Kimkim Trip Reviews for Vietnam

We had the most amazing experience during our trip to Vietnam and Cambodia. Realistic Asia helped us plan and execute the trip with utmost care. Hien was regularly in touch with us throughout the trip to ensure that everything progressed smoothly to our full satisfaction. The drivers and guides were punctual and professional. Overall thanks to Hien and her team that we had a memorable trip.

We absolutely loved our trip to Vietnam and Long planned it perfectly. Our rides to and from airports, hotels, flights, and tours were all taken care of. Thank you, Long!! We would definitely use Kimkim again.

We had such a wonderful experience working with Minh while planning our trip to Vietnam. We traveled with a group of 11 people, and working with Minh made everything so much easier and practical. He was very patient and accomodating with us. He made sure we had the perfect itinerary for our group. During the trip itself, we had the best guide ever, Ha. Ha took such great care of us and was so kind, attentive, knowledgeable, and had the best energy. We loved our time with Ha and everything he showed and taught us during our trip. Forever grateful for all your help, it was truly a wonderful experience and would go through Kimkim to help plan future trips. Thanks a mil!

Great trip to Northern Vietnam arranged by Ashley. The KimKim system which allowed a lot of back and forth during the planning phase worked very well. We were even able to make changes to our itinerary while there in Vietnam - almost in real time. Ashley was very quick and responsive throughout the whole trip.

Everything went like clockwork, from the first pick-up at our hotel to the final drop off at the airport. We managed to cram in a whole host of things that would not have been possible had we simply been on our own. Contrary to my expectation, the car we had was really nice and spacious - perfect as we had a lot of luggage. The guide we had, Mr. Dung, was great. His English was good and he had a fount of local knowledge about the history of Vietnam, its culture and everything about daily life. The driver, "Mike", was very careful sticking to the rules and never made me nervous despite the crazy driving scene.

Highly recommended.

EGB, Washington DC

Hotel Review

Verdure Lotus Gradeur (former Halong Aquamarine Cruise)

Ha Long

Great cruising boat. Very spacious cabin with everything one needs. Excellent food. Helpful crew.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Easy to get to the port

Staff

Tom, the trip manager was very helpful and informative.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Bathroom was big and spotless.

Activity Review

Cycling At Tho Ha Village & Visiting Galaxy Grotto ( S)

Vietnam

Nice to visit areas off the beaten path in Vietnam and experience some local culture and participate in activities such as planting rice.

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Wonderful trip to Vietnam! Hein was amazing and very communicative. She helped us plan the perfect trip for our family of 7 (including 5 children ages 9-17) that was well within our budget. Everything was smooth and our tour guide KC was spectacular. He was kind, accommodating and knowledgeable. We loved all of the accommodations and activities. Our kids had lots of fun and we felt immersed in the local culture. I would absolutely recommend KimKim, Hein and Vietnam. We had a lovely trip.

Lucy curated the perfect tour for us and spent a long time with us getting it just right. we loved the cities we went to, the tours we went on, and our hotels. we are so grateful for being paired with Lucy. She was super responsive the entire time.

Hotel Reviews

May De Ville Luxury Hotel & Spa

Hanoi

the bed was super firm and uncomfortable. the sheets were thick and stiff. everything else was good.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

M'Gloria Cruise

Ha Long

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Anatole Hotel Hanoi

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Spatel d'Annam Hotel

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

The Saga Hotel Hoi An

Hoi An

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Ana Mandara Villas Dalat Resort & Spa

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hanoi Le Chateau Hotel & Spa

Hang Thiec Street

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Gateway Inn Pu Luong

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hidden Charm Ninh Binh

Ninh Thang, Hoa Lu, Ninh Binh

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

San Grand Hotel

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

On Boarding - Lan Ha Bay - Tra Bau (M'Gloria Cruise)

Ha Long Bay

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Touch the History of Former Imperial Capital - Hue Full Day Sightseeing

Hue

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Visit Marble Mountain & Cham Museum

Vietnam

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Hoi An Half-Day Sightseeing

Hoi An

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Boat Trip Exploring The Natural Beauty of Trang An & Visit Hoa Lu Ancient Capital

Vietnam

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Hanoi Fullday City Tour with Train Track Coffee Enjoying

Hanoi

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

At first, we were looking at booking through GTours or Intrepid. But we didn’t like how we couldn’t choose the cities we went to or the dates. Then I found kimkim. I was hesitant at first because I hadn’t heard of them. But our experience was wonderful and I wholeheartedly recommend kimkim.

