Kimkim Trip Reviews for Chile

Our trip to Chile was amazing. Full of WOW moments. Chile is a varied and beautiful country.
We started in Santiago, staying at the Cumbres Lastarria Hotel. Great location; terrific service from the staff. Highly recommend. Only drawback was that it was a holiday weekend (Columbus Day) and many restaurants and sights were closed on the Sunday and the Monday. Did a free walking tour with a very good guide - you tip what you would like at the end of the tour. Had a very good meal at Ambrosia.
We then took a drive to Valparaiso stopping at 3 vineyards along the way with tastings at the first 2 and lunch at the 3rd. I can recommend that. Valparaiso is visually very interesting - the way the houses are painted with art is great. Again took an informative free walking tour which was a little too long - 3 hours turned into 4. Again ran into trouble finding places to eat and a visit to Pablo Neruda house because of the holiday weekend.

Atacama was definitely a highlight of the trip. Spectacular! Stayed at the Cumbres Atacama which was a very nice hotel but the food was mediocre and repetitive night to night. First day went on excursions to Moon Valley and Cejar Lagoon. Moon Valley is spectacular and definitely feels like being on another planet. A lot of walking and some climbing. Cejar Lagoon is highly saline and you can swim/float there. Harriet did, I just waded in a little. Next day I had some difficulty because of the altitude so Harriet went without me to the Rainbow Valley which was also spectacular. In the afternoon we went to Chaxa Lagoon where there is a nice walk and wonderful experience with the flamingos who come back in the late afternoon to feed. We had wonderful guides for the two days, Sebastian and Rudolfo. We were supposed to go to the Geysers of el Tatio the next day which is located at 14,170 feet altitude. Because of my problem with breathing at altitude we opted out of that trip and went into San Pedro de Atacama.

From there a trip to Pucon whose primary attractions were being very close to the active Villarica Volcano and a trip to Conguillio National Park. We had a very helpful guide there, Daniella who went beyond the call of duty to help me deal with the local hospital and with an audiologist. The volcano was awesome to look at. Conguillio was a long drive but also beautiful scenery - lakes, waterfalls, a walk to a lagoon. The visit to the Termas Geometricas hot springs on our free day was also a nice experience, although again a long drive. Pucon itself was touristy. Food not very good. If you needed to shorten your trip, I would skip Pucon.

The next highlight was the trip to Rapa Nui. A never to forget experience. Our guide there, Martin Hey, was a major contributor to our enjoyment. He was very knowledgeable about the Rapa Nui history and customs, spoke excellent English (he had lived in the USA), and was just a pleasure to be with. We would recommend that you request him if you have an option. Note that it was necessary to have a Covid PCR test within 24 hours of going to Rapa Nui. This was well arranged by KimKim. No matter what you've read about the moai or the pictures you may have seen, seeing these huge sculptures in person is an amazing and perhaps spiritual experience. There was a fire the week before we went that damaged several of the moai at the quarry, Rana Raku, where most of them were created, but we saw no evidence of that when we visited that site. Perhaps our favorite site was Tangariki where there are 15 Moai representing important people from the different clans. We went back there on our own to commune with them on our own. We visited several other sites including Orongo, the site of the Bird Man culture and the beach at Anakena. Definitely worth spending 3 days on Rapa Nui.

Our last stop before returning to Santiago and home was in Patagonia, staying in Puerto Natales.
We spent a day in a group tour to the Torres del Paine National Park, stopping to see several lakes, flocks of guanacos, and a prehistoric cave. We stopped for a very nice lunch after which there was a scheduled walk, but because it was raining and we had met a couple on the tour we enjoyed being with, we stayed at the restaurant with them. We later took a nice walk to the cave. The next day we took the Glacier Navigation on a very comfortable catamaran boat to the Serrano glacier stopping to view waterfalls, condors, sea lions. To get to the glacier you had the choice of a 10 minute walk to view it from a distance or a one hour plus walk to get closer. In spite of the rain and the cold we opted for the long walk which was challenging but we were happy we did it. It was sad to hear that the glacier had receded 200 meters in the last decade. Afterwards we stopped for a good lunch of roast lamb and chicken. The hotel was basic but adequate. The food there was mediocre except for the steak which was good. We also ate in Puerto Natales.

