Kimkim Trip Reviews for Italy

This Italy trip was fantastic. We travel and speak directly with Valentina, Jessica, and Barbara as Italy experts to make this trip go smoothly and exciting. Our private's guides, Manuela in Florence, Sara in Venice, and Selenia in Rome, were outstanding. They are competitive and knowledgeable.

Siena was a surprise because we didn't know that we would like it so much. In "la Bellissima Florencia," we have a great time taking Tuscan cooking classes with our chef Tomasso and his incredible team of chefs. Venice- St. Marks Basilica was astounding. Venice's food is excellent. I eat at Agli Alboretti Hotel, and the chef is excellent. Gondola thru canals and the vias were terrific, wonderful time for shopping.

We love it, and our next personal trip will be retaken with KimKim. Thank you, guys, for this beautiful travel time.

Hotel Reviews

Il Battistero Siena

Siena

Cozy, personal, private, quiet, great view, excellent host. Perfect!!

Authenticity & Character

This hotel has an old aqueduct and storage for wine downstairs which have a fantastic story about its construction. Go to check.

Location

Walking distance to everything and, at the same time quiet neighborhood.

Staff

Attentive, responsive.

Cleanliness & Comfort

It's a medieval building with suppressive accommodation. It was fantastic.

B&B Hotel Firenze City Center

Florence

Good, but they allocated us to a handicapped room with water excess outside the shower door thru the floor.

Authenticity & Character

Bathroom

Location

Accessible to so many places within walking distance.

Staff

Attentive but not responsive

Cleanliness & Comfort

Water excess outside the shower door thru the floor.

Hotel agli Alboretti

Venice

Old building with authentic decoration of Venice Bay. Cozy, charming, and excellent restaurant. The restaurant annex to the hotel is terrific. One of the best food I ever taste. The fish soup is terrific. Really delicious.

Authenticity & Character

Charming, authentic old Venice building.

Location

Quiet location. Near everything at the same time.

Staff

The staff was great. Attentive, responsive. The restaurant staff was excellent.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Very clean.

Boutique Hotel Galatea

Rome

It is like a secret place deep inside Rome. Walking distance to everything. Cozy, charming, clean, and accessible.

Authenticity & Character

Cozy and charming. It is like we live in a Rome neighborhood.

Location

Walking distance to everything

Staff

Knowledgeable. Take care of everything. We like the service a lot.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Very clean

Activity Reviews

Best of Florence Walking Tour with David & the Duomo

Florence

Great visit with amazing detailed information from our guide Manuela, and even the occasional joke. Perfect also because you get to skip the long lines.

Quality of Experience

The academy surprises me. I never tough the David sculpture is so awesome.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

All of them were very respectful and attentive. Very professional and knowledgeable.

Transport

High-quality transportation.

Guided Tour of Florence Duomo with access to the Dome

Florence

Special place. Botticelli's work is outstanding

Quality of Experience

Amazing place. Impressive work of art.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

All of them are great. Respectful and knowledgeable.

Transport

High-quality transportation

Central Food Market & Tuscan Cooking Class

Florence

It was perfect. I love to cook, and this experience was fantastic—easy techniques to perform some Tuscan recipes.

Quality of Experience

Beginning with the market to pick the ingredients was terrific. The whole class was straightforward to follow. The interactions with the chefs were excellent.

Food

Terrific. The best Ragu sauce I ever taste.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

All of them are great. Respectful and knowledgeable.

Transport

High-quality transportation

Giotto Bell Tower Tickets

Florence

Good trip. Excellent views of the city.

Quality of Experience

Good trip. Excellent views of the city.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Very respectful and attentive.

Transport

High-quality transportation.

Venice Walking Tour with St. Marks Basilica and Gondola Ride

Italy

This is a pretty good trip. Venice was outstanding. Our guide (Sara) was excellent. A combination of knowledgeable, personable, and humorous at the same time. It was well worth seeing the Square and the Basilica. I learned a lot and was on a private tour avoiding lines on a crowded day. So, it was perfect.

Quality of Experience

This is a pretty good trip. It was well worth seeing the St. Marks Basilica. OMG, what a place. I learned a lot and was on a private tour, avoiding lines on a crowded day. So, it was perfect.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Our guide (Sara) was excellent—a combination of knowledgeable, personable, and humorous at the same time.

Transport

High-quality transportation.

Dine. Taste. Learn

Rome

Great Time. Excellent food. We love the wines.

