Kimkim Trip Reviews for Greece

Angela was key for our whole trip. She was extremely knowledgeable about Greece and what kind of tours we may want. She worked very well with me to come up with the perfect 10 days for me and my family. She got us amazing tours on the mainland with a private mythical tour of Athens with our guide Ifi (she was an archeologist working on her doctorate, so very well spoken). Our tour to Meteora was great, however we would have loved more time there. When we told Angela that we wanted a few different locations, her insight led us to Crete as went early in the season and the other islands would still be a bit chilly. She set up a day tour of Crete with our guide Alexander Yefimets. If you go on a tour in Crete, your MUST ask for this man. He and his team were completely agreeable to whatever and due to the weather for our day, he completely changed the itinerary to stay away from rain and only enjoy sun and beauty. They met us at our VRBO and we had an amazing day with them. Alexander also recommended restaurants and things to do for the rest of our stay. Angela did an amazing job of setting this up for us.
Angela was very responsive before the trip and gave me her contact information for use while we were in Greece in case anything came up.
Simply the best. I will not visit Greece without going through Angela and Kimkim again.

Hotel Reviews

Marriott Moxy Athens City

Athens

Quaint and spunky hotel as all Moxy’s are. Staff were amazing and sweet. They loved my 13 yo daughter and wanted to make her breakfast every day :) Good location as well.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Great central location. 100s of restaurants and sights are from a 1 minute to a 20 minute walk.

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Rooms are a bit small even for Europe

Eva Villas West

Gerani town

Great idea, poorly executed. The pool was empty and they never told us it wouldn’t be filled until later in the season (actually the day we left). No hot water for the first three days as the boiler was broken. The place is a bit run down, broken doors in kitchen, missing handles on shower doors, walls in various stages of repair, and of course the hot water. Location is great and the hosts are amazing and responsive, but we were a bit disappointed.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Athens to Meteora day trip by scenic train ride!

Athens

Unfortunately the train arrived late and left early so we only had a short time in Meteora. Also, we were supposed to be in a limo bus with no more than 20 people, but we were on a large coach with 42 people. Not anyone’s fault, but the train did mess us up. Our five hour tour and 4 Monastery visits turned in to a 2 hour visit with two very rushed visits and a bus ride around the other four. Disappointing as this is an amazing place.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

East Crete Secrets Off the Beaten Track: Through the Eyes of Locals from East

Greece

Alexander was our guide and it was simply amazing. Due to weather, we changed from East Crete to central Crete but our guides were simply amazing. Alex was watching the weather and doing an amazing job of keeping us dry and in the sun. The weather is ever changing in Crete. They offered plenty of snacks and, of course, Raki. Alex never seemed to rush or want the tour to end. He gave us as much time as we wanted in every spot we stopped. He continually said, we are friends, and friends spend the whole day together. It was an amazing trip to Monestaries, beaches, shops, sights etc. Stephanos was our driver and he was great as well. Some of the streets in Crete are extremely narrow and he got our sprinter van through amazingly. Highly recommend this trip and do yourself a favor and ask for Alexander Yefimets!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Beautiful clean Mercedes sprinter

we do appreciate the planification and follow up of our trip .
Santorini hotel is great for service and location , our guide in Santorini is amazing., but do not like so much cruise as circuit is not great , boat passed by santorini and Oia 3 times !
Naxos is a hidden gem for circuit, guide and food. Hotel is ok , design of room is weird but location is amazing.
Mykonos is to visit once , hotel is absolutely amazing for service and room . We love tour of Chora guide is very good. Hightlight is cruise to Delos, the team ( father / daughter) is the nicest people it really show Greek hospitality, small group (8 people) , the only downside is tour of Delos where we are combined with a group of 20 people with 1 guide , hard to follow explanations .
In resume it is a great trip well organized , well follow up , we will be using your service again for our next Greek trip. We will post also comments on trip advisor
Again thank you for your efficiency and hospitality

Hotel Reviews

Palladium Boutique Hotel

Mykonos

Great hotel with amazing service. Breakfast is so good with a lot of choices and fresh ingredients

Authenticity & Character

Location

A bit far from Chora, but hotel has a paying transport

Staff

Most amazing staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Enigma Suites

Santorini

Hotel to stay if you are in Fira, location and room are great but the hospitality is main factor. Chris and her team is so nice and make us feel like home.