We returned to Santiago for one night before flying home. We had a very good dinner that night at Bocanariz. Our last day before taking the flight home we spent with the cousins of a good friend in Savannah for a home-cooked lunch and the afternoon. Probably the best meal we had in Chile.

All in all, a trip to remember. The hotels were mostly quite good to excellent. The guides we had were excellent. We also met a number of people who were traveling in Chile from various countries that we became friendly with. I also want to compliment the service provided by Liane from CTS Turismo who answered all our questions and made some adjustments in the schedule in a timely manner. We would not go to Chile for a culinary experience as we found that outside of Santiago most of the restaurants we ate in were not very good.

Lastly, want to thank Paul for leading us through the many changes we made along the way dealing with the uncertainty of whether Rapa Nui would open up or not.

Howard Zabusky and Harriet Zabusky-Zand

Trip planning...

Jason, our travel agent, was very helpful and attentive. He was very receptive to feedback and promptly incorporated my input into a revised travel plan. Jason was very easy to work with, and I would highly recommend his services to anyone looking to travel in Latin America. I think the only way for the trip planning to be easier is if Jason could read my mind, because it was sometimes difficult to describe the types of adventures that would interest me and my family. I look forward to planning my next vacation with him.

Vacation summary...

Santiago
- Tour guide Felipe – Very nice, personable, helpful, and knowledgeable tour guide. Provided great insight during the tours and provided great suggestions for activities outside of our planned tours.
- Tour description/review: It was a holiday weekend when we visited Santiago, which our tour guide said was why many locals left the city. We may not have gotten the real feel of Santiago; however, less people likely simplified our tour of the major tourist attractions and important monuments throughout the city. We saw many, if not all the important monuments and learned a fair amount about the city during our tour.
The day trip to Valparaiso and Vina del Mar was amazing! The mural-like graffiti of Valparaiso was one of the most memorable things from our trip. Even our little kids were interested some of the graffiti and architecture of Valparaiso. In addition to the fascinating tour, Felipe took us to get some of the best empanadas we have ever tasted. Even though the water was too cold for us to get into, the view of the beach at Vina del Mar was beautiful. Santiago and the nearby areas were an excellent start to your vacation!

Puerto Natales
- Tour guide Jonathan – Our tours in Puerto Natales were guided by another great tour guide. Jonathan was very knowledgeable about the area, nice and personable, and very patient and good with our kids.
- Tour description/review: The next phase of our trip was even better than the initial. Our hotel room offered a view of the water and the mountain range, and the tours were just as amazing as Santiago. The tours of Milodon Cave and Grey Lake were even more exciting for the kids than the beach and graffiti of the Santiago area. The tours of the Milodon Cave and Torres Del Paine National Park were very interesting. The pinnacle of the vacation occurred on Grey Lake with an up-close view of Glacier Grey. The entire family was awestruck by the size and beauty of the giant glacier. While leaving the national park, we saw several guanacos in the hills on the side of the road. The kids were entertained by the guanaco calls to one another that sounded like they were laughing. The guanacos will likely be a vivid memory of the vacation for the kids, also.

Puerto Varas
- Tour guide Carlos was the best tour guide during our vacation, and all our guides up to this point were very good.
- Tour description/review: Another good view from our hotel room and good tours. The tours were good, but they followed the glacier tour, so they were unjustly penalized. Whatever the tours lacked in comparison to the glaciers, Carlos, our tour guide, did an excellent job of compensating. The final phase of our vacation included more interesting things for the entire family. The tours included a ski lift to nearly the top of a snowcapped volcano, amazing views of Todos Los Santos Lake and Petrohue, and a ferry ride to Chiloe Island to take a boat around Ancud Island to see penguins, sea lions, and birds. Seeing the glaciers was the climax of the vacation; however, the tours of Puerto Varas were the perfect falling action in the wonderful story of our Chile vacation.

We have numerous pictures of amazing sights that will remind us of our wonderful vacation!

Hotel Reviews

Pullman Santiago El Bosque

Las Condes, Santiago

The hotel staff was very friendly and helpful. The hotel is located in a very good location that allows for a short walk to restaurants and the huge mall.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

NOI Indigo Patagonia

Puerto Natales

The view from our hotel room was amazing. The staff was friendly and helpful. The restaurant staff went out of their way to accommodate us when we arrived just before breakfast was finishing. The hotel is located in walking distance to the major attractions of the city.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Wyndham Puerto Varas Pettra

Puerto Varas

The hotel room was nice with a very good view. The hotel staff was very helpful. The restaurant was okay; however, the menu was limited. The hotel is located in walking distance to the town center, which offers various restaurants, a casino, and other attractions.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Private Torres del Paine National Park & Grey Glacier

Puerto Natales

The views of the glacier were amazing, and the knowledgeable and friendly tour guide was an added bonus. It would have been helpful to prompted to bring snacks for such a long tour. Also, for such a long tour, it would be better to have a more substantial lunch included/offered.

Quality of Experience

Food

It would be good to have options available for the box lunch or the option to eat at the hotel restaurant prior to boarding the boat.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Full Day Viña del Mar & Valparaíso

Chile

The tour guide was awesome and the murals/graffiti throughout Valparaiso are unforgettable!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

The tours were excellent and the tour guides knowledgeable, friendly, helpful and prepared to go beyond my expectations to allow me to experience the atmosphere of Chile,

There were a couple of hiccups along the way but your organization worked diligently and solved them quickly. The one was prior notification prior to the start of the tours in San Pedro de Atacama and the second was where the tour ended (different from where it began). Both were resolved quickly by your extremely responsive staff,

Thank you.

Hotel Reviews

Hotel La Casa de Don Tomás

San Pedro de Atacama

very rustic with very nice services

Authenticity & Character

Fits into the area so well

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Novapark

Santiago

Excellent service

Authenticity & Character

It's a hotel

Location

right downtown

Staff

Helpful

Cleanliness & Comfort

Clean and comfortable

Activity Reviews

Panoramic City Tour

Santiago

History and beauty of the city and the country

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Full Day - Valparaiso & Viña del Mar

Santiago

Same guide and driver. very knowledgeable and friendly. It was like being on an adventure with a buddy. Highest marks.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Rainbow Valley

San Pedro de Atacama

Again knowledgeable guides and very capable passing the knowledge on

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Half day Moon Valley and Mirador Ckari

San Pedro de Atacama

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Tatio Geysers

San Pedro de Atacama

Really important to have start time knowledge before the tour starts especially at 0500.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Cejar & Tebinquiche Lagoons - Atacama Salt Flat

San Pedro de Atacama

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Evening Astronomy Tour

San Pedro de Atacama

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

If you are traveling to South America, you need to go to Patagonia / Torres del Paine National Park & stay at Patagonia Camp. It is the most luxurious glamping & unique stay we've ever experienced! Emilce was wonderful & helped plan the perfect honeymoon for us!

Lorena did an amazing job putting this trip together! We wanted to see a lot in a short period of time and she made it all happen. We didn’t have to worry about a thing once we were here. It was truly an incredible trip! The marble caves were insanely beautiful and seeing the towers in Torres del Paine was worth the difficult hike. We also loved walking on Grey Glacier. All of our drivers and guides were great as well!

This trip was planned with such precision, I actually have no idea how we would’ve done it without Lorena! She thought of everything for us, and with the geography of what we wanted to do, that was no easy task! Our drivers, especially Leonides, Ramon, and Luis, were so sweet to us.

We had the most amazing trip to Chile (Santiago, Patagonia, Andes Mountains, Casablanca Valley, Valparaiso). Emi was SO helpful in the planning process. She listened to all of our desires and was always willing to make another change to the itinerary if we asked her to. And everything went very smoothly when we went on the trip. We absolutely loved Chilean Patagonia (stayed at Patagonia Camp which is the best place we will ever stay). Thanks to Emilce's communication she was able to hold a room for us for a week while we confirmed our trip plans.

Before, during, and after the trip, I am impressed and amazed and how KimKim and Emilce helped us plan the perfect honeymoon. I honestly wasn't sure how I would feel about using a service like KimKim to plan our entire trip, and I couldn't feel better about it. We highlight recommend KimKim for your next trip.

