LocalWonders Travel Sas

Our Italy trip was the most amazing, every detail was heard from what we wanted. The hotel in Florence was quaint and perfectly located. The hotel in Levanto was absolutely beautiful and the owner went above and beyond to ensure we were welcomed as if we were family. The hike tour had the most amazing views and the guide was extremely knowledgeable. Once we reached Siena we were greeted by our next guide who taught about the amazing history and culture of the city. After Siena, we drove to the Tuscan valley and the timing couldn’t have been better. The rolling hills were filled with green fields and blooming trees. The hotel and tours here were perfectly planned. The wine tour at San Polo was astonishing and the cooking class at Podere Casale was like a dream. I can’t thank you enough.

Hotel Reviews

A' Durmì

Levanto

What a wonderful and memorable stay! We enjoyed having breakfast in the beautiful courtyard, and the owners were so kind and went above and beyond to ensure that we were comfortable. The location is perfect and walkable to all of Levanto’s cute shops and restaurants. We were sad to leave. It felt like home. 10/10 recommend!

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Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Piccolo Hotel La Valle

Pienza

Very great people and perfect location

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Staff

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Corte dei Sogni Boutique Hotel & spa

The owner and staff were extremely kind and helpful. The location is great to get to all that Florence has to offer.

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Staff

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Activity Reviews

Cheese farm visit and tasting in Pienza area

Italy

The cheese farm visit and cooking class in a Tuscan farm were amazing. The farm was run by a Swedish lady with a fascinating story.

Quality of Experience

Brunello di Montalcino tasting with light lunch and winery visit

Italy

The Brunello di Montalcino tasting with light lunch and winery visit was a wonderful experience. The winery offered great food and hospitality.

Quality of Experience

Siena guided tour

Italy

The Siena Cathedral guided tour was exceptional. The cathedral was beautiful, and the guided tour provided a lot of interesting information.

Quality of Experience

Cooking class in a Tuscan farm

Italy

The cooking class was one of the most fun activities of the trip: very entertaining and the food was delicious.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Elena did a wonderful job from car rentals, food tour, Pompei visit, restaurant recommendations, things to see in each respective place and booking the hotels in Naples and Sorrento. My husband and I really appreciate the arrangements, scheduling of the whole trip.

Upon arrival at Rome airport, we headed to Hertz to get the rental car. We visited Tivoli (Villa D 'Este and Hadrian's Villa) before heading to our Naples hotel Napoli Tree B&B. They suggested parking down the street but note that the parking entrance is really narrow. I contacted Elena and she replied right away regarding where to park. The elevator up to the B&B requires 10 cents to use (they have a bowl of 10 centavos in the reception). The building has a lot of B&B's. The location of the B&B is nice , because the room has a seaview, near the boardwalk and walking distance (36 minute walk) to the food tour meeting place Piazza del Gesu Nuovo. It would have been better to have a hotel nearer the oldb historical area though. But during the walk to the old historical center, we walked through Galleria Umberto (1887 shopping building), Plebiscito Square and more.

Our food Tour guide is Giovanna (Compania Guide) was on time, informative and very cheerful. She walked us through coffee/hot chocolate, buffalo mozarella, wallet pizzas (yum), pastries like baba rum cake which we love, gelato, and walked through Naples' Nativity Street where she showed us the different 'Presepe'. We didn't have limoncello though. She gave us suggested places to go after our food tour which is up to the Funicolare di Montesanto to see the view the Castel dell Ovo and Napoli Sotteranea (underground tour). She even gave us list of restaurants in Naples and Sorrento, Amalfi, Positano and Ravello because we mentioned heading there after Naples.

The visit to Pompei was fulfillment of my bucket list. We arrived quite early at the parking at Camping Spartacus and thankfully our guide, Enza started earlier than planned. Exploring Pompeii with Enza our guide where she touched the highlight of the vast ancient city was like stepping back in time. She was informative, knowledgeable and the whole experience was well worth it. During our visit,the weather at first, was cold, then it rained a little then became hot. We had lunch at La Delizie (really good pizzas and caprese salad, croquettes) then had baba Napoletano at a nearby pastry shop across the street.

