Kimkim Trip Reviews for England

Our Premier Soccer League trip was the experience of a lifetime and Meghan planned an amazing trip for us. Everything from the games, to our hotel accommodations, to the restaurant choices were outstanding. Meghan was easy to work with and always flexible when we made changes to our itinerary. She booked several lovely tours for us in each city we visited. Our guides were very knowledgeable and conducted the tours based on what we hoped to accomplish each day. My husband, two sons and I all agreed that this was a trip we will happily look back on for the rest of our lives. Thank you, Meghan for all that you did to make this trip so memorable.

What an amazing time we had!
I asked Kat to help me organize a surprise 16th bday trip for my daughter and I gave her a wish list of places my daughter wanted to see/things she wanted to do.
Kat organized our trip so we made the most of our time. Her suggestions for a walking tour of Roman ruins on London was really good. Kevin, our guide, knew so much history. We also took a car trip to see Hampton court and Blenheim castles with David and he was also so knowledgeable.
I am so happy with the trip Kat planned. I thank her from the bottom of my heart.
Robyn

Activity Reviews

Private Day Tour to Bath and Windsor Castle

London

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Roman London Private Walking Tour

London

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Hampton Court and Blenheim Palace PrivateTour

London

Quality of Experience

I

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Rachel designed an incredible trip for me, my husband, and my 6 year old son. She provided great advice on what to do and what to avoid. (For example, she told us not to take the train from Edinburgh to London, as it wasn’t the experience we thought it would be.) I would certainly use her again to plan another trip.

Our trip initially was going to be a short excursion to England to watch a soccer match of my son's favorite team. In starting to plan for the trip my wife decided it would become a full family affair. Having no idea where to start we contacted Kim Kim and were delighted to have Jane become our agent.

Ours was not an easy trip to manage, I am sure. We were flying into Manchester, going to London, returning to Manchester...with 8 people whose ages ranged from 73 to 3. In addition to having a pretty wide age range, we had no idea what we needed to see. Fortunately, Jane did an excellent job of communicating with us. In just a short period of time we were able to develop an outline of our itinerary that we constantly revised and improved upon.

In the end, we have just returned from England and what was absolutely one of the best trips our family has ever had. With so many moving parts, so many transportation and ticketing requirements, having Jane and the team organize everything made it a seamless and wonderful experience. The locations for our lodging could not have been better suited for what we wanted and had asked to have.

Thank you to Jane and the entire Kim Kim team. We will certainly be in touch for our next overseas adventure. I recommend Jane and Kim Kim to anyone looking to travel to Europe, but not having a solid idea of what they want to do.

We turned to KimKim to plan our family's trip to the UK, and had a wonderful time! While we had to change several aspects of the trip due to seasonal closures after finalizing our travel dates, overall our trip was so lovely and memorable. Our specialist, Sarah, worked hard on the itinerary to find a balance between kid-oriented fun and educational/cultural items, as well as finding accommodations that would work for a family of four. The children especially loved the Harry Potter studios tour and the armory exhibit at the Tower of London. We parents loved the ease of our days with private tour guides in both York and for four days in Scotland with Keith of Scotland's Highland Tours. We had some challenges with communicating across 9 time zones during the planning process, and might opt to spend more days in fewer locations next time, but came home so glad we took this trip.

Our trip to London did not disappoint. We were extremely satisfied with our Kimkim experience. Kateryna was very easy to work with and very accommodating. We made a lot of changes to our itinerary leading up to the trip, Kateryna was very responsive and was able to meet all of our requirements. It was a jam packed 4 days and we were able to hit all the hot spots and then some. The Black Cab Tour with Steve was the perfect way to start the trip. It gave us an overview of the city and hit on all the key sites. The Tower of London tour with Don was very entertaining and informative and the talk by the Beefeater was very authentic. Two highlights of the trip were the Soho Music and Historic Pub Tour with Jack and the Retired Royal Guard Central London Walk with David. Both of these tours were filled with interesting information given by knowledgable and personable tour guides. All of our cab drivers were extremely friendly and pleasant. We look forward to using kimkim again when planning our next trip.

Hotel Review

St James' Court, A Taj Hotel

London

The Taj 51 is a unique property in a great location. The staff was very solicitous and the service was impeccable!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

The concierge staff was extremely helpful and accommodating.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Discover London in a Private Black Cab

London

Our tour guide Steve was great! He was super friendly and knowledgable and funny!

Tower of London Beefeater Welcome & Crown Jewels

London

Our tour guide Don was great!

