Kimkim Trip Reviews for Norway

Thank you Linda Verasdal, our trip planned by you was amazing, so well organised for us, so easy to follow.
Highlights for us was Flam Railway breathtakingly beautiful. We loved Balestrand enjoyed the kayaking and hiking amazing views to town. Cruise on Naeroyfjord was surreal.
Accommodation was easy walking distance from train.

Dear Ingrid and kimkim, Tom and I appreciated your planning of our Scandinavian trip this year. Ingrid, your suggestions and fine-tuning help to structure our trip so we were able to enjoy new experiences and culture that was absolutely fresh to us. Ingrid, From structuring the best way for us to travel to numerous contacts with Tom to polish our itinerary to prompt responses whenever we had a question you were patient, friendly, kind and reliable.

We were happy, well fed, and well housed. We could get around very well using public transportation. Ingrid, your warm welcoming tour of Bergen was just what we needed to help us get our feet on the ground and learn so many new things about amazing beautiful Bergen. We loved our fjord cruise and were happy to stay in Aurland, which was gorgeous. We were relieved that we hadn’t pushed to stay in Flam which was essentially a group of souvenir shops punctuated by bakeries. Really good bakeries.

While in Aurland, the prices were very high in the restaurant which had no competition and served badly cooked food. We thoroughly enjoyed the magical train ride from Flam to Oslo. ( Such Beauty!) Sarah was a splendid guide in Oslo, kind and so well informed. She was very responsive to our specific interests and was so knowledgeable about Oslo; its history and present. The ferry to Denmark and our stay in Copenhagen was also excellent. Stockholm was a total surprise for its amazing city square and museums.

After being home for one week, we can appreciate the cultural aspects at a deeper level: near-universal English being spoken, often with no discernable accent, the tolerance of people in all countries to any need we might have. I loved especially that atmosphere of reverence toward the past and the sense of history that seemed to co-exist with the present.

We highly recommend Ingrid Thornes as a trip planner and guide. Sarah in Oslo was an excellent, personable guide. We were very satisfied kimkim is a terrific travel service. We will happily return for future travel.

In Gratitude and Satisfaction,
Best,
Tom and Susan

Linda planned the perfect trip for us. The hotels were all carefully chosen to be within an easy walk of trains and ferries and fully met our expectations. Linda’s local knowledge ensured that we had just the right amount of time in each place. Her recommendations were spot on. Local guide Wilde in Bergen gave us an interesting and personalised tour which was infinitely better than the usual city walking tour experience. Lofoten Islands were an absolute treat. Lone at Westerålen is the most delightful,warm and welcoming hostess. This experience has inspired us to come back and see more of Norway and we will definitely use Kimkim again.

Both Emily and Thomas were amazing to work with for our adventures. Thank you both for making our vacation fabulous and fantastic!!!

We have just returned from an amazing 9 day trip to Norway which has been truly one of the most memorable family holiday's we've had.

KimKim connected me with Ingrid, a Norwegian specialist in Bergen. She listened to what we were looking for and created a unique trip that met the different requests of my husband, myself and my two children. Not only did she save me hours of research, but she managed the hotel bookings, train and ferry tickets and provided recommendations of things to do and places to eat. Her organization enabled us to experience Norway independently but without the feeling that we were all on our own. I contacted her a couple of times while we were on our trip and she answered my questions and provided guidance quickly and efficiently. It was super to meet up with her personally in Bergen where she gave us a fascinating tour of her hometown.

Cannot complain about anything! Really was an incredible experience.

Our trip to Norway was all that we had hoped it would be and more! Thank you Linda for doing such a great job of making all our dreams into reality! We travelled to many places that are not necessarily on most tourist’s destination lists because we were searching for ancestral roots. This meant that the modes of travel and accommodations changed nearly daily requiring careful planning on Linda’s part to make sure we were able to get where we wanted to go in as economical a manner as possible! We found her very easy to work with and very responsive to any communications by email. We had a detailed itinerary and every ticket and/or voucher in hand before we ever left home and all the information was correct and current. I’ve already recommended KimKim and Linda to several friends.

