Christine Liu

Kimkim Travel / Odynovo Tours was an excellent company to work with and Christine Liu, my travel specialist, was very friendly, professional and helpful throughout all stages of my trip, from planning through return. She helped schedule changes and provided great tips as well. All the guides and drivers were very trustworthy, kind and professional. April Lee guided me in Seoul and was friendly and made great suggestions, including trying on Hanok style clothing at the Palace, which was fun and memorable. Joe guided me through Jeonju and Gyeongju and had a wealth of information about history and many facets of the areas we traveled in, he was a very friendly and trustworthy and professional guide. Ryan Lee guided me through Busan and showed me many areas of that great city, providing information only someone from the area would know; he was also friendly, professional and trustworthy. The drivers, Mr. Yoon, Mr. Shin and Mr. Kang were also excellent and professional and friendly. The trip was very enjoyable and I highly recommend kimkim travel / Odynovo Tours if you want to go to South Korea & Asia. One of my favorite excursions was to Yongin Dae Geum Park to see where some historical K dramas were filmed, and the guide, Anna Kim was also very friendly and helpful. How many ways can I say great and thank you!

Hotel Review

Lotte City Hotel Myeongdong

Seoul

Lotte City Hotel Myeongdong is centrally located and has very friendly and professional staff, with excellent food and a very pleasant atmosphere. I highly recommend it.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Review

Half Day Yongin Dae Jang Geum Park ( join in )

Seoul

This is a beautiful location and it's fun to personally visit a historical set where many K dramas are filmed. The guide, Anna Kim, was very friendly and helpful.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

It was a pleasure working with Christine Liu in planning our first-ever trip to South Korea. She listened to our interests and budget in planning our 12 days visiting Seoul, Busan, and Jeju Island. Her prompt and thoughtful responses to the numerous and myriad questions we had over the few months of planning were greatly appreciated. She was ever patient with two women who peppered her with questions and requests!

Similarly our private guides in Seoul (Billy), Busan (Fred), and on Jeju (Yuna) were excellent. Of course we expected them to be knowledgeable, experienced guides as a baseline. But ALL THREE demonstrated keen interest in ensuring we enjoyed ourselves, anticipated our interests and accommodated us without disappointment. E.g. searching for the best salt bread, guiding us through markets with a "local" feel, helping us rent our hanbok, taking plenty of photos, making thoughtful suggestions on how to maximize our experiences, and more. Also a shout-out to our medical concierge (James) and translator (Clara) who were indispensable in arranging our day of K-beauty treatments. With only one-day, James helped select a very excellent medical clinic for non-invasive facial treatments and scalp treatments. BTW, all highly effective and enjoyable.

I have already recommended KimKim to friends who are interested in engaging travel planning and I will not hesitate to utilize KimKim again as well. As a retiree in my early 70's, it is comforting to know I have a trusted travel company that can help ensure a smooth, safe, and enjoyable trip when venturing into new countries - especially when a potential challenge with a foreign language is a factor.

Thank you KimKim! Thank you Christine! Thank you Billy, James, Clara, Fred, and Yuna! I will never forget my experiences in South Korea; in large part and thanks to your guidance!

Our daily guide Hera was fantastic! She kept us on track and served as an incredible host for her country. Additionally, our travel agent Christine was so detailed and flexible. Such an incredible team!

Hotel Review

Lotte City Hotel Myeongdong

Seoul

We did not stay here

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Explore Seoul Highlights

Seoul

Hera was incredible. She had incredible insights and was a lovely host!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Hera was the best!!!!

Transport

Full Day Petite France and Nami Island Tour

Seoul

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Our trip to South Korea was amazing and KimKim did an excellent job helping us curate our vacation to meet our wish to experience the culture and history of the country. Our guide in Seoul, Jones, made some extra suggestions as he got to know us and our interest in K-pop and K-dramas. Both Jones and Jay gave excellent restaurant recommendations. We loved the cooking class with Sarah. Christine responded to our questions in a timely manner and made sure we had the information we needed.

We loved our experience with KimKim in Korea and really enjoyed our guides in both Seoul (Jones) and Busan (Luke). They were extremely knowledgeable and took their jobs very seriously. They were also extremely pleasant. Everything worked out really well and they did a wonderful job of maximising the number of experiences without sacrificing on quality of the time. Christine was great to work with and did a nice job of figuring out all of the logistics for us.
We highly recommend KimKim and its staff.

Christine went above and beyond in helping us plan an amazing trip to Korea. She balanced guided tours and free time to visit relatives. We started with a day long tour of Seoul highlights, and she included a beautiful tea ceremony with a local tea expert. We also did a DMZ tour, took a train to Busan, where we did another fantastic city highlights tour, and a day trip from there to Gyeongju to see the Bulguksa Temple and explore the history of the Shilla dynasty. Our guides in Seoul and Busan/Gyeongju were incredibly knowledgeable, kind, and led us to amazing food! All our train rides and transportation were perfectly on time and smooth. Christine, our agent, even surprised us by sending a birthday gift to my child at the hotel. She was the best travel agent and it was the best trip!

Hotel Review

BrownSuites Busan Station

Our apartment-style suite was stylish, spacious, clean, and had an amazing view and our own laundry. But it lacked a front desk, a dedicated hotel restaurant, and daily housekeeping services. The self check-in was a little bit confusing because there were multiple entrances to the two towers. Any questions/issues during our stay were very quickly answered via WhatsApp, but if you prefer a place with standard hotel service and a breakfast buffet, this may not be the best choice.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Quick walk to Busan train station. A bit far from the Haeundae Beach area.

Staff

Service via WhatsApp was quick and friendly but wish there was more in-person opportunity.

Cleanliness & Comfort

The room was clean and beautiful but there was no housekeeping service included.

Activity Reviews

Full Day Korean DMZ Tour

Seoul

Explore Seoul Highlights

Seoul

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Our guide, Wookie, was knowledgeable, energetic, and friendly. One of the best guides we’ve ever had.

Transport

We rode in a spacious and comfortable van for our family.

Full Day Busan Highlights Tour with Jagalchi Fishery Market

Busan

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Mimi, our guide, was super friendly, accommodating, and knowledgeable. She was able adjust to our needs flexibly because we arrived in Busan in the early afternoon and couldn’t quite last the full 8 hours out of exhaustion and jet lag. But we still saw the highlights we wanted to see and got back to our hotel exactly when we wanted.

Transport

Full Day Gyeongju Tour with National Museum and Bulguksa Temple

Busan

I’m so glad we took this day trip from Busan. Gyeongju was such a different experience from the big cities of Seoul and Busan. It had more of a village feel with traditional architecture. The Bulguksa Temple was incredible. We enjoyed the museum on Shilla history. And our very knowledgeable guide and driver, Mimi, led us to an incredible local soon tofu restaurant.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Christine (from Kimkim) was very responsive and friendly, she had good suggestions for things for us to do. She didn’t always have the best attention to detail. It took several attempts to explain our situation, that we were combining a self paid trip with a hotel stay covers by the conference that invited me to Korea. After a couple of rounds she eventually got it right.

She failed to consider that our arrival at the hotel was going to be before check in time and did not suggest alternatives such as the option of paying for an early check in. She offered us one option for hotel— the L7 in Myeongdong. It was a nice hotel, well run, clean, with an excellent breakfast. However, for people our age, staying in Myeongdong got tiresome after a couple of nights. It would have been helpful to have been warned about the noise and crowds and offered a possible alternative.

We were directed to excellent activities and connected with an outstanding guide, Christine Lee and her husband Young. Christine was knowledgeable, warm and friendly. We got an excellent picture of Korean history talking with her and she showed us around Nami island and the garden of morning calm as an expert. These two experiences were outstanding!

Hotel Review

L7 Myeongdong by LOTTE

It’s a well run hotel, very clean, and the breakfast is excellent. Myeongdong is a central location with easy access to subway, the byeongbokgung palace. Myeongdong is where one of the major night markets with street food is located. However, it is harder to find quieter restaurants or easy places to walk around without crowds.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Central and close to subway.

Staff

Staff were great in the restaurant. They were unsure how to handle our early arrival straight from the airport.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Spotless and great maid service daily.

Activity Review

Discover K-drama Locations in European Villages & Nami Island

Seoul

The best parts of this trip was the visit to Nami Island and the garden of morning calm. The Italian and French villages are a bit tired and run down. Christine Lee and Young did an amazing job showing us around and teaching us about the history and flora of the area.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

This has been an overall very positive experience. Christine was very helpful. The interaction was great and she always was able to adjust & finetune our wishes. We changed the itinerary a few times, but she always stayed friendly & professional. Even when we made a mistake, they were able to correct it last minjte.
In the excursions, the cooking class in Seoul was a great experience. In Jeju, the driver & guid Mr. Jimmi Koh has been truly wonderful, friendly & knowledgeable.

Thank You for a good cooperation !

Activity Reviews

Korean Full-Course Meal Cooking Class at Local Home with Local Market Experience

Seoul

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Discover Jeju with Seongsan Ilchulbong and Seongeup Folk Village

Jeju Island

Guides, Drivers and Staff

the guide & driver Mr. Jimmie Koh was wonderful

Transport