Soho Music and Historic Pubs Tour, private tour

London

This tour was a lot of fun! Jack was a great tour guide and shared a lot of very interesting facts about famous musical artists and the beer was good too!

Windsor Castle Half Day Trip from London including Entry

England

The castle is amazing but be sure to leave time to explore the town!

Retired Royal Guard Central London Walk

London

David was an amazing guide! His insider knowledge was very interesting and made for a fun tour!

Lodging: I very much enjoyed our lodging choices. The staff were kind and helpful. I loved the historical bed and breakfast properties. My favorites were Clonmore House in Doolin and Georgian House in London.
Steven was awesome! He really went the extra mile to help me put together a trip of a lifetime, including my 7 year old grandson. There were multiple moving parts and they moved around a lot, even during the trip. There were so many changes, additions and deletions, and other changes, and he met them with grace. I really appreciated his efforts.
The biggest negative was the Big Bus. It was very time consuming. The routes were not conducive for someone who has limited time. It would be much easier to just use Uber. (I found their service quick and reliable.)
Our guide, Roury, on our 4WD trip to Cairngorms Nat’l park was awesome. He was very knowledgeable and shared so many interesting stuff about the park.

This was my first experience with a travel service and I was very pleased. Extremely accessible and responsive. All arrangements were ready for us as promised. Accommodations were both top notch and good value for money. Suggestions for our activities were in line with what they learned about us prior to starting to plan.

Activity Reviews

London Eye timed entry tickets

London

While it provided great views, it gave very little info to help us understand what were seeing Even some type of map would be helpful

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

The London drivers were on time but barely spoke. The Scottish drivers were extremely professional and friendly

London Bridge Food Tour

London

Tom the guide made this a very fun experience in spite of being a super crowded Saturday

Tower of London timed entry tickets

London

The Yeoman Warder tour is what makes this visit worthwhile and we loved it. So much history, made so interesting

Changing of the Guard guided tour

London

Fast-paced but with time for Rosie our guide to give us lots of explanation of what we’re watching

Quality of Experience

Black Cab Tour of London

London

Ollie did a fantastic job making this interactive, and covering so many important sites. I was worried that the tour would be too long but time flew by!

Private transfer in town

England

Super friendly. Very posh car ! Waiting where promised

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Private transfer from Train station to Hotel

England

Very professional and friendly. Great car

History Lovers Old Town Walking Tour

Edinburgh

Our tour was small and our guide was excellent! We learned and saw so much of the Old Town and this prepared us to explore more on our own

Small group visit of Mary King's Close

Edinburgh

Very interesting but could have been better with a little more historical reenactment and re-creation of the time period

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Edinburgh Castle Tickets

Edinburgh

Lots of history to learn and see. The audio system was well worth the additional fee. The Crown Jewels display was very impressive

Afternoon Tea at the Edinburgh Castle

Edinburgh

Lovely, quiet venue with excellent service and excellent food. The optional Gin flight we chose prior to Tea was excellent as well