My husband and I had a wonderful trip planned to Norway. Unfortunately, we had to cancel due to my husband's health. Despite this, I would highly recommend Ingrid and kimkim. The messaging platform with Ingrid and with the central office worked seamlessly. Ingrid responded so quickly to our questions. She went out of her way to find out about luggage storage, unrelated to this trip and was flexible with changes. I think the trip she planned would have been fantastic. Hopefully we can go to Norway in the near future.

I worked with Ingrid who was based in Norway and she was great. She even met us for a hike in her hometown of Bergen. I would highly recommend KimKim to anyone who is planning a trip and wants the expertise of those living in the area.

Ingrid would get more stars if you offered that option.
Having just returned from 2 weeks in Norway arranged by Ingrid at Ethical Travel I can write an informed review. Ingrid, you are fantastic! The KimKim web portal works very smoothly and makes planning efficient and easy. You are attentive, detail oriented, personable, optimistic, very knowledgeable about Norway, flexible, accommodating, responsive, creative. And, you have a high power to weight ratio as we learned on our walking tour of Bergen. You are extraordinarily customer service focussed. The most telling example of this is when we texted you late on a Saturday afternoon that the hotel we were checking into did not have operable air conditioning and was uncomfortably hot. You not only helped make arrangements for a different hotel, you interrupted your personal activities to meet us in the lobby of the hotel to attend to the details. I can give Ingrid, KimKim and EthicalTravel my highest recommendation. FANTASTIC!!!!

James Flax, MD, MPH, DLFAPA

Fantastic experience. I am a last minute planner and Ingrid was exceptionally patient and helpful. Helped arrange a great tour, was available for last minute changes and was always on top of things.

Highly recommended!

We had an amazing time in Norway. Ingrid was great with organising the whole trip and was very knowledgeable. She was always very prompt with responses.

Would highly recommend.

Alta was my favorite part of the trip, especially dog sledding!! The hotel we stayed at in Alta was great and had an amazing breakfast buffet. The tours we took were a lot of fun and allowed us to view as much of Norway as possible in the small amount of time we had. We did two dog sledding trips, went ice fishing/snow shoeing, RIB boat on the Fjords in Flam, and more. Ingrid did a great job listening to what we wanted to do and helped plan a trip that was really memorable. I can't wait to visit Norway again!!

First of all: kudos to Elina - her attention was first-class and, I am very grateful for it - above all, I value the personalized attention. We wanted to experience the artic environment in Norway and we did get it. Our days spent in and around Tromso are unforgettable - to remember thru our lifetime. We took this trip as an opportunity to experience (first time ever) the cold artic in a leisure way and we did -so much so that we skipped some activities to simply enjoy the scenery and the moments. The schedule was followed as planned, guides showed up as planned, well-mannered and confident - great experience overall, Thanks!

We had a fantastic time on our trip to Norway. The highlight for me was definitely the two days of dog sledding in Alta. We had two fantastic guides - Elaine the first day, who was very experienced, friendly and helpful, and explained everything we needed to know very clearly, and shared lots of great stories and knowledge about all the dogs and her experiences with them. I loved how they really let us do everything ourselves too, after they gave us some instruction, so we got to walk around the yard and find the five dogs assigned to each of our teams, meet them and get comfortable with them, then we got to harness and hook them up to the sled ourselves. That made it way more rewarding than if they had done everything for us. Our guide the 2nd day was not as experienced with teaching tourists the ropes, but her personal story was incredible (she is only 18, and is the youngest person to ever complete the Finnmark race, which is the northernmost and second longest dog sled race in the world at 1200km), and we had a great time with her as well. The actual experience of dogsledding was one of the coolest things I have ever done, it was amazing, and I can’t say enough how much I enjoyed it.

