Kimkim Trip Reviews for Switzerland

My mother, sister and I reached out to Kimkim late summer 2022 for help with planning a trip to the Alsace region of France. I knew I wanted to fly into Zurich and that we had 2 weeks. Valentine reached out to us and put together some iternaries. We choose to spend 4 nights in Colmar France, 4 nights in Interlaken Switzerland and 4 nights in Lucerne Switzerland. There were different tours planned throughout but mostly in France. Then Valentine quit the company and Nathalie joined as our guide. My main criticism was before we left we were sent a lot of information that was a bit unorganized. There were 6 different individual guides and then our vouchers. It would've been much easier on us had it all been streamlined into the Roadbook as we could've referenced day by day as we have had with other tours through kimkim. Keeping the vouchers separate was helpful. Previous tours had included public parking garages that were centrally located, knowing we were driving. Things to stop and see as well as scenic drives would've been a welcome addition. More information and ideas on Lucerne would have been nice.

Tours:
Walking tour of Colmar was fine. It wasn't the best way for us to start our trip because we wanted to explore all the shops and things that caught our fancy. She was trying to inform us of the history of the town and moving us onto museums and we weren't wanting that at that time.

We loved our tours with Alsace Safari, especially the Munster Valley tour. Anna and Eric were very friendly and informative guides. Highly recommend!

Our guided bike ride with Louie was great, even while raining. Highly recommend!
There was unnecessary repetition with these tours. They could have been coordinated better. We visited Eguisheim twice when we could have spent our time visiting another village.
Our walking tour of Strasbourg was on a cold and wet day so 3 hours was already going to be too long to stand outside listening to someone talk but to make it over 4 hours was too much. Our guide was very passionate and informed but long-winded.
Kayaking with Ben in Interlaken was very enjoyable. He was very patient and a wealth of knowledge. Couldn't have been better. Highly recommend!
Our day at the Burgenstock Spa and Resort was unbeatable! What a treat! From the boat ride across the lake to the funicular ride to the top, let alone the spa! It would have been easier if we were told where to meet the boat and the times it left to plan our stay. Highly recommend!

Stays:
Hotel Adler Zurich were able to let us in our room early, which was great as we got into Zurich in the early morning. Breakfast the next day was very good.
The Serenity Colmar apartments were beautiful! Great location and the apartment couldn't have been nicer! The owners were great and very helpful. With driving, it would have been helpful to have a clearer meeting point but otherwise outstanding. Highly recommend!
Aparthotel Goldey in Interlaken- can't beat the location and the views!! The apartment was a bit tired but very clean. Owners were available to ask questions and help with issues. (Mom’s bathroom experienced ceiling water leaks when the tenants above showered without closing their shower door.  Owners dried things up once notified and gave us a bottle of wine for the 2 days of inconvenience.)
Appartements Hofquartier were clean and well-located. The owners were very helpful with issues that arose.

We had a great trip, all feedback is just to clear up some organizational issues and questions we had along the way.

Hotel Reviews

Hotel Adler Zürich

Zürich

Great location, friendly and helpful staff. Great breakfast

Authenticity & Character

Location

In the center of old town

Staff

Very helpful! Notified us when our room was ready

Cleanliness & Comfort

Serenity Colmar apartments

Colmar

We loved this apartment! Very clean and modern. Excellent location!

Authenticity & Character

Location

In the town, walking distance to everything

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Very clean and comfortable

Aparthotel Goldey

Unterseen/Interlaken

can't beat the location and the views!! The apartment was a bit tired but very clean. Owners were available to ask questions and help with issues. (Mom’s bathroom experienced ceiling water leaks when the tenants above showered without closing their shower door.  Owners dried things up once notified and gave us a bottle of wine for the 2 days of inconvenience.)

Authenticity & Character

Location

Perfect location! The VIEWS are amazing. Just outside the craziness of Interlaken but close enough to walk to everything

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Very clean

Activity Reviews

Munster Valley Full-day-Tour

Colmar

Anna and Eric were very friendly and informative guides. Highly recommend! The lunch was fabulous and visiting the goat farm was a treat

Quality of Experience

Worth it

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Anna and Eric are great

Transport

Van was clean and comfortable

Guided gourmet bike tour in Alsace

Colmar

Louie was great! Very informative and good natured. Even in the rain it was a good time

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Bikes were great

Rejuvenation day at Bürgenstock Alpine Spa

Lucerne

Expensive but worth it

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Boat was beautiful

Summer kayak tour on Lake Brienz

Interlaken

Ben was a very patient and knowledgeable guide. Great experience

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Planning and booking our trip on kimkim was seamless. I had never used, or even heard of the platform before, but I will forever now use kimkim when planning our vacations. Our Switzerland expert, Valentine, was amazing and put together the perfect trip for my mother and me. Valentine was thoughtful to tailoring our trip to our needs and was always responsive to my many questions. :) In addition, the final itinerary we received was extremely organized which made things very easy once we got to Switzerland. I would highly recommend Valentine and kimkim to anyone that is looking to travel abroad, and specifically, to Switzerland.