Where to begin? It all started with the amazing Team at KimKim from our initial contact in September '22. They heard our desires and were very capable in making our travel as fluid as it was! With some brief back and forth, the itinerary was set. I would be remiss if I did not inject the great attention to detail the KimKim Team provided and the several last minute changes that we asked for while on travel. There were a couple of cancellations not of our doing and the Team quickly notified us and we were able to adjust on the fly! We first arrived in Dublin, Ireland which was not what we thought, but opened our eyes to European big city life. The EPIC Immigration Museum really is a place to visit to get a deep understanding of the Potato Famine of the 1840's and how it really formed how the US was shaped by 1.5-2 million immigrants. Our trip took us via our rental car to Waterford to see the Waterford Crystal company and yes, we bought a fabulous piece of crystal. Then on to Cork with a stop at the KilKenny Castle. Our first experience with a castle and it did not disappoint! Maranatha Country House is where we stayed and it is a wonderful B&B and gracious hosts. Our next stop was in Limerick and while there we visited the Muckross House and Gardens. Such a peaceful location to walk the grounds and feel like you are in the 17th century again. From Limerick, we travelled to Galway and possibly to main reason to visit Ireland. Family connection into the Clan O' Flarerty brought us to the Aughnanure Castle which was the 16th century homestead of our family. Let me take the time to speak about the most amazing B&B we stayed in at Galway, the Cnoc Suain. It is located on a 200 acre private land and we stayed in a three room cottage that was built in 1691 yet modernized. We WILL be back to the Cnoc Suain on our next trip. Plan on zero internet nor cell reception, such a peaceful time. While there, we ventured to the Kylemore Abbey and it surely did not disappoint. Magnificent ground and history, plan of 2 - 3 hours. From Galway, we flew to London via Shannon Airport (easiest airport to navigate). We had a private transfer from the airport (Stansted) to The Sanctuary House Hotel ideally located to see the major sites in London and Westminster. We saw the Changing of the Guard and our walking tour guide (Paul) with Fun London Tours made it a grand time! We had another walking tour scheduled but the tour was cancelled and KimKim Team, at our request refunded that cost. We then free lanced the rest of the day, which we did on several occasions. We chose to adjust our one full day in London and take the train to Brighton on the south coast. The KimKim Team quickly handled our request and we spent a wonderful day in Brighton on the English Channel. We took a Thames River cruise and were able to see some of the sights of London/Westminster that many do not see. Seeing Westminster Abbey and Big Ben from the river was breathtaking! Our next day, we had scheduled a train trip from London to Edinburgh Scotland. The countryside and coastline of the UK is filled with such splendor. We were scheduled to take a trip to the Loch Ness and Highlands area but chose not to due to the pace we had been on predicated a day of free lancing in Edinburgh which we spent many hours walking the Royal Mile which is the main street between the Edinburgh Castle and the Holyrood Palace. The KimKim Team worked on a satisfactory refund of this day. The Royal Mile has the majority of retail and restaurants that most tourist see. While in Edinburgh, we stayed in a 16th century low class and middle class building that was converted into a small hotel that had the best morning breakfast ever! Ollie, the owner was the best! I definitely cannot omit that our trip to St. Andrews through the Kingdom of Fife, the bread basket of Scotland was just beautiful. What will I say about being at the Old Course at St. Andrews, I am still speechless. We have been to Jerusalem and now the Home of Golf, maybe my life is complete! Sadly, we had to fly home, but if you are ever in Edinburgh and need a private transfer (private car and driver) please ask for and use Stephen Dunn that owns the Ecoss EV Travel, he was super!

If you are considering KimKim as a source for your travels, well I am limited to only 5 stars and they are worthy of many, many more. Thank you, the Team at KimKim for making our trip so memorable!

Hotel Reviews

Hard Rock Hotel

Dublin

The location was perfect for exploring Dublin on foot. Overall, a very good hotel!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Cnocsuain | Annead

Galway

This was the favorite hotel of the trip. The historic stone cottage, built in 1691, was charming and the owner and his daughter were incredibly welcoming.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

The Sanctuary House Hotel

London

The location was ideal, close to key landmarks like Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, and Buckingham Palace. A good overall stay.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Ben Cruachan Guest House

Edinburgh

This was the standout accommodation. Interaction with the owner, Ollie, was delightful and the breakfast was excellent.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Maranatha Country House

Cork

A very pleasant stay. The hostess was incredibly hospitable and engaging, which really made it a great experience!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Review

Private transfer in town

Scotland

Stephen Dunn provided the best service. On time and very professional. A joy to be around when in a new area.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

We reached out to KimKim to help plan a 10 day trip for me, my husband, our daughter, and my in-laws to London and Edinburgh. We wanted to base our trip off of a group tour itinerary that we found, with some changes and additions to the attractions each day to ensure everyone got to do and see the things most important to them. Marion worked with me for almost a month, adjusting things to help fit our budget and recommending things to help us get everything into the trip. She was VERY patient and always kind, which I appreciated, because I couldn't make final decisions without consulting the others. I never felt pressured in any way (also much appreciated). She truly felt like a trusted friend who was helping me plan a dream trip.

The "roadmap" packet we received before we left had great information. There were directions, times, details, and estimates on how long it would take us to get to the meeting points. All of the tour companies we used were wonderful. In England, we did a large tour one day to Windsor, Stonehenge, and Bath and a more intimate (16) person to Oxford, the Cotswalds, and Stratford Upon Avon. The guides were knowledgeable, helpful, and really fun. She arranged transportation to Harry Potter Studios which was a highlight for multiple members of the family. We also did several two walking tours in Edinburgh- one large group (Harry Potter tour) and one with just a guide and our family (walking tour of Edinburgh). Both were excellent! We got a rental car one day to drive to St. Andrews, and Marion arranged that for us as well. While I love planning things, working with a travel partner like KimKim really helps to make sure things are covered. Everything was easy and seamless.

