Kimkim Trip Reviews for England

Our trip to England was absolutely phenomenal. From the beginning of planning the trip to the moment we got home everything was fun & easy. Stephen was fully accessible at all times when it came to planning the perfect trip. He went back & forth with me several times planning & making changes to make sure we were able to have the exact kind of trip we were wanting. All of our tour guides were very informative and interactive! While we were in England anytime we needed to contact one of the KimKim members we received feedback from them instantly. Any issues we had were quickly corrected and fixed. I only have the best things to report on Stephen, William and the entire KimKim team who helped plan this once in a lifetime trip to England for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee! Thanks again for everything guys! Will definitely be using KimKim again in my future travels.

Hotel Reviews

Trebovir Hotel

Kensington, London

Rooms extremelyyyy small. At least one tube stop away from any sight seeing for tourists. And they lock the outside doors at a certain time, which is great for safety, but when you’re out enjoying the night life in London it makes it difficult to get back to your room. The breakfast was included & very filling, and the staff was always nice.

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Hampton by Hilton Bath City

Bath

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Graduate Cambridge

Cambridge

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Activity Reviews

Cambridge by the flow of the Cam river

Cambridge

This was without a doubt in our top two favorite things we did on this trip (The first being seeing the Queen & Royal Family during the Trooping of the Colour celebrating the Jubilee!) Punting down the canals of Cambridge was so peaceful & relaxing. Beautiful scenery & lovely punting guide who made for great conversation! Take a bottle of champagne or two & some plastic cups with you ahead of time to enjoy during the tour!

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Guides, Drivers and Staff

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Literary tour of Bath

Bath

This was a wonderful way to walk around & see all of Bath! The most BEAUTIFUL town, probably my favorite one of the entire trip. This tour gives you all the Jane Austen deets, as well as lots of sights for Bridgerton fans (which I am!). However, it doesn’t give as much background on the Roman Baths and Romans in general if that is something you’re looking for. Our tour guide Dianne was SO informative on all of the Jane Austen time period information. She was a lovely guide and we had a wonderful time with her.

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Hampton Court Palace - private tour.

London

Tour guide was very informative & interactive. The tour actually turned out to be more of an architectural tour which we weren’t aware of ahead of time. We were expecting more of a historical tour specifically about the Tudors (Henry VIII). I told our tour guide this and she was very well informed on this part of history about Hampton Court Palace as well so it wasn’t really an issue, we were still able to get the experience we were wanting. I’d be specific and clear about what your tour guide will be including in the tour before booking.

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High tea at the Savoy Hotel

London

We went to the Savoy for high tea after the Trooping of the Colours celebrating the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. It was the perfect place for tea after such a fun & celebratory day! Beautiful setting & lovely live music. The food was delicious & the staff was very welcoming and friendly.

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London Cab Tour of London

London

One of our favorite tours of the entire trip. Our tour guide was phenomenal and very informative! It was so fun to zip around London in the black cab and see the main hotspot sites as well as other ones we wouldn’t have otherwise known about. Such fun & definitely recommend!

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Simply Windsor Castle - Afternoon Tour with transport

London

Loved loved LOVEDDDD this trip!!! Anyone who goes make sure you get a map and the audio recording guide. Make SURE to go inside the chapel in the Windsor grounds too. One of my favorite parts of the entire tour, so many historically famous Kings & Queens burial sites are in the cathedral.

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Guides, Drivers and Staff

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Tower of London Early Access Tour with Beefeater

London

We went on this tour after the black cab tour so we weren’t able to really get to have the time in the tower that we would have liked. We were somewhat rushed but we did get in to see the Crown Jewels. I’m not sure what the “early access” means for this tour because our entrance time for the tour was 4pm and the tower closed at 5pm. We were unable to do the true beefeater tour. I’d recommend to other travelers if you want to visit the Tower of London and truly get the full experience go at the beginning of the day so you have all the time you want in the Tower to see everything. There’s so much history & interesting facts to learn about while there!

Quality of Experience

A better entrance time to get to have the full experience

Transport

Our family had an amazing time both in London and Paris. It was all very well arranged and communication was on point. Thank you for assisting us and making sure we had wonderful memories. :)

Overall, we had a wonderful time in London and Paris. While Kimkim got a lot right, such as hooking us up with great tour guides and finding good accomodations in nice locations, there were some glitches which would prevent me from using them again. The main issue was with timing; there were many instances where there simply wasn't enough time to get from one place to another, resulting in us missing some of our paid activities. For example, we had premium Big Bus tickets and a boat tour on the Thames as part of the package, but were unable to use them but for a brief 30 minute bus ride on day 2 (it was at the end of the bus route). Once we arrived in London, the Big Bus tour had shut down, so it wasn't an option on that day. The next day we had plans to go to the Warner Brothers Studio (Harry Potter) early in the morning, despite my request for no early morning activities. We then had to rush (literally had to run) to catch a bus to take us to the Tower of London; we arrived late and missed many of the attractions there, since it was near closing time.
Since the Big Bus tours closed at 6:30 we were only able to ride for about 30 minutes on day 2.
We never were able to use our boat tickets (which I presume we paid for) or take full advantage of the Big Bus tour, which would have been a nice introduction to London.

