Roy Pushpak

Thank you Kimkim for five days of vacationing in Norway around Bergen and Oslo. The hotels were great, the scenery beyond belief, and the rain did not dampen our enthusiasm. We missed the tour of Bergen on the first day for reasons unclear to us, but the rest of the tour was impeccable.

Hotel Reviews

Thon Hotel Europa

Oslo

A little cramped

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Radisson Blu Royal Hotel

Bergen

Great breakfasts and meticulous service.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Guided Minibus Tour with Local Guide & Photostops

Bergen

It was cancelled without notice to us, and so far, no reason for the cancellation has been given.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Luggage Transfer Service

Norway

Quality of Experience

Ww1

Private Hardangerfjord & Waterfalls Day Trip

Bergen

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Although there were a couple mixups in the booking process, our trip was flawless. Roy gave me sightseeing options I would never have thought of doing myself, such as the Flam rail tour which was one of the highlights of our trip. Jacob covered our itinerary changes and mixups very conscientiously and professionally. Our food tour in Oslo was wonderful . Having luggage transported from hotel in Bergen to Oslo hotel was a life saver.

The only thing I would offer to have made this trip planning go a bit smoother is to have booking and planning be more simultaneous during the extremely busy tourist season. We would be going with one plan and later find out the hotel or transportation was not available. This was an experience that I encountered during a Kimkim trip to Croatia also, so is not unique to this tour company.

All in all, we had a fabulous trip and it was made much better by booking with Kimkim rather than the plans I had originally made on my own.

Hotel Reviews

Radisson RED Hotel, Oslo Airport

Ullensaker

We were only in this hotel one short night and I can barely remember it being anything but very nice

Authenticity & Character

Nicely decorated

Location

Easy walk from train and airport. We had a family visit and it was an convenient pickup and drop-off with their car.

Staff

friendly and helpful staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Very clean and comfortable like all hotels we were booked in.

Comfort Hotel Karl Johan

Oslo

Location, meals, cleanliness and staff were very excellent

Authenticity & Character

Typical Comfort Hotel. Clean, efficient and friendly staff

Location

Short walk from train station was much appreciated. Not too far to walk to ferries, restaurants, and sightseeing

Staff

Always happy to please, never too busy

Cleanliness & Comfort

Flåmsbrygga Hotel

Flåm

Beautiful furnishings and comfortable beds. It's definitely a nice hotel but I'd never pay the going rate (thank you Kimkim for covering this)

Authenticity & Character

Beautiful furnishings

Location

Located right by the train station in the heart of Flam

Staff

very helpful

Cleanliness & Comfort

beds and bedding were top notch. There was a terrible smell coming from the shower drain but once we took a shower, it faded a bit

Comfort Hotel Bergen

Bergen

Our first introduction to the fact that hotels in Norway are very efficient, not big on space, and have fabulous breakfasts included. This hotel was very clean, everything was in working order and the checkin/check out process went very smoothly.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Good location near all the sights we ere hoping to see

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Nærøyfjord Round-Trip: Fjord Cruise & Scenic Shuttle

Flåm

I'm not sure what the scenic shuttle is all about. We never found the bus we were supposed to get on but a driver who thought we needed a shuttle to our hotel found us and drove us to the Viking Village. That ride is mostly through tunnels so it's not very scenic. The Viking Village is very interesting but we didn't really need that much time there, so I got a tattoo from the tattoo artist in residence. The Fjord cruise was wonderful. It's a very comfortable boat and the scenery is spectacular. We were very lucky with the weather being clear and relatively warm.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

The driver that was hired to take us to the hotel that we no longer needed was very informative, efficient and friendly.

Dinner recommendation: Olivia Tjuvholmen

Oslo

We didn't get there

Luggage Transfer Service

Norway

This was SOOOO helpful. We were in Norway for a wedding in Oslo and had brought a gift that required a large piece of luggage. There was no way we could have managed it on the Flam Railway. I had put the wrong hotel name on our paperwork (Karl Johan Hotel instead of Comfort Hotel at Karl Johan). They got it right and I was so happy to see it when we arrived Oslo.

Quality of Experience

We didn't have to be responsible for our luggage.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Never met them but they got the hotel name changed to the correct one

Transport

It arrived at the right location!!!!!

Street Food Tour Oslo

Oslo

This tour involves a lot of walking in a somewhat out of the way area, so we saw a bit of Oslo that we would not have otherwise seen. The group size was a reasonable size, it didn't feel like we were being herded around. The food samples were interesting, delicious and generous. As a side note, Jay Ternaven of JayWay Travel, was taking this tour with us, considering it as an offering for his tours. So the guide was probably trying very hard to impress.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

knowledgeable, answered all questions politely, considerate of special diets in each location

Transport

It was a walking tour and everyone walked quite well

Everything was great.

