Tetiana Smal

We loved our trip to Scotland! Our Kimkim agent planned a trip to cover the highlights of NW Scotland starting from where we ended our trek in Fort William. The hotels were gems - historical, great breakfasts, unique in themselves. Staying in the Monkstadt near the sea with its tasting dinner was a highlight. The sites chosen were interesting and we loved Dunvegan Castle and the seal trip. We did have a few hiccups that might need to be considered. The daily suggested times for each site did not always account for the leave times set by the limited breakfast times at the inns and the time it takes to drive to each site as the roads were often one lane and very slow. We dropped a few suggested items and tried to add one back in later which then led to a very long day. Very long days in Scotland mean no dinner as you need a reservation to eat in the small towns which is hard to do when you don't know when you will get there and most of the kitchens close at 8. One day put us back into town at 8:30 due to ferry times but we had made a reservation and were able to run to the restaurant in time for a wonderful seafood dinner along the water - as the kitchen was closing. Either carry enough food for lunch and dinner each day, or plan more time into the itinerary. The two major hiccups were the lack of including a rental car even though the booking said it included self-drive. Luckily, we caught this in time to rent a car, but that was additional funds we did not know about ahead of time. The other one was our itinerary said one ferry time, but the ticket had a different time. Luckily, we also caught that and were able to adjust our plans. The trip was often magical and enjoyable and sometimes a scramble. Such is travel.

We have used KimKim previously for a trip to Norway with success, and had high hopes for our trip to Scotland. Unfortunately, the trip was not planned well, and I feel that this service was mostly a waste of money, and it was a lot of money! We had emphasized at the start of this that we wanted a trip with a focus on nature and history, but ideally would like to avoid a bunch of churches and castles since those get repetitive. We were hoping for walks and museums, mostly.

In Edinburgh the initial old town private tour was very superficial with a focus on shopping locations and Harry Potter trivia rather than the history of the old town and culture of Scotland. It didn't help that it was given by a man who was new to the position and not a native to the area, so he was clearly giving info that he had just recently learned himself. The food tour had the wrong start location, and when we reported this to Tetiana our specialist, she reminded us that we could have checked the start location ourselves. We paid a ton of money so that we wouldn't have to double check all her work, so this was a frustrating response. Of note, our favorite visit in Ediburgh was the Surgeon's museum, which had great history and culture and demonstrated some of the impact that Scotland has had globally. This museum was one we picked ourselves on arrival, it was not suggested by Tetiana.

The Oban leg of the trip was fine, although this was the start of the difficulty with timing. Driving consistently took around 30% longer than our schedule had listed, and so we consistently had to remove one of the stops from each day from this point onwards. Calculating out the timing, we would have been getting back to the hotel between 7 and 9 PM nightly, which was not what we were looking for when the day also included 2-6 hrs of driving. Of note, the church we were supposed to visit in Glencoe on the way to Oban was closed, and it was just a local church for the town, not a destination from what we could tell. There was a war memorial nearby that might have been a better alternative to a closed local church.

Fort William was not very interesting, and when we ran into locals and mentioned this city, they were surprised we would even go there.

For the Isle of Skye, we stayed in Portree, and the museum suggested in the guide did not exist. There is nothing called the "Portree museum," and the closest thing was called the "Skye Museum of Island Life" which is a pretty different name! Especially when we emphasized wanting to get the history and culture of the area, I wish more care had been taken to make sure these museums existed.

The trip to Loch Lomond was fine, also, I have no major complaints.

While some issues with the trip I can blame on Scotland itself (such as the hot weather, lack of trees, lack of birds and small mammals, poor ability to consume the history outside of castles, apparently), many of the issues with the trip could have been avoided if a bit more care had been taken in planning the trip. I will not be using KimKim again, as it has proven itself too unreliable for my money!

Hotel Reviews

Cameron house

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

The Whispering Pine Lodge

Loch Lochy, Spean Bridge, Scotland, PH34 4DZ

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

No11 Boutique Hotel & Brasserie

Edinburgh

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Seal Spotting Loch Linnhe Cruise

Scotland

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Vegan Scottish Food Tour

Edinburgh

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Edinburgh Castle & Old Town Private Tour

Scotland

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Treshnish Isles Wildlife Cruise and Staffa Trip from Oban

Oban

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

We loved the private tour to Windsor Castle and Hampton Court with David. And, actually the free day the we were given by accident in both London and Paris were wonderful. Next trip we will schedule a free day intentionally. Paris was a blast. The D' Orsea was not to be missed. We could have gone back for a second day.

Tatiana was ever attentive and super positive. Next up, Venice!

B

Thank you so much for making our trip so memorable, Tetiana! You made the whole process easy and enjoyable.

I left a message after returning home on 5/25, but I wasn’t sure if it went through. For some reason, my phone had an issue so I couldn’t log in while I was in London for a family event, so I wasn’t able to write sooner.

Tetiana was responsive, helpful, and quick to answer questions. Thanks to her planning, we could relax and enjoy the trip without worrying about the details. We’re really grateful for her help.

And please let Ciaran and Jimmy know that we will always remember them whenever we think of Ireland, Northern Ireland, and Scotland—they were truly amazing and made the experience extra special.

We’re very grateful for everything and would happily recommend KimKim and Tetiana to anyone planning a trip!

Tetiana planned us the most wonderful trip. She listened to all of our requests and we saw and did everything we hoped for. Our guides were all so knowledgeable about the places and sites we were seeing and all of our guides were on time and on schedule for everything. It was all seamless! Every hotel was charming in its own way and within walking distance of where we wanted to be. Thanks to her we had a fantastic trip to Scotland!