Emerson Siimer

Everyone we met, including our drivers were exceptionally friendly and helpful. We were driven around towards the end of the trip by Hamid from Afghanistan and he was a delight. Another driver that we had in Finland, who took us to Sena was I believe he spells his name TOME but I could be wrong. The activities that were set up for us were great and the people affiliated with each activity were also exceptional. All of us thoroughly enjoyed the food and meeting the local people in each destination. All of my family also recognizes that we did not plan this trip until only a few weeks before and I know that complicated Emerson‘s job trying to coordinate everything and lineup accommodations and activities so he deserves special credit. At the end of the trip, during our stay in Tromse there was apparently a mixup with our two rooms in the hotel that I had hoped would have been resolved differently, but other than that, no issues or problems during our two week adventure in Finland and in Norway. I would strongly recommend Emerson of Kim Kim for trip planning especially in Scandinavian countries. Thank you.

We had terrific guides: Jan for the hike; Akseli for the Northern Lights; Henry and Joel for the snowmobiling; the dogsledding people; and Thea and Christian for the snowshoeing.

Our Northern Lights experience was EPIC!! We will have to send pictures.

The only negative is that the traditional Lappish meal is served at every excursion, so we ended up eating mashed potatoes, reindeer, lingonberries and pickles over and over again. It's delicious, but it can be tedious to have it every day.

Every accommodation and every tour was amazing. All the transfers and transportation was seamless. I would absolutely use Kim Kim again!

We love Kimkim! I took a chance with it and organized a trip to Greece, which was great…..but could they do it again??? YES!!!!! Our local specialist Emerson was just fantastic! He worked patiently with me to organize a trip that met our fantasies of what a trip to view the Northern Lights might be. We went snowmobiling with Lauri of Lazy Santa Safaris, who was the perfect guide. That was followed by a reindeer sleigh ride at Sieriporo reindeer farm and by the highlight of our trip, dog sledding at Bearhill. The timing of activities was perfect, not too many not too few. The transportation links were seamless and the accommodations that Emerson arranged were right up our alley! His suggestions were always spot on. We can’t thank him enough.

We visited Finland in January 26. Our trip advisor Emerson was on the top of everything. From trip planning to help in Finland. The hotels were amazing and unique. The Glass resort in Santa Clause village and Haave in Rovaniemi were absolutely the best. Very personal and well thought. We had everything we might need and more. The adventures were great (husky sledding, reindeer safari, and very authentic sauna). Walking tours in Helsinki (tour guide Ruslan) and in Tallinn were fun and very informative. Transfers were easy and very timely. The overnight train from Helsinki to Rovaniemi was fun. We would highly recommend Emerson and KimKim for travel. They have many destinations and we will use them again in the future.

Hotel Reviews

Hotel Fabian

Helsinki

Authenticity & Character

Location

Walking distance to everything

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Overnight Train

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Glass resort

Rovaniemi

It was the most beautiful resort located in the magical forest. Amenities were amazing from the private hot tub to sauna to the dinner and breakfast.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Haawe Boutique Apart Hotel

Rovaniemi

Located in the heart of Rovaniemi the hotel had everything. With well stocked refrigerator and hygiene necessities to unique design of each room. The hotel has very private touch. Highly efficient high tech .

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Adults Only Husky Adventure

Finland

So much fun The dogs were so happy and well kept

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Helsinki City Walking Tour (3h)

Helsinki

Ruslan, tour guide, is very knowledgeable and passionate about the city. Tour was very well planned

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Tallinn Day Trip

Helsinki

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Flexible Northern Lights Hunting

Finland

We didn't see aurora but it was our guide fault. He was very helpful and knowledgeable

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Group Reindeer Safari and Farm Visit

Rovaniemi

Lots of fun

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Finnish Sauna Experience

Rovaniemi

Very unique and authentic. We got to see aurora at the lake as the bonus

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Resort - City Center Private Transfer

Finland

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

All of our guides for our tours were fantastic! Iga (Reindeer Tour), Sanni (Northern Lights Tour), and Cecilia(?) (Horse Sleigh Tour), and Mark (Ranua Wildlife Park). I'm sorry to have missed the photography tour as the Ranua park took a lot out of me to make the parts we did make.

The overall itineray was awesome! Transfers, Hotels, Trains -- from pickup in Rovaniemi and delivery to Helsinski airport was great! Of course with any itinerary as complex as ours, there are bound to be hiccups. None were so bad that would degrade how we feel the overall trip went.