Authenticity & Character

Design and location is absolutely amazing

Location

Right overlook Caldera and walking distance to everywhere

Staff

Great hospitality

Cleanliness & Comfort

Cyano Suites

Naxos

Hotel is well situated but design of room is a bit uncommon

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Review

Santorini Island Discovery Small-group Tour

Santorini

Guide is great , very knowledgeable and kind. Circuit is very interesting

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

We are still basking in the afterglow of this spring break trip to Greece. Our local specialist Chris started things off by customizing the itinerary to suit our needs - 9 days total, not too hectic, get to see key sights/sites, not too expensive but not cheap (the Goldilocks itinerary), etc. So, what we decided on was 3 nights in Athens (main attractions: Acropolis and museum and Delphi), 2 nights in Heraklion (main attractions: Palace of Knossos and museum), and 3 nights in Santorini (main attractions: Akrotiri prehistoric excavation site, sunset, scenery). There were 3 of us on this trip - father, mother and teenager. All the transport (to/from airport, between cities, to/from sites) was taken care of by Chris and his team and there were no issues.

Note 1: We visited Greece in the first week in April which I think is the right time to visit. The temperatures were in the mid 50's - mid 60's Fahrenheit, and though there were a couple of rainy days, the weather was generally very good. Besides, though it seemed crowded, we were told that the crowds in summer dwarfed what we saw in spring. I think that would explain why the prices in spring were reasonable. Pack some water resistant jackets/umbrellas, sweaters, comfortable walking shoes. We took sunscreen but didn't need it.

Note 2: Tips, though not mandatory, are encouraged for the guides and drivers. Ask your planner what they recommend. We tipped about 5%-10% in restaurants.

Note 3: The carry-on bag allowance for Aegean Airlines is only 8 kg (less than 18 lbs), and they check at the counter and gate, so pack accordingly.

Athens: Seamless pickup from the airport to the hotel (Athens Manor Houses), check-in and find the room to be clean, spacious, and wonderfully located. Guide for Acropolis was Christina - knowledgeable and friendly young lady - got our steps in visiting the Acropolis and Acropolis museum. What can I say - the Parthenon is amazing as is the Acropolis Museum! I only wish we had time to visit the National Archeological Museum because it is considered one of the greatest museums in the world and contains the richest collection of Greek Antiquity artifacts worldwide. C'est la vie - maybe next time. We also took a day trip to Delphi - and even though it was a rainy day, it was wonderful. Our driver was Giannis - informative and friendly. Our guide at Delphi was George who was very helpful. Giannis then took us to a fantastic restaurant in Delphi called Taverna Vakhos - superb food and great views! We then stopped at some scenic spots on the way back to Athens. Back at Athens, one small food joint stood out - "Not Just Falafel" - great, inexpensive food. Athens reminds you of big cities such as New York - lot of people of the go, noisy, never sleeps, etc.

Heraklion (Crete) - The land of the Minotaur, the Labyrinth, Theseus, etc. We wish we had stayed here for more than 2 nights. The people were very friendly and laid back. Food was out of this world - I highly recommend a restaurant called Peskesi in Heraklion. We stayed at the Olive Green Hotel - fabulous room, great location, helpful staff. We were able to walk around in town (less than 10 minutes from hotel) and get some shopping in besides the dining. Btw - there is a laundry service about 2 minutes from the hotel - very efficient - drop off up to 5 kgs (11 lbs) of clothes for cleaning, and it is ready for pickup in 2-3 hours for 7 Euros. Any way, back to the sights. We spent half a day or so, visiting the Heraklion Archeological Museum and the Palace of Knossos. Our guide Lina met us at the Museum where we spent about 90 minutes taking in the amazing history of Crete - artefacts from as early as 2700 BCE. The Minoan Civilization was the first advanced civilization in Europe, leaving behind a number of massive building complexes, sophisticated art, and writing systems. Mind blowing! Our driver, Alex then drove us to the Palace of Knossos. You really have to see it - the palace itself seems to be a labyrinth - wonderful frescoes, advanced architecture, running water, sewage system, etc. Lina was a wonderful guide.

Santorini (Thera)- yes the scenery is like in the paintings we see in some Greek restaurants. Outstanding. We stayed at a place called Above Blue Suites in a town called Imerovigli - and were provided a suite that would probably be frightfully expensive in summer - had a Sauna, private pool/jacuzzi, spacious rooms, etc. Please note the check-in time though. We got to the hotel at around 10:30 am, but had to wait until almost 2:30 before they checked us in. We did leave our luggage at the hotel while we found a place to eat. We liked a couple of restaurants in Imerovigli - To Anogi, and The White Lounge. Imerovigli is a few miles from the capital Fira (30 minute walk), and several miles from the more touristy Oia. We loved where we stayed - the sunset over the Aegean Sea was truly amazing. Anyway, we spent a few hours visiting the Akrotiri prehistoric site and Museum. Our driver, Konstantinos, and guide, Hara, were great. We decided to add a visit to the Lost Atlantis Museum for an additional Euro 40 to the transport company, and additional for the museum tickets. The next day we hired a car (Euro 200 for 3 hours) and driver, Thakis, to drive us around to some scenic spots, visit Oia, and finally stopped off at Taverna Kritikos for a simple and tasty Greek lunch, I highly recommend this restaurant - it's run by an elderly lady and the food is superb and inexpensive.

