Multi-Generational Family Trip Success in Spain!
What an amazing time and a fantastic trip that Kimkim and Coraima and team planned for us! We wanted to travel to Spain for the eclipse, and add on a fair bit of intra-national travel. We were a family group of 2 septuagenarians, 6 middle-aged adults and 8 children between the ages of 6 and 13. We had multiple requests for specific cities, day trips, seamless transportation, and Coraima was able to help us with all of them! We had the best...
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Multi-Generational Family Trip Success in Spain!
What an amazing time and a fantastic trip that Kimkim and Coraima and team planned for us! We wanted to travel to Spain for the eclipse, and add on a fair bit of intra-national travel. We were a family group of 2 septuagenarians, 6 middle-aged adults and 8 children between the ages of 6 and 13. We had multiple requests for specific cities, day trips, seamless transportation, and Coraima was able to help us with all of them! We had the best time in San Sebastian - in the *nicest* hotel, and a great tour guide, Inigo, from Ikusnahi Tours, for a Private City walk that really set the bar high for all other tours on the trip. We flew from San Sebastian to Madrid on Iberia (that was maybe one of the only downsides as Iberia lost 4 of our bags :( ) We did a couple of day trips from Madrid, including Toledo and Segovia / Avila. The hands-down *favorite* outing for all of the kids (and several of the adults) was the sword-making workshop in Toledo. The father / son duo from Artesania Arellano were so engaging, and patient, and entertaining. The kids were entranced and couldn't stop talking about it. So glad we did that in Toledo, even though that was "out of town". Sonia from Destino Toledo who led us on a walking tour that afternoon was also phenomenal - tailoring the tour to our group and giving us such good recommendations for Toledo and Madrid as well. Our drivers on that day, also from Destino Toledo, were gems. Coraima planned enough enough free time for us to explore each city on our own between activities or trips. The Segovia & Avila day trip we did was fun, but we may have tried to pack too much into that day. We transferred from Madrid to Barcelona via train, which was great fun for our group, and very comfortable. The skip-the-line Park Güell & Sagrada Familia tour was another hit, mainly for the content. We ended our travels with a fantastic and plentiful tapas dinner, followed by a flamenco show, which the kids also loved! My parents kept telling me how happy they were with the trip and thanking me and KimKim / Coraima for planning such a wonderful trip for us. I got major kudos, so thank you Coraima!! For the most part, our guides and drivers reached out in advance of each activity or meet up, which was so reassuring. The hotels were comfortable and just the right level of cushy for our group. We got amazing tips and guidance from Coraima / KimKim during all of the preparatory conversations., including a zoom call as our departure date got closer. All in all, a wildly successful trip, and my mother is already asking if kimkim can plan our trip next year - thank you Coraima and Kimkim!
Hotel Reviews
Catalonia Donosti
San Sebastián
Amazing hotel and location. loved the elevator to the street level. Beautiful rooms, great breakfast and super helpful staff. The roof deck & pool was stunning, and we got to watch the festival fireworks from the roof (with complementary cava!). Our favorite hotel on our trip.
Location
Loved that the hotel was up above the city and away from the hustle / bustle, but still allowed you to get to the street level easily.
Very pretty hotel and the family suites were comfortable. Tucked into a very fancy neighborhood, it's a narrow building but they make great use of the space. The roof deck is a little slice of peace. The breakfast was the best of any hotel we've been to in Europe, plentiful and highly varied - would definitely recommend this as a homebase for Madrid.
Location
Great location and mostly quiet and very tony, but very easy to walk to so many things we wanted to see. Great food in the surrounding area as well.
Staff
The restaurant staff was lovely. The checkin process was confusing, and that was at the end of a really rough travel day, so it stuck out.
Cleanliness & Comfort
Generally clean and well appointed room, but some repairs needed (our light panel was falling off the wall) and the light switches were confusing.
Pretty hotel, well located, great hotel bar and good breakfast. Rooms were big and beds were comfortable. The space was a little rumbly, due to proximity to the subway, but it's not disruptive. Loved that they had a water filling station on each floor and the lounge / bar on the first floor was a great staging place for before & after outings.
Authenticity & Character
Loved the hallways, great vibes.
Location
Great location, wasn't too noisy, and easy to walk to great restaurants and other locations.
Staff
The bar staff was very nice and helped us out with a couple of late night drinks. The restaurant staff was very charming and super helpful as well.
Activity Review
Our guide & driver were fantastic on this activity. It was the best way to see the highlights of San Sebastian and also learn a ton about the city. We hit three of the best spots in the city and had enough time at each. Our guide Inigo was very informative, engaging and even taught us some Basque words. He also took some of the BEST photos of our group. Our driver and Inigo worked around a traffic accident that nearly derailed our outing, but they made the whole day work and were really flexible and adaptive. We loved that we ended the trip with a pinxho (honestly, the best pinxho of the trip) and a glass of cider. Inigo even walked us back to the hotel - this was a great walking tour and set the bar very high!
Quality of Experience
The spots were amazing, so glad to have seen the highlights. Loved the pinxho and drink at the end of the tour.
Guides, Drivers and Staff
Inigo and our driver were the best. Energetic, engaging, adaptive.
Transport
Van was comfortable and the driver was always in the right spot.
Local specialist: Coraima Yañez