checked in together, so not sure why they got this wrong). The room in the old part of the hotel faced another wall and was dark and a big depressing. The new upgraded room was great, and was in the NEW part of the hotel, overlooking the pool and facing the street. The room was very spacious as was the bathroom. There were robes.

Phnom Penh - LCS Hotel - 3.5* - thankfully we were in an ‘upgraded’ room. The bathroom had an awkward design and the shower flooded the entire tub surround and floor area; we didn’t have enough towels to dry it all up. The room was very comfortable and spacious and clean. The decor in the hotel was dated and some updating had likely happened. The rooftop pool was very nice and the breakfast buffet was fine - excellent coffee. I probably wouldn’t return to this hotel.

Tours:
Hanoi - everything was great. The only thing I would omit was the visit to the art gallery, as we felt like we had to purchase something, and feel that we overpaid for what we got as we say examples of it for the remainder of the trip.
Pu Luong - absolutely loved this part of Vietnam. We loved the rural nature of the area, the rice paddies, hikes and visit to a local school
Ninh Binh - enjoyed the boat tour through the caves and Victor suggested we see Trang An at the time of year that we were visiting, rather than Tam Loc, which is better to view in the autumn. Victor helped us to have a nice experience in this area.
Stellar of the Seas - a nice break in our busy itinerary. We were sad to see the garbage in Halong Bay. Our butler Eric was excellent. The staff was great. Cat Ba Island was our main tour and it was interesting to visit. This was a tour with a larger group.
Hue - enjoyed the architecture of the citadel and the mausoleums; while it was interesting to see how incense is made, we purchased some and it just smells like smoke unfortunately. Not sure how much of this is influenced by the hotel we stayed in, but if I were eliminating a city, it would be Hue.
Hoi An - loved Hoi An - it was nice to have some unstructured time. Visiting the silk factory was interesting. We loved wandering the streets, shopping for custom clothing and local wares. Dining and rooftop patios were great. A very busy city, so glad we had a hotel a little outside of the main area. Riding bikes on a couple of occasions was a lot of fun, especially to An Bang beach. We went to a performance of Teh Dar at the Lune Theatre which was spectacular and I would highly recommend.
Ho Chi Minh City - loved our Vespa food tour - very professional staff and we felt very safe - guide Jason was really good and he made us small souvenir photo books as well as taking and sharing many photos from our night.
Mekong Delta - we were a bit disappointed by how touristy this part of our tour was. The bicycles available were in ill repair, so only two of us could ride.
Siem Reap - Angkor Wat and other temples - great tours - Wibol took lots of fun videos of our experiences.
Ate in an excellent restaurant one night called Haven which is committed to helping local youth to become trained in the hospitality industry - a story I recommend you become familiar with.
Kulen Mountain - enjoyed the rural nature of this tour. Visiting a school in Chan Sa was a highlight. Our local tour guide for this part of the day was excellent. We did need to tip throughout the day, and fortunately we had enough money in the correct amounts to be able to do so. Perhaps let people know to bring money for tipping. On other tours, our guides took care of all of this for us. Could have omitted the ox cart ride.
Tonle Sap Lake - very interesting - shocking to see so much garbage
Phnom Penh - very emotional and moving experience seeing S-21 and Choeung Ed Genocide Centre/Killing Fields - a must see
Overall, an amazing trip!! So memorable. Thank you Hien and the Kim Kim (Realistic Asia) team

Overall our experience with KimKim was great. Communication with them before the trip was excellent and the guides assigned to us were great for the most part.

Ashely organized everything good and made it very stress free and was very good at communication with the group. I will surely use kimkim again.

Ashley planned a great tri for our group everything went according to plan from pick up to the tours and departures
The transportation was great and so were the guides who were very knowledgeable

Hotel Reviews

TK123 Hanoi Hotel

Not too clean

Location

Cleanliness & Comfort

White Lotus Hue Hotel

Hue

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Cozy Hoian Boutique Villas

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Doris Cruise

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

LCS Hotel

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Onboarding - Lan Ha Bay – Ba Trai Dao/ Tra Bau (Doris Cruise)

Vietnam

Quality of Experience

Food

Hue Citadel - Travel to Hoi An

Hue

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Explore the History and Beauty of Hanoi - Full Day Sightseeing (without lunch)

Hanoi

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

A special shoutout must be made to Hien, our agent. We cannot say enough about her! She organized a beautiful trip for us in Vietnam with drivers and guides starting in Hanoi and ending in Ho Chi Min City. Various activities were organized in every destination which really gave us the feel of local culture and customs such as cooking activities, bicycle riding and meeting local people. It added immeasurably to the experience. Everything worked like clockwork. The hotels were 5 star all the way. Hien was available at all times to answer all our questions. When we had to leave early due to a family emergency she changed all the flights immediately and made the process very smooth. We cannot say enough about her excellent planning, efficiency and personal attention. She made our trip a memorable one in every way! Thank you Hien!