Quality of Experience

Very good food and the quality of the "tapas", fantastic.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

The host was terrific. Very knowledgeable and charming.

Transport

High-quality transportation

Colosseum Tour with Underground, Arena & Gladiator Gate with Roman Forum

Rome

Fantastic tour with guide Selenia providing detailed explanations and descriptions of sites; perfectly knowledgeable, energetic, and well-expressed guide, willing to answer all questions, big and small.

Quality of Experience

Selenia has a deep knowledge of history and she brings it to life. We got so much more than we would have if we had simply walked through as tourists. She answered questions and added interesting historical facts. She made our trip perfect.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Fantastic tour with guide Selenia providing detailed explanations and descriptions of sites; perfectly knowledgeable, energetic, and well-expressed guide, willing to answer all questions, big and small.

Transport

high-quality transportation

Fabio was an excellent guide both during the planning process and while we were on our trip.
Our group of four wanted to visit Florence and the Amalfi Coast and Fabio did a great job reserving our hotels, arranging transportation and securing tickets for tours in Rome and in Florence.

Our hotels in Rome, Sorrento and Florence were first-rate! The locations were perfect, the rooms were excellent and the perks (complimentary breakfast and evening wine/snacks) were unbelievable!

Our drivers and guides were also outstanding. Our most memorable experience had to be our private tour of the Uffizi Gallery and the Academia in Florence. Our guide, Brenda, was amazing. She was passionate about the art and her insights made the tour really special.

The only difficulties we faced in our trip were due to our flight cancellation to Italy at the beginning of our trip. Fabio was right there to change our tour reservations and our hotel reservations. (He must be awake 24/7 monitoring messages!)

We would recommend kimkim highly, especially if you get a chance to work with Fabio!

The trip was wonderful. Rome was crowded and crazy, I’d been there before, but a magnificent city with unmatched history and energy. The colosseum tour with Marta was excellent, with a chance to see the underground that wasn’t available last time I was there. The architecture and engineering that took place 2000 years ago is mind boggling. The hotel was good, full of travelers. Transportation to and from the airport was perfect, both drivers arriving early.
The driver, Fabio, who took us from Rome to Sorrento was wonderful. Very friendly, knowledgeable, speaking excellent English, he was a tour guide as well as a driver. The stop at Pompei was amazing. The tour guide Yulia was excellent, so intelligent and articulate. The hotel in Sorrento was beautiful, on a cliff overlooking the sea. The room was spacious and pleasant, although a bit cave-like with no outside light. One of the desk clerks was very helpful in setting up my Google Maps app. Our Amalfi coast driver, Angelo, was friendly and entertaining, and a veteran at the challenging coastal drive. The day was beautiful despite rain and fog.
A good driver (name unremembered) got us to the Naples airport for the car rental. The car rental was perhaps the most difficult and stressful part of the trip. Very busy and rushed. I upgraded because that was the only option to get navigation, and a very helpful lot attendant got the car computer to work in English. The car was new and beautiful, a Lynk and Co. model, but the electronics were overwhelming and the scant manual was in Italian. We were able to utilize the navigation but couldn’t figure out most other functions. Nonetheless it was a beautiful car and the actual driving was fine. Returning the car at the Termini train station in Rome was very stressful. The station is a frantic and extremely busy place, and there are no signs directing you to the car rental return. A helpful maintenance worker told us how to get to the return lot, or we may still be there driving around. The check out man spoke very little English, and I signed a lot of papers with no idea what I was signing. I received an invoice several days later and I have no idea how much was prepaid or how much I actually am paying for the rental, including a damage surcharge for unknown reasons. I’ve rented cars many times, and its a stressful process, even in your native language, and the rental car industry is well known for mysterious charges. I’m not asking for anything to be done, but just letting you know that the whole process was stressful.
Matera was a surprise and an amazing place. Alina was a wonderful guide, the city was breathtaking, and the experience there was definitely a highlight of the trip. The hotel was very nice and the proprietors were friendly and helpful.
Bari went well. Our guide Giorgio was fantastic, and gave us a very personal and enjoyable tour of the old town. The hotel was central and worked out fine.
Lecce was enjoyable. We had a lot of trouble parking and finding our B&B in the very confusing maze of streets in the old town. There was no one there to greet us when we finally found the place, but was able to call and talk with someone who informed us about parking and actually getting into the room. The door code didn’t work but someone eventually came to let us in. The accomodation was very nice, but we missed the availability of a proprietor who could provide advice and direction. We did a walking tour through the tourist office with a very good guide, and took the narrated tram ride that was informative. The orecchiette class was wonderful, entertaining, interesting, and fun. The owner of Strada del Vino was very supportive and friendly.
The trip was a resounding success, and KimKim’s services were absolutely what we needed. Setting up accommodations and guided events, prepaying, and developing an excellent itinerary made it easy for us to relax and enjoy beautiful Italy.
The app made it easy to know what we were doing and going, and we consulted it dozens of times through the trip. Having you and Jessica available and checking in with us was helpful and reassuring.
A couple of suggestions (not complaints): It would be helpful if parking information was included in the hotel descriptions in the app. Not knowing about parking when coming into busy cities, sometimes
with narrow, winding streets is stressful.
In terms of itinerary, going first to Lecce and ending in Bari would reduce the long drive back to Rome by nearly 2 hours.