Driving to our Sorrento hotel, we were told that there is a valet to park our our to a parking structure. We didn't need the car to go to Amalfi, Positano and Ravello because we took the bus which is near the train station (10 minute walk from hotel). Driving in the Amalfi coast is very hard due to narrow winding roads. We got a little carsick from the drive so it is a good idea to take motion sickness medicine in the bus ride. The boats are still not operating /going there (Amalfi Coast) due to high waves. There is a ferry to Capri Island though. Our hotel La Piazzetta Guesthouse is new and location is very nice. The only drawback is that on Saturday night the restaurant below had loud music till very late. Christina of La Piazzetta Guesthouse was very accommodating and welcoming. Since the season will only start in April, a lot of hotels and restaurants are still close. We were the first guest of La Piazetta this early March 2024.

Our fist bus stop is to Positano. we went down the beach and looked up at the houses in the cliffside, bought some souvenirs along the way and Assumption church. Next bus stop, we went to Amalfi, went to visit the St. Andrew cathedral. We had lunch at Pizzeria Donna Stella and had a limoncello gelato along the way back to the bus stop. We took the bus to Ravello using the same bus ticket but different bus, which is good for 24 hours. Upon arrival in Ravello, we visited Villa Rufolo then did some souvenir shopping then headed back to catch the bus back to Amalfi. Upon arrival in Amalfi, we took the bus that heads back to Positano and Sorrento. The next day we had a leisurely day at Sorrento.

Over all, this tailor made, Italian experience was five stars.

Elena and her team helped my partner and I plan a wonderful trip to Florence, Cinque Terre, and Venice! We truly enjoyed it and felt that our experience was enhanced by going through Kimkim, as we would not have been able to know the details as well as they knew them. We highly recommend anyone book through them!

Hotel Review

Hotel Al Duca di Venezia

Venice

Location is very good and definitely recommend this neighborhood (Cannaregio), but the bathroom had a not so clean odor and was not very well ventilated

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Hidden Venice and cicchetti experience

Italy

Wine and food tour in Florence

Florence

Florence private guided walk

Florence

Cinque Terre Sunset cruise (Private)

Cinque Terre

The Jewels of Venice (St. Mark & Doge Palace)

Venice

The perfect itinerary for us!
If you are traveling to Italy we highly recommend Andrea Gambino to help create a wonderful trip for you. He customized our itinerary to meet our travel goals in Sicily. Andrea was available throughout our trip to keep us updated when anything changed. He also was able to make a few adjustments (we requested) on the fly,

All 5 guides listed below were fabulous.... knowledgeable, passionate, kind, easy-going, and friendly. We felt they went above and beyond to make sure that we connected with, and understood, the history and culture in each area we toured. Great job!

Guides:
Letteria - Ancient Theatre of Taormina
Peppe - Godfather Movie Set Private Tour
Corrado - Syracuse Neapolis Archaeological Park
Sabine - Ragusa
Allessandra - Temple valley

Drivers:
David (Catania) , David (Palermo), and Antonio (Palermo), were all very professional, courteous and always on time

Hotel Reviews

Hotel Villa Carlotta

Taormina

Authenticity & Character

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Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Algilà Ortigia Charme Hotel

Siracusa

Authenticity & Character

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Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Baglio San Nicola

San Nicola, Naro

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Bedding could be upgraded

Eurostars Centrale Palace

Palermo

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Guided visit to the Ancient Theatre of Taormina (private guide)

Italy

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Godfather Movie Set Private Tour

Italy

Peppe made this tour extra special, very passionate.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Syracuse Neapolis Archaeological Park - private guide

Italy

Corrado made this great!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Val di Noto gems: Modica time at your leisure and Ragusa guided visit

Italy

Sabine is a great guide! Informative, funny and passionate.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Temple valley guided visit

Italy

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

We had an amazing time celebrating our 30th wedding anniversary in Italy (albeit two plus years late, thanks to COVID!). We worked with Andrea at KimKim and we could not have been happier. He was excellent! If we could give more than five stars, we would! We came to him with a rough idea of what we wanted to do and where we wanted to go: Venice, Florence, and Rome. He conducted a thorough survey right at the beginning to get much more detail about what we did and did not want to do. Then, he came back with the perfect plan for us. The individual guides with whom he set us up were fantastic - personable and friendly, and exceptionally knowledgeable. I highly recommend doing the individual tours with the skip the line tickets - we easily saved 10-15 hours of standing in lines over the course of our ten day trip. We have already referred many friends to Andrea and KimKim and will continue to do so. We will also be using them again. Cannot wait for our next trip.