They connected us with Lucy at Realistic Asia for our trip to Vietnam. Lucy was wonderful and super responsive. She spent a long time with us crafting the perfect trip for us. During our trip, she was super responsive with contacting hotels to store our luggage, contacting tour guides to make adjustments, and helping us with overweight/excess baggage on our domestic flights.

We used Hanoi as our home base. We decide to stay at different hotels each time and I’m glad we did that to experience different hotels and different locations in the old quarter. I guess it would have been easier to stay at one hotel the whole time and just leave our bags there instead of having to pick up our suitcases from other hotels. But it was all so close that it wasn’t a problem.

We landed in Hanoi and stayed there a few days. Then we went to Ninh Binh and Pu Luong nature reserve. From there, we drove back to Hanoi and then flew to Da Lat. Then we flew to Da Nang and stayed in Hoi An, and Hue. We flew from Hue to Hanoi and that was the end of our trip. We arrived on Nov 11 and departed for home on Nov 29. We loved the places we went to.

Our tour guides were wonderful and helpful as were our drivers. We are so glad we worked with Lucy at Realistic Asia!

Hotel Reviews

May De Ville Luxury Hotel & Spa

Hanoi

This was one of the bigger hotels we stayed at in Hanoi and it was on a wider street with more tourists. We liked smaller hotels more off the beaten path. We stayed here for one night. The breakfast was good. The staff were friendly.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

M'Gloria Cruise

Ha Long

The staff were amazing! The food was so good! The room view was incredible. We had a great time on this cruise.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Spatel d'Annam Hotel

Great location in the old imperial city. We didn’t want to stay at the big skyrise hotels. This had character. The staff weren’t as friendly as everywhere else it still super friendly. The buffet wasn’t the best either but still totally good and decent. We liked the character of the place and we are glad we stayed there.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Anatole Hotel Hanoi

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

The Saga Hotel Hoi An

Hoi An

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Ana Mandara Villas Dalat Resort & Spa

Wow! Just wow! This place was a vacation within our vacation. Beautiful grounds and villas. We were upgraded to a fantastic huge suite. The food was delicious. I had one of the best salads I’ve ever had there. The staff were so friendly and accommodating.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hanoi Le Chateau Hotel & Spa

Hang Thiec Street

We were here briefly for one night and had a good experience.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Gateway Inn Pu Luong

I can’t recommend this place enough. The staff were so wonderful and kind and helpful. We gave fond memories of here. The view was amazing and stunning and the food was great.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Speculator views!

Staff

The staff made it wonderful for us.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hidden Charm Ninh Binh

Ninh Thang, Hoa Lu, Ninh Binh

The room was big and the breakfast buffet was too. We stayed there just one night. The view from the room was amazing and the staff were wonderful.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

San Grand Hotel

This was the first hotel we went to in Hanoi and our favorite. We liked that it was smack dab in the old quarter. It was noisy and bustling and the staff were wonderful and the breakfast buffet was great!

Authenticity & Character

Location

We liked that it wasn’t with all the other big touristy hotels.

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

On Boarding - Lan Ha Bay - Tra Bau (M'Gloria Cruise)

Ha Long Bay

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Hanoi Fullday City Tour with Train Track Coffee Enjoying

Hanoi

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Touch the History of Former Imperial Capital - Hue Full Day Sightseeing

Hue

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Visit Marble Mountain & Cham Museum

Vietnam

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Hoi An Half-Day Sightseeing

Hoi An

Quality of Experience

See

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Boat Trip Exploring The Natural Beauty of Trang An & Visit Hoa Lu Ancient Capital

Vietnam

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Trang was fantastic from the planning to checking in with us and making adjustments as we went.

All the guides were good, with one exception where they didn't seem to have the knowledge or language skills.

