Bretzel Travel

We started planning our trip to Germany just 1.5 months before our departure, and having Elsa’s help was an absolute lifesaver! Yes, using a service like this means you pay a bit more, but it is a massive stress saver and totally worth the price. It saved us from the headache of researching and booking tickets across countless different merchants under time constraints—especially for highly sought-after attractions like the Neuschwanstein Castle.

From the very beginning, Elsa was great. She took the time to incorporate all of our feedback into a wonderful, truly customized itinerary just for us. She was also very patient answering my many questions and explained everything in detail. When our Rhine River cruise was canceled due to low water levels, she quickly came up with excellent alternative options and seamlessly pivoted our plans to a wonderful small group day trip to Heidelberg instead.

We also had great experiences with a few guides she booked for us. Manu, our river guide for the punt boat experience in Tübingen, was super fun and a pleasure to work with. Shpendi, our guide for the Neuschwanstein Castle, was incredible—he was highly knowledgeable and had great connections that made our visit perfectly smooth.

As a huge bonus, Elsa booked us into the Scandic Hotel in Frankfurt, which was beyond wonderful. It was so great that Scandic will now be our default hotel choice for any future destination that has one! If you want a stress-free, nicely curated trip to Germany, I highly recommend working with Elsa.

Hotel Review

Scandic Frankfurt Museumsufer

Frankfurt

We absolutely loved everything about our stay at this hotel! Our suite was fantastic, complete with a complimentary mini-bar and a truly great view of the city landscape. Considering the high quality of the room and the amenities, we felt the price was very reasonable. The breakfast was beyond amazing and became a highlight of our mornings. We absolutely loved every minute of our stay here. In fact, this experience was so incredible that Scandic will now be our default hotel choice for any future travels to destinations that have one. We wish they had hotels in the US! Highly recommended!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Review

🌸🎨Picturesque city of Tübingen: Bridges, blossoms & reflections

Germany

Manu, our river guide for the punt boat in Tübingen, was super fun and a joy to work with. The boat ride was so enjoyable and the town was beautiful!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Navigating the transit from Frankfurt was a bit tricky. Our route required taking a regional replacement bus, but the instructions on how it worked and where to locate the stops were quite confusing. Unfortunately, we struggled to find the boarding area in time and ended up missing our planned bus, but thankfully, the next bus got us to our destination on time.

Sara,
The trip was wonderful. You did an excellent job finding the highlights for us. The hotels were well located and very comfortable. The only comment on the hotels was Berlin . While the location was great, it was not air condidtioned and the room was very small. All the other hotels were perfect.

The guides were knowledgeable and gave us a great overview of the places we visited. They took special requests and always worked with us. The only guide that we were not overly impressed with was the guide in Salzburg. While he was certainly knowledgeable, he walked was ahead of us and it was hard to connect with him. All the others receive 5 stars from us.

The restaurant suggestions were great. You gave us a large choice and we enjoyed them. We eat out quite a bit so this is something we are fairly picky about and we have no complaints. Only that we need to diet now as we seemed to stop at a gelato shop everyday.

Sara - you were responsive both during the planning and while we were traveling and that is so appreciated. We couldn't have asked for a better tour arranger.

Wanted to let you know that we added the suspension bridge in Todnot to our day in the Black Forest and I highly recommend that for others. What a view!

Thanks for helping us have a memorable vacation,
Miriam & David Haimes

Hotel Reviews

Calma Berlin Mitte

Berlin

Hotel room was small and not air conditioned

Authenticity & Character

Location

Close to restaurants and the various museums

Platzl Hotel - Superior

München

Great location and the room was beautiful

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

IMLAUER HOTEL PITTER Salzburg

Salzburg

Location was great. Walked to all sites. Had dinner at the skytop restaurant and the food and service were exceptional

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Sachsenhausen Memorial: Guided Half-Day Trip from Berlin

Berlin

Memorable day. Tour was quite interesting. Guide was great

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Size of the tour was perfect.

Transport

🎻 Mozart Dinner Concert Salzburg – A Magical Evening of Music & Fine Dining

Salzburg

Loved the evening

Quality of Experience

Food

We cannot say enough about the service Sara and KimKim provided in making a bucket list 2-week trip to Germany come true. Over several iterations and many location changes, Sara provided timely and helpful advice and a full range of options. Once we got our itinerary finalized, she was super prompt to assemble the details. We are very happy we upgraded our hotel selections from our original plan, thanks to her assistance. The trip planning was almost perfect, minus one challenge related to a car rental office not being open. (Not KimKim's fault!) This is our second trip with KimKim, and we are true believers. Thank you, and until next time!