Thank you again for your hard work and genuine concern. I won’t hesitate to recommend your services to others.

Grazie Mille

Arrivederci,

Ken and Diane

Fantastic experience from start to finish. The experiences chosen were a good variety and things I may have not discovered on my own. Our entire group loved the trip. Eleni was great to work with, very knowledgeable and responsive. It was also nice having a contact while we were away to answer our questions. I'll never travel without kimkim again!

Hotel Reviews

GCF Luxury Suites

Roma

Amazing hotel in the heart of the city.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

La Badia Sorrento

Sorrento

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Rome Food Tour

Rome

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Private Pompeii Tour & Mount Vesuvius visit with lunch and wine tasting

Pompeii

Quality of Experience

I'm

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Giuseppe was very knowledgeable and patient.

Transport

Private Amalfi Coast Driving Tour

Italy

Our guide Guieseppe was very knowledgeable and patient.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Sorrento Sea Kayak Tour

Italy

Fun unique experience and great guides

Quality of Experience

I'm

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Capri Island & Grottos Boat Tour from Sorrento

Sorrento

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Every detail was thought through. Our guides, driver, tours, and hotels were exactly what we hoped for. Every tour guide had a Ph.D. level understanding level of the art, history, and the people that made it. Our whole experience was astonishing and far beyond our expectations.
Valeria organized and knew exactly what we wanted and every aspect of our trip was seamless. This left us able to enjoy every minute of the beauty, food, and people of Italy. This was the family vacation I hoped to achieve. My husband and adult children had unforgettable times together and time to explore on our own. Every hotel exceeded the next and the history and beauty of Rome, Perugia, Assisi, Spello, Florence, Lake Como, and Milan gave us memories to last a lifetime.
I interviewed several tour planners in the US, Valeria, from Kim Kim, who resides in Rome delivered with "local" knowledge and expertise I could not get in the U.S. Don't hesitate in hiring the Kim Kim experts. I am so grateful that I did.

Hotel Reviews

Hotel Della Conciliazione

Rome

The rooms are fine, but there was an unfortunate smell that the hotel tried to cover with air fresherners.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

The

Hotel Sina Brufani

Perugia

A really great breakfast and an excellent location.

Authenticity & Character

Location

You could walk to anywhere from here.

Staff

so helpful and kind.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Grand Hotel Cavour

Florence

Great location.

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Albergo Terminus

Como

Great location!

Authenticity & Character

Cannot image staying anywhere else. Their terraced par/restaurant was an excellent to wind down with friends and family

Location

Your could walk to anywhere from here. The rooms were great!

Staff

Answered every request.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Super clean. The staff answered every request.

Star Hotel Rosa Grand

Milan

What a hotel! You will love the location. The best.

Authenticity & Character

Corporate hotel but in an excellent location.

Location

So close to the Doumo, castle and the best shopping.

Staff

Every request was met with a no problem.

Cleanliness & Comfort

The turn down service was really great.

Activity Reviews

Private Colosseum, Forum Tour & Palatine hill

Rome

Julia was amazing. We learned so much. Her pace was perfect and she arranged for me to take the elevator in the Colosseum, that was a game changer for me because I have a damaged right knee. The weather was perfect! Julia was able to answer our endless questions without taking a beat.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

The driving in Rome is CRAZY our drivers were able to navigate it all. I can tell you this is quite feat.

Private golf cart tour

Rome

Dario was unbelievable. We had a blast on our golf tour. These golf tours are a great way to see Rome!

Quality of Experience

The park that provide a spectacular view of the city

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Dario was great. I would recommend his services for this tour to anyone

Transport

Rome drivers are crazy, but the golf cart is a great way to go. You need to be an expert driver, that is for sure.

