Kimkim Trip Reviews for Norway

Although the trip was enjoyable overall -- and Ingrid was fabulous -- there are several areas in which improvements could be made. First, I would provide more detailed traveler information. Such as for arrival at Oslo airport, include instructions for how to pay for and get on the Airport express train. Detailed instructions are important for first-time visitors. Then, upon arrival at the Central Train Station in Oslo, include instructions such as "look for exit marked "[fill in name of street]" and then look for the green hotel with Egon restaurant at street level. That would have made it easier for us to locate the hotel. And for arrival in Bergen, include instructions such as "do not take the pedestrian street to get to your hotel because of the cobblestones; instead, take the following walking route (and fill in the details with street names, directions, etc.)." In terms of guides, Stig (in Oslo) was good but not great. He was just not personable enough, and he did not seem to be enjoying showing off his city. On the other hand, Ingrid's walking tour of Bergen was the highlight of our trip. She was animated and her enthusiasm was palpable. She was, in short, fabulous. And Ingrid was very, very helpful in arranging for room changes in our hotels in both Oslo and Bergen. I know the hot weather was not anyone's fault, but when I expressed concern months ago about whether there was air conditioning in the hotels that were booked for us in Oslo and Bergen, you should have given us hotel options (such as the Opus hotel right next door in Bergen) that did have air conditioning. The lack of air conditioning in all of our Norway hotels detracted significantly from our enjoyment of the trip.

Managed to arrange a fantastic short hiking trip on pretty short notice (only about three weeks). We didn't know much about Norway and were busy with work, but Vilde's suggested trip worked out great!

All we had to do was follow the trace of the DNT red T rocks, love the scenes and get to the next hut in time. Thanks!

We had an amazing trip thanks to Vilde. The for day hiking trip was not something we could have planned on our own (unless we did a LOT more research) and it was exactly what I was looking for!

Vilde was super responsive throughout the trip and helped us make changes along the way. It would have been even more perfect if she had suggested DMT membership for discounts and packing a thermos for teas during the hikes :-)

We met up with 2 guides Stig in Oslo and Ingrid in Bergen. We thoroughly enjoyed there company and both took us to places we would not have seen otherwise. Ingrid also arranged our itinerary which was amazing. We did give her some feedback which she has taken on board. We were very fortunate the weather was kind to us bar a couple of days which drizzled but that did not deter us. We were pleasantly surprised with the Hurtigruten and the fit out and food and Artic superior room were really nice. We had a variety of things to do and we really enjoyed all of them. I would highly recommend you arrange your Norway trip with Ingrid she was great.

Andre did a great job helping me coordinate logistics. Vilde and John were great hiking and walking guides in Bergen. Really enjoyed the entire trip and experience. Will work through KimKim again on future trips.

Fridur put together a great trip for us from start to finish. She was always accommodating to us before our trip and even during our trip. She was also able to help us on our extended trip to Iceland as well. We would definitely use Kimkim and Fridur again on our next trip back.

Ingrid was fantastic and helped us each step of the way. Highly recommend Kim Kim. Fast response times, good eateries were recommended and good hotels!!

Amazing trip and everything went perfectly and Emily's suggestions were excellent.

Working with Ingrid was amazing from start to finish! She listened to our preferences, built us a trip around them, and provided a detailed and highly organized trip plan. Her communication was wonderful and answered any questions we had. We particularly loved the breakfast at the Thon Hotel Cecil in Oslo, and the kayaking adventure we had in Fjaerland! We cannot recommend KimKim and Ingrid enough!

We had a wonderful trip to Norway and enjoyed having the expertise of our KimKim specialist, Vilde. Our Norway trip included visits to Oslo, Bergen and Ålesund. We had done our own research, but it was great to have the local touch from Vilde - including some lovely recommendations for where to stay, shop and eat. Our favorite spot was Geirangerfjord - truly spectacular scenery and we lucked out with sunny and clear weather during the majority of our trip (July 2019). Another highlight was the hike up Fjellstua to see the panoramic views of Ålesund’s architecture, the surrounding archipelago and fjords. Thanks KimKim and Vilde for a memorable vacation!!!

My wife and I just enjoyed a wonderful 12 day trip through Norway. Our local specialist Ingrid took care of all the planning for us including the hotels, transportation between our stays and several excursions. The detailed trip plan including maps of all the pick up and drop off points at the areas we stayed in was very useful, it helped take the stress out of traveling through unfamiliar cities.