I think for future trips, we'd forgo the big lunches for just snacks.

Hotels all good, drivers good; just a note about making sure vehicles have seat belts - one or two of them didn't.

I had a personal solo trip as I had a free week. Had a personal guide and driver for almost all the time. The experience was great. Was taken to sites and street food shops that gave a great view of Hanoi today. The guides were personable and informative. It was like traveling with friends rather than an impersonal guide. Would go on a similar trip again.

We had an amazing trip to Hanoi with a great itinerary which was designed by Lucy and she made any changes we requested. The hotels were great.
We had a lovely guide Mr Huan and a very nice driver who was with us for the whole trip.
Both looked after us very well and went above and beyond to make our trip memorable.

Hotel Reviews

Amanda Luxury Cruise

Communication on the boat could have been better and food was average for a luxury ship

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Tam Coc Retreat

Beautiful hotel in a very tranquil setting

Authenticity & Character

Just perfect

Location

Close to local sights

Staff

Very helpful

Cleanliness & Comfort

May De Ville Luxury Hotel & Spa

Hanoi

Great hotel well located

Authenticity & Character

Great breakfast, lovely staff and great rooftop views over city

Location

Staff

Friendly and helpful

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

On boarding - Dark and Bright Caves - Tra Bau - Lan Ha Bay ( Amanda Luxury Cruise 2D1N)

Ha Long Bay

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Hoa Lu And Tam Coc Exploration

Vietnam

Great day out including lovely lunch cycle ride and boat trip

Quality of Experience

The scenery

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Just always so helpful

Transport

Day Trip to Ba Vi Countryside & Cooking Class

Hanoi

Very unique day giving an insight to local life in the country (Timings need improvement we were waiting around for quite a long time for other participants to arrive)

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Explore the History and Beauty of Hanoi city tour , Train Street and Water Puppet show

Hanoi

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

We had an incredible private tour of Vietnam arranged by kimkim. Long, our travel coordinator/local specialist, was exceptionally helpful and responsive from start to finish. He happily accommodated all our requests for changes, and he went above and beyond to help me retrieve a personal item I accidentally left behind at one of the hotels =). The tour guide at Ho Chi Minh city, Johnny, along with the driver, Phuc, were outstanding! They were so patient, helpful and fun. The hotels included in the tour were all excellent; they were beautiful, conveniently located, and very comfortable. Lastly, the 3D/2N Ha Long Bay cruise was amazing and enjoyable, and we loved everything about this part of the tour, from the boat and its crews to our room, the food, the excursion activities and of course, the stunning scenery.

Thank you, team kimkim, for making this trip so memorable for us. We loved it!

We had a wonderful 2 week trip to Vietnam. The KimKim team/Kelly were so easy to work with so there was minimal preparation need to plan the trip…we really just packed and got on a plan! Vietnam was a great country to travel with kids, as it always felt safe, had lots of activities and action to keep them engaged and the people in Vietnam were really nice to the kids. Food was a highlight-really great restaurants were organized and the food tour in Ho Chi Min (Street Food Man tour with Tanya) was, as my kids said ‘10 out of 5 stars’! We loved Hoi Ann and were glad we spent extra time there. Although our beach day rained it was still great to have a day to relax by the ocean and pool mid way. Our only disappointments were 1. Ha Long Bay is way too busy and kayaking in bay of litter was not what we expected-was definitely worth the extra day to get out to the less busy went out to the less busy and more pristine areas. we would not recommend Ha Long Bay unless it is 3 day 2 night and you can get out of actual Ha Long Bay area . 2. A lot of places/activities have lost their authenticity with tourism increasing so much again post covid (good for the country obviously), but does make you feel a bit like a heard of sheep checking off a to do list of tourist activities. Would definitely skip Ba Na (even though that is where the golden bridge is it was way too busy and all fake). Would definitely try to get off the beaten path more if we went back to Vietnam.

Hotel Reviews

Harmony Hotel & Spa

Ho Chi Minh City

Our stay in Ho Chi Minh City at the Harmony Hotel & Spa was excellent. We loved the location and found the hotel amenities and service to be top-notch. It perfectly suited our needs and was one of the highlights of our accommodations.