We are so thankful for your Emilce!!!

Hotel Reviews

Patagonia Camp

Torres del Paine

BEST HOTEL WE WILL EVER STAY AT IN OUR LIVES! Every detail was perfect. They are so nice and the quality of our stay was amazing. If I could give more than 5 stars for a place to stay, this is the place. 10 stars out of 5. My wife and I were so sad to leave this magical place.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Cumbres Lastarria

Santiago

Great hotel in a good location! Go to Bocanuriz nearby for dinner. The quality of the room was great!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Fauna Hotel

Valparaíso

Fantastic hotel in Valparaiso. Great location, very cool inside of the hotel, and the rooftop restaurant has a fantastic view and food was great (breakfast and lunch!).

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Cascada de las Animas

San Alfonso

Great place! This was recommended to us by a coworker who stayed there 10 years ago. Really cool location in the Andes mountains, takes about 2 hours from Santiago airport to get there. It is definitely more remote. The staff was nice, but this was the place where we encountered the fewest amount of people who spoke english. Also, our perception is that this is a destination for local Chileans on the weekends. When we arrived Thursday night and had breakfast Friday morning, there was only one other group eating breakfast or had excursions planned that day. Then on Saturday and Sunday the place had lots of people. We always felt safe, but it's a big property so walking back at night was a little dark. Overall we enjoyed our stay, very unique and cool place that offers a lot!!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Torres del Paine all inclusive - Activities menu provided by the hotel

Torres del Paine

10 stars out of 5, we are active and just loved every minute of Patagonia Camp with guided hikes, and the guides would bring tea and fruit and chocolate for when you got to the top of the hike. And you'd have beers/drinks/wine after the hikes in the parking lot. The coolest stay ever, everything about it.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Panoramic private city tour around Santiago de Chile - Half day

Santiago

It was good, Orlando did a great job! I feel like Santiago doesn't have as much to see as I maybe thought, however it is a cool city with mountains surrounding it. Very scenic in terms of mountains.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Overall we had a wonderful trip! Chile is a very beautiful country and the people down there are very welcoming and accommodating. We met a lot of nice people down there including other tourists from around the world! I didn't know what to expect for it to be my first trip to South America. As far as our itenirary, we We met a lot of nice people down there including other tourists from around the world! it was planned out very nicely and our time was spent efficiently. We also appreciated the landmarks that were suggested as places to visit. Also, each days activities and directions were easy to follow and understand. As far as the activities, we are satisfied with each one overall. Our hotels were very good and met our expectations. We also appreciate that each one was relatively close to everything. Like I said before, overall it was a spectacular trip and we are glad we did it. Our trip planners and coordinators were very helpful and gave us timely updates and were very responsive to our questions and concerns.

Hotel Reviews

Hotel Albatros

Punta Arenas

Everything you can expect from a 3-star hotel. It wasn't shabby or rundown. The rooms were about as nice as one could expect. There was a heater in each room that kept us nice and cozy being that the temps can get very cold at night depending on when you travel. I would just rate this hotel as being more of a "utility" hotel, meaning it serves its purpose and is good for what it is. There is nothing extra about it no amenities or anything like that. Would recommend staying there if you're not looking for anything too fancy or luxurious after all you are in Punta Arenas and not Dubai. The breakfast was good and they make it to order so that was nice.

Authenticity & Character

Felt like we were in a seaside lodge which us what you would expect from a town like Punta Arenas.

Location

It was relatively close and at the center of the town. Not too far of a distance to walk anywhere if need be.

Staff

They were helpful and showed us on a map the best spots to visit

Cleanliness & Comfort

It was very clean and the beds were very comfortable.

Amerindia Patagonia B&B

Puerto Natales

Another quaint and cozy hotel. Met all of our expectations and then some. The rooms were bigger than we anticipated. Also they had a heater in the room which was nice. I will say they don't give you washcloths, which I don't if that's just a policy of there B&B or what but yeah was a little disappointing. But overall, would recommend staying there.