While we were gone, I only had to reach out to KimKim once to clarify a detail, and they responded quickly. There is no way that we could have done everything that we did without Marion's expertise and guidance. Everyone got to see and do their bucket list items and we all agreed it was the trip of a lifetime. My family kept thanking me for planning everything but Marion and KimKim definitely deserve the credit. We will DEFINITELY use this service again, and I would be delighted to work with Marion again.

Hotel Review

Caledonian Sleeper

London

We absolutely loved this part of our trip. We were a little nervous because another travel agent had not recommended sleeper cars on trains, but it seemed to be the best use of our time, so we decided to give it a shot. My husband and I got a connecting room with out 12 year old daughter, and my inlaws got their own room. All of the rooms had bunkbeds and the rooms are TINY. If you have large suitcases, you are better off having them store those and working out of an overnight bag. Because we had an empty bunk in our daughters room, we piled all of our luggage on there. **We could not figure out how to open the door between our rooms, but we found out in the drinks car that they come around and do it for you once the train gets moving. We went to the bar and got drinks and snacks (adult beverages for us and hot chocolate for my daughter). They were short staffed and couldn't do large meals but at 11pm we weren't looking for that. We met some other travelers who were going home to Edinburgh and talked to them about restaurants, etc. It was a nice way to wind down before bed. We were laughing going to bed that no one was going to sleep, but we all slept AMAZINGLY well. The bed was firm and comfortable, and the provide earplugs and eye masks. My in-laws, who are 70, agreed that it was a great night sleep. In the room there is a tiny sink that you can use to wash your face and brush your teeth. There are toilets in each train car and we never had an issue being able to use one when we needed to. We didn't have breakfast on the train 1) because we wanted to sleep in and 2) you arrive really early, so we just went straight to breakfast in Edinburgh. I would highly recommend it. It was a fun experience- leaving London and waking up in Edinburgh. Because we slept through the journey, we had more time to explore in Edinburgh which was a huge value to us.

Authenticity & Character

We enjoyed everything about it!

Location

Staff

My husband left his tablet in our room and had to run back through the train station. The conductor personally escorted him back to our room to check, where he found it between the mattress and the wall.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Very clean! We had no issues or concerns at all.

Activity Reviews

London Eye timed entry tickets

London

The evening we went, it was not crowded at all, so our group of 5 got a "room" all to ourselves. The pace is nice and slow so those of us who get motion-sickness were not bothered at all. It was our very first activity after arriving and checking in, and it was nice to get to take in ALL of London, from every direction, for our first event. My husband and I rode on it almost 20 years ago, so it was fun to come back and do it again. You can't beat the views!

Quality of Experience

Hop-on, Hop-off Bus

London

We had a wait a while to get on the bus, but after that it was smooth sailing. We had downloaded the app and talked about the stops that we wanted to get off at and what we wouldn't mind passing by. My father-in-law really wanted to see Buckingham Palace and stop at a Hard Rock Cafe (he collects shirts). The audio commentary that you get to listen to is really good-- not boring at all. There was only one stop we didn't get to make because we ran out of time. We spent a really fun day getting to see so many different parts of London.

Quality of Experience

Easy to hop on and off--- covered everything we wanted to see without worry

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Harry Potter Studio Tour from London (with transport)

London

The bus we took was very nice! The studios are 45 min- 1 hour outside of town but we were very comfortable. The studios are overwhelming (in a wonderful way). The guide told us a lot of people spend 4 hours there, which is how much time we had, so it was great. There are passports you can stamp along the way. There are the sets, costumes, design pieces- with fun additional facts. There are also several areas where you can create videos of you riding a broom throughout different areas of Hogwarts and London. My daughter and father-in-law both did it and the videos are hilarious. There is a huge cafeteria about halfway through with a good variety of options. We stopped and had lunch and then went back for butterbeer ice cream. If you are a Harry Potter fan, this is a MUST DO!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Windsor, Stonehenge & Bath from London

London

Our driver and guide were both wonderful on this trip. We were on a really nice bus, and it was full. We were not able to sit together but we would reconvene once we got to each destination, it was fine. We thoroughly enjoyed each place. At Windsor, we were the first to arrive and so we were the first ones in. There are a couple of highlight areas and you need to choose what you want to do because you have a limited time at each place. We went to the Royal Apartments and marveled at everything we saw. There is so much art, history, and space! On the way back to the bus, we grabbed lunch to go at one of the sandwich shops in the train station that you walk through. Stonehenge is very cool to go to, but it has it's own microclimate and it was insanely windy! There is a path from the main parking lot to Stonehenge, and there is also a bus that will drive you the 1.5 miles. Because of our time limits, we all took the bus. If I came back, I would make a day of it so we could walk through the country side. We grabbed a snack at the cafe there, which is packed. Bath was by far the favorite. We want to come back and spend several days in Bath because the town is so beautiful. The baths themselves were a great site. It is a self-led walking tour throughout. Once we were done, we had about 45 minutes to kill, so we walked around and got ice cream.

