AFEA Luxury Travel Experiences

It was spectacular! Due to an issue, our specialist was switched from Eleni to Mariliza. Both ladies were awesome. We did not have to worry about our transfers. We even received help with transfers to excursions we arranged ourselves without KimKim. When we asked for a last minute change for our last excursion, Mariliza was wonderful. Her suggested changed allowed us to do a wine tour in Crete and it was one of our best days! I have seen some people complain about lack of pricing transparency. Their website states that they do not do pricing breakdowns. Could we have gone to Greece for 12 days and paid much less? Absolutely! However to me, who normally plans our group trips, not having to do the heavy lifting was entirely worth it! I feel that we experienced a stress free trip of a lifetime me it was due to Eleni, Mariliza and their team. Totally satisfied!

As my five star rating indicated, the overall trip was wonderful. Mariliza was prompt in letting us know of any changes in the itinerary prior to the actual trip and what alternative options were available. The only last minute change was the Samaria Gorge hike in Crete. When we learned a few days before from Mariliza that a group tour was no longer available we were given two options: a private tour at 405 USD per person or to do it alone at 230 USD per person. We thought both options were very expensive so we declined the offers and decided to go to a travel agent in Chania (Crete) and book the trip ourselves which was considerable less expensive at 53 Euros each. We were somewhat puzzled of such a huge price differential even with the understanding that all parties need to make a certain percentage of profit.

My recent trip to Greece with my friend, Richard, was wonderful in all aspects. Mariliza devised an itinerary of really worthwhile tours, mythological & archaeological, also cultural, food & wine. The trip plan also allowed for free time so that we could further explore areas on our own. We had a fantastic guide, Magda, for our tour of the Acropolis. For Delos, we had Pantelias who was really passionate about history, mythology and culture. In Naxos, Yiota highlighted life in medieval times there. And on Santorini, we were fortunate to have Panos for 2 tours wherein we were able to discuss local foods and wines, and of course sample both!
All of the places (Athens, Mykonos, Delos, Naxos, Santorini, Crete) we visited had their own unique/different features and I loved them all equally.
I would like to give special mention to our driver in Athens (Pascal??) who ensured our safety and got us to our destinations stress-free. And thank you to all the other drivers who willingly shared local knowledge.
Thank you again Mariliza!

Hotel Reviews

Myconian Kyma Design Hotel

Mykonos

Beautiful hotel with wonderful amenities.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Located a short walking distance from town

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Xenones Filotera

Imerovigli

The views from the hotel are spectacular!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

SanSal Boutique Hotel

Chania

Great location, walking distance to Old Town.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Easy walking distance to attractions, restaurants.

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

NLH Monastiraki

Athens

Our first room happened to be in a part of the hotel that is adjacent to a nightclub that was open until 0400. Needless to say we had a sleepless night. We were changed to another room for the following night.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Location is within walking distance of attractions, restaurants, eyc

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Cyano Suites

Naxos

Located a short walking distance from town. Beautiful view from hotel.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Family run hotel with very nice ambience.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Discover Santorini, Semi-Private Tour

Santorini

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Visit the UNESCO's archaeological site of Delos, Guided Tour

Mykonos

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

The Medieval Citadel, Private walking tour

Naxos

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Greek Food & Wine Tasting

Santorini

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Free afternoon in Athens

Athens

Quality of Experience

Athens Highlights / Mythology Tour

Athens

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Eleni and Mariliza were wonderful and patient in shaping an itinerary that suited my daughter and myself. We visited Athens, Naxos and Santorini, 3 days at each place. We were looked after each step of the way. The location and standard of hotels were good and we never had to worry about transportation as that we taken care for us. Mariliza checked in on us regularly to see how we were doing. Overall a memorable and enjoyable holiday!

My husband and I just got back from our 10-day trip in Greece. We started our trip by visiting Athens for a few days. Our hotel was a perfect fit. Close to a lot of things so it was easy to walk around to find places to eat and visit. It was also very clean, and the staff was super friendly.
-We did the Mythology walking tour. This was a great way to see various Greek Mythology sites and learn a little bit about their history. I would recommend this tour.

Our next island was Kefalonia. We were hesitant as we didn't know much about this island. We are SO glad we went as it was beautiful. The water was amazing. Again, our hotel was very clean and nice. We sat on both the public and private beach.
-We also did a private 1/2 day island tour. Our tour guide was great and very knowledgeable. It was a great way to see and learn about the island.