Hello- The sightseeing plan and accommodations arranged by Kim-Kim were done well. I gave four stars instead of five as I felt there were three events where we needed more insight to aid in our planning. First, May 1 was a holiday in Zurich so museums were closed. We did have a wonderful walking tour that morning but had limited options in the afternoon. Had we known this was a holiday we may have chosen to go to Lucerne first. Second, the mini cruise would have been better if we had known in advance to download the app so we could listen to a tour guide while taking our cruise. Lastly, the Top of Europe was wonderful but extremely crowded. Once there we saw that some guests had “Priority Boarding” and they were able skip the long line. We would have liked to have known about this option prior to our trip as we may have taken advantage of it.

Our tour guide (Albert) was extremely knowledgeable, friendly and helpful. We enjoyed him very much. We want to also acknowledge the excellent staff at our hotel in Lucerne (Hotel Restock). They were extremely friendly and helpful.

Hotel Reviews

Hotel Rebstock

Luzern

Wonderful staff! Very helpful and friendly.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Everyone on staff that we encountered was friendly, helpful and pleasant.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Ruby Mimi Zurich

Zurich

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

The staff often seemed to rushed to answer questions thoroughly.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Review

Zürich city guided walking tour

Switzerland

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

I want to say a big thanks to Tomaz's time and effort in planning my Switzerland trip. The trip was what we wanted and you made it possible while we work and not able to plan an itinerary. Tomaz has made very good recommendations to my hotel and activities. He attended to all my requests and patient with my constant adjustment to the itinerary. Thank you once again!

Activity Review

Paragliding

Switzerland

The staff were early for the appointment and extremely thoughtful. They knew we were not dressed warm enough for the activity and readily loan us shoe and bottom. This was the highlight of my entire trip! Highly recommended!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

We had a really good time in Switzerland.
It was a wonderful experience!
Interlaken and Zermatt were absolutely memorable! We loved all the Christmas markets as well which was incorporated into the visit. Basel Christmas market was especially amazing!

Excellent communication and quick response from the local tour specialists, when we needed questions answered while in 🇨🇭
Very good sense of responsibility demonstrated by the local tour guide/team, which is much appreciated. We predominately worked with Tomaz & Zala. Melita & Ester helped too.
The hotels arranged for us were pretty good too with excellent customer service.

Overall, it was a lovely experience and great Christmas spent in Switzerland this year.
So THANK YOU for making it happen.

Me and my husband are returning customers to Kimkim and we are glad that we trusted Kimkim again for our aniversary celebrations. Tomaz and team planned a perfect vacation for us in Switzerland. Tomaz paid attention to all our needs, interests and incorporated each and every detail into our trip. We were there in Switzerland for just 5 days and we managed to explore all the must see attractions in St Moritz, Zermatt, Interlaken and Luzern. This was only possible due to the excellent planning done by Tomaz and team. Every last detail of our trip was planned to perfection. All the accomodations and activities booked by them were excellent. We never had any complaint throughout the entire trip. I will definitely recommend Tomaz to anyone visiting Switzerland and we will definitely contact Kimkim again for travel in the future.

Tomaz and Zala did a fantastic job planning our trip to Switzerland. Every detail was taken care of and everything worked out without any issues. The trip plan was exactly what we had in mind- great hikes, beautiful scenery, very great accommodations which were all very well located and clean, cozy and with great breakfasts! We would highly recommend Tomaz and Zala to anyone interested in exploring Switzerland. Thank you both!!

Hotel Reviews

Cascada Boutique Hotel

Lucerne

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Interlaken

3800

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Backstage Hotel Vernissage

Zermatt

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Angleterre & Résidence

Lausanne

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Review

Cheese Tuk-tuk tour

Lucerne

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Tour guide and bus driver was very good

Great Planning, Horrible Execution

KimKim was a wonderful service to use. However the Switzerland extension they used to execute the planned activities was poor and obviously over priced.

Won’t be using again.

Once booking with Tomaz and KimKim, my friend and I were given to a local company with Zala helping us. Overall, the trip and recommendations were amazing. Day by day feedback to follow.

