Èric D

Our trip to Iceland was fantastic! We let Eric know what our goals were, and he put together a well-thought-out and well-arranged plan.
1) The day we landed in Keflavik we had a day to reorient due to the 5 hour time change. Driving was not too different from the US so that part was fairly easy.
2) The idea of doing snorkeling and hiking excursions the first 4 days of our trip was a great idea as we had the most energy to do these adventures at the beginning of the trip.
3) The food and drink recommendations were also great! The food in Iceland was superb!
4) The climbs the participants needed to perform on the Solheimajokull glacier hike turned out to be too much physically for me as I have asthma. I was able to get on the glacier yet not able to complete the climb which was disappointing. My daughter and others in the group completed successfully. I was able to complete all our other adventures.
5) We had specific excursions that Eric arranged and tickets purchased. He also included self guided things to look at and do which we did most of. This was very helpful to have these additional things to do that were discretionary.
6) My favorite and the reason I chose Iceland was to snorkel between the tectonic plates in the Silfra fissure. This was amazing! My daughter's favorites were the snorkeling and the Solheimajokull glacier hike.
7) When we arrived in Reykjavik for our last 3 nights, we didn't account for time to go to any museums. It would have been helpful to have an estimated time to allow for the self guided things to do.
8) I would not recommend the Fosshotel Nupar. It had mold in corners on the outside door and the bathroom. The Greenhouse Hotel in Hveragerdi and the Exeter in Reykjavik were wonderful.
9) We were well prepared for the weather with the suggestions we received for clothing needed for our trip.
10) We were charged for car rental which was not expected as it is not listed in the Excludes section of the itinerary. Is this correct?
10) We cannot say enough how impressed we are with the arrangements Eric made for us. There were no surprises...other than the car rental charge.

Activity Reviews

Silfra Snorkeling

Iceland

Jenny was a great guide and took wonderful pictures!

Quality of Experience

just the though of swimming between tectonic plates is amazing.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

We drove so there was no transport.

Hvammsvik Hot Springs (& Nature Reserve)

Iceland

The hot springs and the cold plunge need to be experienced!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

there were really no guides

Transport

we drove

Rye Bread tour (Geothermal bakery)

Iceland

The bread was so delicious! I wish they would share the recipe!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

The gal who was our guide told stories about the thermal ovens in the ground and about the visit from Zac Efron.

Transport

we drove so no transport

Solheimajokull Glacier Walk

Iceland

It was amazing to actually be on a glacier.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

The guide from Belgium was exceptional. He was very knowledgeable about the geology of the glacier and in general Iceland.

Transport

we drove

Katla Ice Cave Superjeep tour

Iceland

This was also amazing to learn about how the caves are formed and that they don't last long in their present form.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Agnes was our guide. She was very knowledgeable in how the caves are formed and explained how fast they change. I also enjoyed her talk on the way out about nature in Iceland; how from a lava flow slowly grow into green again. It was inspiring.

Transport

Very cool in the transport vehicle and how they have to deflate/inflate the tires.

Sky Lagoon

Iceland

I liked the Sky Lagoon for the additional features of the salt rub and showers.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

we drove

Eric put together a great itinerary for our group of 7, with age ranges from 9 to 77. We were able to travel together in a large 4x4 van. The accommodations were very nice and ranged from cabins, to villas, to downtown apartments. Eric was able to put together an itinerary that allowed for both shared activities and separate activities based on physical capabilities. All the information provided was detailed, clear, and really made for a nice, relaxing, but also very adventurous trip. In 8 days, we were able to see many of the highlights of Iceland, but also had plenty of time for exploring and side missions. Overall fantastic trip!

Amazing family trip to Iceland. We traveled with our two boys for a family trip x 1 week. The boys really enjoyed the activities: glacier hike, lagoon iceberg tour on zodiac boat, and river rafting were key favorites. Kimkim's team created a wonderful itinerary, with a highlight event each day to look forward to. thank you!

Activity Reviews

Family river rafting

Iceland

Staff was incredible. beautiful weather. even got to jump from a cliff into the water.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

short bus ride to the start of the river rafting--the bus was a bit rustic, but part of the fun experience.