Our Bergen guide Vilde met us at the airport when we arrived and brought us to our hotel where she made sure we were checked in and gave us some restaurant suggestions for dinner. Vilde returned the next morning and guided us on a walking tour of the city. We loved our time with Vilde, she is a gem. Stig was our guide for Oslo and brought us off the beaten path to what he called the hidden gems of Oslo. These are beautiful areas that we would not have expierienced without his guidance. Thank you Stig!

The highlights of the trip (other than Vilde and Stig) were the trip to Flor & Fjære where, because we don't speak norwegian, we virtually had a private tour of the gardens by the owners daughter, a trip to Merdø Island that was suggested by Ingrid, and of course the beauty of travelling through Norway and meeting so many wonderful Norwegian people which cannot be put into words.

The hotels that Ingrid booked were all very nice. The Scandics in Stavanger and Oslo were typical city hotel rooms, clean and neat but tiny. The hotels in Bergen (Bergen Bors) and Larvik (Farris Bad) were exceptional. These are both excellent hotels with a high level of service.

The only hiccup we had during the trip was checking in at Arendal (Grand Arendal Hotel). The not so nice desk clerk claimed the reservation we had was only for a single, the hotel was fully booked and there were no other rooms available for either night. When I said I wanted to contact our specialist she said she didn't have time and if we didn't take the single she would sell it to someone else. I sat in the lobby and contacted Ingrid and she contacted the hotel and I don't know what she said but 5 minutes later the now very nice desk clerk found a second single for the first night and moved us to a two room suite for the second night.

Our experience booking this trip through KimKim was excellent and I would recommend their service highly.

My wife and I decided to use KimKim to assist with planning our 3 week trip to Norway. Ingrid was our local specialist.
We wanted to travel to Norway with several family members and everyone had different ideas of what they wanted to do and see in Norway. Plus, some of our party were going only be with us for part of the vacation. So, our needs seemed to be a little complicated, and things did change during the planning phase.
I was impressed by Ingrid's ability to structure an approach to our visit to Norway that was uncomplicated, yet still offered excitement, and adventure. Ingrid's insight and recommendations were the difference between a confusing/challenging visit and a visit that we will remember for the rest of our lives - - - simply stated, Ingrid was amazing. At no point did she rush us into any quick decisions, she provided options and was able to accommodate the changes we had as we got closer to our departure dates. In addition, Ingrid stayed in communication during our entire planning process. All details were sent to us in advance and this was of great assistance. We discovered during our visit to Norway that Ingrid was constantly confirming our reservations and therefore we did not encounter any unexpected disruptions. I was also impressed with the quality of the recommended hotels, local guides (in Oslo we particularly enjoyed Stig, he was knowledgeable, friendly and fun), travel suggestions (for trains, buses, etc).
I am now a KimKim fan, and I highly recommend Ingrid as the local travel specialist.
If you have ever wondered if Norway is someplace you would like to visit, our experience leads us to say "Just Go, You Will Be Amazed and You Will Have Fun!" And if you want your planning to be easy, trustful and provide peace-of-mind, consider KimKim and especially, Ingrid.
Wes

Andre did an incredible job planning our trip from start to finish. Vilde was also very helpful once we got on the ground in answering a variety of questions as well. We really enjoyed all of our accommodations that Andre selected, especially the places we stayed in Aurland and Fjaerland. In hindsight, we wish we had made the decision to stay at each of those places another night each, as we realized we prefer little towns to larger cities. Alesund, and especially Hotel Brosundet, was very nice. But Alesund got a little old after 2 days. The food scene there was very disappointing. There was little variety and options were either on the high end (expensive) or on the low end (fast good). Big contrast to a city like Copenhagen, which is obviously much bigger, but has a lot more options, especially cheaper options when you think of a place like the Toverhallerne food market. Overall, we absolutely loved Norway. The country is incredible beautiful and picturesque, and many of the landscapes we saw left us speechless. We look forward to coming back in the future to visit and would definitely recommend kimkim and book through kimkim again. Also a shout out to Snorre, our guide in Bergen. We really enjoyed our walk around the city. Snorre took us to places and areas within the city that we definitely would've have seen ourselves. We were expecting a bit more of a history lesson on Bergen, based on Andre's description, but we really enjoyed getting to know Snorre and see the city through his eyes. Wish we had more time in Bergen!