Authenticity & Character

Very authentic, again felt like we were in a seaside port town

Location

Not too far from anything. Everything is either in waking distance or a short uber ride.

Staff

Very good staff. Showed us our room and very friendly.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Very clean and comfortable.

Activity Reviews

Visit the Isla Magdalena Penguin Colony

Punta Arenas

Everything is as advertised. You will definitely see tons of penguins on this excursion and even some seals from a distance. Would highly recommend to anyone visiting Punta Arenas. One of us would say it was the highlight of the trip!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Trip Briefing at Dittmar Adventures

Puerto Natales

Grey Glacier Boat Tour

Chile

Everything as advertised, terrific experience! Highly recommend.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Guided hike to Las Torres lookout [Central - Base - Central]

Chile

This is one of the activities that if we could do over we probably would replace it with another activity. The park itself was awesome and beyond spectacular. However, it should've been emphasized that this hike is not for first time or beginner hikers. To be fair, it did say in the description that it was a "difficult" hike, but I dont think thats appropriate wording it should be "advanced". It is a very strenuous hike and if you go on a particularly windy day can even be life-risking (not hyperbole). Be warned this is not a hike for beginners. The guides that we had go at a particularly fast pace and they do not take long breaks. I think our longest break was 10 minutes! My wife had to turn around within the first 30 minutes of the hike and go back. I managed to make another 2 hours or so past Chileno but eventually had to turn back also. I would consider myself to be in pretty good shape and physical fitness. But there is a big difference to being in shape and being used to hiking. It takes a tremendous amount of stamina to go up and down a mountain for 8 hrs straight. If you're used to hiking and have done it a good amount of times this hike may be a breeze for you. But if this is your first time or second time I would not recommend. There are other hikes I think offered that are not as strenuous.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Felt like we were being rushed, not enough time for breaks

Transport

Very good itinerary planned for a 10 day trip to Chile. I requested to replace Pentagonia with Atacama Desert and Puerta Varas and Lorena was able to put together a fun intinerary for me.
The guides at each of the destinations were responsible and were informative.

Hotel Reviews

Hotel Boutique Le Reve

Santiago

Authenticity & Character

Very cosy hotel

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel La Casa de Don Tomás

San Pedro de Atacama

This is the probably the only hotel I've seen that has a drive in lobby. It really helps as you can enjoy a cup of free coffee while waiting for your pickup early in the morning (most trips out to the desert start as early as 4 or 5am!). It beats waiting in the street for your pickup in the cold. The hotel restaurant has the best food I've eaten in this place. much better than what you can get in the town centre.

Authenticity & Character

Location

About 600m from the town centre

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Bellavista

Puerto Varas

Nice hotel overlooking the lake. It's quite strange that the hotel doesn't provide bottled water nor are there cups in the room. I enjoyed the delicious dinner in the hotel restaurant.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Lake view. About 400-500m from town centre.

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

San José Volcano & Andes Mountains

Santiago

Great guides.

Quality of Experience

Food

Bonus -- nice wine and snacks at the end of the hike!

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Stargazing Experience

San Pedro de Atacama

It'll be cold at night. The telescope is amazing!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Knowledgeable guide

Transport

Excursion to Chiloé Island: Ancud, Dalcahue & Castro

Puerto Varas

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Trekking in Alerce Andino National Park

Puerto Varas

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Lorena was incredible. She was very attentive and adjusted to our changing needs very quickly. We all loved our Brazil trip and will be reaching out to her again for our next South American adventure.

Hotel Reviews

Evolucao Ecolodge

Manacapuru

amazing food and location and tours

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Saint Paul

Manaus - AM

great location and staff

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Mirador Rio Hotel

Rio de Janeiro

basic hotel. solid location but the room was nothing special

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Corcovado Hill & City Tour

Rio de Janeiro

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Sugarloaf Hill & Beaches

Rio de Janeiro

did not really need a guide for this part of the trip. Beaches were not toured at all. That said, Sugarloaf was the best part of our whole trip

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Hike Morro Dois Irmãos & Favela Tour

Rio de Janeiro

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Meeting of the Waters & Janauari Park

Manaus

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Amazon Jungle Lodge: Hiking, Fishing & Nocturnal Tour

Manaus

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Amazon Jungle Adventure

Manaus

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Swim with Pink Dolphins

Chile

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

City Tour in Manaus

Manaus

great tour but not really worth spending a day in Manaus for a tour

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Great trip and amazing guides throughout our time in Chile!! Highly recommend!

so fun, drivers were timely, hotel(s) were great and it was all reasonably priced. Love it and I'll be back!