All things must pass - and so did our Greek vacation. Kudos to Chris and kimkim.com for planning such a great trip - everything was as promised. This is the first time we tried kimkim out, and quite understandably, I was a bit nervous. Thankfully, they were the real deal! Thank you Chris and kimkim.

Hotel Reviews

Olive Green Hotel

Heraklion

Fabulous room, great location, helpful staff. Wonderfully located. We were able to walk around in town (less than 10 minutes from hotel) and get some shopping in besides the dining. 5-minute walk to restaurants and museums. This is a newer hotel and it had spacious rooms and a nice balcony. Btw - there is a laundry service about 2 minutes from the hotel - very efficient - drop off up to 5 kgs (11 lbs) of clothes for cleaning, and it is ready for pickup in 2-3 hours for 7 Euros.

Authenticity & Character

The balconies were nice and big

Location

Walking distance to everything

Staff

The staff and people here were very kind and helpful

Cleanliness & Comfort

It was a newer hotel with spacious rooms

Athens Manor Houses

Athens

Seamless pickup from the airport to the hotel (Athens Manor Houses), check-in, and find the room to be clean, spacious, and wonderfully located. Walking distance to one small food joint stood out - "Not Just Falafel" - great, inexpensive food.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Above Blue Suites

Santorini

We were provided a suite that would probably be frightfully expensive in summer - had a Sauna, private pool/jacuzzi, spacious rooms, etc. Please note the check-in time though. We got to the hotel at around 10:30 am, but had to wait until almost 2:30 before they checked us in. We did leave our luggage at the hotel while we found a place to eat. We liked a couple of restaurants in Imerovigli - To Anogi, and The White Lounge. Imerovigli is a few miles from the capital Fira (30 minute walk), and several miles from the more touristy Oia. We loved where we stayed - the sunset over the Aegean Sea was truly amazing.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Staff let us leave our luggage at the hotel before checking into the hotel

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Private Acropolis Hill & Museum Tour

Athens

Guide for Acropolis was Christina - knowledgeable and friendly young lady - got our steps in visiting the Acropolis and Acropolis museum. What can I say - the Parthenon is amazing as is the Acropolis Museum! We received a gift from the driver.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Private Knossos & Museum Tour

Greece

We spent half a day or so, visiting the Heraklion Archeological Museum and the Palace of Knossos. Our guide Lina met us at the Museum where we spent about 90 minutes taking in the amazing history of Crete - artefacts from as early as 2700 BCE. The Minoan Civilization was the first advanced civilization in Europe, leaving behind a number of massive building complexes, sophisticated art, and writing systems. Mind blowing! Our driver, Alex then drove us to the Palace of Knossos. You really have to see it - the palace itself seems to be a labyrinth - wonderful frescoes, advanced architecture, running water, sewage system, etc. Lina was a wonderful guide.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Historical Santorini Guided Tour

Santorini

We spent a few hours visiting the Akrotiri prehistoric site and Museum. Our driver, Konstantinos, and guide, Hara, were great.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Guides were knowledgable

Transport

We fully enjoyed our family trip to Greece. Every single one of our transports and tour guides were top notch. The hotels recommended were fantastic and in safe and accessible locations. I feel that we were able to maximize our experience of Greece with the short amount of time we were there. Athens had a lot to offer. Naxos was gorgeous, just wish the weather held out for us. Santorini was absolutely amazing and full of adventure; one of the most scenic places I have ever been. The experience would definitely not have been as pleasant without your coordination.

The only thing I would suggest for improvement would be the advertisement of the hot tub at the Illoperato in Santorini. Should be advertised as a slightly heated pool. Never did get warm enough for me to get in, but the kids enjoyed it! :)

This was an incredibly executed trip by KimKim through Thanos from Athens Insiders Greece. Through the entire planning process and the trip Thanos was very helpful and communicative. Everything he selected for us from the hotels to the Acropolis & Flavours Combo Tour, day trip to Delphi and the classic Santorini tour were perfect. We appreciated the time he took to video call us before the trip to explain the itinerary and answer any of our questions and he met us for coffee in Athens and the conversation was so easy and enjoyable. He was genuinely interested in making sure we had a wonderful experience keeping in touch by WhatsApp, for example in Mykonos he realized the day of the scheduled Delos tour was forecasted to rain and suggested to reschedule to the next day. The day of the tour the weather was perfection and we dubbed it ‘Thanos approved Day’ 😁 We have to specially mention the tour guides Anastasia, Georgiana and Tanya who were so knowledgeable and genuinely happy to share their culture with us. For ease of planning a trip to Greece, we highly recommend KimKim and the team from Athens Insiders they are professional, timely, knowledgeable and so friendly!