I went to Norway with my mother and we had a wonderful time there. Everything was perfectly planned by our extremely enthusiastic specialist Ingrid! She was very prompt when it comes to solving any queries I had regarding the itenary or the place itself! We loved how she planned the itenary in the given amount of time. We enjoyed Balestrand the most. We could barely see any tourists there and it was such a wonderful place to be! Truly an advantage of having a local tour specialist!
The other cities and the hotels were very decent as well. Their location was perfect. Right in the centre of the cities.
The other wonderful experience we had was the historical walk in Bergen by a colleague of Ingrid's - Vilde! We had never done that before, moving around in the city and getting to know about the culture and the history from a resident itself.
The glacier hike at Folgefonna and the midnight sun RIB tour were beautiful as well. We are in love with Norway! Thank you Ingrid! Thank you kimkim!

We loved the trip, especially Kalvåg. That is an amazing little village.

A couple of improvements:

Flåm was beautiful- but they don’t allow kids younger than 12 months on the bike down and our baby was 8 months and our guide knew this. She couldn’t even fit the kids helmet. Maybe they didn’t tell her, but the experience was awful.

One of the ferries ran every 2 hours, and our itinerary said it ran frequently.

There was an overall lack of recommendations on what to see each day, We relied on hotel staff to tell us where to go.

We did a Nordic Visitor tour and they provide a detailed itinerary for each day that you have to choose because there are so many options. They also provide you with a huge published guide book - we spent half a day looking for a book for Norway.

Stig in Oslo and Ingrid in Bergen had insights that normal guides may not have as they had lived in their respective city’s all their lives. The walking tours were exceptionally and a great way to see these city’s and also have exercise and fresh air. Myself and my three adult children thought this was a fun time together and we got many beautiful pictures.

Emily was amazing and the trip was perfect! We had a sense of what we wanted to do, and Emily made it absolutely flawless. We saw the most amazing scenery, our guide Julia was delightful, and we had the trip of a lifetime! Highly recommend pulpit rock, Kjerag, Via Ferrata Trolltunga, Trollstein, overnight cruise up fjord, kajaking....amazing service and trip!

thank you!

The trip I did was just incredible thanks to Linda! I came across kimkim while I was doing some research of Norway but finding most of the websites being fragmented and easy for me to get lost. The process of communication and enquiries to shape the schedule has been very easy and seamless. Linda was able to make detailed and immediate feedbacks to address my questions or concerns. My partner and I have bought two more guide books for reference and we were constantly surprised by how the most frequently visit spots or must-see have been incorporated in our trip one way or another. Not only did we not miss the most beautiful spots of Norway, yet thanks to Linda’s help on the routes and sequences, we were also able had the luxury of time to explore ourselves and avoid crowds. We started a road trip around Sognefjord, this part is my favorite. Driving around the fjords via the national scenic routes and through the small towns really showed the authentic Nordic experience! The night we spent on the classic Nordic cruise, Hurtigruten, was truly memorable as well. It was the first time for both my partner and I to soend the night on the cruise. The ship is well equipped and the food was freshly made, was certainly one of the best meals I had during Norway. City wise, my fav has to be Oslo! I wish we had more time there. The city is full of beautiful architecture, colours, parks and ever district has its unique things to offer and see. Certainly want to go back!
Weather was a lil extreme to begin with but that gave us wonderful opportunity to see the fjords in difference ways. Jenne, who gave a hike in Fjærland was friendly and energetic. The view we got after an 3 hours hike was breathtaking!
We really enjoyed the trip and truly thankful for the help and coordination provided by Linda and Kimkim. I have traveled quite a lot in the world this i’ve considered myself hard to satisfied when it comes to logistics and planning, Kimkim and Linda certainly outbeat my expectation!

We planned this trip last year, but I broke my foot and we had to cancel. We easily re-booked the whole trip this year, same hotels, same activities. The trip was splendid, we spent time in Copenhagen before and Stockholm after, but Ingrid and kimkim planned the Norway part of the trip with us.

Ingrid was so easy to deal with and so knowledgeable, and always readily available to answer any questions. We were pleased with all our accommodations and activities. We even got to meet Ingrid in Bergen and got a personal walking tour!

We particularly liked Balestrand, the area is so beautiful and just getting there is wonderful.

We generally do our own planning, but our experience with kimkim has been very positive and we will likely use their services again.

Wonderful trip! Hiking the Romsdalseggen ridge was a highlight -- absolutely stunning. (One note -- we took the bus from town but learned afterwards that for two or more people a taxi directly to the trailhead is actually more cost effective). Ingrid was fantastic -- we had a few mix ups with transfers but she fixed it immediately.