Andrea - thank you SO MUCH for helping us to make this a trip we will never forget!

Hotel Reviews

Hotel Antiche Figure

Venice

The entire staff at Hotel Antiche Figure was incredible. They were extremely friendly, helpful and courteous. Everywhere we went, people know the hotel and the staff, and everyone spoke very highly of them. They are well respected - and for good reason! Allessandro, Mikail, David, Gionni, Laura, Victoria . . . and everyone else there made our experience incredible.

Authenticity & Character

Beautiful Old World Charm with modern conveniences!

Location

Right on the Grand Canal - perfectly located!

Staff

Allessandro, Mikail, David, Gionni, Laura, Victoria . . . and everyone else there made our experience incredible.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Corte dei Sogni Boutique Hotel & spa

Great location - close to everything, yet secluded enough to not be too loud!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Navona Essence Hotel

Roma

Great location and helpful staff.

Authenticity & Character

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Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Hidden Venice and cicchetti experience

Italy

Very knowledgeable guide! Lots of fun and very interesting - a lot of great history! The cicchetti was delicious.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Chianti Full Immersive Wine & Olive Oil Experience from Florence (small group)

Florence

Fantastic! What else can I say? Our guides were great! The three wineries were great! The staff was amazing. The wine was delicious.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

VENICE MASTERCLASS: DOGE PALACE'S AND ST. MARK'S BASILICA AND EXCLUSIVE TERRACES WITH SKIP THE LINE VISIT

Venice

The guide was incredible - very knowledgeable and a great English speaker! Really helpful!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Florence private guided walk including Accademia Gallery

Florence

Guide was amazing! Incredibly knowledgeable and very good at telling stories!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Private Guided Walk

Rome

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Colosseum and Roman Forum - Private guide

Rome

Best guide we had during our trip - and that is saying a LOT! Mariapaola was so knowledgeable, yet she checked with us on the areas we wanted to focus, and then hit those the most. When we found out we were going to have her the following day for the Vatican and Sistine Chapel tour as well, we were thrilled. Great personality! She clearly has found the right profession!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Best guide we had during our trip - and that is saying a LOT! Mariapaola was so knowledgeable, yet she checked with us on the areas we wanted to focus, and then hit those the most. When we found out we were going to have her the following day for the Vatican and Sistine Chapel tour as well, we were thrilled. Great personality! She clearly has found the right profession!

Colosseum & Roman Forum skip the line ticket

Rome

The ONLY was to do it!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Best guide we had during our trip - and that is saying a LOT! Mariapaola was so knowledgeable, yet she checked with us on the areas we wanted to focus, and then hit those the most. When we found out we were going to have her the following day for the Vatican and Sistine Chapel tour as well, we were thrilled. Great personality! She clearly has found the right profession!

Transport

Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel skip the line ticket

Rome

Best guide we had during our trip - and that is saying a LOT! Coliseum was so knowledgeable, yet she checked with us on the areas we wanted to focus, and then hit those the most. When had her the day before for the Roman Forum and the Coliseum, and when we found out we were going to have her the following day for the Vatican and Sistine Chapel tour as well, we were thrilled. Great personality! She clearly has found the right profession!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Best guide we had during our trip - and that is saying a LOT! Coliseum was so knowledgeable, yet she checked with us on the areas we wanted to focus, and then hit those the most. When had her the day before for the Roman Forum and the Coliseum, and when we found out we were going to have her the following day for the Vatican and Sistine Chapel tour as well, we were thrilled. Great personality! She clearly has found the right profession!

Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel - private guide

Rome

Best guide we had during our trip - and that is saying a LOT! Coliseum was so knowledgeable, yet she checked with us on the areas we wanted to focus, and then hit those the most. When had her the day before for the Roman Forum and the Coliseum, and when we found out we were going to have her the following day for the Vatican and Sistine Chapel tour as well, we were thrilled. Great personality! She clearly has found the right profession!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Best guide we had during our trip - and that is saying a LOT! Coliseum was so knowledgeable, yet she checked with us on the areas we wanted to focus, and then hit those the most. When had her the day before for the Roman Forum and the Coliseum, and when we found out we were going to have her the following day for the Vatican and Sistine Chapel tour as well, we were thrilled. Great personality! She clearly has found the right profession!