Hotel Reviews

NLH Monastiraki

Athens

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Atlantis Hotel Santorini

Firá

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Ilio Maris Hotel

Mikonos

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Acropolis & Flavors Combo Tour

Athens

Anastasia was so friendly and knowledgeable, genuinely excited to share information on the culture and the food! She bought us so many things from the market as well!

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Divine Delphi and Arachova Day Trip

Greece

Our driver (can’t remember his name) was so friendly and wonderful to converse with. Our tour guide Georgina was fantastic! With the use of pictures she made it easy for us to understand ancient Delphi the history and culture!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

All Time Classic Santorini

Santorini

Tanya and Stelios were wonderful, very friendly and you can tell they genuinely enjoyed sharing their knowledge. The weather wasn’t perfect, a bit cloudy and windy but we still enjoyed learning about ancient Santorini. The wine museum is one of the best museums I’ve experienced so informative with wonderful artifacts.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Ancient Delos Excursion

Mykonos

Unfortunately our guide did not seem to be having the best day, she had some difficulty in articulating her information and indicated as she wasn’t licensed couldn’t walk us up the hill. Based on the tours we previously experienced in Athens and Santorini, the tour guide having pictures in hand to help visualize the ancient times would be an asset. Despite this, we still enjoyed a beautiful sunny day on the island.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Incredible trip
Excellent guides
Everyone welcoming and very helpful and friendly
Meteora day trip unforgettable
Athens a city of such history
Angela always there and so helpful and made our trip memorable! Cant wait to be back

This was our first time to Greece. Angela was so very helpful, knowledgeable and patient as we worked with her on the itinerary. She made great suggestions and helped make sure we got the most out of our trips. Along with tours, we had ample free time to explore on our own. Perfect balance.

The trip was fabulous!
Four nights in Athens. Our hotel had a balcony with a view of the Acropolis. It was quaint, quiet and everyone was so helpful. Fabulous breakfasts. Walking tour of neighborhoods and Acropolis tour-wonderful. Great dinner restaurant recommendations.

Off to Crete for three nights. Candi got us checked in and bent over backwards to make sure our every need was met. Alex spent two days touring us around the island. Private wine tour/tasting and private olive oil press and tasting. Then two fabulous lunches created especially for us.

Final destination of Santorini for three nights. Wow!! Another quaint hotel with amazing breakfasts, views, hot tub on balcony. Super sized room with couch. Again, absolutely divine. Sunset tour with wine tasting and then hike from Ioa to Fira. Our guide thought of everything and we never felt rushed, tired or bored. Surprise!! He made a video of our hike and recommended two fabulous restaurants to us. We immensely enjoyed both.

This is the third time we have used Kim Kim and we ONLY have good things to say about them.

While there, we talked to other tourists. They told us their guides were actually drivers and didn’t know the history of the places they were visiting. Not Kim Kim! Every tour guide we had was beyond knowledgeable. Am very inquisitive and ask many questions. Each tour guide always knew the answer to my maaaaaanny questions.

Can’t recommend Angela and Kim Kim enough. They make traveling so easy and enjoyable.

I was in charge of planning a trip to Greece with/for my family, including grandparents. I was overwhelmed about where to visit with just 10 days while being careful to not overwhelm the grandparents. I signed up for KimKim just to see what it was and suddenly we (Christos and I) were off planning a 10 day trip to Greece.

I found the budgeting and pricing to be uncomfortably unclear. I set a budget and the initial cost came in 3K over what I wanted. We continuously replanned the itinerary and cut out activities in order to come back down to my (high end) of the budget. This took a lot of time and communication. When you google the prices for the hotels and tours, you realize you are paying way more than what you could have planned yourself. Of course, we need to pay the cost of the travel advisor, the private drivers and (what I later learned) is a 24/7 travel assistance service on the ground in Greece that you may or may not need assistance from. I think an itemized invoice would help deliver customers more peace of mind in how they are spending their money.

Overall I am extremely pleased by the destinations, hotels and tours recommended by Christos. I feel like we saw most of the important places in Greece with our 10 days. The pace was relaxing but full of interesting things to do.

I was disappointed with the driving services but only because it was described as "your private driver will happily provide details of the area while you're on your scenic route" over and over again. We ended up laughing at this extravagant and false description of services every time we got into a new driver's car because they hardly spoke any English at all. The scenic routes were also along the highway, unless you count the time the car got a flat tire at a toll booth or we got lost in an orange grove and had to turn around. I also had no idea if we would have to pay extra for quick stops at the grocery store, or staying longer somewhere because it was virtually impossible to communicate with the drivers because of this language barrier. Don't get me wrong, I don't travel to foreign countries and expect everyone to speak English. However, when it was clearly stated over and over again in our itinerary that we're getting a mini tour guide in transit, and we can't even communicate with the driver about what we're doing next, I find that a bit ridiculous. Also, because the financing was not clear, I had no idea what this driver had been paid to do. Was he available for us for the day? For four hours? Only from here to there? Did gas for extra stops come out of his pocket? We wanted to be mindful of his time and expectations as well as not racking up extra costs for ourselves.

