Kimkim Trip Reviews

We had an amazing trip. Planning by Ivan was really good. We had really good guides too. Loved the country, the people & the food. It was a memorable trip for sure!

Our family of 12 very different personalities and ages all loved our trip. Margarita and Oscar supported us through every moment, and ensured we had a wonderful time. Each day was thoughtfully planned, and executed perfectly!

We had a fantastic trip. I really appreciated how much Krista was willing to go through all of our requests and the multiple changes (people arriving and departing on different days, lots of requests for very specific details) with patience and grace. The trip was super smooth, we never had any issues with transport, hotels, etc (I think Norway is a pretty organized country!). We loved our time in Ulvik and Kinsarvik especially, and feel like most agencies would not have picked up on our desire to be in smaller, more out of the way places. Several Norwegians were surprised to see Americans in Ulvik! The hiking was fantastic in both places. We loved our hiking guide, Andreas, in Bergen, along with the dinner cruise and the Greig house and concert. Can't wait to come back.

Hotel Review

Karl Johan Hotel

Oslo

Central location, comfortable, amazing breakfast.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Bergen’s Classic Trails – Private Hiking Experience

Bergen

Great hike, learned so much about Norway chatting with Andreas as we hiked.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Cider tasting in Ulvik

Ulvik

lovely place to visit, great view and the food accompanying the cider was delicious

Quality of Experience

Everyone and every stop was amazing! It was truly so awesome to let the professionals do the planning- zero worries and so much fun! Our trip had so much that my husband and I, as well as my 82 year old mother enjoyed every part of it - truly a huge weight off my shoulders and I came back refreshed rather than exhausted. Alex and his team are gems and I plan to use them for our next trip!

Hotel Reviews

Thon Hotel Opera

Oslo

A great hotel - new and updated. Rooms were great and very modern. Food was awesome and it was right near a great food hall and places to visit.

Authenticity & Character

Great ascetic

Location

Easy to get to all sightseeing places

Staff

Helped my mom out when she had an issue fisninf us - so kind!

Cleanliness & Comfort

Other than the lack of aircon - fans were provided and the rooms were cool

Scandic Neptun

Bergen

This hotel was just ok. A little on the older side and need of renovation. The floor we were on also had some water damage, maybe - it smelled badly in the corridor at times. Otherwise it was clean and comfortable. Food was great - location was top notch.

Authenticity & Character

A little on the olderside6

Location

Easy to get to the warf.

Staff

Helpful and very friendly

Cleanliness & Comfort

Our floor hallway smelled like mold or sweage.

The Dock 69 39 By Scandic

Tromsø

This hotel is right in the center of all things new in Tromso - new restaurants and cafes and shopping- but all the historic stuff also. The roof top bar and restaurant was a great place for my family to watch the Midnight Sun Marathon. Its a great new build- comfortable and modern rooms - and the food was top notch! Planning to go back and this will be where we stay-

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Helpful and quick

Cleanliness & Comfort

Brand spanking new and shiny

Activity Reviews

Fjord Cruise to Rosendal

Bergen

The ride to and from Rosendal was amazing, as was the ferry which was very comfy. But on Rosendal it is not very easy to get around unless you are planning to walk. There are also not a ton of shops near the warf - so it was a slow aftwrnoon.

Quality of Experience

Planning ahead more.

Self-Guided Tromsø Exploration

Norway

Tromso was so easy to navigate - walking most places was easy to do.

Quality of Experience

Our trip of six travelers with Memphis Tours via KimKim was exceptional. From Mohamed’s expertise, personalized travel planning, and incredible response time to Ahmed K.’s thoughtful hosting, recommendations, and coordination of every detail in Cairo and across each destination, the entire experience felt seamless and highly personalized. Mostafa, the Operations Manager, ensured everything was handled with care, while our tour leaders, Walid in Luxor and Mahmoud in Hurghada, provided wonderful recommendations and made us feel supported throughout the journey. Our Egyptologist guides, Hend and Noha, brought Egypt’s history to life with warmth, expertise, and incredible storytelling. Every transfer, tour, hotel detail, and special request was handled beautifully. It truly took a wonderful team to create such a memorable experience, and we are so grateful. Highly recommend!

Hotel Reviews

KaiSol Romance Sahl Hasheesh

Hurghada

Beautiful hotel and rooms with views of the gorgeous beach. Incredible property with several restaurants, evening, entertainment, and pools. Food was also wonderful.

Authenticity & Character

Location

On the beach

Staff

Hassan our room attendant

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hilton Luxor Resort & Spa

Luxor, Luxor Governorate

Authenticity & Character

Location

Absolutely beautiful location on the water.

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Fairmont Nile City Hotel

cairo

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Review

Valley of the Kings, Hatshepsut Temple & Sunset Felucca.

Luxor

This was one of our favorite experiences after pyramids. Noha, our tour guide was exceptional.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Walid, our tour leader and Noha, our tour guide were exceptional.

Transport

The driver and air conditioned van.

My husband and I just returned from Switzerland after spending 8 days there with a trip planned by KimKim. KimKim made the experience stress free as I didn't have to plan anything. We provided our interests and KimKim did the rest. With our busy schedules, it was nice to have KimKim do the heavy lifting.

We were impressed by their accommodation selections and recommendations for where we should travel in Switzerland. For example, we hadn't considered Montreaux, but were so happy we got to spend time there. The contrast of the Swiss German side to the Swiss French side of Switzerland was a fun way to see Switzerland. KimKim made the experience so easy with our vouchers for everything and the service providers were clearly vetted. We can not recommend KimKim enough for those that are looking for ease when planning a trip as you'll have the perfect balance of individual exploration time and planned activities.

Hotel Reviews

Mona Montreux Hotel

Montreux

The view from our room of Lake Geneva was absolutely breathtaking. The hotel was centrally located to the train station and bus station, for ease. We found Montreaux very walkable with a number of fun restaurants. The hotel buffet could have been a bit stronger (quality wise), but I think we had high standards after our stay in Geneva and Zermatt. We opted for a local coffee shop and keep our buffet selection pretty basic each morning as a result. We enjoyed the hotel's location to the Fairmont for delicious evening meals (with a view!).

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

An added bonus was the AC. We were in Switzerland during the European heat wave and thankful to cool off at night.

Matthiol Boutique Hotel

Zermatt

We liked the size of this hotel and the location of this hotel. We liked being far away from town as it was peaceful at night with the windows option and the centralized location to trails for hiking. The morning view of the Matterhorn was amazing. Additionally, the spa room with the sauna was heavenly.

Authenticity & Character

Location

While we felt this hotel was amazing, travelers might find it far away from town. The electric shuttle is only offered to/from the train station when you arrive and leave. You otherwise need to walk everywhere in Zermatt which is roughly 20 minutes to/from town. That wasn't an issue for us and the view was 10/10, but I wanted to mention it. There is a bus you can take, but we opted to walk.

Staff

The staff were very helpful in the morning with my food allergy and ensured I had plenty of gluten free options which I appreciated.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

The Chocolate Train

Montreux

The quality of coffee could have been a bit better on the train ride in the morning, but aside from that, we were impressed by the train ride. We were initially worried it may be a bit toursity, but we embraced it. The cheese and chocolate factory tour were very informative. Seeing the countryside from the train was also fun. It was a great way to remain cool during the European heatwave and we learned a lot.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

E-bike in Montreux / Lavaux !

Switzerland

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Riffelsee and Riffelberg tour!