Hiccups with maybe more transparency or info? Use of VR app, FAQ how the train would work, FAQ how to get taxi and other local transport for any of our side adventures, etc.

Hotel Reviews

Lapland Sky Ounasvaara

Rovaniemi

Nice and comfortable. Great touch with a private sauna in the room. Was a little cold being outside of the hotel proper. We had a few bags and was difficult to get to room on checkin and bags to lobby on checkout. Food was FANTASTIC! We were totally excited and were tastefully surprised. Dining room as awesome but very cold by the glass. Heat was a little light and definitely needed the provided blankets to be near the glass for the amazing night views.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Fabian

Helsinki

Fantastic staff! They got is checked in and informed us our breakfast bags will be ready in the morning. Never had to ask. We were there for just an overnight stay and the room was unbelievable. Quaint and quiet to get a great night sleep before our early morning departure to catch our flight. Definitely would enjoy staying there again!

Authenticity & Character

rustic and modern at the same time! Comfort and ambiance focused on the guest -- loved it!

Location

Staff

very nice and smiling! And, friendly too!

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Reindeer Safari in the Nature of Lapland

Rovaniemi

Our hosts and tour guide were amazing! Lots of info and stories. Examples and samples were great. Perfect timing to warm up on a very cold morning!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

love the extra pictures Iga took and provided us! Super quality.

Transport

Ranua Wildlife Park Visit

Finland

Super time to see the animals that were available to be seen. We were there during extreme cold weather so picture we made were great!

Quality of Experience

Food

The restaurant food was pretty nice! Tasty!

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Mark was fantastic. Lots of history, information about the animals, and insights to some of them from his past journeys in the wild. Really LOVED his photo ordeals for National Geographic!

Transport

Evening Horse Sleigh Ride

Finland

Both ladies (forget their names correctly) were exceptionally accommodating with our group. Talked about the history behind the Finnish Horses and our horse that was pulling the sleigh. Nice stories. We were lucky and the 2nd night in a row, we saw Northern Lights. Activity was too fast and in the middle of snowing -- no good pictures.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Mark was amazing with the in context stories about the animals in the park and sharing his own experiences capturing them on film, in the wild.

Transport

Northern Lights Tour

Rovaniemi

AMAZING! Early in the tour seemed it might be a little disappointing with slight cloud cover. We got lucky! Very pretty lights of many colors.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Sanni was amazing, Informative, and empathetic and helpful in working with my gear for best pictures.

Transport

transport was a little packed but still somewhat comfortable.

Let me begin with Emerson. The first night we were in Helsinki, getting ready to fly to Kittila the next day, when we received the info that the flight had been cancelled due to the weather (-35 degrees...). Emerson jumped into action and communicated with me throughout the night, rescheduled our flights to Oulu where a bus then took us to Kittila. He also reached out to the Northern Lights Ranch, where we were expected, to notify them of our delay and to arrange for food to be available to us when we arrived late at night at our cabin. He also cancelled our aurora tours and rescheduled it for the day after. In a sentence: we were facing a potential major hiccup with our trip, and Emerson took charge, and solved every single issue. I was greatly impressed and very grateful.

Now on to the trip. Magnificent, unforgettable, spectacular. The first night in Kittila we took the aurora tour that Emerson had rescheduled with Lazy Santa Safaris (guided by Lauri), and it was absolutely stunning. Lauri drove us to the bank of a huge frozen river and we then walked through the snow and onto the river. In the middle of the darkness we were treated to an absolutely unbelievable natural show. We have some amazing pictures that will forever remind us of that night. Early that morning we also had a wonderful snowmobile tour, also with Lazy Santa. Driving the snowmobiles was a lot of fun and we were provided with suitable clothing to protect us from the incredible cold.

We also had a splendid experience with Bearhill Huskies Tours. Wow...driving the sled with those dogs was another splendid adventure. The symbiotic relation between humans and dogs was quite moving, and I will personally always remember that. Lots of fun as well at the Reindeer Farm, where we were taken around by those gentle animals. A beautiful experience;

Accomodations: The Northern Lights Ranch is an experience not to be missed. The rooms with glass ceilings, the wonderful restaurant, and the reindeers feeding experience, all conjured to give us two wonderful nights. We are planning to go back in the summer and experience a different aspect of Finland. The Arctic Hotel in Ravaniemi (sp?) was also very good. Outstanding service and great location, that allowed us to tour the very nice city of Ravaniemi (and the Santa Village). Finally the Ice Hotel...not for the faint of heart. It is an experience I am happy we did, but the night in the ice-cold rooms is definitely something that maybe you don't want to repeat :). The sauna at the hotel, on the other hand, is a must-do, with the three steps: hot sauna, ice-cave sauna, and then hot tub. My kids and I really enjoyed that.