We finished up our visit by going to Santorini. Again, we really liked out hotel the staff was very friendly, and the hotel was clean. Maybe the only down fall was it's more in the middle of the island, so it made it harder to walk to places to eat. At least a 45min walk. But we liked that it was quieter and away from the big crowds.
-We did a BBQ boat cruise to see the sunset. It was fun to see Santorini from the water. I would recommend. We booked an e-bike tour while we were there and that was probably one of our highlights of the trip also.

Probably the only down fall of our vacation was the amount of flying we had to do between locations. But that was pretty minor in order to be able to see various locations.

Overall, I would book with KimKim again! Our trip was so smooth, and we loved all the things we did. Everything was exactly like it said it would be and we never had to worry about a thing!

My husband and I always plan our own trips and have fun doing so. This was our 30th wedding anniversary and while I wanted some of the fun of planning the trip, I was overwhelmed with the options of traveling in Greece, and I wanted to be taken care of a bit! Mariliza was wonderful helping us plan this trip from start to finish and incredibly accommodating whenever we needed to make changes to our itinerary. She definitely had a sense of what we were looking for and found us amazing places to stay and planned amazing tours! All of our accommodations were wonderful, and despite some hiccups because of the floods and high winds and the ferry strike, everything was amazing. We also want to thank Afroditi who helped us out when we were not sure about the road closures due to the floods, as well as making alternate plans during the ferry strike. Both Mariliza and Afroditi were warm and patient and were not flustered when we were flustered about needing to make last minute changes. Thank you to both of you!

Hotel Reviews

Cocomat Jumelle

Athens

The hotel is very charming and the staff were absolutely wonderful! Incredible breakfast, healthy options and delicious homemade pastries. The only thing lacking was storage space for our clothes. There was a rod with some hangers and one small drawer, but for two adults traveling for two weeks in Greece, we would have liked more storage.

Authenticity & Character

Location

We could walk everywhere, but it was also quiet at night.

Staff

Everyone was warm and kind and helpful.

Cleanliness & Comfort

As noted above, we would have liked more space for our clothes.

Naxos Island Escape

Naxos

A quiet and beautiful escape, away from the hustle and bustle of Naxos town, and steps away from Plaka beach, which was also quiet and peaceful. So easy to get to town with the local bus or a cab if you prefer. Absolutely incredible breakfast each day! Naxos Island escape is clearly a labor of love for Marios, who was always available and who helped us with many logistics during our stay. Highly recommend!

Authenticity & Character

Incredibly beautiful property, comfortable room.

Location

Away from the buzz of the old town, which we prefer, yet easy to get to.

Staff

Marios was a gem, so warm and lovely and full of knowledge about this beautiful island.

Cleanliness & Comfort

The Tanneries Hotel & Spa

Chania

Staff were extremely accommodating, warm and kind. All rooms face the ocean and have a view to Chania old town, which is only a 20 minute walk from the hotel. The rooms are modern and well-equipped, incredibly comfortable bed and linens. Breakfast was excellent with different choices every day, and different varieties of fresh fruit juices.

Authenticity & Character

Location

The view of the sea and Chania old town was incredible.

Staff

Everyone was helpful and warm and lovely.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Incredibly clean, small and quiet hotel.

Chroma Fashion Rooms & Apartments

Athens

VERY basic hotel in a fun neighborhood outside of Athens.

Authenticity & Character

Updated air-conditioning would be nice. Our unit cycled on and off throughout the night, which kept waking us up, and also the temperature was inconsistent.

Location

We stayed here on our last night in Greece in order to avoid Monday morning traffic to the airport. It fit the bill. Cute area with lots going on and lots of good restaurants.

Staff

Lovely front desk when we arrived.

Cleanliness & Comfort

All very basic, but definitely clean. The couch in our room (maybe a sleep sofa) definitely could be replaced. We were there for so little time that it didn't matter, but if we were there for longer, it might have.

Activity Reviews

Athens Highlights Mythology Tour

Athens

Wonderful tour guides, Alex (Temple of Zeus) and Maria (Acropolis)!

Quality of Experience

The beauty of the city, the history, the food... so much!

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Everyone was so kind and helpful.

Transport

So glad to not have to think about this aspect of traveling. And, we did love having the opportunity to drive ourselves at times.

Free afternoon in Athens

Athens

Loved wandering and eating amazing food wherever we went.

Quality of Experience

Being able to walk and wander.

Discover Divine Delphi, Overnight in Meteora

Greece

This review is solely based on our trip to Delphi, since sadly we were not able to visit Meteora because of the floods. We will definitely have to return - we were so looking forward to Meteora, but peoples' safety is most important! Delphi was incredible and highly recommend. We drove up there ourselves, which we loved. Seeing the incredible mountains makes you understand how the ancient Greeks believed in the Gods. It felt like they were still there. We had a wonderful tour guide, who also recommended a restaurant to eat lunch in Delphi, which was delicious! (Pictures of the mountains don't do justice.)