Hotel Reviews

Radisson RED Hotel, Oslo Airport

Ullensaker

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Wangen Apartments by Flåmsbrygga

Aurland

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Not super friendly

Cleanliness & Comfort

Clarion Hotel Oslo

Oslo

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Review

Summer and Autumn Fjord Safari on a RIB boat

Aurland

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

I would definitely recommend using Kimkim to plan a vacation. Everyone who interacted with us was helpful and were able to plan activities that would not have been accessible to us otherwise, such as private horseback riding and fishing excursions. Matij and Beni were our points of contact for while we were in the country and were crucially in their assistance!

I will start with what went well or very well.
- Hotel in Stockholm was excellent in an excellent location.
- The Wildlife Safari was a disaster. The guide, I think his name was Daniel, smelled so bad it was nauseating. The trip was not as advertised. The van was not comfortable and it was dirty -- so dirty I could not see out of the windshield and we were supposed to be looking out the window to spot wildlife. It included one hike up a fairly steep hill with NO PATH. It was extremely difficult and I would never done that trip if I had known. I would never recommend this trip.
- Guided Tour in Stockholm was great with an excellent guide, Adam.
- Pre-arranged transportation in Stockholm from hotel to airport worked well.
- Helsinki & Suomenlina Tour was good with an excellent guide, Danielle.
- Guided Tour to Porvoo was good with an excellent guide.
- Pre-arranged cab in Rovaniemi worked well.

Here is what was not so great.
- The Hotel Reisen in Stockholm was not within walking distance of where the ship left us off. We were easily able to get a cab but it would have been helpful to know that in advance.
- Loyly Sauna was not a great place. We went for a drink but did not stay for dinner.
- Turku was very disappointing. Not much to see or do there. We took the train, walked around from the Cathedral to the Tower (which was a pretty long walk), stopped at a cute place for a drink but not much was open. I would not recommend going all that way.
- Rovaniemi was not a good choice in the summer. Most everything including most restaurants in town were closed. Our hotel was fine but the BAR and restaurant were closed. We got off the 9 hour train ride to check in and have a drink but we could not. At the point, we did find one restaurant in town that was open and pretty good. Sitting at our table, we began the process of trying to fly home earlier than we anticipated. That night our hotel room was so hot. There were only a couple of guests at the hotel and no manager on the property. He had given us his What's App contact and I contacted him to ask how to make the room cooler. He did not respond until we had left the next day at noon.

I think that is it.

Hotel Reviews

Nova Skyland Hotel

Rovaniemi

Pleasant room. Bar and restaurant were closed. And room was way too hot with no ability to make it cooler. Not a great place in the summer.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Way too hot

Hotel Lilla Roberts

Helsinki

Nice hotel. Good lobby. Pretty good location. Room was a bit overdone.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hôtel Reisen in The Unbound Collection by Hyatt

Stockholm

Really great location. Nice hotel.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Right at the edge of the old town.

Staff

Our room was not available when we got there. We walked around for quite a while and then went back to the hotel for a drink in the lobby until the room was ready. One women at reception charged my phone for me.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Wildlife Safari

Stockholm

Horrible experience.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Walking Tour Stockholm (private)

Stockholm

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Guided Tour to Porvoo

Helsinki

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Helsinki and Suomenlinna

Helsinki

Good trip. Guide was great.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

This was a very easy process. I sent a few details of things I would like to do to Roy, my local specialist, and then had a call with him where he asked my preferences, including what I liked to do, how busy I wanted to be, etc. He came up with a perfect trip! The website had very easy to navigate information about the trip, including information on the tours and places I was going to sea, tickets for entry, details on where to meet, and an emergency contact number in case of any issue. Camila was also helpful in providing any updates or changes to my itinerary. For me, I said I was interested in outdoors-y type activities, I liked animals and art, and really wanted to see the Northern Lights. I was scheduled for an afternoon on an ice breaker that included a swim in the water in a survival suit, chasing northern lights in Lapland that including a fire with roasted marshmallows, warm blueberry juice, and salmon soup, a visit to the Arctic museum, and to the Wildlife Park. Unfortunately, the weather got too warm in Finland to go snowshoeing or ice fishing, but the team offered alternatives (I was too jet lagged to take it so took the day off!) Overall, I highly recommend. Easy to book, easy to follow, great people.

I had an absolutely wonderful trip to Norway! The itinerary was well planned and clearly laid out by my guide, Roy. All of my hotels were in great locations and had good accommodations. The transports for travel between towns and destinations were on-point and led to a stress-free vacation. In Bergen I experienced local history and culture by visiting Fantoft stave church and Bryggen. I got to see amazing views in Flam from my hotel room window and with the Stegastein viewpoint. I toured a viking village (something I hadn't even known existed), and had a viking dinner. I had a great experience in Norway and with KimKim.