Wow, this was honestly the best trip we’ve been on! All our guides were so knowledgeable and went above/beyond to give the best experience. We have so many unique photos to look back all thanks to this. Our guide in Santiago was the BEST in terms of being personable and just down to earth. Kudos to him! The winery tour was memorable and this coming from someone who didn’t really like wine! I found that the reds and whites were so different and I kept myself open to the overall experience. My partner Nathaniel liked the lagoon and how we got to float effortlessly. It truly was a once in a lifetime experience!!! Not only will we be going back to Chile, but now we have started thinking about going to Brazil. Emilce made this whole process a breeze and I will go through her in the future.

Hotel Reviews

Pullman Santiago El Bosque

Las Condes, Santiago

The view from the our room was so beautiful, to see the sun coming up over the city and through the mountains. The included breakfast had the freshest fruit, so much better than anything back home.

Tips for future travelers

Get an idea of your surroundings! You’ll find that there are tons of restaurants and cafes within walking distance.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Our Habitas Atacama

San Pedro de Atacama

The private room/dwelling was wonderful with the terrace and grounds to walk around. The breakfast was delicious and the staff were so friendly.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Fauna Hotel

Valparaíso

The hotel was in a nice location and we could easily get around from it. Our room was unique and beautiful! The restaurant was fantastic and they had great views

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Half day Maipo Vineyards - Concha y Toro Winery: El Marqués Tour

Santiago

The grounds, the tour, and the attention to detail was perfect! This was our first tour and it set an awesome tone for the rest of the trip.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

He was kind, friendly and we would recommend him!!

Transport

Rainbow Valley

San Pedro de Atacama

With the change in altitude and how dry it was, our guide did a great job of providing a tour that didn’t completely wear us out! He was so funny and took lovely pictures of us.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Half day Moon Valley and Mirador Ckari

San Pedro de Atacama

Our guide gave us a once in a lifetime experience! We walked on a dune and it was tough, but I would recommend it to everyone. I appreciated that he provided the tour but gave us space to explore.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Cejar & Tebinquiche Lagoons - Atacama Salt Flat

San Pedro de Atacama

The lagoons and seeing where life may have started was amazing. Plus we saw some wildlife and got to float in a lagoon!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Lorena was fantastic at (a) tailoring the trip to my preferences; (b) taking on feedback and adjusting the schedule dynamically; (c) highly responsive and going above and beyond on service.
Thoroughly recommend!

Cannot give enough thanks to Lorena, she was continuously available both during the trip and for months before. There was no day where she did not get back to us when we had questions or concerns, which made our first trip to South America much more smooth. She has many contacts to connect you with in the area and knows what she is doing. Trust her and her group entirely to plan your trip.

All tours and activities were authentic and had locals and experts guiding them. Each of these local contacts and guides were also easily reachable and went out of their way to make sure they met our needs when possible.

Lorena developed an amazing itinerary that allowed us to experience as much as possible during our time in Chile. Beginning our trip at Gloria and Leo's home for an amazing dinner, ambience, and conversation was the perfect welcome. Our tour guide Felipe was a wealth of knowledge about the area, the history, and social issues impacting the country, which greatly added to our experience. We spent a day seeing the beautiful sights of Santiago and experiencing a signature Chilean completo for lunch, complete with talented street musicians playing in the background. We enjoyed a memorable day exploring the fun port city Valparaíso. Felipe and our van driver Gabriel worked together to make sure we could experience as much of the city in the time that we had, with the perfect combination of walking the narrow passageways and stone streets, riding the funiculars (hillside elevators), and driving. Our final day in the Maipo Valley didn’t go quite as planned because of traffic. However, Felipe quickly came up with an alternate plan to stop for ceviche and hike Mirador de Cóndores, which ended up being one of my daughter’s favorite experiences of the trip. We visited a couple of the breathtaking local wineries. The entire team expertly managed all the details and any last minute adjustments that needed to be made. For example, our flight was delayed, which was already being monitored by the team, and the necessary adjustments were made to our schedule. “Gabo” and Felipe were so personable and delightful. By the end of the trip we were able to enjoy a wonderful farewell dinner reminiscing and laughing about our adventures with our new Chileno friends. We made so many amazing memories on this trip and would highly recommend using this group.