Quality of Experience

Should not miss.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Our very knowledgeable tour guide, George, was amazing!

Free day in Naxos

Naxos

We had two free days in Naxos because sadly our all day sailing cruise was cancelled because of high winds. We rented a car and drove up into the mountains, which was absolutely incredible.

Quality of Experience

It was all amazing.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Marios, the proprietor of our hotel (Naxos Island Escape) gave us amazing recommendations of where to go outside of Naxos town.

Transport

Totally fun to drive a manual transmission up into the mountains!

Welcome to Crete

Greece

Beautiful island. Wonderful people. Incredible food.

Quality of Experience

The people, the food, the history.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Lovely cooking lesson in the mountains with our incredible guide Yannis.

Transport

Yannis was so lovely and filled with knowledge and love about the history of Crete.

Cooking Lesson in Chania, The Real Cretan Cooking Experience

Chania

So much fun. A small group tour into the white mountains of Crete. Incredibly beautiful. Wonderful tour guide (and driver) Yannis, who knows so much about Cretan history and clearly loves his home. Incredible cooking lesson using the freshest of ingredients taught by a lovely woman (whose name I sadly can't remember but she was amazing), and hosted also by her son.

Quality of Experience

Lovely hosts. Beautiful setting in the mountains. Unforgettable.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Yannis had so much to share about the history of Crete and the land and the food.

Transport

Yannis was an excellent driver!

Historically, my wife and I have always researched, planned and managed international trips, thinking this option gave us more flexibility and control over our vacation schedule and activities. Thus, we were skeptical contacting KimKim, but we are 100% glad we did. Absolutely everything about the trip was perfect: the accommodations, the excursions, the travel arrangements and the service. Everything! Afroditi was attentive and responsive to all our crazy questions in advance of traveling to Greece and was available to us, when needed, while we were there. She knows travel and she knows how to treat customers very well. I would recommend Afroditi to anyone seeking expert travel planning. She crafts very memorable trips based on customer input and feedback and her knowledge of an area. My wife and I are very grateful to Afroditi and KimKim for making our 40th-anniversary trip to Greece an incredible adventure.

Just returned from an amazing trip to Greece, organized through Kimkim with assistance from Eleni and Afroditi. The team put together a wonderful itinerary customized to our interests. Everything on our itinerary was wonderful, and all of the logistics were smooth, making the trip so much easier and less stressful than if we arranged everything ourselves. The accomodations were beautiful, too..., like the hotel in Santorini with the infiniti pool looking out into the Aegean, or the boutique hotel in Chania in a historical old buiding... every accommodation was exceptional.

In particular, the service from Afroditi was beyond amazing. We ended up experiencing some bad luck on our trip, with a heat wave so intense that major tourist attractions were closed mid-day due to safety concerns, along with our daughter getting sick. Afroditi was so responsive in real time providing us with alternatives (like extra beach days to get out of the heat). Additionally, at one point we boarded the WRONG FERRY which took us to the wrong island. This was completely our fault by the way, the logistics and instructions from the team at Kimkim were spot on... While we were stuck on the wrong ferry, Afroditi made alternate arrangements so we had transportation and accommodations when we arrived, along with transportation back to the correct island so we could resume our itinerary. Since we had no wifi on the ferry, I don't know what we would have done without Afroditi's help in that situation. It was so incredibly reassuring to know that when something went wrong, that we had an expert and an advocate there ready to help us out!

I absolutely would not hesitate to use Kimkim again for any and all future trips. THANK YOU SO MUCH!

Hotel Reviews

Domus Renier Boutique Hotel

Chania, Crete

I cannot say enough great things about this hotel. Beautiful rooms, amazing location, incredible breakfasts, and wonderful service!!

Holiday Inn Athens

Athens

NLH Monastiraki

Athens

Cresanto Luxury Suites

Santorini

Quiet location on the "other" side of the island, with lovely views of the ocean, a great pool area, and amazing breakfasts, but just a 5 minute walk to jaw dropping views. Great service too!

Metropole Urban Hotel Heraklion

Iraklio

Activity Reviews

Acropolis, Private Guided Tour

Athens

Wonderful tour guide that helped us navigate the crowds, and provided a much more meaningful experience with so much history!

Sunset Hiking at the Edge of Caldera

Santorini

Beautiful views along a 7 mile hike.

⛵ Sunset Sailing Tour & BBQ on a luxury catamaran

Santorini

One of the highlights of our trip!

Knossos Palace, Private Guided Tour

Heraklion

Fascinating history, wonderful tour guide!!