Guðmundur Óli Pálmason

TOTALLY loved kayaking (though wish it were a longer kayak), hiking on the glacier and into the ice cave, and the food tour. The guides for all of those were fantastic. Great hiking experiences and interesting sites. Gummi provided excellent restaurant recommendations. The food was just so fresh and tasty!

Hotel Reviews

Center Hotels Skjaldbreið

Reykjavík

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Vík í Mýrdal

Vík

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Litli Geysir Hotel

Haukadalur

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hótel Fransiskus Stykkishólmi

Stykkishólmur

Very utilitarian, but the staff was absolutely fantastic!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Center Hotel Arnarhvoll

Reykjavík

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Faxaflói Bay Whale Watching Excursion

Reykjavík

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon Kayaking Excursion

Iceland

We loved this…..just would have loved if it had been a bit longer. Beautiful and loved seeing the seals.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Glacier Ice Cave Experience

Iceland

Had no idea what to expect and the cave did not disappoint.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Icelandic Food Walk

Reykjavík

The guide was really fun and the group was good. The food was totally amazing.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

We recently used KimKim for the first time to map out an anniversary trip to Iceland. Never used the service before (but friends had), but given we’re both busy professionals with zero downtime and knew little about the country … we took a shot on using the service. Fantastic experience! Guòmudur Óli was our local guide and mapped out a perfectly curated trip based on our interests of Art, Food, Hiking & Scenery. We did/saw about 90% of the suggested items and he provided terrific restaurant choices (both casual lunch spots as well as fine dining). Hardly had to lift a finger except for a couple of dinner reservations. We even ran into a small snag with one of our reservations and he was all over it to ensure things were fixed and went smooth; like your own personal concierge! We plan to use KimKim again for future travel and if you get a chance to partner with Guòmudur (aka Gummi) on a trip to Iceland … do it!

Hotel Review

Hotel Holt—The Art Hotel

Reykjavík

The art. The bar. The staff. All of it was superb! Top notch! Favorite stop on our journey in Iceland. Now … it is a bit older. But the beds were comfy and there was a bit of nostalgia in the place. Sitting in the bar with a handcrafted cocktail near the fireplace admiring the art made for a wonderful romantic moment. Highly recommend!

Authenticity & Character

This place oozes with character. Oozes! Loved it all.

Location

I liked that it was just a few blocks away from the hustle and bustle of downtown … but one can be right back in the middle of shopping in 3-4 blocks. Located in a bit quieter area which is nice.

Staff

Top notch, super friendly. Went above and beyond to ensure we had all of our needs taken care of.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Looks it’s a bit older place … but we were comfortable. Everything was clean. If you’re looking for pristine and modern, this isn’t the place to be. This is warm and cozy and filled to the brim with wonderful art and charm.

Activity Review

Glacier Ice Cave Experience

Iceland

Ok … first things first. Our guide (Martin) was terrific. Absolutely brilliant! Provided good education on the glacier and geography. He just nailed it and made the experience worth it. I’ve never walked on a glacier before so it was a nice experience to get up close and personal with one; scenery is pretty. Now, what you need to know is it’s about a 30-40 min drive to glacier (30-40 minute return as well). The hike is moderate, not difficult … saw all ages out there. However, you do need to be able to climb the equivalent of a few flights of stairs. The cave itself was a bit of a disappointment … more like a large ice cubby. It was interesting in the sense that you get to walk into a block of ice and see all the layers … but the hike in/out experience takes just about 60 minutes or so. I was expecting more of a spelunking experience … this is not that! And that may be exactly what you’re looking for … and, if so, you’ll be delighted.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

This was a six-day mother-daughter Icelandic adventure with two days in Reykjavik and four days of hiking, kayaking, and engaging with lava fields, waterfalls and glaciers. (Our hoped-for tour inside a volcano was cancelled last minute for maintenance--next time!) Once our Iceland specialist, Gummi, understood we were not spa people (no thank you, Blue Lagoon), he set us up with tours to fit our interests. The Reykjavik folklore tour was very good, and the food walk was fantastic. On our own, we found the volcano show at the Harpa, which was spectacular, and the "How to Become Icelandic in 60 minutes", also at the Harpa, which was okay. The rest of the tour was around the Golden Circle. We were self driving, and Gummi had told us to be sure to get the car rental people to help us set up the navigation. However, they refused to do so, so we had to figure it out on our own, and we did. The navigation proved to be fussy, sometimes working, sometimes not. It did cause frustration, and we were sometimes confused, but we were never really lost. The car rental people also gave us a fob which they said would get us a discount on gas, but we never figured how to use it. Gummi had promised to be only a phone call away if we had problems, and he was true to his word. (We probably should have asked him about the fob.) Our self-guided hiking and our scheduled excursions were all wonderful. We especially liked and ice cave and the kayaking among what I called "iceberglettes." Three of our hotels were lovely, the fourth taught us that six weeks out is not necessarily enough lead time for booking during high season. All in all, it was another good Kimkim experience for us.