Fjallsarlon glacier lagoon zodiac boat tour

Iceland

Out of this world experience. So beautiful. Try to go on a sunny day (if you get lucky with the weater) as the icebergs shimmer in the sun.

We used kimkim for a week long family trip to Iceland because I was overwhelmed with trying to figure out what to do in such an amazing country. The trip was great and probably far better than if I had planned it myself. We are an active family and I'm not a fan of long drives, so Eric made an itinerary that allowed us to get out of the car and get moving and limited the time on the road. We did waterfall hikes, guided glacier hike, puffin viewing tour, and whale watching. All the tours were fabulous. Having a complete driving plan with the best places to stop on each drive was one of the most helpful part of using kimkim.

We had to make some adjustments due to jet lag and the kids sleeping until 11am every day, but that was easily done since the sun didn't set until midnight. We asked for 2 bedroom apartment style accommodations, which were all lovely. Using kimkim was definitely worth it and took all the stress out of trip planning.

Activity Reviews

The Secret Lagoon

Iceland

Much smaller than the more popular Blue Lagoon, but large enough we had plenty of room for our family. Had towels and suits to rent.

Quality of Experience

Solheimajokull Glacier Hike

Iceland

Relatively easy hike onto a glacier with beautiful views of the valley. They had us put on a climbing harness, but there was no actual technical climbing. My 10 year old had no trouble with this hike and it was his favorite part of the trip.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Puffin watching tour at the Ingolfshofdi cape

Iceland

So many puffins! My husband took 2300 pictures of puffins on this tour because his camera can shot 12 images a second. There is a very short but steep sand dune hike at the beginning that some of the others had trouble with, so know your abilities. But you get to run down the dune at the end of the tour.

Whale Watching Tour

Reykjavík

We saw many dolphins and got close to a couple humpback whales. I've been on a few whale watching trips and this was closest I've been to whales. It felt like they were checking us out at times.

WOW!! Éric provided an excellent, well thought out itinerary. My whole family was thoroughly impressed. The detail was excellent right down to great dining recommendations. Excellent excellent excellent job. Thank you.

Just returned from the most wonderful trip to Iceland. Eric, our specialist, really understood the sort of vacation we wanted to have and put together an excellent itinerary for us to follow as we drove the Ring Road. It was so nice to have a handful of experiences all booked and paid for with self guided tours in-between. Everyday was an adventure, and just when we thought we had seen or experienced everything, the next day proved us wrong!
Thank you Eric and Kimkim for a very memorable experience.

Eric planned an unforgettable trip for our family! It was the exact pace we needed plus hitting all the must see spots and more! His trip details and notes and quick links for daily driving plans and food options made planning our days exploring and driving the countryside seamless. He and his team helped during the trip to reschedule a whale watching tour due to weather and were so responsive. We had a trip of a lifetime. Thank you Eric !

We were very happy with Eric throughout the planning process. He was very responsive and sensitive to our technical challenges.
The itinerary met our required wishes. The 'Golden Circle' stay was a great way to begin our introduction to Iceland and the proximity to the airport of our first lodging helped us deal with the jetlag. The geothermal activity was a real attraction. Unfortunately I missed the planned activity at that location.
Our stay in Kirkjubaejarklaustur gave us exposure to the desolation and rawness of the country. The Diamond Beach day trip was a pleasant surprise. We loved the icebergs.
After the relative sparseness of humanity of the first two stays, Reykjavik was anything but. Unfortunately, Penny caught a virus of some sort two days before we were to fly to Iceland, and she couldn't partake of the Sky Lagoon pass. I, however, very much enjoyed the venue. It was splendid and I wish Penny had felt better and been able to accompany me. It was quite breathtaking.

Where to begin? KimKim helped us plan an 11-day ring road trip and we hardly scratched the surface of this beautiful place.