In conclusion, I think the travel was perfectly organized, with every supplier well chosen, and everything worked like clockwork. We also had two nights at the Fabian Hotel in Helsinki, a beautiful city that is definitely work visiting. We had two lovely dinners there, including one at the Finland Caviar Shop and Restaurant, that we recommend heartily as a great conclusion.

I would definitely consider using KimKim again for my travels. We were completely satisfied and impressed.

Emerson is the best travel agent I could ever have asked for. He truly listened to what we wanted and turned it into the trip of a lifetime. Every detail was thoughtfully planned, seamless, and exceeded our expectations. His expertise, responsiveness, and genuine care made the entire experience stress-free and unforgettable. I will only work with Emerson going forward and we’re already planning our next trip with him!

If you’re thinking about going to Finland, I think you should go, and if you’re thinking about using KimKim / MonMon Travel, I think you should! I worked with Emerson & Lilla and they planned a great winter trip for my family of 5 (2 adults and 3 kids ages 16, 13, and 11). They really handled organizing every step of the way (before and during the trip) and picked the best hotels, best companies / tour operators / tours, etc. They planned a better trip for my family than I could have planned alone, and it saved me a lot of time / headache to work with them to plan the trip. We spent one day in Munich on the way home and I joked to my family that I missed Lilla already. The biggest compliment I can give is that I will recommend Finland / KimKim / MonMon to my friends in real life.

Hotel Reviews

Hotel Fabian

Helsinki

I would stay here again.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Overnight Train

I am glad we did it & I would take the overnight train to Lapland again. It was easy and an interesting travel experience for my kids. They never took an overnight train before!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Northern Lights Ranch

Köngäs

Loved this hotel / glass cabin. We loved the whole trip but if forced to pick we all liked Northern Lights Ranch / Levi the best - quiet, snow, stars, etc.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Arctic Light Hotel

Rovaniemi

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Home Hotel Jugend

Helsinki

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Aurora Tour by Van

Levi

If you really want to try your best to see the Northern Lights, I recommend that you do this tour in Levi.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Levi Fell Snowmobile Adventure

Levi

I always ask everyone in my family to tell me their favorite thing we did on the trip. My 11 year old daughter and I picked the snowmobile trip! None of us had ever been snowmobiling before and it was a fun and beautiful adventure. The latest my 13 year old son has said is that he liked so much he can’t pick a favorite thing, but he had listed the snowmobile trip up there as a possibility when asked earlier :)

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Luxury Log Sauna and Finnish Dinner Experience

Rovaniemi

We all enjoyed this - great food and fun sauna experience and interesting to be in a Finnish family’s home . My 16 year old son rated this as his favorite activity of the trip!

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Family Husky Safari

Finland

I’m really rating a different experience to be 4 stars and I would probably rate the kennel experience listed here as 5 stars if I had gone. Due to weather, our originally booked experience was changed and we were given the option to go with the change or cancel for a refund. Due to weather and being tired from New Year’s the night before, we opted to cancel our trip to the kennel since given the option and then at the last minute, Lilla helped us organize a shorter husky ride at Santa’s Husky Rides - the kennel’s satellite location in Santa Claus Village (at this moment I loved Lilla - they wouldn’t let me book a guaranteed time slot myself but said I could walk in, but I thought to ask Lilla if she could get them to give me a time slot and she did and arranged our transportation to / from!). I think we would have liked to go out to the kennel (and you should do it if you can!) but if you can’t - I was very thankful for Lilla’s last minute help to book the shorter ride so we could still get a taste of it.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Reindeer Sleigh Ride to Ice Fishing

Rovaniemi

My 13 year old son caught one fish and the guide caught one fish but ice fishing was up there on my husband and 13 year old son’s top activities of the trip. They really liked being out on the ice with the guides and my 13 year old really liked grilling sausages on the fire out there.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

New Years Party at the SnowHotel

Rovaniemi

It turns out my family is not really in New Year’s parties. If your family wants to attend a party, I think this would be fun.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Helsinki and Suomenlinna Private Tour

Helsinki

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Aurora Ice Floating

Finland

Everyone thought this was a fun, interesting activity. In the end, my 11 year old daughter didn’t want to put the suit on and go in, and I didn’t force her to & it was no problem for her to stay in the kota while we did it.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport