Kimkim Trip Reviews for France

Hi we began from Corte, Hotel was in great location but rude staff on reception. Walk next day was excellent. Directions usually clear. Very friendly lady in Calacuccia with fresh roses in room. Tough to carry cases without a lift. Lovely walk to Castell Verghiu and great views from room. Very good meal. Another great walk though some of our party didn’t make the waterfall. The bridge isn’t there which should be more explicit in directions. Night in Evisa. The walk to Ota was beautiful and we had one of our best meals at Chez Felix. We walked down the road to Porto. Shame about overgrown path - could that be cleared? Hotel was great with stunning pool in eucalyptus forest. We took a boat trip after a tip from fellow walker - perhaps you should suggest that in the notes or even get a discount? Corse Adrenaline was good company in small boat. We didn’t find anywhere good to eat. Recommendations would have been helpful. The walk to Piana was tough in heavy rain. Les Roches Rouges was stunning with a very kind Patronne Mady. It is a way from the beach so a hire car might have been handy. We did another walk by ourselves to Capu Rossu. We ate at wonderful Italian called Le Hospiton about 6km away and then the hotel restaurant which was great. Overall we would have enjoyed more background detail in the directions eg date of the Genoese bridges, more on wildlife, possible diversions eg Ruines of Dispensa, restaurant tips. But this was a great trip.

We enjoyed the whole experience.
The itinerary was meticulously planned, the guides were very professional , yet friendly and helpful, the vehicles comfortable and the small groups made interaction and time management easy.
One of my most memorable experiences was the Gallimard perfumery - I enjoyed making my own perfume!
My husband greatly enjoyed the trip to Monaco and Monte Carlo.
On the whole, a fabulous trip!

I had a wonderful experience working with kimkim to arrange for private vans and guides to villages in Provence for a group of university students. When we were in Barcelona we were affected by the train strike in France, and our train was cancelled...which left us (a group of 16) stranded and unable to get to our hotel in Avignon. Out of desperation, I contacted Simon, who was my kimkim contact based in Marseille and he took time on a Saturday (holiday weekend) to make calls for me and arrange for a private coach transfer for our group. He saved us!!! He even followed up afterwards to see if we made it to our destination. I can’t say enough great things about the service and extent Simon went to, on his own personal time, to help us out when we were in a bind. Thank you, Simon!!!

Anthony and then Aurelia were very responsive and prompt. I was very happy that they always responded quickly and completely to my questions. I felt it was a very personal and professional interaction. So Thank you!

Also, all of the arrangements for hotel check-in, restaurants, luggage transfer, and taxi transport were absolutely perfect. Everything went exactly to plan. Wherever we went we were immediately greeted as "WalkInn" and welcomed with smiles. It was wonderful to see everything so well arranged.

We are also very grateful for the very, very prompt assistance that was provided when we misplaced our walking road book early in the walk. We believe that it was left at the Glanum site where someone quickly picked it up. One note here--we do not understand why we were initially given only one road book for the two of us. If we had had a second book, there would have been no problem! When we received the replacement, we were then given two booklets. Also, since we were not given the road book until we were leaving Avignon, we did not have access to any of those recommendations.

Our walks were really spectacular--both in Les Alpilles and the Luberon. Directions were good except for two things:
(1) the directions for Walk 1—Eastern Valleys and crests—should advise walkers that they might visit the Glanum ruins after they visit the Saint Paul de Mausole. Currently the option only lists the monastery. The walk then takes you away from the ruins. We had to circle back to the ruins after the walk when it would have made much more sense to see them before the rest of the walk.
(2) The only time the directions totally failed us was Walk 3—to l’Abbaye de Sénanque. We learned that other walkers with the same directions had problems with this, having to backtrack several times. The problem occurs when there is a reference to: “only 50m farther you reach the 2nd yellow hiking post with the same name: Abbaye de Sénanque. Here turn left and up a stone road La Pouraque.” There should be a direction that says to ignore the 1st yellow hiking post to the left in the parking lot and continue walking past the Eglise Abbataiale, Communauté, Hotellerie. We (and others) were very confused by the 1st yellow hiking post—since it was not referenced at all. We ended up taking an alternate path and walking up the paved road to reconnect with the directions at THE PASS. But we lost a lot of time trying to figure this out. And we learned that other walkers (on Country Walkers self-guided) had very similar experiences. So the directions should be fixed.