Small group tour of Vatican City , Sistine Chapel & saint Peter's Basilica

Rome

Wow, learned so much. It was a great family experience. Ev/Ava was wonderful. We learned so much from her and she was warm and knowledgeable. She clearly loved her work and made us feel so welcome

Quality of Experience

learned so much.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

They were so good. Could expect more.

Transport

Private Pizza-making class

Rome

Tony was unbelievable! We love the experience. Tony was so generous and knowledgeable. All five of us loved it. We were fed so well and by the fruits of our labor with Tony. We ate a lot of pizza during our trip. I can honestly say we ate our best pizza here, in this class.

Quality of Experience

We were to walk through the oldest open-air market in Rome. It was outstanding.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Our driver was on time time and even though we ran over for our next tour, he was ready to take us to our next destination.

Transport

Who cannot love a Mercedes?

Full day Private tour of Assisi and Spello with car and guide at disposal

Italy

We had an unexpectedly great tour here. We didn't know what to expect but Isabella made the entire time spectacular! She knew where to go and HOW to go. Avoiding crowds and difficult climbs. The views were wonderful and the blooming flowers were smelling wonderful.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

The warmth and generous treatment of us through sun and rain. You can't go wrong with the wonderful services of this group.

Transport

We always had late-model Mercedes that sat us comfortably

Private guided tour of the Uffizi and Accademia Galleries (4 hours)

Florence

The crowds were crazy but Simona guided us through the crowds and the museum staff. We saw so many beautiful things and she was able to answer all our questions. I was particularly slow and stopping often to look at things that only interested me. My family despaired of my frequent stops but Simona was patient and able to answer all my questions.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Small group Tour of Tuscany Oil & Wine Tasting with a personal sommelier

Florence

We had been traveling and touring in our small family group, this was our only group tour, a small group tour. Probably the only misstep we took. I thought we would all love wine tasting. We did not. The views were wonderful, but the wine, not so much.

Quality of Experience

Food

Everyone loved the food and the pairing with the wine.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Private Boat Tour of Lake Como - Explore Bellagio

Italy

We started out the morning, it was cloudy and cold, but without rain. Our guide Laura helped us get comfortable on our boat and off we went. We saw George Clooney's house and every beautiful palace/home on the lake. We laughed and laughed and had a great time.

Quality of Experience

Food

There was no food included.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Bernina Express and St Moritz full day tour from Milan

Italy

It was raining and expected to be in the 30's F. so we canceled the trip

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Fabio was an excellent resource throughout the entire trip and planning process. We told him some highlights and he helped us achieve the experience we wanted for our family. He took everyone in our 5 person party into account and made sure there were activities for kids (ages 14 and 11) and my mother. From the planning process throughout the entire vacation not only was he available and responsive all hours of the day and night, he would proactively remind us about important tour times during the actual trip, any updates to the itinerary and then would touch base with us on Whats App to make sure we had connected which each of our private tour guides. For example, we got lost and were 10 mins late to our tour in Napoli and he connected with the tour guide to let him know we were on the way and helped us get to the correct spot so we did not get left behind. He checked in with us every evening of our 9 day trip (3 different cities) to make sure we were happy with how the day went and to see if any adjustments needed to be made to the next day. He also helped us find excellent places to eat and had back up ideas in case we ran late or had weather that caused a change of plans.

Alessia was awesome. So very helpful, personable, and available. She reviewed our itinerary every evening. She and the guides for our tours (in Venice and Florence) were greatly appreciated. The LivTours were also well done

Activity Review

"Bacari" local street food tour

Italy

This was great. I would recommend that this Should be done at the beginning at the beginning of our stay as we were unable to go back to the places as this was our last day.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

We used your service because we were very satisfied last time. everything ticked and the whole experience was great.
This time the experience was very different.
The service was less available, less informative, less proactive. And was replaced in the middle of the planning by another representative whose felt inexperienced and unprofessional, she received our questions in a completely incorrect way and even considered canceling (!) the entire planning.
My husband used the service to save time and headache, and none of this happened - on the contrary, he felt uncomfortable throughout the entire planning process in front of you, and each time encountered availability and access problems of the service providers.
During the trip itself we were surprised to find that there were holes that were not addressed or were not told to us.
Part of the reason to use the trip planning and the locals is to get information if the planning is good or not and this is something we felt we should ask everything specifically - instead of feeling that we are taken care of and that we can trust you.
We were very disappointed with the service and realized that next time we will probably skip it.