Quality of Experience

We got to see so much in one day. Each item could be their own day trip but it was a wonderful way to get a good taste of each place in a limited amount of time.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

The guide was wonderful! Very personable and friendly.

Transport

Safe and comfortable.

Small Group - From London: Oxford, Cotswolds, and Stratford Upon Avon Tour

London

We really enjoyed this small group tour. It was much more intimate and we got to know several of the others on the tour. Stratford Upon Avon was beautiful. We got to tour Shakespeare's home which was so interesting, and the guides who worked there were very engaging and helpful. After that, we had some free time to explore. The day we were there, there was a large famers market on the river with food trucks and vendors of all kinds. That was an added treat! From there we went to the Cotswalds. We drove through these precious, tiny towns, and it was obvious that larger tour buses would not be able to get down a lot of those roads. We stopped for lunch in a beautiful village, but we only had about 1 hour to to find a restaurant, get seated, eat, and get back to the bus. With it being Sunday, a lot of the restaurants were offering Sunday roast or more formal meals. Since we didn't have time to research the village beforehand, we felt a little panicked about finding a restaurant that could seat us and serve us in the allotted time. We made it, but if I could change anything, I would allow 2 hours here so we could walk around and find a place we actually wanted to eat and enjoy ourselves rather than rushing through. Finally, we got to Oxford. This is a beautiful area and we had the most time here. Besides going into the one building (which is the setting for a scene in Harry Potter where the students are learning to dance), we had a lot of free time to go into shops. That was fun, but it was very touristy. My husband opted to go to the free Natural History Museum and he loved it. I would have been happy to have spent less time here and more at the Cotswalds. Our guide was very nice and talked a lot during the roadtrip portion. He was very entertaining!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Overall great-- I just wish we had allotted the time a little differently.

St Andrews walking tour of the famous Old Golf course

England

We arrived about noon and were able to eat lunch in the Clubhouse before the tour. The food was good and we could see the practice greens so it was good people watching, The guys went on the tour and loved it. The girls went into St Andrews and shopped and visited the University. St Andrews is a beautiful city! We were very happy we made the day trip out of Edinburgh.

Quality of Experience

Transport

Our rental car was really nice. Everything was set up for us and it was super easy!

Private walking tour of Edinburgh with a top local guide

Edinburgh

Gareth was a fantastic guide! He was very personable and friendly. He took us off of the Royal Mile and around parts of Edinburgh that we never would have seen. There was no Harry Potter on this tour but my 12 year old still enjoyed herself very much. My husband asked a ton of questions when we were in between locations and we had some great conversation. He was very sweet about taking pictures of us so we have a few family shots that aren't selfies! It was really nice to have a guide to ourselves rather than being in a large group setting. Everyone agreed that this tour was a highlight of the trip!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Gareth is a gem!

Edinburgh Castle Tickets

Edinburgh

We had a lot of fun exploring all of the areas of the castle grounds. We spend a lot of time in the jails because my daughter was intrigued with it. There was a lot to see and do, and the self-guided tour aspect of it makes it more enjoyable because you don't have to stay with a crowd. You definitely want to book in advance because we heard a lot of people who were upset that tickets were sold out for the day.

Quality of Experience

A Wonderful Family Trip to England & Scotland

Our trip was amazing. We did have a jammed packed itinerary, but it was great! So much to see/do/learn and boy did we! Traveling solo adult with (2) almost teens and we were all happily engaged. A nice taste of both England and Scotland.

When I started to plan a trip for me and my fiancé to London and Paris the thought was so daunting, however, Stephen and William at Kimkim made the whole experience so easy and stress free!! Stephen worked with me to tailor make the trip to suit me and my fiancés interests and we had an absolute blast on all of the tours and events that he planned for us. He made sure we got to see all of the highlights and major attractions in each city and we couldn’t have been more happy with our experience. Stephen and two of his associates at Kimkim were also available the entire time I was in Europe to answer any questions and help me with any issues I had. I would definitely recommend Kimkim to anyone planning a big trip for the first time as it truly was a great experience.