Zermatt

Mike was great! We appreciated his expertise on the trails to ensure we had a great hike. This includes where to stop for lunch before our return hike to Zermatt.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

This was our first time using a travel company (as we were travelling with our children) and we were very impressed with the service!
The communication back and forth from George during the planning stages was fantastic.
We then got a dedicated app, WhatsApp group and 24 hour phone number help during the trip itself.
Any issues were dealt with kindly and generously by the company. Our trip itself was full of once in a lifetime memories.
All drivers were faultlessly on time and our guides were all knowledgeable and lovely people. Miss Oki in particular was very knowledgeable and we felt like we got all our Indonesian culture questions answered!
Highly recommend GoKo travel!

We had a great experience with kimkim! They put together a fantastic itinerary based on our desired experience and everything was well structured. Our local specialist, Cannon, was terrific and very helpful and responsive. And the local tour guides provide by kimkim were AMAZING! We loved all of them! We'd definitely recommend using kimkim!

Working with Melanie was fantastic and everything I wanted and more! She worked with me months in advance to plan the ideal surprise anniversary trip for my wife in Italy. She communicated immediately and thoughtfully, did her research to find options and made great suggestions. I especially appreciated her guidance is not overscheduling! The free days were some of the best days of the trip!

We loved learning about historical places, buildings, art, etc. Florence cathedral, Uffizzi and walking the district across the bridge were fantastic. Our days in Sorrento and Amalfi coast were heavenly and loved the day trips to Path of God's and the coastal towns. Ravello was a neat gem. I wish we had more free time there to explore the towns and places like Ravello. Pompeii was the real highlight for us and wish we had dedicated a while half day there instead of 2 hour tour. We ended in Rome only 1.5 days so of course would love to go back and spend more days in Rome and Florence. The walking tour the last night in Travestere was absolute highlight! Will plan to do that in every city next time.

The hotels were fantastic, arranged transportation from hotel were great, and bullet trains a nice splurge.

The only less than ideal experiences were the Murano tour - it was short and a sales pitch to buy instead of showing us the area.

Hotel Reviews

Hotel Barocco

Rome

Amazing ambiance! Breakfast was out of this world!!!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Central Wellness Hotel Sorrento

Sorrento

Pleasant hotel.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

No nonsense but not overly service oriented. One front desk person did not help too much with suggestions.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Kraft

Florence

Authenticity & Character

Location

It was 20 minutes walk from center so nice and quiet for us and gave us some more walking. A little closer would have been nice.

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Ruzzini Palace

Venice

Beautiful romantic room, breakfast was like in a high end palace room, amazing! Staff were excellent.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Venice Gondola Ride at sunset

Venice

Its Venice and a gondola, so amazing. But not too exciting in our opinion. The guide didn't do much and Venice is sort of dirty. The sunset part was nice.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Rome Food Tour

Rome

This is 10 stars!!! Wow a magical evening! The guide Toni was spectacular! About 10 in our group, great food and wine, great explanations. We went to 3 restaurants then Gelato. Too much food in the end! I wish we had planned this in every city!!!

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Trip to Murano and glass making workshop

Italy

We thought we would get a tour and learn about glass making. Instead they did 10 minute demonstration of glass blowing and then spent rest of time showing us their store. The pieces were amazing but we had wanted to really learn and see glass blowing and what is done on the island. I dont k ow if they didn't have people to take us around that day or this is the tour. We were disappointed with this.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Panoramic trail nicknamed The Path of the Gods + Transfer from Sorrento

Italy

Amazing! Loved the guide and the lunch on mountain side! Wish we had thought of breaking off at end to walk to Positano.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Ravello, Amalfi & Positano

Sorrento

Absolutely amazing. Coast drive and visiting towns were great but wish we could had a few more hours to really explore each town, get lunch, etc. Path of God's hike tour was amazing.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Vatican & Sistine Chapel Tour + Basilica

Rome

The Vatican and Basilica are world wonders. Our personal tour was 3 hours but still rushing literally. Our guide was nice buy talked too fast and felt like he needed to rush. It was nice to get past long lines but I think I would have preferred going myself and using audio guide but then would need whole day there.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

He talked too fast and felt rushed us.