Overall, and most importantly, we found the drivers to be always on time and very professional.

The tour guides Christos booked for us were fantastic! They were extremely passionate about what they were showing/telling us and really made the trip. We could also tell they weren't just tour guides with a memorized spiel - they were anthropologists with lots of experience working in the field. We learned so much and have so much respect for the Greek culture, history, and people. They were also extremely flexible and accommodating.

The bike tour said it was starting at 6 years old - this is absolutely not possible. The bikes were mountain bikes with huge tires. Despite sending our measurements 2 days prior, neither of my kids, nor my mother (grandma) could touch the ground with even their toes. They felt extremely uncomfortable and my 10 year old got on the bike and immediately crashed and scraped up her knee. My mother and youngest daughter ended up skipping all the biking because they could not provide suitable bikes for their size/comfort. This said, the tour guide went above and beyond making sure he could include them in as much of the itinerary as possible, as well as organized a taxi (which his company paid for) to take them back at the half way point. He was sooooo thoughtful, friendly, and full of interesting information. My mom and youngest daughter were happy to go back early and shop, and the rest of us finished off the tour. Everyone was happy and the day was a success! But also, please don't send any small kids on this tour unless they have mountain biking experience.

The acropolis tour was AMAZING. Our tour guide just captured our attention and hearts. She even gave us a little gift at the end. She was extremely considerate of my mom the entire tour. 4 hours was long for the kids but they were well behaved and made it through just fine.

The tour at Epidauraus was also amazing! Wonderful tour and guide and the perfect length.

Aegina Island was a bit of a disappointment. Our driver, who was supposed to give us a "2 hour guided tour" again, hardly spoke English. He did manage to brokenly explain the myth of the Temple of Aphaia, but he got the facts wrong, or maybe it was the language barrier. We ended up googling everything we needed to know. We also felt is was WAY to long to be on the island, but because we didn't book the tickets ourselves, we were stuck waiting two hours for the boat to come and take us home. Also, it would have been great to know you needed a mask to go on the boat. We didn't have masks and we ended up paying a guy selling masks near the waiting line money for masks.

Overall it was a fantastic trip. We loved Athens and all the shopping a food options. We found the hotels to be very nice. The country, food and people are amazing! We're so glad we went.

Hotel Reviews

Elia Ermou Athens Hotel

Athens

This was very nice. We liked it a lot. Breakfast was amazing! - Jacuzzi was closed for the season - It was very hot at night and the air conditioning didn't cool the room. The street was too loud to leave the windows open.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Impero Nafplio Hotel & Suites

Nafplio

Very nice hotel and nice staff in a great location. - the breakfast was a bit disappointing. There was no fresh fruit or vegetables. On our last day they kindly put out some pineapple, which we thought was considerate.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Private Epidaurus Guided Tour

Greece

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Private Bike Tour, Beach & Picnic

Nafplio

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Private Acropolis Hill & Museum Tour

Athens

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

What a wonderful trip to Greece. EVERYTHING was so well planned for my husband and I. We were greeted at the airport with an amazing driver who took us all around Athens. We even saw the changing of the guards!!! Such an experience!!!
Our guide, Yota, for the Acropolis was an expert!!!
Our driver in Santorini, Takas, was very kind, patient and knowledgeable of the island. Our guide for the wine tasting, Castatino, was patient and willing to share his experiences with us.
And last but not least, our host on Santorini island, Maria and Sonny were exceptional. They made us feel at home and very welcoming.

I would 1000%, yep that’s a 1,000%, recommend Kim Kim Tours!!!! Cheers

Hotel Reviews

Home and Poetry

Athens

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

3Sixty Hotel & Suites

Nafplio

Beautiful hotel. Great location!!!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Lithies Traditional Homes

Thíra

Amazing host Maria and Sonny

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Acropolis & Flavors of Athens

Athens

Very interesting

Quality of Experience

Food

Drank Greek coffee for the first time

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Love our guide. She was a doll

Transport

Private Cooking Class in Nafplio

Nafplio

Beautiful facility. Our chef and his wife were personable, warm. And our good we created was AMAZING

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Private Santorini Wine Tour

Santorini

The three wineries were amazing!! The wine museum was very interesting and SUPER cool!!! Bravo

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

This trip was amazing! I had such a good time and our local specialist was so helpful and made an extra effort to make our trip special

I usually plan my trips independently but I may never do it again. The KimKim service was amazing. Our local specialist, Irene, developed a plan for us based on exactly what we wanted to do, with a lot of back and forth - we never felt like we were being plugged into pre-existing plans, and she was very responsive to any questions that we had. We might never have explored Chania in Crete without her advice, and it was lovely. The local private guides that Irene arranged were very knowledgeable and excellent, especially the chef/guide in Athens (Acropolis and food tour) and the guide in Heraklion (Knossos). Our driver in Chania gave us a very personal tour, with oranges from his orchard and lunch in his home village. Everything was prompt and efficient - from pickup at the airport to our departure.

