Kimkim Trip Reviews for Iceland

As a family who has self toured to 30+ countries, we were reluctant to use a travel service for our 6 day trip to Iceland. However, with limited time to see the country, I sought help from KimKim for guidance. They connected me to a local specialist, Preeti, who organized an amazing 6 day trip to remember. Leading up to the trip, we communicated via email on several occasions to work out the schedule and the package she delivered was well before the trip, giving our family plenty of time to study the route and plan for added stops, meals, etc.. We enjoyed an amazing week along the southern part of Iceland starting with the Blue Lagoon and a night in Reykjavik and stops and hikes along multiple waterfalls and other beautiful vistas. Tours included a zipline tour from the activity hub of Vik, a Zodiac Glacier Lagoon Tour in Jokulsaron, and an ice cave tour. The other days were spent stopping at spots such as Diamond Beach near Jokulsaron, Geysir to see the Stokkur geyser, plane wreck on Solheimasandur, hikes around glorious waterfalls, driving off the main roads through farmlands and on drivable beaches. Every turn along the way was a beautiful surprise and we loved every minute of our time in the majestic country. On our final day, we detoured to the Rekjadalur Hot Springs near the town of Hveragerdi where you hike about an hour to a delightful hot springs river for a delightful and relaxing reward! We finished with a great pizza dinner at Olverk Pizza and Brewery before driving back to Keflavik for the night before flying out the next morning.
Everything was well coordinated with plenty or room for detours and spontaneous stops and we without a doubt would recommend both Preeti and KimKim to others!

Thank you Preeti and also Pauline for your assistance in setting this up

Overall the drive/trip went very well

A couple of caveats for your awareness
1) The Google maps driving instructions were not always the most accurate; sometimes off by multiple kilometers (this is not your fault; but something to be aware of... not sure if there is a better way to map these trips) which did create some confusion

2) I would not stay in the Hotel West again; very very small room, no TV, no coffee, cold only breakfast, etc... I would barely consider this a two star hotel

Our guide Kristjan was knowledgeable, efficient, and tremendously flexible. All necessary attributes in dealing with our family!

I wanted to thank Preeti for being such a patient and helpful travel specialist. She always answered my questions in a timely matter and was very flexible. She really tried her best to accommodate us and I appreciate that. It was a pleasure working with her, she was fantastic.

We had and AWESOME trip. Everything was planned so well and we were able to see and do all the things we wanted to do. All the guides were super friendly and helpful. I would recommend this trip to anyone thinking of going to Iceland. They will help you plan a fantastic trip.

What an experience! Our family thoroughly enjoyed our trip to Iceland. No one, from the youngest to the oldest (ages 4 to 77), has had any negative comment.
We were there almost twelve days and really needed more time. Well, I suppose that will have to happen in a subsequent trip. We were pretty much seeing the southwest quadrant of the island, doing all the activities requested and then some. Halldor was an excellent tourist agent. It must have been quite a feat to pull together such a nice trip following our (probably strange) requests that included the interests of every individual in this family. He succeeded in doing so. He even made certain that the vehicle in which we would be traveling would be booster seat compliant for the children. Kimkim, your organization has a real treasure in this local specialist!
The lodging was very nice, family-friendly, with nice dining facilities and delightful breakfasts. I was particularly impressed by the fact that most places had an area for young children to entertain themselves while still in sight of their parents.
Our guide, Mr. S, was most accommodating to the various members of our family. He was a good choice! I never heard one complaint, even from the four-year old. Mr. S came up with activities to supplement our experiences, from the requests and questions we asked. There was plenty of participation from the oldest to the youngest. If a question arose concerning our reservations at any previously-scheduled part of our trip, Mr. S got it straightened out. He directed us when, mid-trip, we needed to have our laundry done, locate a postal facility or a bank, etc.

One person had a birthday during the trip. Mr. S oversaw the request of the two children to pick berries, and he prepared a cake to celebrate using those berries. It was delicious! He also recommended museums, eateries, woolen/gift/souvenir shops, and all of the things that one likes to become acquainted with when traveling. I thought that perhaps there would be too much time allotted to rest in the afternoons, but that was definitely not the case.
Everything we did was memorable because of the planning and direction of Halldor and the suggestions of Mr. S. We chased sheep, pointed out "dead" horses, climber a crater, fed retired horses, rode horses, took a sled-on-wheels ride pulled by huskies, counted seals, relaxed in various geothermally heated pools, watched geysers, identified birds, hiked lava fields into a lava cave, saw mushroom production before eating probably the best mushroom soup any of us had ever had, ate hot dogs and more hot dogs, walked to a waterfall, straddled a rift in the tectonic plates of North America and Eurasia, visited a museum a day I think, trolls, history of this country, Vikings, and the list goes on . This is not a trip any of us will ever forget, nor do we wish to do so; therefore, Get ready Kimkim, Halldor, and Mr. S. It may take awhile, but this family will probably be back! Thank you for everything you did to make our trip memorable.