Lodgings: Eric and his team did a great job finding us off the beaten path places to stay within our budget. We especially loved Frost & Fire in Hveragerdi - cute room, great view, nice restaurant and their own hot springs tubs on the side of the hill. We also loved Gistihsid Lake Hotel in Eglisstadir - really nice rooms, views, great restaurant too. They had an indoor spa/hot tub too. Also of note were the Stracata apartments near Kirkjubæjarklaustur - it was an adventure arriving in the dark to discover the next morning that we were in a lava field filled with pools of water. It was raining that night so hard to tell where we were. Would be fantastic for Northern Lights! Also, the Mork Cottage in Hvammstangi was so cute, only 1.7 km from town but felt like it was in the middle of nowhere. We wished we could have stayed there a few days - the Northern Lights over the fjord were amazing. We would have liked to explore this part of Iceland more. The other lodgings fit our budget but were more standard hotels, met our needs, and had comfortable beds.

Excursions: We did 3 guided excursions. Horse back riding at Eldhestar stables outside of Hveragerdi, Glacier hike with Arctic Adventures on Sólheimajökull, and a crystal blue ice cave super keep/hike with Blue Iceland. Riding 2 hours in the rain was an experience in itself. We are glad we went - the horses are wonderful and the scenery beautiful even in the rain. The glacier hike was great too. We learned a lot about glaciers and climate change from our guide, Tin. Finally, the Ice Cave tour was beautiful. We went late in the day and had the cave to ourselves. It wan’t a sunny day but the blue in the cave was gorgeous. We would recommend spacing excursions out (we had one each of our first 3 days) - this felt rushed to us, but they did fit within the schedule.

Maps, Sites, Options - the maps were fantastic and linked right to google. The hardest part was letting go of all the things we could see but didn’t have time. The final trip plan contained 50-60 pages of site descriptions, recommended sites, and optional activities. Some of the most memorable - the South Coast Lighthouse trail on our first day, Hveralaug wild hot springs afterward. Skaftafoll Nature Reserve and Svartifoss waterfall (2.5 m hike). All of the East Fjords drive & Stokkanes beach (we missed the South black sand beach because the wind was crazy when we arrived). We also loved Húsavík and Akureyri.

Hot Springs - we asked Eric & team for a hot spring almost everyday. We had hot tubs at many of our lodgings. We visited Fontana Nature baths near Gullfoss, Geosea in Husavik, Lake Mývatn Nature Lagoon, and Forest Lagoon. All were wonderful - Forest lagoon was probably our favorite.

Food - Amazing! We tried it all. 3-4 different tasting menus including ending with Michelin Guide restaurant Matur of Drykkar in the Saga Museum. Also, hot dogs, burgers, tomato, mushroom and Icelandic soup. Most days we made sandwiches for lunch because they gave us flexibility to eat in the middle of nowhere.

Our car was great. Enough 4x4 to get us over gravel roads, puddles, pits, and snow.

Fortunately, we did not need to flex schedule because of weather. We just did everything in whatever weather we got. We saw the Northern Lights twice! The biggest gift of Iceland to us.

Thank you Eric & team!

Activity Reviews

Horse Riding

Iceland

I’m only giving it a 4 because it poured rain. Horses were great, scenery was wonderful and they waited for us when we took a wrong turn and ended up 15 minutes late

Quality of Experience

Nice facilities, great location, beautiful horses.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

GeoSea Geothermal Baths

Iceland

Again, super windy. Great view.

Quality of Experience

So windy no one stayed long.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Fontana Geothermal Baths

Iceland

Lovely. We were there late 7:30 pm, so didn’t get to really see the lake, but the pools and facilities were top notch.

Quality of Experience

Solheimajokull Glacier Hike

Iceland

Perfect for what we wanted (easier hike). Great guide.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Crystal Blue Ice Cave

Iceland

So beautiful!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Crazy driving the super jeep where we did!

Transport

Crowded

Myvatn Nature Baths

Lake Mývatn

Super windy. These pools are heated through rocks and gravel under foot - warmer/cooler depending on where you stood. They are also expanding so view wan’t quite as good as it could be.

Quality of Experience

Great facilities. Construction so not as pretty/wild. Got a free drink for Women’s Day!

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Forest Lagoon

Iceland

Gorgeous, new, and very quiet at 2 pm.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff