Mathia Pacenti

After decades of planning my own travel, I tried KimKim on the recommendation of a friend. Mathia put together a great itinerary for us which included the unique and memorable experience of glamping on a fjord! The balance of planned vs unplanned time was just what we were hoping for and allowed us to research and incorporate a few extra stunning hikes.

Mathia has been so helpful to us in setting up our trip. He has also been very patient. We were suppose to go on our trip 2024 but my Husband got sick literaly 2 days before we were to fly out. Mathia helped us get us our refunds and then helped us rebook everything for 2025. If we had any problems at all on our trip Mathia was able to help us. We enjoyed out trip and appreciated everything Mathia did for us.

Our trip to Norway was everything we hoped it would be and more. Every place had its own beauty and story. All our accommodations were clean, comfortable, and close to our various forms of transportation as well as in the center of the respective cities. We loved our five private tours. All the guides were knowledgeable and personable and very helpful guiding us to possible activities and sites beyond the tours.
Thank you, Mathia, for all your patience
and helpful tips from day one. We hope to tour northern Norway someday and look forward to working with you again.

Mathia couldn’t have planned this trip better. I was concerned about the multiple types of transportation and how we’d get from those to our hotels easily. Short of have a personal porter, it could not have been easier. Exceeded my expectations. Mathia worked hard planning as we had a lot of requirements.
We had 5 individualized tours. All of the guides were excellent.
The suggestion to stop in Balestrand - a real highlight of the trip. Shhhh. Don’t tell anyone about that place.🙃
Wonderful wonderful wonderful trip. Can’t wait to return to see the northern part of this spectacular country.

We just got back from a two week honeymoon in the Lofoten and Vesterålen archipelagos and we could not have had a better time! Mathia did an amazing job gaining an understanding of our goals for the trip and planned the perfect vacation for us. We did variety of activities and loved each and every one including whale watching, sea kayaking, and rib boat fjord tours. He recommended some amazing hikes for our less structured days and even met up with us to take us on a beautiful hike in Hadseløya. All of our reservations for activities and accommodations went smoothly and the hosts knew to expect us when we arrived. We were impressed with Mathia's responsiveness during planning and while we were on vacation. He even went so far as to proactively reach out and assist rescheduling our whale watching trip to avoid cancellation due to bad weather. He definitely went above and beyond with that one!

All told, we had a wonderful trip and would be thrilled to work with Mathia again!

Great hotel choices, memorable activities, and good pacing with some busy days and some very relaxing days.

Our trip through the northern islands of Norway was perfect. From start to finish, Mathia provided expert advice. I almost always plan trips on my own and I was a little nervous to use this service without a personal recommendation, but after using Kim Kim and Mathia for this trip, I may never plan on my own again. Each place we stayed was unique and I feel like we got a good feeling for the different areas in the islands. All the activities planned were exactly what our family enjoy, and we especially loved the excellent whale watching experience, biking, and midnight sun kayaking. We had no hiccups during the trip, but Mathia was always quick to respond with any questions I had about hike or restaurant suggestions. Would highly recommend Kim Kim and Mathia!

Hotel Reviews

Thon Hotel Oslo Airport

Gardermoen

Easy bus trip from the airport. Comfortable rooms. Large buffet breakfast. Good place to stay if heading back to the airport, but would stay closer to downtown if wanting to spend time in Oslo.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Good place to stay if heading to the airport

Staff

Friendly and efficient

Cleanliness & Comfort

Skagakaia

Bø

Very special locally-owned guest house. We had the apartment, which was perfect for our family of four. Lone’s dinners were delicious.

Authenticity & Character

Location

The views of the water were beautiful!

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Thon hotel Andrikken

Andenes

Good location in Andenes.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Nordis Suites

Svolvær

Loved the location. Right on the harbor.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

No AC, so was pretty warm at night.

Quality Hotel Richard With

Stokmarknes

Great location. Close to sauna. Easy to walk around town. Large rooms. Loved the shuffleboard downstairs. Very large, wonderful breakfast.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Reine Rorbuer

Reine

Our favorite place we stayed! We had cabin 21, which was the last one on the road. Very authentic, beautiful views.

