Kimkim Trip Reviews for Greece

Overall the trip was great. While Tasos did a great job of planning everything and having ready to go, the communication was not great. There was times when we would ask a question and not hear back for days or weeks. Also a few more details for the plan tours would be nice.

I discovered Kimkim online and got in contact for a little bit of advice to start with and was so impressed with Harris, our Kimkim contact, that we ended up booking our trip through him. His advice really helped me shape the itinerary, and he had lots of great suggestions for hotels, day trips and more.
We decided to book our hotels directly, but used Kimkim to arrange all our transportation between the islands of Mykonos, Naxos and Santorini, transfers to hotels and a few excursions. Everything went very smoothly and we were contacted by Harris & the Kimkim team throughout our trip to check we were happy with everything.
We absolutely loved our time in the Greek Islands and had a wonderful holiday. Having the help and support of Kimkim was excellent.

This was the first time for our group of 3 couples to use a tailored tour company. Tasos Mylonas and Travel12, the local tour company in Greece were terrific. Once the schedule was agreed upon, Tasos put together a detailed itinerary for our trip. Our goal was see many of the historic sites on the mainland and then tour a few of the islands. We saw wonderful antiquities and had super guides to bring these ancient locations to life. Penny at Delphi, Antonia at Olympia, Lena at Mycenae, and Nickolas at Santorini. The punctually of the drivers (with large comfortable vehicles) and the guides was without question a high point. One could easily relax knowing that we were always in good hands.
Select luncheons at small villages were an added benefit. This is something that large tours cannot provide.
Prearranging the ferry tickets and intra Greece flights made things easier still.
Like some of the other reviews, we could have used a down day or several 1/2 days. Nafplio is a town where we could have spend added time. Lovely spot on the harbor.
Santorini was wonderful, esp. at night after the cruise ships left. The catamaran ride was a tour highlight. Accommodations were overall great ..wonderful views and great locations. Travel 12 might find an alternative to the The Pi Hotel in Athens. The Kalimera Archanes Villages was a wonderful place but may not be for everyone. Other hotels like those in Tinos, Santorini and Kalabaka were outstanding. Once again an excellent and educational trip.

The trip was very well planned and thought out. Sites visited were generally all worthy of the time spent. The "Welcome" dinner was very enjoyable. I recall two visits that were much too long; Santorini especially, as we didn't get to our hotel until after dark; We could have stopped at a couple of the museum stores if there had been a little time after the guided tour.
We liked most of the guides. The first one at the Acropolis, Jason was not a top level guide, nor was Katia in Tinos. The others we liked, especially Penny at Delfi and Anna in Santorini, and Antonia at Olympia.
A down day at Nafplio with no tours would be a nice break.
Most of the hotels were fine. We did think that the Athens Pi Hotel was fine for us..modern, clean, elevators, nothing fancy but good location. Lodging at Tinos, and Santorini, and Kalabaka were very nice!
The lunch stops were well chosen. Tinos and Crete lunches were great!
The drivers all professional and on task. Great coordination of transportation will all vehicles on time!
We did like the catamaran ride also.
The manager at Kalimera Archanes Village was very helpful and accommodating; the breakfasts there were terrific.

We loved the trip! Everything was pretty seamless except for locations for the last couple of pickups. Chris was great. Very responsive and patient with all our questions. We highly recommend him and kimKim

We absolutely loved our time in Greece. The hotels were great. We especially loved Hotel Adriani in Naxos and would recommend that place to anyone! Please continue to suggest this hotel to others. The staff there really made us feel welcome and a part of their family. We also really enjoyed our welcome dinner at Mavro Provato in Athens!
The pre-arranged driving and ferry services were extremely convenient. Being able to access our local contact when we had ferry delays was invaluable - Especially when our driver in Naxos did not come to pick us back up.
Overall, we had such a great time in Greece and hope one day to return. Thank you very much for a wonderful trip.

We were very pleased with the service provided by Dimitris. He answered all of our questions and made sure that all aspects of our trip ran smoothly. When we were concerned that weather conditions might lead to a cancellation of our ferry he was behind the scenes looking into that for us. He also listened to the specifics of what we were looking for and adjusted our itinerary accordingly. Overall we were very pleased with our trip and we enjoyed working with him.

Harris did a fantastic job setting up our whole trip. Everything went very smooth. The excursions he choose where outstanding. If we had a issue with anything while in Greece, Maria fixed it within 10 minutes. I am so impressed with this company and customer service is great. I will definitely use this company for all my trips!! Thank you so much!

Dimitris was excellent. Despite the fact that we had some misunderstandings, he responded quickly and fully. We did not have the same options as given by the Croatia/Venice leg, but then this is a different company.
We are grateful Dimitris put us in Kamari instead of Fira. Less crowded. Also his suggestion to dine at Strofi was super.
Tassos the driver was just what we needed. Calm and pleasant.
The highlight for both of us was definitely Meteora, both our accommodation and the monasteries. Only downside was that we hoped for a Guided tour of the Monasteries, but what we got was a tour. Not quite the same.
The Acropolis/Parthenon tour was marvelous as was the Food Tour of Athens.
Athens was good, and the hotel he chose was very good. A good location, breakfast all night, PC and printer for boarding passes. The male receptionists were all a trifle brusque, but the ladies were very helpful. We also visited the Cathedral on Sunday for services and really lucked out. It happened to be a big commemoration of the war with Turkey. (At least I think so)

Harris, our specialist through Travel 12, was outstanding and very helpful at every point in planning our trip and answering every tedious question.

We started the trip in Athens at the PiAthens Hotel, which was alright. We knew we weren't getting the best hotel because we had previously asked our representative to book a medium-level hotel to cut costs. The hotel was still decent and clean, and the location was stellar. We were easily able to walk to the Acropolis. We had a "welcome dinner" at Mauro Provato in Athens, which was utterly amazing food.

The next leg on the trip was a ferry ride to Santorini. We stayed at Kasimatis Suites in Imerovigli. The hotel had breathtaking views everywhere you looked, a great breakfast and a jacuzzi. Harris picked a fabulous location because it was within walking distance of Fira (Thira) but didn't have all of the traffic and tourists who come off the cruise ships that dock on the island for a day. There were tons of great restaurants (Vigla, Pearl on the Sea and many more), markets and shops to visit in Imerovigli.

The highlight of Santorini was a catamaran tour through Oia where we saw many sites and got to swim in the hot springs and had a fabulous dinner and unlimited wine and drinks. Despite a mixup during the pickup Santoline Tours made everything work and got us to the boat in time. They were very nice.

We took another ferry to Crete where we stayed at Olive Green Hotel, the best hotel we stayed at. Fabulous, modern facility with a great breakfast and great location. Heraklion has great shopping all around the city square. We had a guide through Let's Crete who took us through the Palace of Knossos and the Archaeological Museum. This is a must.

Our last part of the trip was in Chania, which was absolutely beautiful. The Old Harbour had a million cool shops and great restaurants. We stayed at the Mosaic hotel, which was decent but not the absolute greatest. We rented a very cheap car for a day at Tellus car rental and drove to Elafonissi Beach, which was unforgettable gorgeous if you're brave enough to make the drive.

The last highlight (ALSO A MUST) was a cooking lesson at a home on the White Mountain through GS Tours. I would have done this five more times.

The tours and tour guides were above and beyond what we had hoped. We were wowed at every turn. Thank you Tasos and the whole crew!!

This is our second trip with KimKim and it went well but not quite as smoothly as our first trip in Iceland.

Initially Chris (local travel group) did a great job planning the trip but I am not sure if he left the company or what happened, but it was a bit stressful to have no contact from him after multiple attempts to contact him for 2 weeks prior to our trip starting. Basically after we made the final payment, he never assisted us again. We still had questions on the final details and wanted to add on a few excursions that he said would be no problem to do so later. Thankfully, team members at the Travel12 local company stepped in and answered all of our questions and assisted during our stay in Greece.

Extra special thank you to Dimitris for all of his assistance during the stressful time - he was excellent in answering our questions and helping us finalize items and we thank him very much.

One issue, and not certain if it is a difference in our terminology, but several times I asked if the wedding cruise we booked in Santorini was "private", and Chris assured me that it was just so (and you can see this documentation on the chat history). "Private" tour to me means just our group and no other people; however we were surprised to find that this was not the case on the cruise we booked in Santorini. The cruise was beautiful and fun; but just did not meet our expectations.

Thanks for an overall beautiful trip and experience, if not for the stressful time prior to leaving and the surprise on the "private" tour, it would have been excellent.