Alberto was so professional, responsive, and listened to our interests regarding our visit to Italy. Things were planned to perfection, and when little things occurred that were out of his control, he immediately helped to resolve the situation(s).

Excellent organization and help throughout my stay in Tuscany and Amalfi coast. The quoted price was well worth it and my trip was not rushed or too slow, just right. Jessica was available 24/7 for any concerns or questions.
I’ll be in touch again for another trip to cover Southern Italy.

Overall, our experience with our specialist Harris was positive. He was responsive to any questions or changes we had, and the tour guides for all of our activities were knowledgeable, friendly, and entertaining. One notable moment of excellent service was when our limo driver at the train station went above and beyond to help us with an issue with our train tickets.

Hotel Reviews

Hotel Olimpia

Venice

Absolutely loved this hotel. The location was perfect, the front desk staff was friendly and helpful, the room was clean, and the breakfast was fantastic. My teenager even had her own little space, which made her very happy.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Alfieri9 Boutique Hotel Florence

Florence

This hotel was not a good fit for us. The good parts were that it was clean, quiet, and secure, and the breakfast was good. However, the location was not ideal as there was not much around it, and there was an issue with hot water pressure in the shower.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Boutique Hotel Campo de' Fiori

Rome

This hotel was perfect. We stayed in one of the apartments, which was more than we needed, but it gave our 14-year-old her own space. The breakfast was great, with eggs and omelets available. The location was fantastic, with plenty of places to eat nearby and a market right outside the hotel.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Morning Florence Highlights Walking Tour

Florence

The tours were great, but it was too much to have them back-to-back without a break in between. If I were to do it again, I would space them out more.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Colosseum & Roman Forum Tour

Rome

Really enjoyed this tour, and our guide was fantastic. It was amazing to go into the bottom level of the Colosseum.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Vatican Guided Tour

Rome

The tour itself was great, but we were not aware that the Vatican could close the church at any time, which happened during our visit. However, we did get to see the Pope, which was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Fresh Pasta Making & Tiramisu Cooking Class

Rome

This was a fun and enjoyable experience. The chef was great, the food was delicious, and we had a nice group of people to share the experience with.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

We highly recommend Valeria and her team for planning (and executing) a trip to Italy. Ours was flawless.
Guides were excellent. Barbara was our primary in-country coordinator and texted us every day with detailed plans and contacts. This was very reassuring. Can't say enough about Melissa, our guide at Lake Como. She provided valuable information throughout the tour. Cannot remember the name of the lady who met us in Venice but she met us at the train and got us to our hotel easily. She provided us will maps and advice as to how to get around Venice. She also recommended a great restaurant on the main channel that we loved.

Our guide in Venice, Sill, was very knowledgeable but she provided too much historical detail and actually held us up at times so that we had to rush through the last part of our tour. We would have preferred for her to be more sensitive to our preferences. (In hindsight I probably should have said something).

All three hotels and services were exceptional.

Overall this is the way to have a stress free vacation in a country that is not easy to travel in when you have several destinations and activities planned. It is probably at least 1 1/2 times what you would pay making all of the arrangements yourself, but it can make the difference between a pleasant versus stressful vacation.

I would have chosen a different hotel in Amalfi. The beds were uncomfortable and the room was warm at night. It was not comfortable to sleep there.

I was unhappy with the customer service with the vespa tour company. The tour started late, the restaurant we went to at the end of the tour was not very good. I would have preferred to pick a restaurant in Sorrento.

The tour guide, Leonardo, cut our tour short at the Vatican. He thought it was 3 hours when it was 4 hours. I would have preferred to stay in the Vatican longer because it was rushed.

This was my first trip using a travel company. I've traveled to Europe before and planned everything myself. I don't plan on using a travel company again.

I do appreciate that when we had issues during the trip, Jessica was helpful to get things fixed. However, I think these issues would not have happened if I had planned everything on my own.

Hotel Reviews

Bettoja Hotel Mediterraneo

Rome

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel La Bussola

Amalfi

Uncomfortable beds and the temperature in the rooms are warm at night. I would not stay here again. The location was gorgeous and the breakfast was good.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Get better mattresses

Hotel Carnival Palace

Venice

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Venice Walking Tour with St. Marks Basilica Access

Italy

Nico was a great tour guide. He took great pictures and gave us a lot of cool info about Venice.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Vespa tour along Sorrento Coast and Positano

Amalfi Coast

Quality of Experience

Food

Pick a restaurant in Sorrento or let us choose a restaurant instead.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Private Capri Boat Tour and Blue Grotto

Italy

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Private Colosseum Tour Including Roman Forum

Rome

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Vatican Tour & Sistine Chapel

Rome

I would have loved to spend more time at the Vatican...our tour was cut short because the tour guide mistakenly thought it was 3 hours instead of 4 hours.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Kimkim was outstanding! The planning process went wonderfully. We felt that the communication was wonderful and that our ideas and things of we wanted to see and do were taken into consideration. The flexibility was also wonderful and we appreciated the effort that went into planning our trip.

