Ireland Travel Agents

Fantastic trip, couldn't have done it without KimKim, and Justine and Fanny were terrific!
First two days in Dublin were great, loved Number 59, the food and drink tour was so fun and informative, and our guide, Collum was great. Guinness Factory is a must!
Don't let the car rental people talk you into a bigger car! As you know, when we arrived at the Maldron in Cork, my husband stood in a hotel parking spot while I went to get the car; the hotel only has like 10 spaces out front. As he stood there, a gentleman (local to Ireland) pulled in the spot, hitting my husband in the knees, demanding him to move, saying, 'we don't do that here". My husband moved but was very angry as was I when I returned seconds later with our rental. Anyway, the hotel was very busy and didn't give great directions to the parking garage 3 minutes away, I was flustered and drove down a very narrow street, hitting a concrete ballast on the left bumper as I was making a left turn. I finally made it back to the hotel and found a spot to park, but the damage was done. We ended up getting very drunk at the bar hotel and didn't do anything in Cork.
The next morning Europcar said they were bringing us a replacement car when I finally reached them to make the report, and I got a reference number. A tow truck came and picked up the wrecked rental. After several hours of waiting, I called Europcar and got passed around a phone chain, no one could find the reference number or report of my accident, and told me it would be 24 hours before I was given a replacement. Upset at this news, as we had already extended our check out time at the Maldron, we took a taxi to the airport. We were able to secure another rental after putting down a $2000 deposit with the threat that if ANYTHING happened to this car we would lose our money. This put quite the damper on the day and overall experience as the Europcar people were a nightmare to deal with.
Anyway, on to Killarney which we absolutely fell in love with. The Dromhall was really nice. It was such a pleasure to meet Richard and take the hike around the National Forest after our experience in Cork, and the weather was beautiful. Unfortunately because of the accident we were late arriving to Killarney and did not get to take our boat tour. In speaking with Richard, he recommended not driving the Ring of Kerry after hearing about our driving ordeal, as well as we really didn't have time. He recommended we just go to Kenmare, which I really wanted to do, but we again were a little shy of driving due to the threat of losing our money. We had a beautiful evening in Killarney at the Killarney Brewing Company and did some shopping.
On to Dingle, which was delightful. An Capall Dubh was a great place to stay, we went on a boat tour of the cliffs, had fish and chips at Harrington's, dinner at Paidi O Se's. The next morning was our anniversary and we lit a candle at St. Mary's and walked the labrynth. It was awesome to be on the coast. We stopped in Adare Village on our way to Doolin and had lunch at The Arches, which was delicious.
Doolin was gorgeous! Our accommodations were beautiful and Ceol na dTonnta was great.
We really enjoyed our talk with Peter Curtin. Such a fascinating man! However, his pubs are not open on Mondays and Tuesdays, and we almost missed him because his assistant changed the time but didn't tell him! We had him all to ourselves. After the talk we had a good dinner and some Irish music at McGann's pub.
The Cliffs of Moher are breathtaking and that was amazing. We did not hire a celebrant to renew our vows, that was really expensive! It was special nonetheless. We went back to Peter's Roadside Tavern that night for dinner and also heard some live music.
Galway was wonderful as well as the Hardiman Hotel, probably our favorite accommodation, They had valet parking too! Very helpful. I really enjoyed the shopping and we had a great meal in a pub around the corner.
When flying out of Dublin, you should probably start the morning there. The drive from Galway (and my planning) got us to the airport too late to make it through customs to catch our flight home on Friday; Delta said we needed to be there 3 hours in advance. We were lucky enough to get a room at the Camden Court Hotel and had another fun night in Dublin. We had lunch at the Bleeding Horse and dinner at the hotel restaurant Ivey, which was really nice for our last night!
No problems flying out the next day, Delta worked hard to get us home. Aer Lingus was striking so the airlines were busier than usual, which added to the long customs lines.
We had a wonderful adventure and will totally book our next trip through Kim Kim. Justine was awesome and Fanny was really kind and helpful with me during the car rental accident!