Authenticity & Character

Old fishing cabin-very cool!

Location

Could walk to everywhere in Reine

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

So much space

Activity Reviews

Midnight Sun Kayak Tour

Norway

Beautiful evening. We couldn’t go into the fjords because of the wind, but it was still a great experience.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Summer Whale Watching in Andenes

Norway

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Tour with Skagakaia Guide

Norway

Beautiful evening hike. Loved talking to Katie and getting insights on life in Norway

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Meet our Local Guide - Hike and Explore beautiful Hadseløya

Norway

Loved meeting Mathia and learning about life in Vesterålen.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Bike Trip Around Hadseløya

Stokmarknes

What a great day! We loved spending the day with Robin and exploring the island. The biking was not too strenuous, and we were able to see so much.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

This was my first time using Kimkim AND my first trip to Norway. I had planned on taking my fiance to Oslo for a rock concert and wanted to build a trip around that. So I got in touch with kimkim, was assigned a travel host, Mathia, and began working with him to build an itinerary. I loved his recommendations and with a little tweaking, we landed on an amazing itinerary, crafted specifically for us. We enjoyed EVERYTHING! We were impressed with the quality of hotels and activities. We loved the list of local recommendations that Mathia provided. In fact, we chose to have dinner at Doverhallen, one of the local's hidden gems. The food was fantastic! We would have never found the place on our own. So thank you for that, Mathia. Also, we appreciated having a flexible and attentive travel host team - yes, Mathia had a great team behind him! We had a last minute change on our last day that required us to extend our trip by one day and Mathia and his team took great care of us! I recommended kimkim to friends and family and even to people we met on the trip. All in all, a great value for the money.

Hotel Review

Thon Hotel Opera

Oslo

Beautiful hotel! Amazing breakfast! The staff was incredibly helpful. For example, my fiance was not feeling well, and one of the front desk staff came to our room at my inquiry to check on him. Also, another front desk staff helped me immensely with local public transportation tickets and getting around.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Immediately next to the train station with connections to the airport and trains to elsewhere in Europe.

Staff

my fiance was not feeling well, and one of the front desk staff came to our room at my inquiry to check on him. another front desk staff helped me immensely with local public transportation tickets and getting around.

Cleanliness & Comfort

LOVED the oversized soaking tub!

Activity Reviews

Finnabotn RIB Tour

Balestrand

This was SO MUCH FUN!!! Highly recommend!

Quality of Experience

Giant Fjords, breathtaking waterfalls!

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Fun and informative boat captains.

Transport

Fun and FAST!

Silent Oslo Fjord Cruise

Oslo

This was relaxing and the tour guide provided relevant and interesting narrative on the sites that we saw on the cruise. I expected more spectacular views since "Fjord" was in the name of the cruise. The scenery was pretty, but not breathtaking. So my expectations were slightly high.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

The guide told us interesting stories about the various sights that we came upon on the cruise.

Transport

Loved the zero emissions yacht.

Mathia was such a great partner in planning this trip! He picked hotels that were centrally located and upscale, he planned activities that were a unique way to see the country like our ferry to Rosendal. We loved our local tour guide John in Bergen, he shared so much history and knowledge about the city and was engaging throughout. I loved how he had pictures of areas from the past that we were looking at today to see how things have evolved. Mathia was communicative throughout the whole process and helped us figure out what would be worth our short time in the country. Would absolutely recommend kimkim and Mathia!

Hotel Review

Amerikalinjen

Oslo

My favorite hotel of our trip! The building has such a history to it that is highlighted and celebrated throughout your experience. The rooms were so nice and thoughtfully decorated. I loved that they had a guidebook with recommendations from the staff throughout the hotel. The bathrooms were large with nice showers. The restaurant downstairs Atlas was so good for breakfast and has an amazing Caesar salad. Nice gym, the sauna was down for maintenance, but we were able to use the one at the Clarion during that time

Authenticity & Character

Location

Right across from the train and bus station, and walkable to Karl Johan Gate

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Review

Bergen Walking Tour With a Local Guide

Bergen

John was amazing!! He shared so much history and had such a love for the city that made us all excited to share in it!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport