Basquelands Way

We had a fantastic time on our trip to the Andalusia region of Spain! KimKim made all arrangements extremely convenient. The guides were impeccable and open to suggestions with our itinerary. Each of the four hotels we stayed at were incredibly nice in a great area of town. I would highly suggest KimKim to anyone traveling for pleasure in the future.

What an incredible trip! The team at kimkim made our trip to Spain a complete success! Our local specialist in Spain that coordinated the entire trip was Alfonso. Alfonso made sure that we made the most efficient use of our time and he arranged guides, transportation, and got us access into sites that were impossible for other tourists to get in to. The team of guides in each city (Barcelona, Madrid, and Granada) were of the highest caliber and were truly, educated, historians. In 14 days, we visited more churches, museums, and attractions than any other trip we've made throughout Europe. The trip is geared to your own capability of what you want to do and how many things that you physically can do. Alfonso figures that out in early communication with you and plans the PERFECT agenda along with the most comfortable hotels that are of the highest quality and situated in the most strategic parts of the city. This will be one of our most memorable trips in our lifetimes. My wife and I give 5 stars to kimkim and Alfonso. Also we give a huge thanks to the other team members that made sure everything went well: Uhaina (everywhere), Leon (Madrid), Miriam (Granada), Jose (TukTuk Madrid), Eirini (Barcelona)

Alfonso and his team at Basquelands Way were first class from the time we engaged with them until our trip finished in Barcelona. They communicated well and were vey responsive to our needs and created an itinerary that optimised our time in each city. We visited Mardrid, Bilbao, San Sebastián and Barcelona. Being local they saved us so much time planning the holiday, making accomodation bookings and arranging excursions. Everything went smoothly and we would use a Kim Kim again

Activity Reviews

Short Prado Museum Visit

Madrid

Sophia our guide was excellent. She was very knowledgeable about the city and the Prado Museum.

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San Sebastián & Basque Coast Day Trip

Bilbao

Alfonso provides a locals guide to his hometown.

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Food

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Private Traditional Tapas Tour

Madrid

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Private City Highlights Walk

Madrid

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Guggenheim private visit

Bilbao

While this is a very impressive building with some excellent steel sculptures, there is not a great selection of artwork.

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Gothic Quarter Tapas Walk

Barcelona

Jordi was an amazing and knowledgeable guide. The tapas restaurant was very good.

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Park Güell & La Sagrada Família

Barcelona

One of the highlights of our trip to Barcelona was seeing the genius of Antonio Gaudi.

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Michelin starred restaurant

Bilbao

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Guides, Drivers and Staff

We signed up for an 8 day trip throughout Spain, 4 cities during that time so it was a whirlwind and a great time! Alfonso listened to what we wanted - no more than 1/2 day planned (we've been on trips where all day every day had activities which is not our style) with a cooking class and private tours in each city. We received all of our detailed information in advance to print out and have copies, along with having it accessible on our phones. (For Type A like me it helped a ton to have paper, I also used that to point to the address of where we needed to go for the taxi drivers who did not speak English). We got daily reminders of the next activity we were scheduled for and when I had questions I got a response pretty much immediately so I never felt lost on the itinerary. I was so impressed with the service and attention to detail, I've told everyone about it!

Activity Review

Cooking Class in Seville

Seville

This cooking class was awesome. We loved touring the market prior to the class and getting information on the local cuisines and ingredients. Our guide and our chef both spoke fluent English so it made for a fun, easy (not frustrating for everyone) afternoon. The facility was incredibly modern and clean. We made traditional paella and it was the best we tried in Spain! Highly recommend this class.

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Kimkim was absolutely amazing connecting us with local guides for our trip to the Basque Country! We were constantly taken care of from the moment we arrived in the Bilbao airport and saw our driver with our name until our return there after exploring this beautiful country. Kimkim connected us with BASQUELANDS WAY travel. Alfonso was in touch with me to plan our trip weeks before our departure. He booked hotels, drivers, restaurants, entry to museums and local activities. His flexibility and knowledge of the towns we visited was outstanding. Susanna was our local guide in Bilbao and incredibly knowledgeable in every aspect. Our tour of the Guggenheim was an amazing experience. What a joy to be in her presence. Alfonso planned our travels through cities between Bilbao and San Sebastián. When we realized that a planned hike was not what we expected, he quickly changed the itinerary to meet our needs. The hotels he booked were beautiful. The sunset cruise amazing. Guernica, Hondaribbia, Pasajes San Juan, San Sebastián were some of the highlights. Alfonso recommended Michelin restaurants, Pintxos bar crawl, sights to see when we weren't in his knowledgeable and caring presence. This was an experience that my husband and I will never forget. Thank you Kimkim. A very special thank you to Alfonso and Susanna.

Activity Reviews

Bilbao walking tour

Bilbao

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Susanna wa spectacular

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Cantabrian Sea Sunset Cruise

San Sebastián

Gorgeous, relaxing

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Guggenheim private visit

Bilbao

Susanna made this tour one of the highlights of our trip

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So knowledgeable and fun to be with

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Comfort, enjoyable company, fun

Discover Basque Coast Nature & History

Bilbao

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Hike, Boat & Lunch on the Bay of Pasaia

San Sebastián

Centro Neighborhood Tapas Walking Tour

San Sebastián

So much fun and delicious local Pintxos. We did this multiple times throughout our visit

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My family and I had an amazing experience in Spain thanks to KimKim service, led by Alfonso and his colleagues that arranged everything during our 10 day tour through northern Spain. My colleague initially recommended KimKim given she had a very positive experience. While I was initially a little reluctant given it’s mostly an online only set-up experience, I was very pleased with the overall experience from start to finish.