Our group of 4 arrived in Athens on Aug. 28th. Our driver was there to transport us to our hotel, the Pi Athens Suite. The hotel was nice, although it’s location (1/2 block from major road) made road noise a bit of an issue. The staff was friendly and they served a made-to-order omelet with your breakfast. Our welcome dinner at Mauro Parvato was delicious. There was confusion as to whether the cost of this dinner was part of our package, or on our own, but this was readily resolved. It was within a pleasant walking distance from our hotel.
Our first full day in Athens started with a Mythology tour lead by Maria from Alternative Athens. It was just excellent! Her knowledge and enthusiasm made it such a memorable experience. We appreciated our small group size (our group of 4 plus 4 others). Any and all questions were welcomed and completely answered. It was a great experience.
Our second day, Aug. 30th, began with an Athens Food Tour, lead by Maria Boli. Again, another wonderful experience! Maria lead us (our group of 4 plus a family of 3) on an extensive and delicious walking tour of various culinary sites in Athens. Well organized, informative, and so enjoyable! Maria’s enthusiasm was contagious! By the end of the tour, we were taking pictures together and exchanging email addresses with the former “strangers” in our group. What a fun time! Bravo, Maria!
Aug. 31st started with a ferry ride to Mykonos. Our accommodations on Mykonos were provided by Aletro Cottage houses, a beautiful small hotel with a breath-taking view of the Mediterranean . The staff was very friendly and treated us like family. A wonderful breakfast and a beautiful pool were just two of our favorite things at Aletro . In fact, when it came time to leave and our transfer to the ferry was late, the owners of Aletro offered, and did, drive us to the port so that we would not miss our ferry!
Our event for this day was a trail ride at Mykonos horses. The horses were good, and the hosts were very friendly. However, the ride itself was underwhelming. Not to the level of our expectations.
The next day, Sept. 1, we scheduled the traditional farm visit and Mykonian dinner. Other than the delay caused by confusion regarding our pick up time, the evening was a lot of fun and we were more than impressed with the delicious food served at our dinner. It was an added treat to have the chef stop and visit with us as we dined, to answer any questions and enhance our experience! A very nice evening!
After a day to transfer to Naxos via the high speed ferry, we arrived at the Adriani Hotel and were pleased to find an attractive hotel with very nice rooms, located within walking distance of the seaside shops and restaurants. The morning meal provided by the Adriani Hotel was outstanding! At least three entree dishes, along with several dessert-type options were included with many other items to make this an outstanding dining option for breakfast!
Sept. 3rd started with a transfer to a small village outside of the main city in Naxos. It was here that we met Katarina and began our cooking classes at her home, along with her mother. The opportunity to spend part of our day in their home was such a treat! They were fabulous hosts and wonderful chefs! An added bonus was the opportunity to meet the local historian and tour his museum. Truly an enjoyable experience! Once again, we had a communication glitch between our driver, our hosts and the organizers. It was quickly resolved, but had us a little concerned.
Our final scheduled event was a bike ride lead by Michalis (Mike) Manios and his son at Real Bike. What a great adventure! High quality equipment and the care and expertise taken by Mike and his son to ensure that we had a safe, yet challenging ride made this day one of our favorites! The route included beaches, city streets, the countryside and an added bonus of a historical site. They were so friendly and accommodating and welcoming. We all had a great time!
Although I cannot say that our trip went off without a hitch, I can say that whenever we encountered a “hitch”, our contacts at kimkim were readily available to quickly resolve any issues. We felt that we would have had a difficult time securing the quaint, family-owned hotels, the local guides and business people and wonderful experiences without the use of kimkim. We will definitely consult with kimkim when planning our next vacation!

Overall great experience! We were very pleased with our travel and everything was perfect! We are so thankful we used Kim Kim. Chris did a great job choosing hotels and excursions for us to do. It was everything we could have asked for! Lampros, our driver in Athens, was great! We loved getting to meet him and he provided excellent service. The staff at the Ammos Hotel went above and beyond to meet our needs. Loved every second of the trip!

My only recommendation is if anyone else is going to hike the Samaria Gorge, more information needs to be provided. Before the trip we were told we would have a guide and would be riding a bus. It wasn't until we were picked up by our driver at the hotel that he told us he would take us and pick us up (driver was much more preferred over a bus, but it did cause confusion!) and we did not have a guide (which was also much preferred because we were able to go at our own pace!) but still caused confusion. Also, we were unsure how the ferry tickets and entrance all worked. When we got to the top the people at the cafe told us they were the only ones that sold ferry tickets and that we couldn't buy them at the bottom. So we spent money not knowing any better. Once we got to the bottom we realized this was for a ferry off to the side and not the main ferry. It was a little sketchy so we decided to buy tickets for the main ferry and lost out on the money for the first ferry. In the end it all worked out, but a little more detail would have been preferred!

Using KimKim was definitely the best choice for us and we are so thankful for all the time and effort that Chris put in to make our vacation a once in a lifetime trip!

Chris was an amazing travel planner. He listened to what we were looking for in our trip to Greece and nailed it. We couldn’t have had a better time. The hotels were boutique and beautiful. Everything fell into place. Drivers were there and on time and courteous. Tours were set up for us by Chris and were outstanding! I can’t say enough about our experience. We had a blast. And I will definitely choose kimkim for our next travel!! Lots of love to your team!! Lynn

My wife and I used kimkim to plan our honeymoon to Greece. This being our honeymoon and the fact we were traveling internationally, I wanted the trip to be as stress free and seamless as possible. Whether it was helping us pick which Greek islands would be best for the type of vacation we were looking for, to booking private transfers from each port to make getting around as easy as possible, Harris helped us plan a trip we will never forgot. I was very impressed with the service that we received from Harris and his team both while planning the trip and on the trip itself, which included a 24/7 number that we could text if we had any issues. Overall, very happy with the kimkim experience.

What a well organized trip that we just got back from thanks to Tasos and the crew from KimKim. I was on a mission to plan a trip for a group of colleagues - initially for over 20 people. I had done a lot of back research myself then realized it was getting a bit difficult to coordinate (especially when it came to transferring from one destination to the other within Greece.

I had been to Greece plenty of times myself, having a Greek background but had never planned for such a large group. My concern was how to successfully get the group from Point A to Point B without any delays or headaches. I then decided to reach out for help and I had reached out to a different travel company at first but the response time was painfully slow. I then reached out to Tasos from KimKim based on some online reviews, and he was so quick to respond to my many questions! After many back and forths and advice on how to save money or suggestions on destinations we finally planned a trip outline and I received it even before the initial company I had reached out to responded with a quote!

Our trip consisted of 4 desinations: Athens, Nafplio, Naxos & Santorini.

Tasos worked closely with me to work on a daily itinerary which included enough ancient ruins, sight seeing, free time - and beach time to satisfy everyone travelling! He offered plenty of great suggestions based on our needs - including offering input on island choices and how to save money. He was always looking out for our best interests.

We were a large group coming from different cities across North America (and on different flights!) Tasos arranged drivers to pick us from the airport and take us to the New Hotel in Athens. Each hotel was excellent, transportation was pleasantly on time, transfers between destinations were seamless, and the tours were excellent and fulfilling!

Highlights were the Food tour in Naxos, the Catamaran in Santorini, and Sight Seeing in and around Nafplio. Tasos always was quick to respond, or someone from the office (either Maria or Harris) would quickly chirp in when needed. It was honestly perfect!! Some well-traveled friends of ours said it was the best vacation they had ever had!

I've already recommended others to use KimKim based on the experience and they also had a great time! I can't thank Tasos at Travel12/KimKim enough for organizing this trip leaving it all carefree so that we can truly relax and enjoy Greece!