My sister and I fell in love with all of the locations where we stayed. The hotel in Avignon was very well situated and beautiful. Our hosts in St. Remy--Pierre and Armell--were particularly helpful and supportive. Breakfast there was the best. The most beautiful lodging was Le Mas de la Beaume in Gordes--absolutely spectacular! Wendy is a very caring and attentive hostess and the bedroom and in-suite bath are perfect. The hotel in Lourmarin is amusing with its modern, purple room and pictures of bathing beauties. They had by far the best linens and towels and, again, helpful staff. The Saint Cristophe in Aix gave us a great location and comfort. We did not like the hotel in Marsaille but it was a great location with very nice staff. The New Hotel's ground floor exterior appears to be burned out or something. Breakfast was sufficient but perfunctory. The reception area is just functional. Our room had someone else's clothes hanging in the bathroom and there were trash items on the floor that never got cleaned out while we were there.

The included dinners were all very special. Number 9 in Lourmarin was also a lot of fun. Our hostess at the Outsider in Gordes went out of her way to make us feel welcome when we arrived completely soaked from walking in a surprise thunderstorm. The rosé she recommended was the best we had in the two weeks.

Gordes, Les Baux, Lacoste are all so lovely. In Lourmarin we walked back to our hotel at night under the most beautiful cobalt blue night sky. We really loved St. Remy, especially on market day.

My sister planned this trip through kimkim. We enjoyed a fabulous walking trip of Provence, taking in the great wildflowers, the landscapes, the dining and friendly Provencal people. Our hosts at the various hotels were superb. Heather at Hôtel Cloître St Louis in Avignon was very helpful with tips and reserved a table for us at L'Epicerie where the staff was excellent and the food top notch. The hotel is beautiful and amenities spot on. At Hôtel Sous les Figuiers in St Remy-de-Provence, Pierre and Armelle went above and beyond to assist us. What a lovely setting to start our exploration of the area. Wendy at Le Mas de la Beaume was also very attentive and helpful. Hôtel Bastide de Lourmarin did not have an elevator which presented a bit of a problem with our heavy luggage but one of the staff (I did not get her name) jumped to our aid and brought luggage up and down for us. For our additional stays at Saint Christophe Hotel in Aix-en-Provence, we again found very helpful staff and comfortable room.
We were a bit disappointed with the New Hotel Vieux Port in Marseilles. The staff was helpful, the room was comfortable but it seems that management has allowed the property to deteriorate a bit into shabbiness. However, it was close to the spots we wanted to visit and we enjoyed our stay in this exciting city.
We did have an issue with the walking directions near the Sénanque Abbey. We had to improvise and we heard from other walkers with similar directions that the instructions are confusing. My sister will probably tell you more about this.
I also think that it would have helped if each walker was presented with the walking guide at the beginning of the tour or, even better, if the instructions had been sent to us prior to the trip.

We were very pleased with our trip to Corsica. Anthony planned the itinerary, including hotels, trains and route notes for walks in the areas we were staying. Aurelia completed the bookings for the trip. We loved Corsica and felt that we got a good overview of the island. Our information included recommended walks with route notes. We loved hiking in the different areas. The weather was perfect everyday. I highly recommend the train through the mountains. And end of April was the ideal time to visit with very few tourists compared to summer and blue skies, wild flowers, scenic views everywhere and helpful hosts at the hotels. Thankyou KIMKIM for helping us have a wonderful trip.

Simon helped make our vacation effortless. He stayed in constant communication during the planning stages with great suggestions and coordinated our pick up from the train station.
He even left his cell number in case I had questions while on our trip.
Our guide, Alex, was amazing. He was so knowledgeable on various subjects and made our tours
Delightful. He was punctual as well, which we appreciated being in Provence a short time.
I highly recommend the kimkim team!
Laura