Lasenta Boutique Hotel Hoi An

Hoi An

We really liked our stay at Lasenta Boutique Hotel Hoi An. It was comfortable and slightly outside the main city, which we enjoyed for a quieter environment. It took about a 25-minute walk to reach the heart of Hoi An, which might not be ideal for everyone, but we were okay with it.

L Heritage Diamond

Hanoi

The location of L Heritage Diamond was great, being in the old city. However, the hotel itself wasn't up to the standard of the other hotels we stayed at. It lacked a pool, and the dining room was quite basic, offering a rather uninspiring environment. There wasn't anything particularly wrong with the hotel, but it didn't compare to the quality of the others on our trip.

Activity Reviews

Full Day Mekong Delta Tour (My Tho)

Ho Chi Minh City

We had a fantastic time on the Private Street Food Evening Walking Tour in Ho Chi Minh City. It was one of the best parts of our trip and offered amazing insights and flavors!

Half day Thanh Ha Pottery Village Tour

Hoi An

The tour of Thanh Ha Pottery Village was underwhelming. It was scheduled for four hours, but we only spent a few minutes at a pottery wheel. The experience seemed more like a brief stop rather than an in-depth activity.

Private Lantern Making Experience in Hoi An

Hoi An

The lantern making experience felt rushed and not as immersive as we had hoped. The process was more like putting fabric over a frame and gluing it, with little hands-on time for us, especially for the kids, which left them a bit disappointed.

Half Day Cooking Class(join in)

Hoi An

The cooking class in Hoi An was fantastic! It was a private, making it special and immersive. Our kids had a great time, enjoying the hands-on activity.

Drive to Da Nang with Visit to the Golden Bridge

Vietnam

The drive to Da Nang and visit to the Golden Bridge was not enjoyable for us. It was extremely crowded, which made the experience less pleasant. It should be noted that the area features an artificial French village, which didn’t match our expectations.

From the beginning of planning, Long was incredibly responsive and helpful to pull the trip together. He listened carefully to what we wanted to accomplish on this trip and made very appropriate recommendations. His hotel picks were incredible for the local flavor, location and amenities.

While on the trip when we had any questions, he was immediately responsive. There was a concern with the room we were given on the Hua Long Bay Cruise and Long was responsive and resolved it perfectly.

I would plan another trip with Long and would recommend him to anyone I know that is traveling to Viet Nam or other areas where Long could assist.

Trang did a superb job planning our trip. She connected us with a marvelous guide, Trung and driver. All accommodations were perfect in both quality and location. Communication was fast and easy with both Trang and our guide Trung. We appreciate the great care given to us in all areas of our travel. Thank you!

Reliable did a great job organizing our 23 day visit to Vietnam. They arranged for a few internal flights and our 4 and 5 star hotels. We had experienced English speaking guides, always picked up at the airport or the hotels on time. No complaints just praise. Good job!

Our specialist, Huyen, was great to work with. She helped us take different pieces of different tours to come up with our own itinerary, move dates around, and answered all of our questions.

From the moment we landed in Hanoi, we felt well taken care of even if we were unable to communicate with the local drivers. All of the drivers and tour guides were friendly and on-time. When moving from one activity or guide to the next, we were always handed off to someone who would then take care of us.

Ha Long Bay was definitely a highlight of our trip. The views were amazing and we especially enjoyed kayaking between the rock formations. Plus we got to know other travelers on the ship. We were also pleasantly surprised by the large size of the cabin on the Swan Cruise ship.

In Ho Chi Minh City, we really enjoyed our food tour with Phat from Saigon Food Tour. He was fun and enthusiastic, and he took us to a couple places off the beaten path. The food was all delicious and we learned about the culture.

In Hoi An, highlights included a ride in a basket boat, a walking tour of the old town, and a hands on cooking class.

Though we had a couple of obligatory stops at the tourist centers where they try to sell you everything, I'm confident that I would not have been able to plan as successful a trip on my own.