My wife and I had a wonderful time in Chile. Emilce did an excellent job setting up pick-up times, transfer, flights and hotels. Everything was efficient, and we were able to maximize our time on the trip. We especially enjoyed our stay at La Casona. The winery was beautiful and relaxing. The sommelier was knowledgeable, and the food was delicious. We felt comfortable during our entire trip, and Emilce and her team were responsive to any questions or needs. We would highly recommend kimkim and Emilce and look forward to planning our next trip.

Hotel Review

La Casona at Matetic Vineyards

Lagunillas

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Review

Vinolia: Wine Tasting

Santiago

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Kimkim is reliable Travel agency and Leandro is amazing Travel Agent. We used Kimkim for our trip to Chile, our first trip ever to explore South America.
Leandro is very friendly, knowledgeable and always reachable. He is also very flexible when it comes to customising the trip. We had little issue with the tour operator and Leandro helped us to resolve the issue instantly. Lots of people do not see the value of travel agency and think they are overpriced!! You pay for the convenience and stress-free holiday.
I would always recommend Kimkim and Leandro to all of our friends and would contact them again next time I want to travel and explore other parts of the Earth!
Thank you so much for all your help Leandro! You are super star!

Hotel Reviews

Hotel NOI Casa Atacama

San Pedro de Atacama

Amazing from service, from the room to facility, to the service. Foods and drinks are delicious! Location is amazing (only 5 mins to the main road with lots of bar, restaurants and shops).

Tips for future travelers

Nope

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel NOI Casa Atacama

San Pedro de Atacama

Amazing from service, from the room to facility, to the service. Foods and drinks are delicious! Location is amazing (only 5 mins to the main road with lots of bar, restaurants and shops).

Tips for future travelers

Nope

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Review

San Pedro de Atacama: Moon Valley and Death Valley Excursion

San Pedro de Atacama

Quality of Experience

Capricornio Expediciones has done a great job from communicating to taking care of us during the experience. They are very reliable! And I like them because they did not go behind travel agency back and tried to steal clients from travel agency (by telling us to book straight with them to save 2/3 of the cost).

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Paloma was amazing, she is knowledgeable, responsible, reliable and very energetic. She helped us enjoy the Atacama to the fullest

Transport

On time, easy to communicate, reliable.

We just got back from a week in Chile and could not have done it without Lorena! She was there every step of the way - helping curate the itinerary, updating us on covid protocols and requirements, answering any and all questions and so much more! She made herself so available to us and was extremely responsive and communicative.

As for our trip… it was fantastic! Kind, patient, educative guides and drivers. Everyone went truly above and beyond to make our trip wonderful and memorable. We enjoyed our day trip to Valparaiso and getting acquainted with the history of Santiago. But the highlight of our trip by far was Torres del Paine. We did a beautiful (albeit challenging) hike and saw the beautiful glaciers. I cannot wait to go back and will most definitely be using Kim Kim/Lorena for my future travels.

A million thanks!

Let's start by saying that due to Covid restrictions we could not go to Easter Island. But instead our wonderful local specialist Lorena had us travel to the Lakes region, which we would have never thought of it. It was a beautiful part of Chile where we got to tour lakes and towns around them, up to a volcano. It turned out to be even better thanks to Lorena!! We then toured the south, where we were booked in very nice hotels and tours.
My husband and I have been traveling for the past 20 years, mostly on our own, but after this trip and the attention given us by the specialist, we will continue to travel thru an agency!! I would like to specially mention the special treatment we received from our guide in Santiago, Leonides and in Puerto Varas by Joaquin. They treated us like family and gave us a deep introduction to the country and it's customs.