We had great directions from Zala regarding transportation and luckily the train was easy to get the hang of. Our first hotel was Hotel Josef. Very cute hotel and close to the train as promised. What we didn't know however, was that there was no front desk at this hotel. Check in was a bit difficult, especially after a full day of travel. Written on the locked hotel's door was a note to walk to a nearby hotel after 9pm. We arrived around 7:30pm on a Saturday. We called the number on the door as well as the number provided in our paperwork. Neither number worked. We took it upon ourselves to walk to the nearby hotel and ask for some assistance. Turns out check in was via a kiosk inside the restaurant and we needed a code to get in the main door. This would have been helpful information to know before arrival.

The Limmat River cruise ticket was covered with the Swiss pass. Suggestions on where to get off and walk around would have been helpful. The Zurich Small Group Tour is not something I would recommend. There was no explanation of what was on the tour (i.e. number of stops, type of food or type of drink) prior to booking it. The first stop was for beer, meat, and cheese. There was no alternative to the beer, which neither of us drink so that was a huge waste of beer and our money. I expected information from the tour guide about the types of cheeses and meats available. There was only information about the beer from the waiter at the restaurant. The tour guide, unfortunately, didn't know any information. Next, the weather didn't cooperate and there was a big downpour preventing us from getting to our next stop. We improvised and stopped for a drink at a nearby bar to wait out the rain. Because we stopped here and because supposedly the third (and final) stop was closed, our guide provided 5 CHF toward the wine, and we covered the rest. She seemed unsure of her budget and considering there was no backup plan for rain or for a closed final stop, I don't think we should have had to cover our own glass of wine. The final stop was for fondue. This was a cute place, but again, not much information. The other people on the tour booked the tour on their own and cost about 150 CAD, about $115. This tour was NOT worth anywhere close to that. Quite a disappointment.

Mt. Pilatus was amazing. Absolutely worth every penny and all the time! It was very cloudy, so we did not get the panoramic views, but a risk you must take. What we were not told about was that there is a stop on the descent with fantastic activities including a ropes course, zip line, glider, and toboggan. Because we didn’t know these existed, by the time we got down to this part, we could not do the ropes course, which is something that we would have loved to do. We were able to do the zip line and toboggan, which were very fun! I highly recommend them.

Lucerne was adorable. There was a lot to see and do. Hotel Central Luzern was such a cute hotel. The front desk staff was fantastic. In fact, everyone was. The room was teeny tiny though. Barely room to walk around and the bathroom door was a frosted glass door with the toilet right in front of it, so there was no privacy. The space was not so much the issue because we were only there to sleep, but the lack of privacy would have been an issue if we needed to stay more than 1 night. Hotel Château Gütsch was not recommended to us, but we saw it in the skyline and is worth the time.

We stayed in Interlaken for quite a while. I’m guessing because it was central to a lot of the big activities we had planned. The downside, the area was small with not much to do. Even with suggestions from the hotel, everything was closed after the activities we had planned for the day, so the evenings were very boring. The higher altitude activities required a heavier jacket, which we were warned about before the trip. I had arranged with Zala to rent a jacket by asking the hotel staff as there was supposed to be somewhere to rent nearby our hotel. Unfortunately, after asking multiple people, they were all unaware of places to rent during the summer. This induced a bit of a panic. We called the number provided and were able to speak to Tomaz. He was not aware of anywhere either. Within about an hour, Zala had emailed with alternative locations. Some of which I had already explored, but ultimately, the rental location on the way to Jungfrau worked out. Having specific details already planned into the itinerary about the rental location would have eased some unnecessary stress. With all that said, Zala was very attentive through email with all my questions while we were local. The Funky Chocolate Club was amazing. The experience was fun and there was a lot of information, and everything was hands-on plus goodies to take away. A friend suggested the Staubbach falls, which were beautiful. There is also panoramic hotel nearby that we discovered while walking around and that is also something I would recommend.

It could have been mentioned, but there was a ton of rainy days everywhere we went except for Lausanne. I did bring a light rain jacket, but it was a lot of rain and ended up with soaking wet shoes because we did not want to miss out on exploring. Luckily the rain was intermittent. St. Beatus Caves and Oberhofen Castle is worth the visit. The caves were spectacular. Hotel Interlaken was great. Spacious and good breakfast.

The trip to Grindelwald was easy to navigate. The mountain carts were a blast! To get to the carts was a trek though. When booking our trip, we did pick the mountain carts, however, we were not told that we could bundle and do more than one activity for a discounted price. The trek was long to get to the activities and the carts lasted only a few minutes of fun, so we instantly wanted to do more. To do that though, we would have had to buy the activity and the gondola. We were incredibly disappointed to learn it would have cost a tremendous amount to do that instead of pre-bundling.