We had an amazing time in England and Scotland!! Thank You Stephen and your team for working with us with adding people to our trip last minute. We appreciate all your hard work, and we were able to have a memorable experience we will remember forever! The locations and hotels you picked were so fun and we feel we would have missed out on seeing so much of it weren’t for your recommendations. We have already recommended KimKim to friends and family based on our experience and we will continue to use you for future travels. Thanks Again,
Zane and Jamey Norris

Working with Gabrielle, Stephen & Marianna was great. They were responsive, listened & worked with me on activities, pricing & recommendations. They followed through on everything I asked of them. Our trip was fantastic and everything went perfectly. I seriously could not have asked for more. Thank you to all - you helped us make some special family memories!

Jane was terrific in planning our England and Scotland adventure. Everything this planned ran so smoothly and we really appreciated that. She selected great hotels and we enjoyed the day tours to various places. Working with Jane was so easy. She was very responsive to my questions and suggestions and so patient when I debated taking the trip to begin with. Thank you for finding the great e-bike trip through the Highlands. We adored Kevin and it was a highlight of the trip. Jane also worked with us when we wanted to make some changes at the end to our London days. I really appreciated how quickly and positively she responded to our proposed changes. Wish I could plan another trip with her!

Hotel Reviews

Angel's Share Hotel

New Town, Edinburgh

Nice hotel with friendly staff.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

River Ness Hotel, a member of Radisson Individuals

Inverness

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

ibis Styles London Southwark – near Borough Market

London

Authenticity & Character

Cool decor. The breakfast was amazing.

Location

We liked hotel but everything was 4 miles away but a half hour with traffic.

Staff

They were nice enough. Picked up an off vibe when checking in with the receptionists.. Room not ready when we came back at 3:30 and didn't know that there was a tea kettle in the closet. Plus unsure why our rooms were not adjoining when we checked in since there was a door that separated our room from the one to our left. My husband and son were to the right. But the kitchen staff (people that cleaned up and made sure the breakfast was nice) were terrific!

Cleanliness & Comfort

Loved kitchen and dining room staff.

Caledonian Sleeper Train Cabin

Edinburgh

Authenticity & Character

Location

Just from a personal standpoint I might have done better flying.

Staff

Not too much interaction but dining car person was nice.

Cleanliness & Comfort

I liked my room but my husband complained his toilet smelled.

Activity Reviews

Outlander tour from Edinburgh

Edinburgh

This tour was a good way to start but realized that we are not castle people and we should have watched Outlander.

Edinburgh Castle Tickets

Edinburgh

Nice tour.

The Isle of Skye & Eilean Donan Castle

Inverness

Pretty place/tour. But long day but there is no other way. Would have like to hike a little maybe.

Electric Bike Guided Tour in Inverness

Inverness

We loved biking through the countryside. Plus, Kevin was so nice. Such an interesting person. And I thought it was sweet that he made a point of riding 1-1 with each of us at different times to get to know us a little better. He wanted to get to know us and that level of customer service seems rare today. And he went above and beyond by going back for the van to get us back into town.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

He was just terrific.

Transport

Private transfer to your accommodation. Then check-in or bag-drop

London

All drivers assigned to us were great. On time and helpful.

Windsor, Stonehenge & Bath from London

London

So this was tough. These places were extremely crowded and waiting in line burned through the tour time so it felt rushed. We had to wait over an hour to enter Windsor even with the timed entry. Stonehenge was better. But Bath was so rushed. We had to wait a bit but we only had an hour total. So when we drove to town and the driver told us about all of the wonderful places to get pizza or a pastry in the town, that was impossible. By the time we got out of the baths, we had to rush, grab something to eat in the street and get on the bus.

Tower of London timed entry tickets

London

We did the site tour and that was good. The lines into the jewels wasn't as bad as others. Only 30 minutes.

The Caledonian Sleeper (Scotland Version)

England

I think this was good but since I'm having trouble sleeping in general lately, probably wasn't the best for me personally. My family was fine though.

Using Jane (and Stephen and Flora when Jane was not available) for planning our trip and during our trip was amazing. Her suggestions during the planning stage were so helpful to us and helped us avoid being overwhelmed. Jane’s guidance and the team’s support while we were on our trip was also awesome ~ if a minor issue arose or we needed confirmation of something the responses were always quick, relevant and helpful. There is no question in our minds that using Jane and the team enhanced our enjoyment of our UK and Paris trip!