We had a great trip to Ireland -- and a great collaboration with our specialist Justine. We did not want to go on a tour and we wanted to tailor the travel to our preferences. Justine helped us explore scenarios, and then bring the plan to life with excellent suggestions for both places to stay and memorable activities. Having support with accommodations and travel took the stress out of planning and also let us spend our planning and research time on the fun activities we wanted to do. Justine suggested two of our favorite actives on the trip -- a tour of Slea Head with Mossie and a walk through the Gap of Dunloe. It was also nice to know we had KimKim's help if our plans were thrown off by any disruptions - especially since the airline we were flying was on strike. It was our first time working with KimKim, but I would definitely do it again -- the perfect level of support for how we like to travel. Thank you Justine for all your wonderful help and responsiveness!

Hotel Reviews

Pax Guest House

Dingle

It would be hard to improve on anything at Pax House - the location is beautiful, the service is excellent and the breakfast was a highlight of our trip. We loved it!

Authenticity & Character

Location

The beautiful view of the harbor is so lovely and peaceful!

Staff

We particularly enjoyed meeting Michelle -- she was so kind and helpful and made our experience very special.

Cleanliness & Comfort

George Hotel Limerick City

Limerick

Wilder Townhouse

Dublin

Excellent location and service! We loved it.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Nice quiet location -- and the prettiest neighbor we encountered in Dublin

Staff

Great service from people who were kind and fun to interact with.

Cleanliness & Comfort

The Fairview Boutique Hotel

Killarney

The Fairview has a great location and the rooms were nice. The service was not at the super high level we experienced elsewhere -- but we enjoyed our stay.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Dingle Distillery Tour

Ireland

We enjoyed the tour - but our guide talked so much it went from 60 minutes to 90 minutes which felt a bit dragged out.

Guided Killarney National Park Walking Tour

Killarney

Richard is a knowledgeable and relaxed host - like having a friend in Killarney. We enjoyed two hours of exploring the park, learning about some of the history and the natural environment and Richard also gave us great recommendations on pubs and other places to check out in Killarney.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Gap of Dunloe & Lakes of Killlarney Boat Tour

Ireland

This was one of our highlights of the trip. We got very lucky with a cool, sunny morning - perfect for enjoying the incredibly beautiful surroundings. While we did see other people and, of course, the jaunting carts, we were mostly on our own and to enjoy the peace and beauty around us. The board ride back to Killarney was another highlight -- a perfect way to appreciate the National Park from the water.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Our boat driver did a nice job of highlighting some of the nature, history and beautiful views on the way back through the lakes.

Transport

A Private Half-Day Tour of the Dingle Peninsula

Ireland

We had a wonderful morning with Mossie. He is a very experienced guide -- funny, knowledgeable, great conversationalist and kept a relaxed pace with lots of time for us to enjoy each stop. He showed us lots of beautiful places that we enjoyed all the more for not having to worry about driving the narrow roads. We loved touring with Mossie and very highly recommend!!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Claire and her team were wonderful! We had a delightful time in Ireland and they were there every step of the way. Highly recommend.

Svetlana planned a perfect trip for us - the hotels were wonderful and the travel plan hit all of the highlights of Ireland without feeling rushed. We particularly liked having much of the trip booked and paid for prior to our arrival. It was the trip of a lifetime and we will absolutely be using KimKim for our next adventure.

I found Kimkim after some internet research for our two week trip to Ireland. I didn't know where to start in planning our trip. Last year, we had an experience with a travel agent that didn't work very well, but we learned more about what we wanted for this trip.
We worked with Claire personally and she took the time to understand our unique needs. She curated a wonderful trip that gave us special experiences, wonderful locations and hotels, as well as time to be free. It was really convenient to have the itinerary, maps and local numbers all in one place. It also gave us peace of mind to know that we could reach out with any problems if we needed to. We did that a couple of times and always received a timely response. I recommend working with Claire and Kimkim for your next vacation.