On the plus side, we thoroughly enjoyed our private Jane Austen walking tour in Bath and the Stonehenge tour. Our final day in London we were scheduled to visit Westminster Abbey after a Changing of the Guard tour. We did not have sufficient time scheduled to see the Abbey; however, since we needed to catch the Eurorail to go to Paris the same day. We ended up rushing our visit to the Abbey and were unable to see much of it.

There were several discrepancies and inconsistencies in the printed information we received from Kimkim. For example, on day 2 in Paris, our itinerary noted that we were to go to the Louvre for a tour. We showed up to the tour only to realize that the tickets themselves were for a later date. That discrepancy in printed information caused us to miss out on other plans. It should be noted however, that when we went back to the Louve two days later, the tour was wonderful. The worst issue came the last day - our itinerary stated that our driver would be at our hotel to take us to the airport 3-3.5 hours before our flight. Unfortunately, our driver had received different information and left us at the hotel 3.5 hours before our flight. There was a taxi strike happening that day so we had to scramble to figure out how to get to the airport and make our flight. I called Stephan (William was not the contact during the trip - my rating above is for Stephan) from High Point Holidays who said he found another driver but it would cost me over $300. I was shocked that he took no responsibility for this mix-up and expected me to pay to make it right. He later called saying he found another driver for less money, but again made no offer to compensate me. We ended up taking the bus to the airport. It was very stressful, and we would have missed our flight, but luckily, it had been delayed. Finally, in both London and Bath, we arrived at our hotels to find that our rooms had not been paid for. This was awkward and time-consuming to remedy (I had to call Stephen both times). Also, at the Black Fox hotel in Bath, we had a room with one double bed, although I had requested separate (twin) beds for the entire trip. The hotel told me they weren't informed of my request and had no other rooms available. I had to share a bed with my teenage daughter which was something I had hoped to avoid (she kicks!). I brought this to Stephen's attention at the time, but he said nothing about it.

I love Kimkim's concept but the poor timing issues took their toll on us. I brought all these issues to Stephen's attention during the trip and asked for a partial refund to offset our costs for the Big Bus tours we couldn't take, but I never got any response.

We had the pleasure of booking our trip with KimKim/Alex for our recent 10 day trip to England. She was very helpful and patient with all my questions and helped organize our trip in such a short notice. Everything was so easy, from pickups to tours to last day drop off at the airport.

Hotel Reviews

Park Plaza London Riverbank

London

Authenticity & Character

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Georgian House Hotel

Pimlico

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Activity Reviews

St Paul's Cathedral

London

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Westminster Abbey

London

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Exploring London on a Hop On Hop Off Bus (48 hrs)

London

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Warner Bros Studio Tour with Coach Transfer

London

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Day Trip to Bath and Stonehenge

England

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Broadway to Bath, via Cotswold Villages

England

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Airport Transfer

London

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Kudos and more to William and Stephen! What a fabulous 2 week trip they put together for us in April. We started in London, travelled to Swanage and Lyme Regis, experienced Bath and the Cotswalds before returning to London. Our accomodations were charming and all prearranged tours were the best. It was so nice to have all of this plus transportation arranged in advance, as it allowed us to focus on the incredible sights and scenes and not stress about the details. All of the guides we met with were so informative and passionate about their specialties. These included a tour guide for the Albert and Victoria museum; a fossil expert at the Jurassic Coast; a Jane Austin devotee and Daniel, a local guide from Bath, who took us to probably my favorite spot, Castle Combe.
A final note: I don't know how they did it, but somehow William and Stephen arranged for 2 weeks of incredible weather, with not a drop of rain!!

Hotel Review

Eight

Bath

The staff here was so accomodating and pleasant. The breakfasts were 5 star and the rooms clean and updated. While there wasn't a lift, help with getting luggage in and out was provided. The little square our rooms looked out on had activity until @ 10pm, but earplugs were provided just in case.

Tips for future travelers

My only thought would be that guests be able to navigate the stairs without access to a lift. This wasn't a problem for us, and we're all in our late 60's.

Authenticity & Character

Location

So centrally located. The train station was within walking distance, and cabs were available at the top of the street

Staff

The best and so helpful.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Review

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

London

The drivers were on time and the vehicles spotless.

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Transport

We booked a trip to England thru KimKim and it was absolutely fantastic. William and Stephen put together an amazing trip and there was no one thing that was not perfect. Hotels were awesome, the tours they picked for us were fantastic and all transfers showed up on time as arranged. They did everything and all we did was show up. I would highly recommend this group and we will most definitely use them again.

Without a doubt, the best trip planning experience I’ve ever had. I will never try to plan another overseas trip without kimkim! Louise was absolutely amazing in her creative itineraries, quick responses and knowledge of the area.

Super fun trip, had a great time! Daniel was always very prompt to answer any questions I may have.