We have never booked a trip like this with a travel agency before and I have to say it was an amazing experience. We were thrilled to find out KIMKIM operates in other places around the world. The attention to detail and quick responses by our travel agent Hien before and during the trip made us feel totally at ease. All our guides were so knowledgable, had a good command of English and were eager to have us get the most out of each excursion. However Victor in Vietnam and Wibol in Siem Reap went the "extra mile" for us. Although it is hard to pick our favourite excursions the top three would be our time in Pu Long Nature Reserve, Tam Coc river tour and the Vespa Food tour in Ho Chi Min City.

we book 8 days for our honeymoon in Vietnam with this agency , in Vietnam basically we were by ourselves, just 2 days we had tour guides ( the one in the historical Vietnam was awesome ) the other days where we just had hotels and taxis and no other guide. we also covered most of the food apart from the free breakfast at the hotel.
Most of the hotels where amazing just one didnt meet our expectations , there was no restaurants , no shops to walk to, we where stuck in the bush with a poor maintence hotel , I think the agency didnt check the place before they send us there. that experience was not good at ALL , but Trang change us the next day after show her photos of how insane that place is.
in day 8 we found out we should buy our departure flight and actually the DEPARTURE FROM DANANG included in the itinerary was just a taxi to the Airport, that took us by surprise because we were in the middle of the country and we started the tour in Hanoi and Trang new that we had tickets book from Hanoi to Sydney, so that was a HUGE suprise that actually we didnt have departing flight , in the last minute we got tickets.
I guess Kim Kim is better planing for families , otherwise is not worth it, i wish i new this earlier.

It was a great trip, well planned and coordinated by local guides , who had great information and added their personal touch ! Shout out to Brian in Hanoi , Jack on the River cruise and Ruby in Hoi An .

Activity Reviews

Hanoi city sightseeing- Hanoi street food tour

Hanoi

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Hoi An - Ba Na Hills - Golden Bridge- Hoi An

Hoi An

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

In summary, all of our guides and drivers were fantastic. They were all prompt, thoughtful, helpful and informative. We couldn't have had better people to work with.

Ashley was so incredible through the whole process including the planning, coordination, communication and delivery of our program. She checked with us almost daily when we were on our trip. Her instructions were clear and precise. She was the best.

The itinerary Ashley put together was phenomenal. Our tours which were fantastic, included visiting Buddha temples, seeing the elephant sanctuary, and taking a wild Vespa evening dinner ride, Everything was very special. We saw so many wonderful and unique places throughout Thailand and Vietnam. It felt like we got so see the best of the major cities we visited. We ate great street food most of the time, thanks to our guides, and our accommodations were almost all five-star, in our opinions.

So, even though we would give a five-star rating to everyone involved with our trip and everything we experienced, there are a couple of suggested changes we would incorporate into our itinerary if we were to do the same trip over.

The south coast of Thailand is beautiful, but we would try to experience it in a different location that Phuket. Phuket is overloaded with tourist. It was great seeing this area and the beautiful coastal waters, but it felt like Miami Beach during spring break. We would also eliminate the trip to Phi Phi Island. Again, Phi Phi is a major tourist draw, with little space to accommodate them.
We would also suggest spending more time in Ho Chi Minh City. We wanted to tour the American War museum, but didn't because our time in Ho Chi Minh City was limited. Lastly, we would probably exclude the trip to Trang An just because it is a long drive from Hanoi and is a heavy tourist attraction. Just some thoughts...

All in all, our trip far exceeded our expectations in many ways. We thoroughly enjoyed our guides, our accommodations, and the places we visited, and Ashley was wonderful. KimKim was recommended to us by our friends, and we will definitely recommend KimKim to others.

Hotel Review

Rimping Village Chiang Mai

Chiang Mai

It was very difficult to choose a hotel to review because they were all great. For the following reasons, we liked the Rimping Village Chiange Mai Hotel: - the room was very spacious and clean; -the pool was big enough for lap swimming; -the hotel was close to the market and shops; -the staff were great; -the hotel was more of a boutique type rather than a large commercial hotel; and -the breakfast were very nice.

Authenticity & Character

Very comfortable. It made you feel like you were in Thailand.

Location

very close to the street vendors and market.

Staff

always willing to help

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Bangkok Temple Sightseeing Full Day (KT)

Bangkok

We saw a large number of special sites, almost too many.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

The Thai people were so very friendly.