Zermatt was a bit of a disappointment. We did not realize that going to the Matterhorn would cost anything let alone 71 CHF with the Swiss Pass. We did not end up doing that. The town was cute, but we did not stay long.

Lausanne was so cute! There was so much to do. Beau-Rivage Palace in Ouchy was absolutely worth the visit as well as the Cathedral. Hotel de l'Angleterre was right next door to the Palace, but I was not able to go in and walk around. And of course, the Olympic Museum. Vevey and especially Montreux are also worth the visit. Chillon Castle was a gorgeous true castle. So much history and beauty. We chose to go paddle boarding in Vevey instead of doing museums. We had intended to do the winery but did not get to it.

Geneva city tour with a bus and boat cruise was also not something I would recommend. The bus tour did allow us to see quite a few attractions but even while driving slowly, it was a different experience than seeing it walking. I did like the couple times we got off the bus. After the bus we took a tramway. They did a good job trying to allow you to see everything, but you could not fully appreciate the beauty of the structures while still moving. The boat cruise was in no way a tour. We just sat on a very hot boat for an hour. The Fondue cooking class was a great experience. I do recommend that. As much as I liked Lausanne, it would have been nice to stay in Geneva at least for the last night.

In general, suggestions for what to do and see during our downtime would have been helpful. In addition, knowing that stores and every day activities are closed on Sundays was important information we did not have. The Olympic Museum was closed on Mondays, and the Monday after we arrived was a holiday and therefore a lot of stores were also closed. More information regarding the guided tours is also necessary as I don’t think these were worth the money. Overall, the trip was great and I would recommend Switzerland to anyone.

From start to finish, KimKim was so attentive to our wishes and responded to all our inquiries in a prompt manner. We gave them
some of our ideas, and they filled in the days with places we did not know existed. We could not have been more pleased with their service. Their attention to the details of train schedules, passes, hotel reservations, etc took away a great deal of the stress of traveling in a foreign country with an unfamiliar language. They were also respectful of our budget. We would highly recommend this firm to anyone wanting to plan a stress-free getaway.

Our three days and nights in Salzburg exceeded our expectations , which were quite high to begin with. Mitch, the guide who provided two days of tours (one for Salzburg and one to drive us to Hallstatt) was an excellent fit for our group of 8 persons. He knew Salzburg details but did not flood us with information, however, when we asked questions he could provide interesting details in response. Clearly, his 30 years of living in Salzburg and his highly developed social skills were key factors in providing us with one of the best guided tour experiences we have ever had.

In Hallstatt, Tomaz connected us with Brigitta, a guide with 20 years of experience leading tours. She is a local woman who knew the history of Hallstatt well and could explain why the town became a World Heritage Site. For a walking tour guide, Brigitta was the best we have ever experienced.

The lodging accommodations provided by Hof Wirt were fully worthy of its 3-Star status, if not more. Clean, comfortable, staff-friendly and the breakfast spread was amazing.

Thanks, Tomaz, for arranging an extraordinary experience for us in Salzburg.

Wonderful 9 day itinerary across Switzerland…mountains, lakes and valleys with city sites as well. Kimkim (Tomaz in particular) was very helpful laying out the initial plan, and the local company that worked the logistics was extremely detailed, accurate in all facets of the final plans with great maps and possible train connections. Overall couldn’t be happier with this experience.

Olivier and Julien were great. They were responsive and informative. Awesome trip!

We set up a custom, unique experience with KimKim. We wanted a self-guided tour to align with our dates. KimKim worked with us to find an amazing trip to help make our vision of this experience amazing.

We live in the US and Olivier corresponded with us regularly to help us the options and set up all the arrangement for us. Since this was self-guided, we received a trip book with maps, a custom book with background and specific trail instructions, which helped make us comfortable in advance and guided us every day.

Our whole trip in the Bernese Alps in Switzerland was amazing. Several standout experiences include taking a train from Grendlewald up to the Inn at Alpiglen, where the staff was amazingly helpful, our rooms has stunning views of the fog shrouded Alps, and we enjoyed Swiss wine. We also loved the next day, where we hiked below the north face of the Eiger up to a gorgeous 19th century hotel, the Hotel Bellevue du Alps, where we enjoyed beautiful rooms, views of the glaciers, and delicious food in elegant surroundings. Overall, the hiking, views, hotels and huts, were an amazing once in a life-time experience that we'll never forget.