The quality of service from everyone we interacted with was outstanding. Our personal concierge was wonderful and very helpful. We had to make some changes and she was flexible and willing to help. She communicated frequently with updates and with anything that we needed. Our tour guides were amazing! They were knowledgeable, friendly, and helpful. We really enjoyed the passion that all our tour guides have for what they do. Our drivers were wonderful and very friendly. They were all very organized, professional, on time, and helpful.

Our highlights or stand out moments were: Lake Como and Bellagio, Parma ham and parmesan cheese tour, tour at Podere Il Casale and tour of De'Ricci, the Amalfi Coast and Capri, and our Colosseum tour in Rome. However, this does not take away from any of the other experiences we had. It was all amazing!

My only suggestion is that if you are planning to drive in Italy, I would do a lot of research of what the road signs mean and what to do at tolls. However, it is something that can be figured out any how.

All in all, it was an amazing and memorable trip. We are eternally grateful for the hard work and effort that was put in by everyone that was a part of our trip.

Activity Reviews

Private guided tour of Lake Como by public ferry from Como

Italy

Our tour guide was amazing! Her knowledge and passion can not be mentioned enough. She was also kind and flexible! The tour really adds to the experience of being on Lake Como. There is so much to learn and so much history that may be overlooked if you are not on a tour.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Farm Tour guided visit and dairy cheese tasting with lunch

Italy

I cannot begin to speak about how amazing this tour was! This is a must experience. Ulises did our tour, the owner of Podere Il Casale, did our tour and I can't speak highly enough about him. Not only is this place and views beautiful but what you learn about their farm is amazing. The cheese and wine was delicious. They are so passionate about what they do. You will instantly fall in love with farming!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Small Group tour of Colosseum underground, Palatine Hill, and Roman Forum ( max 6 people)

Rome

Our tour was amazing! Our tour guide was friendly and extremely knowledgeable. This small group tour with the Colosseum underground experience should definitely be on your bucket list.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Sorrento Coast & Capri Boat Tour

Italy

What a beautiful and wonderful experience! Our boat tour was amazing. They showed us many things that we didn't even know were special to Capri. They were fun, knowledgeable and very welcoming. We had a wonderful time in Capri.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

First of all, Jessica was fantastic, not just in helping us design our trip, but even more so in helping us during the trip when the inevitable small problems happen (like trying to find our guide, coordinate our rides, etc.). She was available at all hours and responded to our texts within minutes...even on Sunday! She was extremely pleasant, knowledgeable and demonstrated that she genuinely cared that we were enjoying our time. Finally, every guide and driver we worked with wase extremely knowledgeable, friendly, fun and professional. They really made a huge impact on our trip!

I look forward to using the Kim Kim service in the future and if we go back to Italy, I would love to work with Jessica again.

Thank you for a wonderful trip!
Ron Rowan

My husband and I visited Rome, Florence and Venice on our most recent trip to Italy.....
Rome - we had an amazing guide, Laura, who was with us for three days and was incredibly knowledgeable re the sites as well as very personable. We so appreciated her pacing of the tour each day and her personal recommendations for coffee and lunch. Having been to Rome several times, I appreciated that we were learning new information re the city and history. She is outstanding and highly recommend. All the transportation from hotel to train worked seamlessly!