The KimKim support team was especially helpful when we encountered a crisis - an airline traffic controllers strike. We could not get through to the carrier to reschedule our flight by phone or email. Even though we had made the reservations independently, the KimKim team was able both to reschedule our flight and arrange for an extra night at our hotel in Chania - this really made us appreciate the value of working with them. They also helped us recover a camera that was left on the bus of a small group tour in Chania.

KimKim might want to consider making sure that travelers know about hotel accessibility issues. We very much liked the hotel in Athens, but it would have been a challenge for someone with mobility problems (stairs) - we had no problems, but it would have been good to note this in case it was relevant.

I don't know how much more expensive this trip was than if we had arranged everything ourselves. However, there was a great deal of value added in what KimKim provided. We are somewhat picky travelers, but we have only good things to say about KimKim's services.

Everything was organized perfectly! This was the least stressful traveling experience I’ve ever had. Every driver showed up on time and exactly where we were supposed to meet - each tour guide so knowledgeable and happy to share their culture with us - every hotel was perfectly located in the heart of each area. Angela was more than helpful organizing all of this and checked in frequently the light our trip to ensure all was well! We would definitely recommend her and Kim Kim to anyone looking for easy and awesome travel!

Irene planned our trip after input from us stating our interest in ancient history and some nature experience. The tour guides at the acropolis, Delphi, and our hike on the ancient Delphi trail were excellent. We tour Mycenae and the Temple of Poseidon ourselves. Our drivers were prompt, friendly , and spoke sufficient English to add some local information. Changes had to be made and the team did accommodate us with ease. So overall we paid and received services that made our trip efficient and thorough for our given days.

We had a wonderful trip. Eleni's suggestions were spot on and never failed to impress! Each of our guides was friendly, extremely knowledgeable, and a great ambassador for Greece. Special thanks to Eleni for proactively navigating us through an itinerary change due to nationwide transportation strikes that impacted our original plans. Before we knew it, we had new hotel reservations, flight reservations, and tips for how to spend our extra day in Athens. She made the entire trip stress-free, especially the adjustments.

Athens Mythology tour was fabulous, our guide was so engaging and a brilliant story teller. The hotel in Athens was very cosy and service very friendly. The weather was perfect for a City tour but got somewhat colder in Santorini! Angela worked hard to rearrange trips taking account of weather conditions and we were able to participate in and enjoy all. Santorini was beautiful but one should be aware that during February most restaurants are closed and there is a lot of construction work ongoing. However this did not dampen our enjoyment; the two open establishments were superb! We had a very comfortable cave on Santorini with a superb view. Will be using Kimkim again!

Chris was incredible. We wound up calling him our deus ex machina because he was always there and responsive if we had any questions or issues. This was our first time using a travel agent and we'll never do it any other way. Chris listened to what we were looking for in our trip to Greece and created a plan that we then read through and adjusted if we wanted to. We were met at each airport by a driver holding a sign with my name on it. We visited many ancient sites and he arranged private guides at each one. When we flew on an internal flight, the boarding passes magically showed up on my phone. When we had a late flight leaving Rhodes, we were about to ask the hotel for a late checkout, only to find that Chris had already arranged it for us. Every day had suggestions for what we might want to do as well as restaurant suggestions. We even met him (and his kids!) for dinner. We can go on, but he made this a truly wonderful and memorable trip.

PS I have no idea what Kimkim did other than set us up with Chris. He was amazing.

We had wonderful guides and experiences on the Greek mainland, Santorini, and Crete. It was wonderful to not have to drive or worry about transportation and each of our guides was knowledgeable about their areas and took us to places we would have never found on our own. Highlights for us were Crete and Meteora. Had some marvelous food and wine all over Greece. Babbis(mainland) Lazurus (Santorini), and Yiannis (Crete) were all just fantastic guides and hosts. We loved everything we saw, but do wish we had a little more downtime at the end of our trip. That was our fault, not the guides. Our first hotel in Athens, The Foundry and Hotel Azade were especially standouts with amazing views and comfortable spaces.

Hotel Reviews

The Foundry Suites

Athens

Absolutely marvelous. Unique space with a wonderful rooftop garden.

Authenticity & Character

Cool industrial vibe with modern amenities.