The first day we also visited the ice hotel in Alta (recommended by the cook from lunch), which was incredible. The ice sculptures and carvings in the walls were unbelievable. Even if you don’t stay there, anyone who visits Alta really needs to check this out!!!

Since we had some time the second day in Alta, we booked an ice fishing/snow shoeing excursion through the same company that did our northern lights outing, and I would highly recommend them as well. Our guide Rolf (and his trusty dog Javri) took us on a beautiful forest hike (on snow shoes) to a lake called Kvenvannet, nestled in the snowy mountains, where he showed us everything we needed to know to try to catch fish in a lake that was about a meter of solid ice with another half meter or so of snow on top. I did catch a small trout, which was pretty exciting. He then made us an awesome lunch of salmon and vegetables cooked over the fire. Which reminds me - you Norwegians know your food! We did not have a disappointing meal all week. The breakfast spread at the Thon hotel in Alta was phenomenal, and the staff there was great as well. I wish we had good bread everywhere in America like you seem to there! The meals we had at the dog sledding place and the northern lights place were both delicious, two very different style soups with local fish and vegetables, and of course really good bread.

The northern lights tour was great, but unfortunately it was pretty much completely overcast the entire time, so we did not get a chance to see them, but we still enjoyed ourselves. I guess we’ll just have to make a trip back!

The 2nd half of the week was great as well. We had an awesome time exploring Bergen, we had beautiful sunny weather when we were there, and we had a great dinner at the restaurant attached to the fish market. After dinner we took the funicular train up to the mountain overlooking Bergen and the fjord where we saw the sunset which was beautiful.

The train rides from Bergen to Flåm were great, and the views were gorgeous. The fjordsafari tour on the RIB boat was really fun as well. They gave us plenty of extra layers so we all stayed pretty warm except maybe the bottom half of my face, I guess I needed a scarf, but our guide (I forget his name) was great, the ride was smooth, we stayed totally dry, and he did a great job of stopping and telling us all about the fjords, the mountains, and the villages all along them. We got a great lunch afterwards at one of the cafes in Flåm before our train ride back to Oslo.

Kevin and Betsi took off that morning, but Cyndi and I had one last day in Oslo where we went cross country skiing at Oslo Winter Park which was great fun and great exercise (we had both downhill skied before, but never cross country). We figured when in Norway might as well do as the Norwegians do!

We had such a great time, and I left Norway just wanting to come back again. Thanks so much for all your help in planning this incredible trip!

Great trip. Great guides. Better than we imagined. I'd do it again!

We had a fantastic memorable holiday experience in Norway. Both Tromso and Malangen were stunningly beautiful. The trips and the guides were excellent; we loved the dog sledding and the overnight Sami experience. The holiday was both adventurous and cultural; learning about the Sami people was fascinating and the environment and scenery were amazing.

We were lucky enough to see the Northern Lights on two occasions, both in Tromso., which is quite an experience!

We are very grateful to Linda, who arranged our holiday for us, she did a great job! The accommodation and food were first class.

We will be recommending kimkim to our friends. Thank you for a memorable experience.

Ingrid did an amazing job planning our trip and with our hike in Bergen. The hotels she picked were great - nice rooms, friendly service, and close to activities so that we could walk every where. She truly did a marvelous job. The companies she booked for the hike in Stavanger and the fjord tour and snow shoeing hike in Flam were great as well - professional, good equipment and full of information about the area.

Ingrid was quick at responding, understood what we wanted out of our trip and made the whole booking process very easy. I would definitely use Kim Kim again and would recommend it to others.

Really good planning. Enjoyed the activities arranged for us

KimKim and Linda are the way to go! We got the trip that we wanted, with expert advice along the way. For me the Fiords were absolutely enchanting, I could have lost myself in them. For Paul, the whales were the highlight.

We did not get to see the Northern Lights so we already figure another trip to Tromso. Besides it being magic, I got my hair cut there and love it!

Thank you