Florence - we joined a small group tour for 3 different tours while we were here. We weren't happy with the first two tours - historical walking tour of city, David tour due to them being not as substantive in terms of history and information sharing and not as well as organized as other small group tours we have been on. Waiting for tickets, request to be at tour starting point 30 minutes pre tour etc. The last tour we took while in Florence was to Siena, San Giamagno and a winery tour. Very nice tour guide here with our small group, very knowledgeable and shared wonderful information. The winery and dinner was disappointing. Having been on a wine and food tour of Tuscany where we visited several wineries and had lunch/dinner I was expecting something like that. We had no tasting led by winery staff, no tour led by winery staff and had a basic dinner. Our tour guide showed us the cellar and poured the wines. Not the typical 'winery' experience. We were given the choice to only order the 3 wines we sampled and didn't have the option to try or order the other offerings of the winery. I also wish that the Uffizi gallery had been suggested to us and a ticket for the Duomo tour.
Venice - We had an amazing time here and really enjoyed the visit. Transportation to and from/hotel by private water taxi was perfect. The tour guide was extremely knowledgeable as well. Unfortunately, we had tickets to visit St. Mark's but were unable to use due to the Church closing that day. Although unanticipated and not the tour company's fault, it would have been nice if kimkim had arranged a refund or an extra to make up for that inconvenience. We were able to attend Mass the next day but definitely missed out on the guided visit by an expert. Excellent transportation back to airport via private water taxi.
All in all, the trip was beautifully arranged with train tickets, transportation and tours. We did believe our guides in Rome and Venice were top notch and Florence was lacking. Great service though through Kimkim and would recommend to use!

Activity Reviews

Rome Walking Tour: Historic Center Highlights

Rome

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Private Colosseum Tour Including Roman Forum

Rome

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Vatican Tour & Sistine Chapel

Rome

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Best of Florence Walking Tour with David & the Duomo

Florence

Quality of Experience

tour guide wasn't as knowledgeable and it tour felt disjointed. Couldn't really go into any church etc. Bathroom break in middle of tour that took at least 15 minutes and it was only a 2 hr tour.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Tuscany day trip: Siena & San Gimignano (Regular Tour)

Florence

Dinner/Winery tour was not as expected. Guide had to show us cellar, property and pour wine at dinner. We could only buy wine we tasted (3 varieties) and nothing else was offered. Dinner was basic.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Venice Walking Tour with St. Marks Basilica Access

Italy

Even though St. Mark's closes due to Church activities and not Kim Kim fault, the tour co should offer something to compensate the traveler for having paid for tickets that weren't able to be used.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

We had a great experience on our trip. Our initial local specialist, Monica, was great - helped organize our trip in line with our goals. Fabio, who took over for Monica at a later date, was good but not quite as helpful as Monica and we had a little more of a challenge getting the billing details correct.

Once in Italy, Lucia, our concierge, was quite helpful. Guides were excellent at all of our stops - great knowledge and helpful advice for restaurants and other activities. Hotels were all very good. Transfers all occurred flawlessly.

The only minor complaint about hotels is that the Hotel Villa Flori - Lake Como was a bit far from restaurants and attractions in Como, a fairly long walk. The desk staff at that hotel was not as helpful as at other hotels - one clerk didn't speak English all that well. That said, the hotel was still excellent.

Hotel Reviews

Grand Hotel Cavour

Florence

Very nice. Rooftop deck fabulous. Very conveniently located.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Very near the Domo. Walking distance to main attractions

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Park Hotel Argento

Levanto

Our favorite. The staff was exceptional. Beautiful patio views. Shuttle service was great. Restaurant was very good.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Private guided tour of the Uffizi and Accademia Galleries (4 hours)

Florence

The guide was very knowledgeable and experienced. Did a great job on the tour while navigating the crowds.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Full-Day Private Excursion to Siena & Chianti Wine Region

Florence

A great day. Our driver was exceptional, very enthusiastic and conversational. All of the stops were excellent, especially the visit to Sienna and the wine tasting/lunch at Casa Rosa.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Wanna be Italiano - Florence cooking class and market tour

Italy

We didn't have very high expectations, however our chef, John was terrific. The class was well-run and informative. The meal we prepared as a group was great.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Hike the Villages of Cinque Terre

Italy

We had to make some adjustments to this tour because of weather-related cancelation of the next day's boat tour, but our tour guide was very good. Downside was that the tour was during a holiday weekend, and trains were exceptionally crowded, uncomfortably so. The next day we had great fun hiking between villages with notably smaller crowds.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Trains too crowded - try to schedule for less-busy times.

Private Cruise to discover the cinque terre

Cinque Terre

Cancelled because of high surf.