Hotel Reviews

AMIRA HOTEL HANOI

This hotel was right in the heart of things, but wasn't noisy. Everything was clean and the staff were helpful.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Swan Cruise

This ship was really nice and the staff were very friendly. The rooms were bigger than we expected. Everything was well organized. We really enjoyed the kayaking between the rock formations. Would definitely recommend.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hoi An Rose Garden Hotel

Hoi An

Great hotel and friendly staff. We took advantage of the onsite spa.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Calista Sai Gon Hotel

Hotel was clean and staff was friendly, but the hotel is in a very loud area and the windows do not block any of the sound.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Cu Chi Tunnels and Ho Chi Minh City Tour

Ho Chi Minh City

This was an enlightening experience, but might not be worth the long drive to Cu Chi from HCMC. The city tour was good. The lunch was OK. Clearly all of the tour guides take their groups to Nam Du for lunch.

Quality of Experience

Food

Don't go to Nam Du restaurant.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Saigon By Night Food Tour - Experience Vietnam on Two Wheels (Small Group tour)

Ho Chi Minh City

Phat was a great food guide. He was fun and enthusiastic, and he took us to places off the beaten path.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Half day city tour to visit Hoi An Ancient Town

Hoi An

Troung was a great and very kind tour guide. She showed us all around the old town and gave us the history.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Hoi An Cooking Class & Cam Thanh Fishing Village:

Hoi An

Excellent excursion. The cooking class was very fun and we enjoyed talking to the other participants. Not only did the chef show how to make the dishes, but there were several assistants to dummy-proof the hands-on part of the class. The food was very tasty. The basket boat ride was one of our highlights. There was clearly a standard agenda. Paddle, visit the professional boaters who could spin their boats very quicky, visiting the fishing man casting his net, visit the karaoke area, do some fishing, and visit the heart sculpture for pictures. Our boatman was super nice.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Halong Bay - Hanoi - Fly to Danang, Transfer to Hoi An

Vietnam

Driver was excellent.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Hanoi - Halong Bay Cruise - Overnight on boat

Ha Long Bay

Highly recommend! Ha Long Bay is beautiful, the Swan Cruises ship was very nice, and the cabins were much bigger than expected. We really enjoyed kayaking between the rock formations as well as meeting other travelers. The guide on the ship was terrific!

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Hanoi Cooking Class & City Tour

Hanoi

The city tour was OK. Our guide didn't seem to really have a plan so we wandered around aimlessly and he kept pointing out the same items at different stalls. Even after he asked if we were ready for lunch, we wandered around much longer than expected before finding a place to eat. I think it threw him off when we asked for local food and not a touristy restaurant. For the cooking class, the chef was great and we were definitely able to get hands on with making the delicious food. The location was a bit difficult for our driver to find. We weren't expecting a cooking class with just the two of us and we also didn't expect the driver and tour guide to stay with us the entire time.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

The best way to plan a trip and travel out there!! We will definitely use KimKim again!! Having the ability to personalize our Vietnam trip with a local agent like Doris was so easy and stress free. She listened to our desires and made it happen! Any questions we had before we traveled and during, she answered! When we got in country, our personal tour guides, Thao and Long, were amazing!!!! So knowledgeable and added so much to our experience! Long went out of the way above and beyond to show us around, meeting us after our “tour” was over to make sure we knew places to go during our free time. Both sent us suggestion and messages throughout our stay even when they were no longer with us. We learned so much more than we ever would have had we traveled in a big group or without a guide. It was a trip of a lifetime and I’m so glad we used KimKim!

Activity Reviews

Hoi An - Da Nang Airport - Fly to Hanoi

Vietnam

Train Street worth the hype! We visited Train street two different times, once at night (7:30pm) and once during the morning (11:50am). Very different experiences when you are on two different sides of the tracks! Great experience!

Day Free in Hoi An

Hoi An

Tour Guides know best!!! We asked our guide, Long, what we should do for a free day that wasn't already on our itinerary! He didn't steer us wrong. We did a craft village day with our free day. Doris, our agent was able to get us a private car to drive us to each of the villages. We filled a whole half day learning about different ancient art work and handmade crafts, while getting to participate and learn from each of them. We made wooden ordinates, pottery and lanterns throughout the day and only spent a total of $15 each!