Transport

Always on time and in a position to pick us up from the tours.

Chiang Mai full-day city tour by KT

Chiang Mai

Our Chiang Mai experiences were incredible. We loved this area and the tours we experienced. Our guide was great, very personable and knowledgeable.

Quality of Experience

Loved this area. Loved experiencing the elephant sanctuary.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

On time and very professional.

Half day Chiang Mai Elephant Jungle Sanctuary - Join tour

Chiang Mai

This was a wonderful experience. We will likely never get this close to elephants again.

Quality of Experience

Being able to interact with elephants was such an amazing experience.

Food

Almost all of it.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Thai massage at Oasis Spa

Phuket

This was a very professional spa. You were treated like you were a very special guest.

Quality of Experience

We both received incredible massages.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

On time and well coordinated.

Doi Inthanon National Park & Mae Klang Luang Nature Trail

Chiang Mai

Loved the trek and thoroughly enjoyed our Hmong guide. The coffee experience after the trek, was so rich with local culture.

Quality of Experience

Great setting and great guides.

Food

Everything.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

The guides made this tour extra special.

Transport

Phi Phi Island & Khai Island Tour (Join speedboat)

Phuket

The waters were incredible but the sites were overwhelmed with tourists. I would not go to, nor recommend, Phi Phi Island to future guests because of this.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Saigon By Night - Vintage Vespa Street Food Tour

Ho Chi Minh City

This was so much fun! Our tour guides knew where to go for great food and knew how to drive in the crazy traffic. This was one of our most memorable experiences of our entire trip.

Quality of Experience

Food

The street food was soooo good!

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Lan Ha Bay – Dark & Bright Cave – Disembark Cruise (Doris Cruise)

Vietnam

We did not participate in this activity. We needed to take a break from tours plus the weather was no very pleasant.

Day Trip to the Mekong Delta (Ben Tre)

Ho Chi Minh City

We had a fantastic experience on this tour. The delta was so unique and the culture was so interesting.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Excellent guide.

Transport

Hoi An Half-Day Sightseeing

Hoi An

Hoi An was so much fun especially in the evenings.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Guide .was very good but not a five-star.

Transport

Cycling in Cam Thanh & Thanh Dong Organic Farm Visit

Vietnam

We thoroughly enjoyed our stay at the organic farm especially interacting with the staff.

Quality of Experience

We got to interact with beautiful staff at the farm.

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Boat Trip Exploring The Natural Beauty of Trang An & Visit Hoa Lu Ancient Capital

Vietnam

Great guide and a great experience but would probably not recommend it because it is such a long distance drive from Hanoi.

Quality of Experience

Food

Ate at a food cafeteria. The food was good but way too much and not high quality. The restaurant was quantity focused.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Great guide who knew so much about the area and history.

Transport

Lan Ha Bay - Viet Hai Village - Kayaking

Ha Long Bay

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Our tour started with a evening walking food tour with Ms. Hang. We had many delicious dishes and visited a local market. After leaving Hanoi we visited beautiful Ha Long Bay - Bai Tu Long. The Indochina Junk ship was really fun to stay on and had really comfortable rooms.
We were picked up after the boat trip by our guide Toun and driver Chien. We spent the next 6 days with them exploring Ninh Binh and Mai Chau. We did biking , trekking and visited Unesco world heritage sites. Tuon was very knowledgeable about the areas and new the best places to eat and see.
We were really impressed with the customer service, the transfers were always on time and Dat was always available to answer any questions we had while on the trip.
I recommend using KimKim for planning trips, especially to areas that are more remote.

Hotel Reviews

Mai Chau Ecolodge

This lodge was comfortable with all rooms having views of the rice paddies. The food was just alright and the pool area/bar is not that comfortable to relax at after a day of activities. I think I would consider looking into a homestay for this area. The staff at the lodge were incredible helpful and kind. The bikes could use an upgrade, many of the bikes were slightly to small.

Authenticity & Character

Each bungalow had a nice deck for sitting on , the chairs were somewhat uncomfortable.

Location

You border the main trail systems where you can ride or walk to enjoy the valley.

Staff

Very kind and helpful staff.

Cleanliness & Comfort

The property is nice but feels a little old. For those with any issues with walking it may be difficult to move around the property.

Prince Junk (from Indochina Junk)

The boat was fun, and the cabins were comfortable. The outside space is also great, but unfortunately the weather was not nice during our trip.

Authenticity & Character

It is a very authentic boat, one of their newer ones.

Location

It is a boat that cruises thru the bay.

Staff

Super helpful and kind.