Transport

KimKim helped us locate wonderful places to stay (given our requirement to have 2 bathrooms for 4 people) and we had amazing guides in every city -- Zurich, Basel, Venice, Naples, Amalfi Coast, and Rome. We had the BEST time. Marianna was generally available while we were traveling, as was High Point Holidays, and it made things much easier to have that constant contact.

I started organizing this trip back in the January time frame and by March we had locked down the details. I am grateful that the KimKim team answered my questions and really listened to our priorities. Our hotels/apartments were all extremely well=located (big priority) and our guides were all so good. My teenage daughters had a great time, despite the epic heat wave hitting Europe and the daily power outages in Italy. All in all, we are so very happy with our trip!

Activity Reviews

Rome with Golf Cart at Night with Pizza & Ice Cream

Rome

Such a fun way to see Rome, esp in the heat of the summer. Seeing the sights at night is a special treat, and the dinner we had was AMAZING.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Such fun!

Private Venetian Foodie Walk

Venice

Maria is a lifelong Venice resident and she taught us so much about Venice - its history, culture, evolution over the past several decades. What a pleasure this tour was! We likely would have not tried cicchetti were it not for this tour, so it really did open our eyes to a Venetian custom.

Quality of Experience

So much fun and so delicious

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Maria was chatty and interesting and incredibly knowledgeable

Transport

We walked!

The safari guides we had were all amazing! We loved the food and camp accommodations. All the organizing with our transportation and connections was so well executed. Our least favorite camp was Moremi and could have skipped this one and stayed longer and the prior 3 game reserves.

This was my third trip with KimKim. And, as usual, everything went perfectly. Denmark is a wonderful country and they have organized and run their country much better than we in the US have. I am 82 and at this age I enjoy simply watching people and absorbing their lifestyles, just seeing how their society functions.

I will definitely will use KimKim again as a travel arranger.

Many great memories came out of this trip. Tasmania was a great choice but we wanted to stay longer. Everything went smoothly on our trip and Ruth was a great help to us. I told her what we wanted to get out of the trip and she made the magic happen. The only regret I have is that I didn’t let Kimkim make the travel arrangements.

One thing I especially enjoyed was having car services pick us up at the airport and deliver us to our hotel. That was such a luxury not having to deal with cabs and Uber and such. We also had a wonderful guide in Tasmania who I would not have been able to book for myself because she was booked through the car service company. All in all, Ruth helped us have a successful and magical trip.

Hotel Reviews

Adina Apartment Hotel Brisbane

Brisbane

The rooms were super nice. We had our best night’s sleep there. Wonderful to have the washer and dryer there because everything was dirty by the end of our trip.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Loved being able to walk to the Pancake Manor! Lots of shopping nearby.

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Reef View Hotel

Whitsunday Islands, Queensland

We had a nice large room and a smaller adjoining one. This hotel is not luxurious but it had its charm. The cockatoos visited us faithfully and the kids were delighted by them. There was really only one restaurant that was kid friendly, but we also enjoyed the pizza place. Everything costs extra. Very little is included other than your room. We enjoyed the buggies for one day but didn’t find it necessary for the more than a day. There’s a grocery store down by the wharf which was nice.

Authenticity & Character

Very beachy. Good showers, lots of towels provided.

Location

It was a typical resort. Beach was very close and it had a heated pool.

Staff

They were very friendly and helpful.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hard not to bring sand in, but the beds were comfy.

DoubleTree by Hilton Hobart

Hobart

We loved this hotel. They give you a chocolate chip cookie when you check in. I especially liked the bathroom. It had a very nice shelf that allowed you to have all your toiletries handy. The food was okay, but not great. I wouldn’t advise eating dinner there, but breakfast was fine. It was not in a great location for getting fast food. Not much nearby.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Very near the Visitor Center and the wharf. We were able to get the Hop on Hop Off bus at the Visitor Cemter.