Hoi An: Cam Thanh Fishing Village & Hoi An Ancient Town

Hoi An

The Coconut Village was so much fun! we really enjoyed the casting nets with our boat driver! We had a private boat that took us to the village and during the boat ride, we each got to cast the net into the water and learn about their fishing processes! The Coconut river and basket boats were a hoot! Lots of people, but you still felt like you were able to see and experience the river on your own!

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Our guide, Long was amazing! He went above and beyond to make sure we had a full experince, even when his "job" was finished, he joined us in the evening to make sure we knew where to go and what to do to get the full experience before the rain showers came the next day!

Hue, Visit Tomb of Emperor Tu Duc - Hoi An

Vietnam

Great for those that love history! A lot of this day was focused on history and learning about the dynasties of Vietnam. The Ocean Cloud Pass was beautiful!

Hue: Thuy Bieu Ecovillage, Cooking Class & Imperial Citadel

Hue

When we got to Hue, we got a new tour guide. Highly recommend having more than one tour guide if visiting different areas of a country! This gave us a whole new perspective of the country that we wouldn't have gotten with one guide the whole time! The Ecovillage is completely worth it!!! They did an amazing job with the cooking class, the bike ride and even surprised us with foot massages after our bike tour! The village tour was fun too! Got to make some incense sticks with the local people.

Halong Bay - Hanoi - Fly to Hue

Vietnam

Sung Sot Cave is worth the visit! It is massive and worth the time and the climb it takes to get to it!

Ninh Binh - Halong Bay Cruise - Overnight on boat

Ha Long Bay

Halong Bay is beautiful, but be prepared for the crowed that goes along with it! This was one of the days i was looking most forward to, but it was probably one of my least favorite, but still would do it again. This is the only way to really see the Bay fully and experience the vastness of the area. So just do it, but just be prepared.

Pu Luong- Ninh Binh - Visit Hoa Lu, Vietnam's Ancient Capital - Trang An Grottoes Boat Trip

Vietnam

The temple and capital were great, but the Trang An boat trip was the Most beautiful place of the whole trip!

Mai Chau - Pu Luong

Vietnam

ONE OF OUR FAVORITES! We loved the rice field terraces. The beauty of this area is beyond anything I have ever seen. We were able to walk through a couple villages and make our way through the Rice fields.

Hanoi - Mai Chau, Valley of White Thai People

Vietnam

Such a beautiful area! During the bike tour, we were able to visited with some of the locals while they were working. This began to show us the benifits of having a local guide to be with you, which partnering with KimKim allowed us to do! Our tour guide Thao, had built relationships with the people and understood the culture. This allowed us to get up close and personal with the village people and work along side of them! Bringing us closer to the culture and the land around us! We even got to make our own chopsticks!

Quality of Experience

Our guide had made relationship with the locals which allowed us to get up close and personal with daily life!!

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Tour guide had made

Transport

Hanoi biking and city tour

Hanoi

This day was an experience :). I will say our favorite part of this day was the biking tour of Hanoi city, around West Lake (Ho Tay). There are so many scooters in the city and learning to bike through the city was something we will never forget!

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

I have only positive things to say about our trip to Viet Nam. From the time we landed in Saigon until when we were dropped off at the airport in Dan Ang, we had a fantastic time.

Our "travel consultant", Huyen was SO patient taking our input and making changes to our itinerary until we we satisfied we had what we want. Of all the fun things we did, I have to say the Saigon Food Tour, and the two food classes were the highlights. And maybe the thing that most impressed me was that everything was right on schedule. The only exception was when the typhoon forced us to reschedule one of the food classes, and even that was taken care of with amazing efficiency.

No question, we will use Kimkim to help us arrange our next trip to SE Asia.

On a scale of 1-5, they get a 10!

Hotel Reviews

Betel Garden Villas

This hotel was over the top. The rooms were fine, the grounds were amazingly beautiful, and maybe most importantly, the staff were SOOO accomodating and helpful.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

New Livitrans Train

Authenticity & Character

Cleanliness & Comfort

Riverside Hotel Saigon

(+84) 28 3822 4038

Great location, clean, comfortable rooms, wonderful breakfast!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Easy walk to things in District 1

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Hoi An Cooking Class (Join a small group)

Hoi An

Our chef/instructor was lots of fun, every entertaining and SO much energy!

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Saigon By Night Food Tour - Experience Vietnam on Two Wheels (Small Group tour)

Ho Chi Minh City

Sooooo much fun!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Saigon Cooking Class (Hoa Tuc) - With Going to The Market (Join -in a Group Tour)

Ho Chi Minh City

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Day 1: arrival into Hanoi
Pick up at airport was good, stand in guide Mr Thrung was knowledgeable and enthusiastic, and gave a great restaurant recommendation for dinner: we went twice!
Hotel DeSyloia was very good quality; staff attentive; room clean, and everything worked. very satisfied.

Day 2/ 3: Touring Hanoi. Guide Mr Que very effective . All the itinerary was enjoyable, with possible exception of the Lacquerware factory visit, where heavy selling approach was excessive.
Most favourite tour was boat trip at Trang An caves. Outstanding experience, the highlight of Hanoi visit for us, and would highly recommend to incldue in any Hanoi itinerary.

Day 3: transfer by VietAirJet to Hue. Good flight; all went well.

Day4/5: enjoyed Hue markets and cultural stops. Our Guide Mr Hoa was again knowledgeable and enthusiastic, particularly taking us to authentic Vietnamese eateries for lunch, and to local food markets.

Indochine Palace a good hotel. Staff kindly switched rooms to one with a bath tub, promptly and without fuss.

Day6/8: transfer to Hoi Ann. We enjoyed drive from Hue to Hoi Ann, including stop at Bana Hills.
Cultural tour was good, lantern making “ok”, and we enjoyed having time to tour Hoi Ann ourselves.
The biking visit to organic farm was rained off, but, in all honesty, we appreciated a day just to relax after the preceding schedule!

Silk Senses Hotel was excellent, if a bit removed from Hoi Ann centre.

Day 9: Transfer to Siem Reap. Instead of a direct flight, KimKim booked us on a two leg flight from Danang to Siem Reap, with a 3 hour layover in Bangkok. Was worst part of itinerary planning, and basically wasted a whole day. Rest of itinerary planning and communication was excellent.

Hotel Saem Siem Reap was fine, except location of our room (#101) faced reception and pool, which meant a parade of guests walking past our ground floor window all day- so no sense of privacy. It was also next to the bar, which was noisy.

The whole Siem Reap tour was very special, and we enjoyed all of it, including Dawn at Angkor Wat. Our Guide Mr Phal was outstanding, and we felt privileged to have the benefit of his expertise and attention to detail.

Would not hesitate to recommend KimKim as guide and itinerary planners.

I don’t wish the gripes above to detract from a truly memorable experience, that we would strongly recommend to others.

Overall, we had an amazing time seeing highlights of Thailand and Vietnam over two weeks. Our tour guides really made the trip special and cannot thank Mem, Annie, Long and Peter enough for going above and beyond for us.

Hotels were ok, which was fine as we weren't spending a lot of time in the room (out sightseeing much of the time). Some had peculiarities such as not providing an iron but charging for ironing services, and ok breakfast selection. However, the hotel in Hanoi was the best one by far, especially the staff - really helpful and personable, would recommend if you want to be right in the centre of the Old Quarter area. In hindsight, we could have looked more into specific hotels to help inform our local specialist and take into account differing standards.

It was really helpful to have Trang available during our trip for any issues (only had a minor delay with a driver, otherwise it all went pretty smoothly).

Activity Reviews

Half-day Cu Chi Tunnels tour

Ho Chi Minh City

Ben Tre Tour

Ho Chi Minh City

Half-Day Ho Chi Minh City Tour

Ho Chi Minh City

Halong Bay - Hanoi

Ha Long Bay

Hanoi - Halong Bay Cruise - Overnight on boat

Ha Long Bay

Hanoi - Ninh Binh

Ninh Binh

Hanoi City Tour

Hanoi

Koh Samui Free Day

Koh Samui

Chiang Mai – City tour & Doi Suthep

Chiang Mai

Bangkok Explore Tour with River Boat & Tuk Tuk

Bangkok