Cleanliness & Comfort

The cabins were all spotless

Tam Coc Garden Resort

Ninh Binh

We did not stay here we stayed and Ninh Village resort which was incredible.

L’ Heritage

Hanoi

Nice hotel in the Old Quarter

Authenticity & Character

Classic hotel well maintained

Location

Good location for the Old Quarter, we later stayed near the Lake and found that location better.

Staff

Staff was attentive and kind

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Hanoi Evening Walking Street Food Tour

Hanoi

We sampled many delicious and diverse foods. The problem with a food tour in Vietnam is that the portions of the dishes are large, so you get full quickly.

Quality of Experience

Food

The food was all great, when we did the evening food tour most stalls in the markets were closed.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

We had a great guide who was very knowledgeable about the foods and their history.

Transport

We walked, which I always enjoy

Mai Chau - Xa Linh Village trekking

Mai Chau

Unfortunately the air quality was poor and obscured all the views while trekking. It was fun going thru the village.

Mai Chau - Pu Luong - Trekking to Kho Muong and Uoi Villages

Vietnam

Pu Luong was a beautiful area. The villages were really interesting to walk thru, as where the water wheels and the terraced rice fields. Really beautiful.

Quality of Experience

Really beautiful area.

Food

Our guide always took us to good local spots

Guides, Drivers and Staff

They were excellent

Transport

Comfortable

Boat Trip Exploring The Natural Beauty of Trang An & Visit Hoa Lu Ancient Capital

Vietnam

Very beautiful boat ride thru a world heritage site. It is a popular trip so best to go in the morning.

Quality of Experience

Very pleasant in a boat with a village women doing the rowing. They are really skilled.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Cycling in Mai Chau

Mai Chau

We really love to cycle and these paths were very cool. Very scenic.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Boat trip to Thien Ha Cave & Thung Nham Bird Garden (Ninh Binh)

Ninh Binh

We ended up splitting this activity due to weather. We did the cave as part of a cycling portion. It was really great not as touristy as the other caves. We visited the Thun Nham Bird Garden, and it is a very busy place. I would recommend skipping this experience.

Quality of Experience

It is a really busy area

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Ha Long Bay - Bai Tu Long - Thien Canh Son Cave (Indochina Junk)

Ha Long Bay

Great trip, just wish we would have had good weather. Still beautiful but couldn't enjoy all the activities.

Quality of Experience

Great company, great activities

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Loved the boat!

Cycling And Farming In Tho Ha Village And Boating To The Galaxy Groto

Vietnam

This was a fun day. Enjoyed the cycling thru the villages, very scenic. The farming activities were fun, I was a bit skeptical, but it is worth doing. Galaxy Groto was very cool, much better than the bird park.

Quality of Experience

Fun to get in the rice fields with some locals. It is hard work planting rice and hard work walking in the mud. Even caught some fish.

Food

A cooking class is part of the experience, it was alright.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Mai Chau Cycling and Hiking Day

Vietnam

Loved the cycling in this area. Hiking is mostly in the jungle so not a lot of views. Most enjoyable day.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Cap La - Vung Dang - Cong Dam (Indochina Junk)

Vietnam

We did not do this part of the trip due to weather

Vung Vieng Fishing Village - Halong Harbor (Indochina Junk)

Ha Long Bay

Loved the boating experience. The fishing village was interesting.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Our trip to Vietnam and Cambodia was an incredibly memorable experience. Hien, our travel specialist at Realistic Asia, was key to the success and enjoyment of our holiday. Hien helped us to plan a well organized and logical 26 day itinerary according to our travel preferences. She always responded promptly to any questions or requests, and anticipated our needs in a timely manner (e.g. providing e-visa links and reviewing our documentation). The recommended tours provided insights into Vietnamese and Cambodian history, culture, food, and way of life. We spent several days exploring northern Vietnam with our guide Junjun and driver Hie in northern Vietnam. Hie kept his van spotless and drove with our safety in mind. Junjun is a wonderfully kind soul who shared his knowledge and the beauty of Northern Vietnam’s landscape and people. Our favourite day was spent walking through the Thai villages and trails, and past the villagers planting rice in the fields. Such an experience we will never forget. Our guide in Siem Reap, Vesarey, was equally incredible. He offered his extensive knowledge on the history and significance of the temples of Angkor Wat, and tirelessly answered our never ending questions about life in Cambodia. We particularly enjoyed the mountain bike tour of Angkor Wat. Our driver Souvann was always prompt and courteous, and ensured we were topped up with cold water on those hot days.
But perhaps of the things we loved most about our experience was the warmth and kindness of both the Vietnamese and Cambodian people. This should not be underestimated. We would certainly consider a return in the future to explore new areas and we would absolutely request Hien!