Sincerely,
Freda

We are so happy we chose travel 12 to plan out first trip to Greece. Harris and the team were so accommodating and flexible, as we booked last minute. They listened to what we wanted and planned an amazing tour for us!
Athens was an incredible however short visit. From the moment Lambros met us off the plane we felt comfortable. Even with coming in late from flying standby and not catching the mythology tour our hotel was in a convenient location to walk the Acropolis and make it to our welcome dinner. Mani Mani treated us royal with an amazing Greek feast. Just scrumptious. Yamas!
The ferry system in Greece is incredible as we were transported to Santorini! So appreciated the driver pick ups upon arrival when it was so congested! We enjoyed staying at the Aegean Gem hotel in Kamari. Lovely! Mary was so helpful there. The beach village offered a lot!
The hidden gem Argyros tour was great to get all around the island and hear incredible history. Sophia was an exceptional guide. We learned and saw so much from Fira to Oia to Meghelehori. The sunset and wine taste at Venetsanos winery was beautiful! Too light on the wine though. Pack your own snacks for the tour.
The wooden boat tour was a perfect adventure to tour the caldera! The crew and Kristina made it a blast. Walking the volcano and swimming the hot springs was so cool and BBQ feast and dancing after the spectacular sunset we will never forget.
Beautiful Naxos was our last island and we loved the pace. Enjoyed the Naxos Son food tour to partake in local delicacies and get our bearings around the old city. Great food and shopping, beaches and stunning sunsets by the Apollo temple arch. Don’t miss the outdoor movie theater! Staying at the Adriano Hotel was delightful, they were so accommodating to us! Delicious breakfasts! Before we knew it it was time to fly back to Athens. The flight was nice and quick but the delay at the airport made us question why we didn’t speed jet back. Good to experience hoping to save time. Our driver kindly stayed till we arrived late and delivered us to the beautiful Avra hotel. Perfect late dinner and rest and breakfast and we were off.
Appreciate Harris being available to contact and answer any questions we had and make adjustments we wanted! We will be using Kim Kim when we travel again, there’s more Greek islands we want to see! It was fabulous. Cannot thank you all enough!

Dimitris was such an excellent resource. I had many questions and emailed him A LOT. Every time I asked about my trip, Dimitris he always got back to me immediately with a reply. He was so helpful before and during our trip. We were 100% satisfied with his service.

When we arrived in Athens, our itinerary was a little tough at first. Since we arrived on a red-eye flight only sleeping a few hours, the morning/afternoon tour of the Acropolis grounds and museum was a little long for us, and it was very hot. The tour was very good and the sites were out of this world! We loved the hotel in Athens – Acropolis Hill.

Taking the ferry to Naxos was also a little rough. I think I would have preferred to fly between the islands, if I were to ever to return to Greece again. There are very long lines for the ferries and it was hard to handle all of the luggage with my daughter.

Naxos was out FAVORITE destination. It was such a great vibe for us. We loved the family friendly atmosphere. There were a lot of children (my daughter actually met a new friend also staying out our hotel). We loved the hotel in Naxos – Liana Hotel and Spa. It was an excellent location and the staff was really helpful. The hotel is beautiful and right on the beach. Everything was within walking distance.

Our paddle-boarding trip was a disaster. I love to go paddleboarding, so I was looking forward to this activity. We basically went to a place that had windsurfing (and I think for the times that there is no wind they offer paddle boarding). I would not recommend windsurfing for novices like us. Windsurfing is something that requires a lot of coordination and skill, and it is not something that people can just pick up in a morning. Moreover, since we wanted to go paddleboarding, it was a little frustrating because paddle boarding is NO FUN if it is very windy. We had fun, though. We basically beached out paddle boards and walked around the area. It was a beautiful part of the island to explore.

Speaking of disasters, the ferry trip from Naxos to Santorini was a complete disaster. The ferry was nearly 2 hours late. We had to wait in the hot sun. I felt like cattle getting loaded on and off of the ferry. Since we were so late to arrive in Santorini, we didn’t have a ride arranged. It took us nearly 2 hours to get to our hotel after our ferry arrive. The travel took almost the entire day – a day wasted. I would have much preferred to fly to Santorini so we could have enjoyed our time better.

The hotel in Santorini was also very nice. We definitely expected more of a party vibe and that is what we got. The location of the hotel was very convenient to many restaurants – they were also very helpful to help us plan our excursions.

The best activity on our trip was the Santorini Sea Kayaking. This was such an excellent experience. They really know how to guide a large group and make it a lot of fun. We got a serious adventure, and also got to see the red sand and white sand beaches. This was the best trip for our entire vacation.

Thank you very much for making such fantastic arrangements for our trip! We will definitely use Kim Kim again for another adventure!

Great guides. Would have been nice to have more I fo as what to wear on tours like proper foot wear recommended. Lots of walking hills, dirt paths, lava rocks. Bring old swimsuit for iron in water. Also on long tours nice to know where and when and what kind of time we have to grab food. Sophia was wealth of knowledge on our tour of Santorini.
A little disappointed we didn’t or could work out credit for missed hotel in Athens as Harris knew we were flying standby. Love the Greek dinner in Athens! Would prefer not to waste time on long ferry rides when flying was cheaper. Short one from Santorini to Naxos on fast ferry was fine.