I appreciated the detailed itinerary and arrangements that Emanuela prepared for our Iceland trip. She had lots of activities and suggestions for how to make the most of our time there, visiting Reykjavik, the Snaefellsnes, Thingvellir, Golden Circle, and southern coast. As we travelled at a self-pace, we were not able to do all the suggestions, but I think that we got the highlights. The recommendation for the Iceland Lava Show in Vik was great, the show is informative, entertaining and interactive!

One suggestion that I have is that while the rental car (Kia station wagon) was fine, there are many places where the roads got a little rough (pot-holes in gravel). Having a little more ground clearance (such as an SUV) would have been better. Also, we didn't use the GPS much, and opted for an in-car WiFi hotspot and used our phones for navigation.

We did a 11 day driving tour around Iceland. I wish I could pick a few places that were most memorable but the whole trip was amazing. The accommodations were exceptional and the directions were accurate. We had no problems while in Iceland and following the itenary that Preeti put together. Thanks to the WIFI in the car, we were even able to add in a few detours on the fly and still get back to the routes that were part of the iterary. The tours that were booked for us and the guides were very good. We had a lot of fun on all the tours.
Thanks to the team at kimkim for making this trip to Iceland memorable. We plan on coming back for the northern lights and will definitely use their services again.

Solid two weeks plan, good accommodations by and large, good guidance on the sites to visit and places to see. She put together a good plan under very short notice with good local guides.
Could benefit from more insights upfront on people interest and some quicker responsiveness during planning.

We enjoy our trip in Iceland very much. Sotiria has been really helpful and answered all of our questions. Her planning has helped smooth our trip and we had more opportunity to enjoy the moment with less worry.

After an initial few hiccups with getting going, the experience with kimkim has been very pleasing. The quality of the accommodation choices were in line with expectations, which was not a bad thing as we tend to have high expectations! However the star of the show was your instructions guide as that made our road trip through Iceland a piece of cake! Preeti and importantly Halldor were extremely helpful in getting our bookings together especially when we wanted changes on the fly while in Iceland and that was greatly appreciated. Overall it was a positive experience!

I was nervous about using an online service, but it was simple and Preeti and her team were great. We had a wonderful trip that included everything we wanted to see and a couple less-known places that we really enjoyed. And, Preeti helped us however needed while we were there, including re-scheduling a tour for a later time. We could not be happier with the service we received.

We loved our trip planned by Preeti and KimKim. All of the day-by-day instructions were extremely helpful in navigating and getting to where we needed to be on time. Thank you so much for suggesting that the Price family go up to the lighthouse at Gardur. We met the funniest gentleman manning the lighthouse coffee shop and spend a good deal of time listening to his stories.
We weren't sure we would enjoy all of the driving along the South coast, but when we were done, we really appreciated all of the beautiful sights that we saw and were glad we did it. Everyone seemed to have a different favorite experience. Our 15 year old loved the ice cave tour with Katlatrack Adventure Tours. David was an awesome guide and great story teller. It was well worth it.
The adults enjoyed the secret lagoon. The teenagers were a little put off by the open showers, but they managed. We only spent about an hour there. The dinner at the tomato farm was liked by all of us. We all really liked the waterfalls on the first day of our trip and the Lava Tube tour was voted by the teens as most underrated tour.
Everyone loved the black-sands beach in Vik. It was very crowded but not too hard to find a place for a photo without other in the shot. The drive from Vik to Gerdi was amazing in places with the cliffs and fascinating topography,
My favorite thing was sitting on the porch of our cottage at Hesthmier Cottages and looking out over the valley at the horses and other animals. That hotel was a favorite for its location and views. It was clean and well managed. The owners were very friendly and proud of their place.
The Glacier lagoon and diamond beach were also a big hit with the teenagers. We had a lot of fun taking photos there. Unfortunately we arrived after the bathrooms were closed, so that was an issue.
The falls at Guilfoss were incredible and a must-see. We didn't get to see the Geysir because we were running low on time. We liked the national park, but the kids were tired and we had to walk quickly in order to get to our dive between the continents. For several members of our group that dive was by far the favorite thing of the trip. They loved the team at Dive.Is.
We spent some time walking around Reykjavik, but did not really enjoy the Puffin tour. We really couldn't see them since they are so small. It wasn't a long tour and the people giving the tour were wonderful, it just wasn't our thing. On the last day we really only had time to go to the Blue Lagoon. We all loved it and had fun getting face masked and laying around in the water. We had lunch at the sit-down restaurant which was fine, but very slow. We ultimately had to cancel our desserts and rush out to get to the airport.
Final thoughts: we loved the trip and would definitely recommend KimKim to anyone planning on traveling to Iceland. Our only suggestion would be that our daily plans really didn't seem to allow enough time to enjoy the stops and we ended up having to cut some stops out of our day simply because we ran out of time. The crowds at some of the places may have played a part in that and limited parking and walking areas at some of the stops made our time there longer.