Stephen our travel agent was fantastic. I am recommending him to some friends traveling there next year. All the tours were excellent except the wildlife tour on the boat. They told us to review the safety notice ourselves. They mentioned 2 islands and that was all they said. We saw seal on an island and they said nothing about them. When the porpoises appeared in the water, she rushed out on to the deck and whispered there they are.

All the other's were fantastic. They were so knowledgeable and made it fun. Can't say enough about them.

The rooms were nice. Especially liked the Tiger Lilly and the Eden Locke. The place in Pitlochry was neat up on the hill. Very nice and quiet to sit outside. The Georgian in London was tight but nice. The Garrison was ehh...really tight, our door didn't lock at one point, parking was poor, but there breakfast was nice. The Perle was good breakfast, room was big, parking was poor-we had to walk several blocks in the rain. (but I guess that is Scotland, LOL) We had the best fresh mussels there right on the shore.

Our feet were definitely sore but we knew that was part of it. We figured we walked about 10 miles per day, so close to 100 miles the whole trip. The car was fun, it ran well, no problems. Hamilton was fantastic.

Over all...very very satisfied. Thank you for making out mother/daughter trip a huge success.

Hotel Reviews

Tigerlily

Edinburgh

Loved the size of the rooms. Thank you for having wash cloths.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Eden Locke

Edinburgh

Cute little flat with all you could need. No breakfast.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

High tea at the Savoy Hotel

London

Pretty fancy. Food was good. Great experience though.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Private transfer to your accommodation. Then check-in or bag-drop

London

Driver, Garreth was great. Very knowledgeable and easy to talk with.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Changing of the Guard guided tour

London

Tour guide was great. He had good suggestions for us to see the most we could. Very knowledgeable. The King was in residence but did not catch a glimpse.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Hop-on, Hop-off Bus

London

Loved it.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Tower of London Early Access Tour with Beefeater

London

Natalie was great for only living in London for 15 years. Then Gerry was great as well. Very down to earth.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Tickets to the evening show of Hamilton (or another Westend show)

London

Fabulous. Great actor's

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Private walking tour of Edinburgh with a top local guide

Edinburgh

Very well done and interesting. Guide was excellent.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Cairngorms National Park Wildlife Tour with a Specialist

England

He new his stuff and was very personable

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Two hour cruise on the Canal and Loch - Loch Ness

Inverness

Very informative

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Mallaig Wildlife Boat Trips

Mallaig

No information, no safety rules given, told to read the sign about it. No conversation from crew except about 2 islands to our left.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Sir Walter Scott Steamship tour on Loch Katrine

England

Very nice area, enjoyed a walk on the path before our cruise. guide was excellent with knowledge.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

When looking for a company to work with, I read reviews and decided to go with KimKim, I am so happy I did. The process of planning the trip was made SO easy by Stephen. He listened to things I knew we wanted to do, but also did an amazing job adding in additional things that I never would have known to do. Our mother/daughter trip was wonderful!

Hotel Review

Tigerlily

Edinburgh

So unique and beautiful. I never would have thought of staying here, but our travel guide selected it and I am so thankful. It is in a great location and easy to get to.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Private transfer to your accommodation. Then check-in or bag-drop

London

Our driver Matt was so nice and helpful. It was great having an easy start to our trip, instead of trying to figure out public transportation with our luggage after such a long flight.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Changing of the Guard guided tour

London

Joe, our guide, was exceptional. He had great information and we had so much fun with him!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Tickets to the evening show of Hamilton (or another Westend show)

London

Highlight of the trip for me!

Small Group Tour to Windsor, Bath and Stonehenge

London

Alan, our guide, was great. Funny, informative, and nice. Really enjoyed his anecdotes and stories as we drove to each place. It was a long day, but worth it!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Private walking tour of Edinburgh with a top local guide

Edinburgh

Gareth, was our guide and he was awesome. He had so much information to share, I’m sure we could have spent all day walking around with him. The best part of the experience was that it was just the three of us, which really allowed us to be engaged.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Cairngorms National Park Wildlife Tour with a Specialist

England

I was not so sure about this experience when we saw it, but trusting everything else Stephen planned for us, we went with it and I am SO happy we did. Our guide Ruari was phenomenal. He was extremely knowledgeable and great to talk to and learn from. It was truly a highlight of the trip!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Two hour cruise on the Canal and Loch - Loch Ness

Inverness

Beautiful views and fun history.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Mallaig Wildlife Boat Trips

Mallaig

What we did see was fun, but I would have liked more commentary as to what we were looking at and where we were.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

We had an awesome and seamless experience. We enjoyed kayaking on the River Avon and the Hawk Walk in Bath! I am so happy to have had Sarah's help! I could not have done this alone.