Staff

They were very patient about giving us replacement keys. We had a very early departure and they made us breakfast boxes. D

Cleanliness & Comfort

Very clean.

Adina Apartment Hotel Sydney Town Hall

Sydney

The staff was so accommodating. The apartment was very nice. It lacked any basic food ingredients though. Not even salt was provided, so bring everything you need for using the kitchen. The ultramodern stove was difficult for me also. It was in a great location. Lots of shopping close by. The pool was great.

Authenticity & Character

Location

We found it easy to walk from the apartment to restaurants and to Darling Harbor.

Staff

We arrived way before checkin time and they allowed us to hang out in the pool area and were great about letting us access our bags.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Review

Full Day Private Tasmania's Wilderness & Wildlife

Hobart

We had the best guide ever. Rosie was very friendly and great with the kids. They loved the mushroom experience at the National Park. We had a wonderful lunch at a local cafe and Rosie had us singing the Kookaburra song and we kept singing it for the entire rest of our trip. The kids loved Bonorong so much and Rosie knew all of the information that the guides there had to offer. The kids even got to pet a wombat! It was great.

Quality of Experience

This was the best tour of our entire trip

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Rosie was amazing. We fell in love with her.

Transport

Comfortable and provided for all our needs.

We did so many varied activities. As a grandmother traveling with teenaged grandchildren, I was appreciative of the activities that appealed to young people. Norway offers so many out of doors wonders and we did our best with all of them. Our personal guides were great; we felt that we got to know them in the short time they spent with us. All in all, a great success and just what I wanted for this trip.

Activity Reviews

Sauna Experience

Oslo

Hands down this was the most fun experience we had in Oslo. A beautiful sunny evening in the sauna right on the edge of the fjord with fantastic views and plunges into the fjord followed by dinner at a nearby fish restaurant.

Cider Tasting with Food Pairing

Norway

We had several "viking" meals of small plates paired with cider and this one was the best at the orchard where the apples are grown.

Quality of Experience

Fjærlandsfjord Cruise & Bøyabreen Glacier Visit

Balestrand

Great outing, all that it was expected to be. Details of the boat's identity need to be updated; the boat listed is out of service.

Thank you Liz for listening to my requests which was to have a dynamic central locating experience. We always stayed in the heart of locations that we wanted to be in. Our transfers and majority of our guides were exceptional. It’s hard to keep track of all our guides. Dina, who toured us in the D’orsay museum was exceptional. Communicated very well and was able to adapt to our needs. We had a person in a wheelchair, which was a challenge throughout. Sara was exceptional, giving us information about the louve. I enjoyed Adam who gave us a tour at the Notre Dame and Saint Chappelle. Additionally, the gentleman who gave us a tour to Saint Remi in Avignon was exceptional. My recommendation, however, is to space out the tours a little bit more or create a situation where maybe people back off or give them the disclaimer that they might not be able to spend as much time as they would like to in one area.

My input to the planning and booking was minimal for our group of six, but the few questions I had were answered promptly by Liz. In our situation we needed a personalized and professionally organized trip to be able to travel throughout several cities and visit the many historical sites.

My first trip to France and I cannot understand or read French. We covered a lot of ground in 16 days. Transportation between cities and tours worked out extremely well. We had six people with luggage & a walker that fit neatly into a passenger van. We also walked and used Uber to get around.

We chose to stay in the "old town" areas close to historical sites. This meant narrow, cobble stone streets, not friendly to the walker. Most of the historical monuments require a lot of walking, standing and stairs. Tours of historical monuments are physically demanding. It would be helpful for the tours to better describe accessibility.

Tour guides tend to overload you with a lot of information in a short period of time. They want to give you your money's worth and impress you with their knowledge, but sometimes it is difficult to absorb if your feet are tired and it is hot. Some tour guides wired us up with headphones and this was helpful when there were other competing tours. They have a challenging job because they do not know what you already know or your interests, and this varies by each individual.