Location

Easy walk to all sites and action.

Staff

So helpful and friendly throughout our stay

Cleanliness & Comfort

We stayed in Suite D1 and it was comfy and well-equipped

Domotel Anemolia Mountain Resort

Arachova

Hotel was off the beaten track and quite a walk to the town for meals etc, especially when it was dark as there was no sidewalk and the road was pretty windy. Not a good combo for pedestrians. We were lucky to have a guide willing to come get us. Since it was off-season, there was no transportation, no restaurant service, and no laundry services provided. It would have been good to know these things prior to checking in. The room was adorable and the fireplace was fun to have.

Authenticity & Character

Precious chalet room with a fireplace, peaked ceiling, and mountain views.

Location

The road to town is a bit dicey without transportation. It is not that far, but they need to offer transport to town.

Staff

They were accommodating when they could be. It snowed in the mountains the weekend we were there, so it would have been nice for more services to be offered as they did have quite a few guests.

Cleanliness & Comfort

The room was very clean and the view was excellent.

Domus Renier Boutique Hotel

Chania, Crete

We stayed at Hotel Azade - not this hotel and it was by far our favorite of the trip. https://azade-chania.com/

Ippoliti Hotel

Nafplio

Authenticity & Character

Cute balcony and a nice view.

Location

Easy walk to everything.

Staff

Tried to put us in a lesser room than we booked way back in August. The first room you had to crawl over the bed to the bathroom. We were there for 4 days, so that was unacceptable.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Once we were moved to the proper room, it was quite comfortable. The laundry service was quick and efficient.

Activity Reviews

Nafplio - Wine Tasting in Nemea Region

Greece

Went to 2 lovely wineries - both very different. The wines were fun to taste and the history of each was interesting.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Babbis was the best and both wineries' staff were knowledgeable.

Transport

Babbis got us there and back safely.

Drive - Ancient Corinth & Nafplio

Greece

Corinth was really interesting as was the waterway.

Quality of Experience

Go off-season. NO fighting buses and you can take your time and enjoy

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Babbis took time to make sure we had plenty of information before we entered the sites.

Transport

Athens - Acropolis at Sunset & Plaka neighborhood | Private tour with an archaeologist/guide

Athens

We had been to the Acropolis before, but not with a guide. It was wonderful to have his insight. Be ready for quite a climb and if you cannot do stairs, be sure to bring proof of disabiltiy

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Athens - Private Cape Sounion & the Temple of Poseidon Sunset Tour

Athens

Beautiful drive from Athens. The sunset views are spectacular.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

George was informative and fun. It is obvious he likes what he does.

Transport

Informative guide and comfortable vehicle

Drive Nafplio - Mycenae & Epidaurus

Nafplio

What a spectacular site.

Meteora Exploration Meteora Monasteries

Greece

This is a bucket list item for sure. You just can't believe these monasteries were build in this way

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Babbis knew where to stop for some beautiful photos and how to take some paths to the monasteries to view wonderful nature trails

Transport

Drive Nafplio - Ancient Olympia

Nafplio

Cretan Villages Adventure

Greece

We actually ended up taking 2 tours to the mountains. They were both glorious, We ate in small family restaurants, learned a lot of history and about life in some of the more remote areas in Crete.

Quality of Experience

These were some unexpected favorite days.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Yiannis took the time to help me find a beautiful spot to spread some of my parent's ashes and always had fun with us.

Transport

Perfectly comfy on some winding roads

This was a trip of a lifetime! Everything happened exactly how Eleni planned. The tours she chose were fantastic. All of our tour guides were knowledgeable, spoke excellent English, were fun, and provided an amazing experience. The hotels that Eleni chose for us were perfect. I can't say enough about how amazing the service was for the planning of this trip and will definetly use KimKim again.

Overall an amazing trip and memorable experience for our family. Thanks to KimKim team and Amalia for the thorough planning. We hadn't travelled in a while since Covid and this was our first big international vacation in three years, and also the first one for my six year old.

Amalia was super responsive. Communication throughout the planning phase was spot on. She made sure to ask for our personal preferences, put together a custom itinerary, and made sure to plan a luxurious vacation to perfection. Amalia was responsive during the trip and she helped make some last minute reservations at a few places.