Our experience with Preeti and the kimkim service was excellent. Our 9 day trip to Iceland was our first family trip abroad and it couldn't have gone smoother. Once off the plane, our rental car was waiting and was all tricked out with wifi and plenty of leg room. Our itinerary provided by Preeti was excellent, we never felt rushed, yet there was so much they recommended we see. The guides were excellent, we did an ATV tour on black sand beaches and into a gorgeous valley (this was everyone's favorite), a snowmobile tour on a glacier (ok, but I'm sure much better in the winter without all the slushy runoff), walked into a glacier ice cave (also cool, but very short), toured a lava cave (very cool - and unusual), and did a horseback ride (this was not everyone's favorite - extremely beautiful scenery through hot springs and backcountry, but the black flies were incessantly swarming and biting and none of us are seasoned riders, so we were very sore the next couple days - lol). All our guides were informative, friendly and accommodating. The hotels we stayed at were all good in their own way, either great food, or nice room, Hotel Umi stood out as one of the best for both. We were all surprised how small the rooms were, and how stuffy most were. The weather when we were there was unseasonably warm, with most days in the low-mid 60's. The family's highlights were the waterfalls, especially Seljalandsfoss, driving to Vik, Skogar museum and Skogarfoss, ATV tour, Geysir - geysirs and waterfall there, the Kerid crater, Thingvellir National park and the fault line between the continental plates, driving through the lava fields up to the western coast, and laughing about signs for snyrting. We enjoyed every minute of our time in Iceland. I would use Kimkim again for planning our next big vacation. We could not be happier with our experience with Preeti and the amazing vacation she put together for us! It was very well planned and for a Type A mom, this is a huge deal!!! Thank you!

Sotiria made it so easy to set up our trip. The itinerary and all pick-up and drop-off arrangements were perfect. The tours were everything we hoped they would be.
The guides were knowledgeable and professional. We are very glad we booked with Sotiria.

Preeti listened to our desires for our Iceland trip and developed an itinerary that was perfect. We skipped a few things to cut down on the driving time and increased our outdoor time.

10 days, 9 nights in Iceland... trip of a lifetime. Caroline was so in tune with what we wanted to see and she made sure to include all the right places to view puffins, (we saw thousands), as well as magnificent scenery and all the suggestions for spectacular sights. The ease of hotel check in, car rental and all the ferry schedules and tickets were perfect. Each hotel offered a great breakfast to start our day, for the many km's we drove and walked. Grimsey Island the best for the unbelievable amount of puffins and how close we could actually get to take photos. Each different city or town we stayed in, seemed to be better than the last, each offering something different and unique. Food choices were vast, delicious and prices very comparable to Canada. This vacation by far exceeded our expectations. Thanks again Caroline,(so glad we got to meet you as well).

Jackie/Barb

I can't believe how easy it was setting everything up for this trip. Actually, all I did was get airline tickets and pack, Caroline did the rest! My son chose Iceland as a place he wanted to visit and Caroline made sure that we were able to enjoy so many activities while we were there. The hotels she booked were great, as well as making sure we have a rental car waiting for us. The itinerary was easy to follow and there was even a day in there that we decided to skip the suggested activity and relax in the town we were currently in. That made it easy to be able to adjust and move on to the next activities. I certainly want to go back now and know that we would not have even thought of all these things to do in Iceland if it wasn't for Caroline setting this up. I have been telling anyone that would listen that if you plan on going somewhere you haven't been before, check out kimkim Travel first to see if there is someone like Caroline to help guide you!

We started to try planning on our own, but all the choices seemed a tad overwhelming! Preeti was great in helping plan a trip that really hit the areas we wanted to see. We enjoyed the places we stayed and saw the beautiful Eastern fjords. We really enjoyed the adventures of the going on the glacier hike and the ice cave tour. We unfortunately weren't able to hit all the recommended stops just due to time but I feel we hit the majority of them. We were able to cram quite a bit into our week there. We really hope to go back to Iceland when our kids are older and try to do a longer trip on the ring road. Thanks for helping plan our amazing trip!

We appreciated how hard Emanuela worked to ensure that we had a great trip. We found him to be knowledgeable throughout the pre planning stages. It helped to make for an awesome trip knowing that everything was looked after. Even when there was a mix up with our Glacier Hike, he was readily offering a refund but thankfully we were able to have the company squeeze us in.
My only feedback would be to offer more support in answering questions once we were there. We had asked about a pool, which was listed on the website of the hotel but was unable to locate it. We reached out to Emanuela but he only stated he didn't know and that we would find it. In the moment, I was frustrated as we literally had no one to ask and really wanted to find the pool.
Besides that, it was glorious! I can't wait to come back:) We especially appreciated the bday treat on our last night.
Thank you!!

We just returned from our amazing trip to Iceland. Preeti planned a great itinerary for us, with the perfect mix of activities and sightseeing for a family of 3 with a 10-year-old. Highlights included a glacier hike, horseback riding through the hot springs, exploring lava caves and soaking in the hot baths at Krauma. The waterfalls and glaciers were epic. Each one, unique and awe-inspiring. We covered a lot of ground over the course of our 9-day trip and were blown away by the natural wonder of Iceland and its varied, other-worldly landscapes.