Hotel Reviews

Hard Rock Hotel

London

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Abbey Hotel Bath, A Tribute Portfolio Hotel

Bath, Somerset

Authenticity & Character

Location

Great central location in Bath

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

The Pines Hotel

Swanage, Dorset

Authenticity & Character

Location

20 min walk into town

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

The room could use some updating. Carpet had staining.

Activity Reviews

High tea at the Savoy Hotel

London

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Tickets to the evening show of Hamilton (or another Westend show)

London

Quality of Experience

Tower of London timed entry tickets

London

Quality of Experience

Bath: Guided Ghost Tour

Bath

Quality of Experience

Bath - A Hawk Walk you say?

Bath

Quality of Experience

This was such a personalized experience. Enjoyed learning about the hawks and feeding them too.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Bath Kayak Tour

Bath

Entry tickets to Stonehenge

England

Quality of Experience

Swanage Steam Railway Train tickets

Swanage

London Eye timed entry tickets

London

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Hop-on, Hop-off Bus

London

Loved the River Cruise. The bus was too crowded to enjoy the experience

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Changing of the Guard guided tour

London

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

We recently completed our SW England road trip and it was fantastic! This is our second trip organized through KimKim and we really find the level of assistance, coordination and guidance a boon to trip planning. In fact, Stephen, who prepared our itinerary was able to take a lot of the planning for us, out of the equation. There were great activities suggested throughout the trip. This was personalized for us; a small family of three with a 9 year old daughter. She had some great experiences as did my wife and I! We are grateful to Stephen for being available throughout the planning process and things couldn't have been easier.

The trip plan dossier was organized well and served as a quick daily reference for what the next days adventures will bring! Having many activities pre-booked with booking references available prior to departing was very efficient and made things easy.

This is a great way to generate ideas about an area you want to visit by getting local insight from people who know the area and can suggest activites that may not always be 'main stream' but also ensure a rich, full experience of the area.

We are extremely pleased with KimKim and feel that this is the only way we will plan future trips!!

Thank you Stephen!!!

Hotel Reviews

The Bloomsbury

London

Excellent service. The staff were very friendly and we enjoyed our stay here. If (when!) I am back in London - I will be coming to Bloomsbury!!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Very friendly and personable!

Cleanliness & Comfort

Very comfortable bed (this is key!!)

The Pines Hotel

Swanage, Dorset

Overall, this was a great stay. The evening views at dinner time looking at the ocean cannot be beat. The staff very very friendly and accomodating.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

The room layout was good --- the mattresses unfortunately, were not comfortable

Bayards Cove Inn

Dartmouth

This is very, very, very nice inn. An old building with character. The staff are super friendly. We had a great time. My daughter LOVED the room we stayed inn -- it really brought out nautical and pirate themes to our dreams! The bathroom was quite newly renovated and nice. The staff was great and extremely friendly. This was a very memorable stay and I will say that I see myself coming to Dartmouth again in my life and I will stay at Bayards Cove Inn!!!

Authenticity & Character

Very charming building and the room we stayed in was unique!

Location

Staff

Great staff. Always smiling!

Cleanliness & Comfort

Bathroom was excellent

The Stag and Huntsman at Hambleden

Hambleden Village, Henley-on-Thames

We loved this cottage stay - unfortunately for us it was only for one night. It truly has motivated us to come back here for a longer stay. The cottage was exceptionally clean and spacious. The restaurant had excellent food and the village is charming!

Authenticity & Character

The village was small, quaint and beautifulF!

Location

Staff

Very nice staff. I thought they all were very friendly and provided wonderful service when we dined at the restaurant

Cleanliness & Comfort

Very clean cottage and very well equiped.

Activity Reviews

British Museum Tour: Crash Course

London

After having this guided tour I feel this is the only way to visit a museum!! We met with Alan who is a PhD and has a keen interest and knowledge in early civilizations. The pace was good and we were all engaged the whole time. My 9-year old daughter had a great time and really felt that seeing and hearing the things she did complimented some of the things she has learnt about early civilizations. Truly a great experience!!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Entry to St Michael's Mount

England

It was a nice sunny day when we visited. The gardens are beautiful. The views are inspiring and the time we spent on St. Michael's mount was great!

Quality of Experience