High Point Holidays and Randonnees Outre-Manche

We had the most amazing experience on our trip to Scotland. Thank you to Jane and Celina for working with us to create such an incredible trip. We took a group of 49 Taekwondo students and family members from the Colorado Taekwondo Institute on a 10 day trip to Scotland where we visited Stirling for 2 days, Aviemore and Inverness for 3 days and Oban for 3 days. Our trip was seamless. Our excursions and activities had just the right balance and we were able to include many meals for our group. We even got to visit the highland games at Drumtochty Castle and do a demonstration for the crowd. Another highlight of our trip was having a special guide on the last full day of our trip. James Gray was amazing.

I could not --and, likely, would not--have made this trip without Rachel and KimKim.

I started out with a vague idea of three things/places I would like to experience. Rachel did a magnificent job of helping me figure out what else I might enjoy. And she was right on all counts. I ended up with memorable experiences in all three areas plus a couple more: seeing beautiful landscape by train, art, horses/animals, theatre, history. And Harry Potter.

The KimKim app was indispensable, especially for an almost 3-week trip. It kept everything in one place, was well-organized, and had a clean, easy-to-read design (I have design experience--I know it's not a given). In addition to a day-by-day list of where I was going and what I was doing, it also listed how I would get there and included invaluable links to tickets, maps, and everything else useful and interesting.

They purchased tickets for me for everything from a front-row, center ticket to Phantom of the Opera, to museum tickets, to multiple train tickets. The train tickets were not insignificant, especially because my hope was to experience the landscape of England and Scotland by train. I started out in London and made stops at York, Barnsley, Edinburgh, Inverness, Portree, Oban, and Glasgow. Rachel arranged for me to join several small group tours and for several drivers for longer distances (I didn't trust myself to drive on the left-hand side!).

Each tour was an exceptional experience. The guides were a huge part of that--they made these tours interesting, informative, and fun. I'd like especially to mention:

--Private Walking Tour of York: My guide was Rob, from Walking Tours in the UK. Rob has a doctoral degree in history. To say he was knowledgable is an understatement. He was also passionate about the history of York, his native town. I very much appreciated his consideration for my slight limitations in walking--neither of us made a fuss about it; he simply and quietly stopped at places where I could sit down for a bit while we talked. My York history walk with Rob was a clear highlight of my trip. He has my deep appreciation.

--Whitby and the North York Moors, complete with a ride on a steam train (Mountain Goat Tours). I never understood the mystique of the moors in literature and film until this drive. I do now. Our guide's passion for the moors was contagious. He also had some recommendations for our time in Whitby, which were right on the mark. Another knowledgable, remarkable guide. (And I feel bad I don't remember his name!)

--Harry Potter Guided Walking Tour (Edinburgh) with Caroline, from the PotterTrail. This could easily have been a cutesy, "here's this" and "here's that" tour, but what Caroline did was give thoughtful insight into parts of Edinburgh that inspired JK Rowling. It became as much about where inspiration comes from as about landmarks and Harry Potter--not an easy thing to do, in my opinion. There were several children on the experience and she treated them with respect and fun. It really was quietly inspirational in itself.

--Skye in a Day. This was a dream come true. (I'd been singing the Skye Boat Song for decades before Outlander!) Once again, the guides were a key part of the day. (We had one guide, Donny, in the morning. When he started having van trouble, he called in a colleague, Kevin. There was no disruption; the switch was seamless.) They were both excellent guides. The camaraderie, with a touch of humor, they created with our group made this particularly memorable day. They made it a point to learn everyone's name and where we were from. And the island itself? Stunningly beautiful.

The arrangements that had to be made to make this trip possible were mind-boggling. In addition to the items mentioned above, KimKim arranged drivers for me from Heathrow to my hotel, from Skye to Oban, and from Glasgow to the Edinburgh airport. The drivers were, to a person, professional, knowledgable, and good conversationalists.

One of my tours was cancelled due to a mechanical issue with a ferry we were to take to several of the islands. I received a timely notification from KimKim the day prior.

The hotel selection, especially given the number of cities I was visiting, was also a not-insignificant part of KimKim's services. We talked about what I was thinking of and she chose the right hotels for me. Also, they were conveniently located to the places I would be visiting.

Rachel and I were in touch almost every day. She even reminded me to make restaurant reservations in Portree, where there is a limited number of restaurants.

Those arrangements, from hotels, to theatre, tour, and train tickets, absolutely (pardon the expression) blow my mind. And that everything went smoothly is a testament to their skills and expertise. I can't thank Rachel and the KimKim Team enough for the experience of a lifetime.

KimKim helped us locate wonderful places to stay (given our requirement to have 2 bathrooms for 4 people) and we had amazing guides in every city -- Zurich, Basel, Venice, Naples, Amalfi Coast, and Rome. We had the BEST time. Marianna was generally available while we were traveling, as was High Point Holidays, and it made things much easier to have that constant contact.

I started organizing this trip back in the January time frame and by March we had locked down the details. I am grateful that the KimKim team answered my questions and really listened to our priorities. Our hotels/apartments were all extremely well=located (big priority) and our guides were all so good. My teenage daughters had a great time, despite the epic heat wave hitting Europe and the daily power outages in Italy. All in all, we are so very happy with our trip!

Activity Reviews

Rome with Golf Cart at Night with Pizza & Ice Cream

Rome

Such a fun way to see Rome, esp in the heat of the summer. Seeing the sights at night is a special treat, and the dinner we had was AMAZING.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Such fun!

Private Venetian Foodie Walk

Venice

Maria is a lifelong Venice resident and she taught us so much about Venice - its history, culture, evolution over the past several decades. What a pleasure this tour was! We likely would have not tried cicchetti were it not for this tour, so it really did open our eyes to a Venetian custom.

Quality of Experience

So much fun and so delicious

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Maria was chatty and interesting and incredibly knowledgeable

Transport

We walked!

This was my first time using KimKim. I've visited about 50% of countries in the world so I've used hundreds of travel agencies. KimKim is the perfect way to organize a trip. I knew exactly which cities I wanted to visit in France and worked with Sophie who was based in Lyon. She organized hotels, car transportation, trains and tours that she recommended. We worked together providing each other feedback until we came up with a final plan. I was a solo traveler for this trip, so knowing I could rely on Sophie for advice was very reassuring. Sophie stayed on top of any changes that were outside of our control and was quick to problem-solve when any snags were encountered. KimKim had a very user friendly app that made everything so clear and accessible. I would highly recommend KimKim and Sophie for your next travel plan.