Hotel Reviews

Courtyard by Marriott Reykjavik Keflavik Airport

Reykjanesbær

This was a nice hotel, just a very short distance from the airport.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

They were helpful.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Welcome Hotel Lambafell

Eyvindarhólar

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

There was only a staff for breakfast and cleaning.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hótel Grímsborgir by Keahotels

Ásborgir

This was a lovely property with a helpful staff and a good restaurant.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

CenterHotel Plaza

Reykjavík

This hotel was so well placed. Parking was not too far away (and parking in Reykjavik is a challenge), and everything we wanted to go to was nearby. Breakfast included granola bars right from the oven. Staff was friendly and helpful.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Lava Tunnel Activity

Iceland

This was not on our itinerary! We specifically said we had been in lava tunnels and didn't need to do this. Did we pay for it?

Inside the Volcano (Meet On Location)

Iceland

This was cancelled due to maintenance.

Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon Kayaking Excursion

Iceland

Kayaking amongst those hunks of glacier was an awesome experience, so serene and beautiful.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

The guide took photos of everyone who wanted.

Glacier Ice Cave Experience

Iceland

This was great. Our guide was a hoot. And he explained everything very well.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Our guide had had quite a career path. He was an interesting person.

Transport

Icelandic Food Walk

Reykjavík

Bonnie was a great guide for this tour, and she introduced us to some wonderful food and restaurants. We were sorry that the restaurant we liked best had only a 7 course tasting menu if we wanted to go there for dinner (we didn't want to eat that much!) but we were glad we got to sample some of it!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Bonnie was so much fun.

Reykjavík Folklore Tour

Reykjavík

This was an interesting way to learn about Reykjavik and its history.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Overall, we were very happy with the itinerary that Gummi put together for us. We appreciated being able to provide feedback with Gummi's proposals and tweak what we wanted until we came up with a plan that met both our desires and budget. The provided packing list was spot on. We especially enjoyed the Lava Cave and Glacier Cave adventures. There were only two of the suggested stops that we didn't make - we forgot one and decided to shorten our drive on a rainy day.

We had some challenges using the Google Maps and WiFi with Car Play. We probably wouldn't recommend the hotel in Reykjavik as our first room was very small and parking was a challenge (they say they provide parking but it was street parking not the hotel's). It would have been good for Gummi to make it clear that we needed to be diligent to pay for parking no matter how short a time we were there (we got charged after the fact). In the end the only thing we wish we could have added was a visit to a smaller hot spring, maybe replacing a waterfall.

We are glad that we decided on a short stay at the Hotel Keflavik upon arrival and before heading to the Blue Lagoon. Being able to take a 4 hour nap made the rest of the day much more enjoyable. Gummi should be familiar with the Nap and Go program which I just happened to come across online.

Hotel Reviews

Stracta Hotel Hella

Hella

The hotel is comfortable and located close to restaurants. The onsite bistro is good.

Authenticity & Character

Hot tub and sauna

Location

Convenient to restaurants, gas stations and the highway.

Staff

We were given the runaround when asking if we could get something for breakfast the night before because we needed to leave before breakfast opened.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Skógá by EJ Hotels

Skógar

The hotel was comfortable. We appreciated the fancy coffee machine in the common area. Breakfast was good.

Authenticity & Character

Location

The nearest restaurants, etc. are in Vik about 20 minutes away. It was quiet and an easy walk to a waterfall.

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Skálatjörn

Selfoss

The guesthouse rooms were comfortable and well-appointed. It was very quiet. The host gives a daily tour of the goats which was fun. Selfoss was 20 minutes away.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Located amidst farmland about 20 minutes from Selfoss.

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Bifrost

Borgarnes

The rooms are nice. The area is quiet. Breakfast was good. There's not much in the immediate vicinity of the hotel.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Alva Hotel Brautarholt

Reykjavík

Check in was easy. Our first room was very small; the second room was better. The location was quiet. It was a 15-20 minute walk to the sites. Although the hotel claims they provide parking, it is actually street parking and only certain areas are free. Breakfast was good.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Glacier Ice Cave Experience

Iceland

The hike to the cave was a little challenging but still fun. I felt safe. The explanation of the cave was good.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

It would have helped if South Coast Adventures had a sign in the parking lot. I was expecting a storefront and was surprised they just parked and expected us to find them.

Víðgelmir Lava Cave Experience

Iceland

We were given good instructions and explanations. Felt very safe. The guide was excellent.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

The trip was very well planned with all the important Iceland highlights captured. The hotels chosen for us were wonderful and well located. Our local specialist, Gummi, was so responsive at all hours and was always available when we needed him. When our whale watching trip was canceled due to weather, he replanned the day and scheduled another whale watching trip for us on another day. I would highly recommend Gummi for assistance with your Iceland adventures! And I would use Kim Kim again for locations where I wanted to explore thoroughly. Well done!