Carmelo Guarnaccia

I took my 12 years old daughter to her Bat Mitzvah wish trip.. I was worried it’s just the two of us and couldn’t really find an organized tour that was right for us. We wanted to start in Milan and end it in Amalfi Coast in two full weeks. Carmelo was super helpful from day one.. I started clueless about where and how I’m going to tour Italy and I left the States confident with a fabulous, detailed trip plan! He helped me through step by step. If it’s to get private transportation when it’s more needed or to get the right train ticket from city to city!!! He booked me private tours in Venice and Rome which were so important since we would have had to wait the crazy long lines for hours in the hot water!! I must say that everything he booked for me was top quality! In between our trip we had a few changes and Carmelo was there to assist me. On the weekend when he was out of the office Alexandra was in touch with me and was great help!
To summarize this experience, I’m so grateful I chose Kimkim to assist with this once in a lifetime tour of great Italy!!!

Carmelo was absolutely INSTRUMENTAL in the booking of my vacation package. Everything was taken care of, from the reservations to the transfers between airports and hotels, and even the transfer from hotel to rental car pickup. He even revised the plan about 4 times cause I wasn't sure. The places were incredible, to say the least. Catania is worth a couple more days than I was able to be there, but I was strapped for time. The farmhouses (Agriturismo) I stayed in were more than accommodating, and I was able to survive with my limited Italian! My group and I got to feel like real locals, staying in these places. In the end, highly recommended service. Thanks for everything Carmelo!

This was a wonderful tour. Any glitches that came up were quickly resolved through the kimkim site. The guide for our tour in Naples was outstanding and our hotel in Maori was simply gorgeous. We did get stuck in a small elevator for about 10 minutes, perhaps the kind of thing that might happen in a three star hotel. The hotel in Naples was ok but not terrific. On the whole, a wonderful experience. I suggest that you add advice about taking the ferry from Amalfi to Positano, which is more expensive than the bus, but much less nerve- wracking. Overall, 8.5 out of 10.

All the guides were first rate , the gentleman who walked us round Palermo and the guide at Syracuse we’re particularly good , the latter was very knowledgeable on horticultural matters as well as history and archaeology. We had a series of excellent drivers who took us around the island. They were immensely helpful anddrovewithgreat care.

Carmelo, our tour organiser was excellent , we were delighted to meet up with him in Catania where we could thank him in person. He had enormous patience especially when our friend who was going to drive us had to dropout. He rearranged transport quite brilliantly. His command of English and his care and attention to detail as well as his kindness and thoughtfulness were remarkable. When he was engaged in examinations his supervisorMarianne was equally helpful.

As to memorable places , there really are too many to list ! Sicily is a treasurehouse of history and Archaeology with so many groups and civilisations leaving their mark. I was particularly interested in the Norman influence but theGreek , Roman and Arab civilisations were also very special and remarkable.

This first trip to Sicily was a truly wonderful experience for us. The suggestions of sites and locations to visit as well as the selection of accommodations throughout the trip have been great experiences, thank you Carmelo. We really liked the small accommodations in the rural country side (especially the Terra des Mezzo near Riposto) as well the amazing hotel Palazzo Failla in Modica. The food was truly amazing. It was always a pleasure to talk to people (most could speak English and we also understood a bit of Italian) and get their perspectives, tips and advice (about the excursion to Etna for example which we did ourselves). All local guides were fantastic: Katia di Dio in Piazza Armerina; Eva Greco in Syracuse; and Ambra in Catania who showed us around the markets and other special places and introduced us to a variety of local street foods. All three guides were very approachable, easy to talk to and full of insight of their topics. We can highly recommend them all. Through them we were able to get a deeper insight of history, local customs and food culture, so important for understanding a new country and their people. Thank you Carmelo!

Well what great organisation! Many congratulations Carmelo. We had a fab holiday thank you all very much.
Taxi was waiting at the airport, all the Hotels and B&B's were simply first class, the hosts were so friendly and so helpful, and the local guides were all excellent. We learnt so much from all of them.
The whole holiday was a joy and all places were memorable for their own reasons.
Katia was a particuarly instructive guide at Casale de Romana, her knowledge and manner was lovely.
It would be good for future customers to give more guidance about driving in to Ortigia. There is public car parking and a grid reference for this would have been helpful. As it was we had to ask locals to help us about how and where to park the car, due to the traffic zone car parking.
We will certainly use your services again and recommend you to others.