Unless you are a history buff it is difficult to prepare for the tours. In the United States we think of history in a few hundred years and in Europe you are talking about a couple of thousand years. Our live is complex compared to the old days, but they had to be concerned about conquerors and therefore build fortifications on hills, high ground is key terrain.

I gained a greater appreciation of the ancient history and in 5,000 years of civilization, human nature has not changed. One would think that by now we have had enough experience to know the principles and values that work. Apparently, the schools in France teach a lot of history, something we need to improve on in our educational system in the United States. The titans of religion, royalty, arts, and music tell us so much about human nature, politics, and daily life, but it is hard to find time and difficult to comprehend, especially in our crazed social media society and our 24-hour news cycle. Visiting these historical sites helps one to better understand our history and heritage.

Being from the San Francisco Bay Area we have all these schemes to make housing, transportation, and quality of life better. They want to recreate the "European Model" of good public transportation, sidewalk cafes and quaint shops. I agree they are fun. In theory they are great, but not practical in most United States cities. Unfortunately, are schemes are not working. For example, public transportation has nothing to do about moving people, it is about jobs, contracts, and buying votes. Surprising to me was the amount of graffiti in France, even in the smaller towns. Homelessness was minimal and we always felt safe.

Not sure what people do for a living in France, but they spend a lot of time in sidewalk cafes. The French people seem to be in better shape than Americans. The youth were impressive. Thirty (30) years ago Americans found the French difficult. Many people in France now speak some English they are delightful and helpful.

Sara was amazing every step of the way. We loved all of our experiences and everything was seamless. We hope to come back.

When I started planning my husband and I ‘s trip to South America, I was looking at various destinations and was getting very overwhelmed. As a result,I decided to use a travel company and randomly found KimKim. I was connected to Paul. From the first conversation with Paul, he made me feel like he was there to plan a dream trip with my ideas, his input and he really worked to get to know what my husband and I wanted to do in Ecuador. Paul and I exchanged emails and even spoke on the phone planning the trip to Quito and the Galápagos Islands for about 4 weeks. From the day before we left for our trip, Paul was in daily contact with us and even when we flew home. Paul came personally to our hotel when American Airlines left our luggage in the USA and we worked with his contacts and American Airlines to get the luggage to our hotel quickly. Paul’s actions demonstrate first class service. The printout of our itinerary was very detailed with locations of places we would visit, hotels and the phone number of his team that would be part our trip. Using Paul as our travel planner was THE best money ever spent, because his involvement in our vacation journey made it the best trip for us and we have been to Asia, Africa and Europe. We are from the USA. Along with Paul, our guide in Quito was Cristobal. Cristobal is a very educated, kind person who took the extra time to teach us about the beauty of Ecuador and share his love for his country with us. We even feel like he is more than our guide but now we can call him our friend.. Some of experiences with Cristóbal involved learning about wildlife, flowers, plants and visiting the countryside and old town of Quito. Cristóbal went the extra mile by taking us to unique places like a small ice cream business where ice cream is made fresh with fruit as we were watching and taking us to the MegaMax to buy a suitcase. Cristóbal deserves the credit in making our trip in Quito so special and unique. The Galapagos Islands were beautiful and we loved the sea lions, other wildlife and our boutique hotels, but the trip would have been better if we had Cristóbal with us. Paul, and Cristóbal are definitely amazing gentlemen who care 💯 about giving first class service and we highly recommend them to other.

Jenny couldn't have been easier to work with and the accommodations were grwat, just what we asked for a little off the path.

I would definitely recommend using Kimkim to plan a vacation. Everyone who interacted with us was helpful and were able to plan activities that would not have been accessible to us otherwise, such as private horseback riding and fishing excursions. Matij and Beni were our points of contact for while we were in the country and were crucially in their assistance!