1) Athens
- Driver Thanasis picked us up promptly at the Athens airport. Thanasis is an absolute gentleman - very polite, respectful, courteous and was willing to go the extra mile, stops along the way to ensure we had the best experience. The Mercedes van was well maintained and super clean.
- The Foundry Suites at Athens - an amazing place, very central location (10-12 minute walk to the Acropolis), and great hosts, excellent breakfasts. We had a very comfortable stay there.
- Popi, our tour guide for the Acropolis Museum and at Acropolis was again amazing. Her story telling ability and the knowledge of Greek ancient history / civilization was fascinating. My daughter loved the guided tour and she made it very memorable with beautiful story telling. We were pleasantly surprised when Popi told us that she had a PhD candidate. Such was the quality of the tour guides.
- Very comfortable drive in the afternoon to Sounio - Temple of Poseidon. We saw the gorgeous Sunset

2 ) Nafplio
Our next part of the trip was in Nafplio, a place that is two hours from Greece by car. It is a quaint little town. Just walking around the town was quite an experience.
- We stayed at the amazing Anthemion Villas / Suites - luxurious and comfortable. It was away from all the noise but literally just 3 minutes away from the city center
- Next day we had a private guided tour of Mycenae and Epidaurus. Our guide Theodoros Lendoudis talked us through the history all the way from the Bronze civilization, cycladic, minoan, mycenean, and the classical era. The huge theater in Epidaurus with amazing acoustics was the highlight of the day

3) Crete island: Chania
We visited Crete island. Rented a luxurious Volvo which was super comfortable and stayed in the old town in Chania. It was a central location. Our tour guide at Knossos in Heraklion, Maria Ververaki was again top notch. We stopped on the way at the very beautiful Rethymno, Lasitha plateau, and the quaint little town Archanes, Our kids also enjoyed the pink sand beach Elafonisi.

4) Santorini
The last part of our trip was spent in Santorini at stayed put at the Heliotopos Hotel. Again a super comfortable stay and very memorable. We truly enjoyed visiting all the scenic villages Oia, Fira, Imerovigli. At the last minute Amalia helped plan an amazing half-a-day luxury cruise that ended with a gorgeous view of the sunset, which our kids enjoyed a lot.

Finally we came to Athens and did a a very interesting Food tour with the super nice Adania. We were able to taste authentic Greek food while hearing about the history behind each of the delicacies. Amalia was super sweet and met us on the last day of our trip, and presented to us some hand-knits hats that her mom had made for us. It was such a pleasure meeting her in person.

Overall a very memorable trip and amazingly well planned luxury vacation, thanks to Amalia. She was very attentive to all the details and planned a very customized trip considering our needs, and especially our second daughter's allergy needs. Highly recommend her.

Few opportunities / feedback to take the vacation to the next level:
1) Accommodation: Please do not recommend Porto Antico apartments for travelers or families. We understand the recommendation was made because of the hotel's reputation. But the apartment was dinghy. Thankfully we were able to find a good accommodation via Airbnb and the apartment refunded the amount on the same day.
2) Both Avis and Hertz are amazing rental car brands in the US. We had a very pleasant experience renting through Avis at Crete. But had a bad experience with Avis at Santorini. The main issue was that Avis was not open 24 hours! Because of which I had to rent a car from Hertz at the last minute. I think it is best especially for international travelers that need some flexibility - that you suggest the car company that is open 24 hours, so that there is flexibility for the travelers to decide on when to rent and when to return. I have to say that Amalia and the KimKim team promptly refunded us the Avis rental car costs for Santorini, which is very much appreciated.

The above two pieces of feedback are meant to be constructive. Amalia planned everything to perfection. The above two glitches is something that is hard to predict. Amalia was super responsive when we raised these during our trip. Overall very happy with the services provided. I would highly recommend both KimKim and Amalia for your travel needs to Greece.

Activity Reviews

Knossos, Heraklion Day Trip

Chania

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

The treasures of Athens

Athens

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Exploring Nafplio City

Nafplio

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Guided Visit to Epidaurus & Mycenae

Nafplio

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

The picturesque, old town of Chania

Chania

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Exploring the island of Santorini

Santorini

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Athens Food Walking Tour

Athens

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

We had the most incredible time in Greece! KimKim made the trip super easy for us! Tassos and the KimKim Team were super responsive and worked with us to plan the perfect trip for our time in Greece. We had a whirlwind of a week visiting Athens, Delphi, Galaxidi (a gem of a seaside town), Olympia and Nafplio. We had the best tour guides all throughout the trip, from Athens to Nafplio, everything surpassed our expectations, the guides were knowledgeable, friendly and great people overall, we enjoyed meeting each and every one of them. The activities suggested by Tassos were fabulous, and not something we would have chosen if we were planning this trip on our own; specially the "picnic" at the organic vinegar manufacturer, how dare they call this a picnic, it was a magnificent feast of the most delicious Greek food! Dominik deserves a special mention as a superb guide during our last day in Nafplio, he really went above and beyond to make us feel like family.
Of course nothing is perfect, but the few mishaps we had during the trip (including a flat tire and some other car trouble) were dealt swiftly and efficiently by the Kimkim team. We always felt there was someone there to help us.
Overall, we would HIGHLY recommend KimKim to plan an unforgettable trip to Greece, we were blown away by the history, knowledge and people.