Guided Tour by public ferry of Lake Como - Explore Bellagio

Italy

Very enthusiastic guide. The ride on the public ferry, lunch and walking tour in Bellagio was great.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

In general, the service provided by KimKim was okay, but there were a couple of things that could've been optimized. 1. We were never provided an itemized breakdown of trip costs. Having worked with other trip planners in the past, this was odd to me and made me feel like there was a lack of transparency. When asked, I was told that's just not what they do, but why can't I know exactly where my money is going? 2. We were a group of 5 grown women traveling together and it was only after I looked at the itinerary in detail I learned that one of our hotel stays had 3 people in one room together and 2 women sharing a bed. This was not an acceptable arrangement and was not called out initially. We ended up changing to have 3 rooms but I think this should've been called out ahead of time. 3. While we were actually on the trip, there was a mixup where the on call planner thought we were staying in a completely different villa and sent our driver to the wrong place. I don't know how that happens and it did put us to a late start for our tour that day. The next day, I had to remind her again that the meeting point suggested was no where near our villa before she made the change.

Hotel Reviews

The Five Rooms Napoli

Naples

The location of this hotel was good, but it was very bare bones and felt more like a hostel. Beds were not comfortable and breakfast was not very good.

Location

Luxury Villa in Sorrento

Sorrento

Loved this villa, it was well appointed and had a good location. We liked that each room has its own bathroom.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Exclusive Capri Boat Tour from Sorrento

Italy

Great activity and great boat guides

Full Day Tour: Positano, Amalfi & Ravello

Italy

Great activity and driver. Ciro was great and we loved his karaoke machine. We also likes the Lemon Experience for lunch.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Naples Pizza Tour

Naples

We liked the places we stopped on this tour and the food but we didn't think our guide was supposed to just leave us before we finished dinner.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Our trip was a relatively short visit to the Amalfi Coast for our son and daughter-in-law's wedding. We had specific constraints on arrival and departure dates and events we needed to attend. We also had some free time we wanted to occupy with special tours and experiences, and we needed transport between the various appointments. Deborah Boarolo was exceedingly helpful in guiding us to prepare a trip plan that provided everything we were looking for. When we arrived in Naples, we were met with our local concierge, Debora (Debz) Rimonti and our first driver to get comfortably transferred from the airport to our first hotel. During our stay, Debz was very helpful whenever we had questions or needed to make minor changes to the timing of our plans. Our first full day in Naples included a walking tour of the city with local guide Sonia (unfortunately I don't recall her last name), which was an excellent way to learn some of the history of this vibrant city. Each of our local drivers were extremely punctual, professional, and also provided interesting information of the area. Overall, we had an excellent experience in Naples and the Amalfi Coast, and we credit the Kim Kim team with making that happen.

Hotel Reviews

Santa Chiara Boutique Hotel Naples

Naples

We loved staying at the Santa Chiara Boutique Hotel in Naples. The hotel was located in the heart of the old city, with narrow, cobblestone streets and old buildings. The staff was super friendly and attentive, and the room was comfortable and enjoyable. This hotel had a feeling like it was run by a small family, which made it feel intimate and personal.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Corallo

Sorrento

Our stay at Hotel Corallo on the Amalfi Coast was a bit of a mixed experience. While the staff was attentive and the hotel was more polished and formal, our room was quite small and the towels looked old and thin. The breakfast selection was large and enjoyable, but we're not sure if we would return to this hotel in the future.

Authenticity & Character

More polished and formal hotel

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Street Food Tour in Naples

Italy

We loved our street food tour in Naples with our local guide, Sonia. She did a great job taking us down various streets and explaining the history of the area. We found this activity to be really engaging and enjoyable.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Group pizza making class

Italy

Our group pizza making class was entertaining and informative. We learned about the best ingredients and techniques for making pizza, and even made our own dough. The dinner afterward was delicious and the company was great

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Visit of the Amalfi Coast villages with wine tasting and lunch at Tenuta di San Francesco

Italy

Our visit to the Amalfi Coast villages and wine tasting at Tenuta di San Francesco was excellent. It was fun to climb up into the mountains and visit the old winery. The lunch prepared by the family was delicious, and the tour of the vineyard and winery afterward was a great experience.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Lemon Grove- Mozzarella Farm in Sorrento area

Italy

Our food tour in Sorrento was a highlight of our trip. We visited a lemon grove, cheese making farm, and enjoyed an oil tasting and limoncello tasting. The only downside was an unexpected encounter with a cat at the cheese-making portion of the tour, which caused some allergy issues.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Our trip to Italy was amazing! The tours setup by Chiara were great. All the tour guides knew a lot of information and the small groups were perfect. It was so nice to not be in a huge tour group. We had a great mix of scheduled tours and time to explore the cities ourselves. It was also easy to reach Storywalking when we were late for one of our tours. The hotels Chiara picked were beautiful as well! Overall it was a great trip, and having someone knowledgeable plan it made it less stressful and I could just enjoy it!