Kind Regards

Julia and Paul Vincent

Awesome trip that covered the Amalfi Coast, Florence and Rome. Loved the accommodations arranged by Carmelo - its sometimes a challenge to travel as a family of 5 and the hotel, then apartment, then shared suite that he arranged for us were perfect! Each had great locations in easy walking distance to the town centers and attractions. Also had first rate drivers and guides in each location, and appreciated the way Carmelo checked in with us throughout the trip to make sure all was well. Things were smooth from start to finish.

Carmelo arranged an eBike tour for us in Tuscany, starting in San Gimignano, through to Siena and up to Montalcino. We finished it off with a couple of days on Lake Como. This was fabulous, and Carmelo organised everything perfectly. The bikes were waiting for us when we arrived, with very easy to follow route instructions. Drivers were there to pick up and carry our bags between towns when they said they be there. The accommodation Carmelo selected was perfect and the cycling route was exquisite - through rolling Chianti hills, with relatively little traffic. I can't recommend both KimKim and Carmelo enough.

Trip to the Almalfi Coast was amazing! Carmelo was super helpful in planning and tailoring the trips to our needs. The agency was also very quick to respond during our stay in Italy and was very accommodating in helping us work out some last minute changes to our trip. It was truly an unforgettable experience in a beautiful place!

We had a terrific experience working with KimKim. There were some glitches and problems along the way, but the fact that we had a cell phone number to call and that someone ALWAYS answered the telephone and assisted us immediately made a huge difference in our feeling that we did not have to resolve the issue on our own. The hotels that were booked through KimKim were fine, and without exception the staff at the hotels, many of which were family-run, were kind and helpful. Regarding the guides: the only one who was questionable was the person in Palermo. Although knowledgeable, he was on his phone way too much during our time together. All of the others were friendly, took their job very seriously, and had much to offer. They had great pride in being Sicilian and that was great to see. It made a big difference to be able to just arrive at a location and know that someone was waiting for us and that we did not have to first try to hire someone ourselves. They all (except for the Palermo guide) spoke about the importance of being a professional guide and their concern for quality of service.

Carmelo, Alessandra and Ketty were great. Without repeating myself, we also greatly appreciated how Ketty handled our situation in Lipari. We arrived there not realizing that the hotel we had booked for a week was at the far end of the island, the staff there not particularly pleasant - we had to wait almost an hour for them to pick us up at the ferry despite repeated calls, the beach narrow and all big stones, and that the only way to get to the town was by a bus that ran once an hour and stopped at 7:00 pm. Otherwise, we would have to take taxis at 35 euro each way. There were no cars to be rented. Ketty was wonderful, she booked us into a beautiful hotel 10 minutes walk from Lipari, with a swimming pool which we used daily, and easy access to everything in town. She took care of cancelling the week at Hotel Cutimare and KimKim absorbed the additional cost of the Hotel Tritone, and so the whole situation was hassle-free for us.

The only other inconsistency in the trip was that we drove from Trapani to Agrigento and saw the Greek ruins. The following day you had scheduled us to go to Selimunte, but that would have been at least a 1.5 hour trip each way back to where we had just come from, and we ended up cancelling that excursion. It would have been much better to do these 2 excursions in reverse order.

We really enjoyed every aspect of the trip - probably least favorite was Palermo - the garbage was overwhelming- but the hotel was fine and the sites remarkable. We brought too much stuff - we did not realize that none of the places we stayed would have elevators and our suitcases were heavy, so in the future I would pack much lighter and find laundry places to wash our clothes. it would have been helpful to know in advance that there are no elevators. In Cefalu we had a problem with the taxi not coming to take us to the airport, and it seemed - if we understood right, that it was coming from Palermo - it would probably have been better to hire a local taxi that was not affected by traffic, as we almost missed our plane - but again, Ketty helped us through that.

We also stayed at some wonderful places that you did not book:
La Serenita outside of Noto
Ai Lumi in Trapani
Agriculturismo Casa di Basso outside of Agrigento
and we highly recommend that you explore them for other travelers.

The food was unbelievable - we did not have a bad meal the entire trip. The cooking school was fun. The trip to Mt Etna was great, as was the day-long excursion to Stromboli. We also took a boat to Vulcano one day. We went to a lot of beaches of all kinds, also to Modica and Ragusa, and did much "offbeat" things. At the B&B La Serenita, a woman who works there is also an aspiring chef of typical food, and she invited us to her cava in the mountains and prepared us a wonderful meal.

Thank you again for all your assistance and mostly especially for being available throughout our trip.
Allyson and Bruce