Alfonso and his team set us up for amazing experience which started in Madrid (2 nights), wine region Rioja (2 nights), San Sebastián (3 nights) and finally Barcelona (2 nights). Starting in Madrid, we met with Gerardo, a local expert on Madrid and Spanish history. We walked through Madrid with Gerardo over two days. He was excellent guide and showed us amazing sites; experienced Tapas at local markets; went to a few museums and experienced the royal palace. Of particular interest was our site visit to the Prado museum. Gerardo was spectacular guide throughout the museum and knew exactly where to go and the history of each of the major art exhibits.

We then transitioned to wine region and two absolutely amazing experiences at two local vineyards. The first day, we were able to walk to a local vineyard (Luis Canas)from our hotel (Hotel Vuira) and the second day, we were blessed to have Alfonso meet us and we rode E bikes throughout the wine region on an absolutely gorgeous day and ended the day with an outstanding wine tour and lunch visit to Murua vineyard.

Upon arriving in to San Sebastián we adored the town and really enjoyed walking around experiencing tapas places on our own. As an American, most can attest, our education curriculum rarely spends time on Spanish history. Most of our emphasis is on WW1 and 2 and the countries most involved, therefore our curriculum rarely covers Spain. If you’re a western educated traveller, do yourself a favor prioritize Spain on your next trip. The history is fascinating and of particular interest is the Basque region, its people and its culture. You may not find a more amazing gastronomy experience and culture anywhere in the world! The food and people are amazing! For our second day there, Alfonso met us at our hotel and we enjoyed another full day of great history and experience. On our last day in the region we completed a day trip to Balboa for a cooking class (which was amassing!) and a excellent visit, with an expert guide (Susanne) at the Guggenheim Museum. Do not skip this part of your Basque region visit! I’d also comment that when driving through the area, it offered amazing scenery, Swiss like mountain beauty.

We ended the trip in Barcelona with a great walking tour and an amazing sailboat experience in the Barcelona. Bay to observe the sun go down. Amazing way to end our trip.

Bottom line, there is no way we could have planned this on our own, or derive such a sequence of experiences through some travel book or website. The KimKim’s ability to liaise and build a travel experience with local travel experts was hands down the best way to go. I’m particularly pleased with Alfonso and his teams ability to connect with local experts in each region that created a lasting, educational and rich cultural experience for my family. Our kids learned a lot and what was most inspiring is Alfonso’s disposition and approach to life as a guide, father, expert on Spanish history and culture. He and his team left nothing to chance and took great care for each and every detail.

When we return to Spain again we will, without question, work directly through KimKim and Alfonso’s travel company!

Our family traveled to Barcelona, Madrid and Toledo and enjoyed all of our sites. Our tour guide, Juan, in Madrid was excellent and really sensed what our family wanted to do and explore. He was kind and sincere. Our tour guide in Barcelona, Jordi, was knowledgeable and brought us around the city on a nice bike tour to see a lot of different sites. Both of the hotels we stayed at were excellent. The pool and bar on the roof top of Hotel Avenida was great to see the city at the end of the day. Both hotels were clean, comfortable and located in the center of the cities which allowed for great access to see the different sites. The travel arrangements by car and train were planned out very well. We felt well supported along our trip by Alfonso and he quickly responded to any of our questions or needs-he is an excellent resource.

Activity Reviews

Park Güell & La Sagrada Família

Barcelona

We all loved the tour of La Sagrada Familia and climbing the tour for the city view. Unfortunately we missed our tour to Park Guell as we made an error on the timing.

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Private Evening Tapas Stroll with a Local

Madrid

Juan was a great tour guide and showed us over half of the city in this walking tour. His knowledge of art, history and architecture was outstanding and added to our tour greatly. He is personable and friendly.

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Private City Tour - Discover Madrid's Royal Legacy

Madrid

Viewing the palace and taking the tour with Juan was information because of Juan’s extensive knowledge of Madrid and the royal family. Juan gave us factual and anecdotal information.

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Private Toledo Day Trip

Madrid

Toledo tour was all encompassing and Juan once again had extensive knowledge of the city and the history of all of the sights we toured. Our tapas lunch was excellent. He has a great ability to sense from us what we were up for seeing and touring throughout this day.

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Sunset Sailing in Barcelona

Barcelona

We had a private sailboat for this evening activity and Fiona was friendly and personable. She did a great job managing the boat and talking with our family.

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Private Barcelona Bike Tour

Barcelona

A great way to see a large part of the city and riding bikes allowed a sense of freedom from the busy traffic and packed side walks.

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Evening Tapas Walk in Barcelona

Barcelona

It was a great over view of the city. It gave us a sense of where different parts of the city were located. Jordi was knowledgeable. We unfortunately were delayed on a flight and traffic so were over tired and very hungry when we started this walking tour so it was a bit hard to focus.

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Food

If we could have picked the food with Jordi or seen a menu.

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