Hotel Reviews

Scandic Frankfurt Museumsufer

Frankfurt

Spacious and spotless! We were amazed at the high quality of this hotel, and its central location in Frankfurt. Will stay there again!

Authenticity & Character

Location

5 min walk from train station!

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Cleanest hotel I have ever seen!

Hotel Pension Winzerhaus

Bacharach

Stefan made us feel extremely welcome. He and his wife are wonderful people! The room was quite simple and spare, which was fine with us since it is located very conveniently and the hosts were so nice. They provided an excellent quality breakfast as well. Bacharach is a dreamy little town to explore.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Trierer Hof

Koblenz

Roomy and comfortable. This part of Koblenz is a bit boring, but it is easy to get to the tourist sights and transportation hub.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Deutscher Hof

Trier

Very convenient and comfortable lodging, within easy walk into the main plazas and sights of Trier. We had a rental car, so the easy access to parking was perfect and unexpected! The hotel looks classy, beds were very comfortable, and the showers worked above average. Was not thrilled with not having air conditioning on a 35 degree day, but we slept OK because there was a breeze.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

ClapClap Hôtel

Strasbourg

Our room was not clean, and the common areas are a bit run down. There is no air conditioning and our room was situated in a location without much circulation. The bathroom is tiny. On the upside, it is super easy to walk into the old town.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Living Hotel Das Viktualienmarkt

Munich

We were thrilled with the scenic location across the street from the market and 5 minutes walk to the Marienplatz. Also the neighborhood Ludwigsvorstadt-Isarvorstadt adjacent to the hotel was fun to explore. The staff is cordial and professional and always met our needs promptly. The room was refreshed every morning, and the bathroom was spacious and well appointed.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Can't get much better than across street from Viktualienmarkt

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Ruchti - Zeit für mich

Füssen

This lodge is located in a beautiful, scenic and peaceful neighborhood only 10 minutes walk from the Fussen old town and commercial hub. It is like being in a park! This is a quaint, cozy hotel, with interesting furnishings and a fun lounge and well-staffed, excellent restaurant.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

The Niu Leo

Nuremberg

Modern, somewhat sterile hotel, just like you would see in any big city. Their food service was very good, and not very pricey!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Private Guided City Centre History & Architecture Walk

Strasbourg

Gustave gave us a very heartfelt, entertaining walking tour of the old and new sectors of Strasbourg. He did a super job giving us the historical context of this region's people and its social complexity. And he was very funny!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

🏰 Neuschwanstein Castle Skip-the-Line Tour – A Smooth Visit to Bavaria’s Iconic Castle

Germany

Steven did an admirable job guiding us to and through the castle given the circumstances. There was a big thunderstorm so we gathered and walked up to the castle in a gusty downpour. Everyone was soaked! It was interesting that he was not able to get us into the castle in our given timeframe, so we stood around outside for 30 minutes. The castle is astonishing, but you are rushed through it and so it's hard to truly savor the experience.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

We really enjoyed our entire trip, including little things like inner courtyard rooms in Vienna vs outside room (much quieter), curated tours (touring a cheese making farm with our family only-which meant interacting with the owner/farmer himself vs a tour guide), and access to Sara for a few specialized items (she expertly directed us to a laundry service in Vienna). Thank you!

Hotel Reviews

Urban Hotel Ljubljana Center

Ljubljana

Authenticity & Character

Location

Easy walk to town center, quiet and easy access to busses.

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Center

Bohinj

Excellent location close to the lake. Accommodations are pretty basic, with nice breakfast buffet and attached pizza/italian restaurant

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

🥾 Bohinj to Triglav Lakes Hut — Alpine Classic Day Hike

Austria

We modified this to start at Blato instead so that we could enjoy some alpine meadows. This hike was a trip highlight.

Quality of Experience

🧀 Taste & Traditions: A Genuine Visit to Tourist Farm Gartner in Bohinj

Austria

Private, detailed tour of how cheese is made with visit to tasting room to enjoy the various cheeses made on his farm. Amazing.

Quality of Experience

Transport

Directions here were difficult. More details provided would be helpful.

Very well done - would definitely use KimKim and Sara and team again!

Sara helped us plan a wonderful trip to Germany including stays in Cologne, Heidelberg and Munich. Every hotel was comfortable and conveniently located near the major attractions. The tours were informative, engaging, and a lot of fun. Sara took the time to understand our travel goals and created a personalized itinerary that exceeded our expectations. She was also readily available to help when we had some confusion with our train schedule, which gave us great peace of mind. We highly recommend KimKim to anyone looking for a well-organized personalized vacation experience.