Storywalking

We had an absolutely fabulous experience! I’ll admit, I was a little nervous going into the trip because I had never used this company before, and when you’re traveling to another country and relying on someone else to coordinate so many details, you’re putting a lot of trust in them. Those nerves disappeared very quickly. Everything was so thoroughly planned, and every detail was executed perfectly. From start to finish, we truly didn’t have to worry about a thing.

One of the things I appreciated most was how seamless all of our transportation and meeting arrangements were. We never had to wonder where we were supposed to go or who was picking us up. Most of the time, our driver or guide was waiting at the meeting location with a sign with my name on it, which made everything incredibly easy. Everyone was on time and exactly where they said they would be.

Each excursion that was planned for us was something we genuinely enjoyed. The only exception was the Venetian rowing lesson—we would have preferred to simply enjoy a ride rather than row ourselves—but that was such a small part of an otherwise incredible itinerary.

There was only one instance when I couldn’t locate our pickup person, and as soon as I reached out, the response was immediate. We found each other right away, which gave me even more confidence knowing that if something did come up, help was readily available.

My only reason for giving our local specialist a slightly lower rating was because when I first started planning the trip, I had an amazing specialist who was incredibly attentive and helpful. She apparently left, and I was reassigned to someone else. While everything still came together beautifully, my new specialist wasn’t quite as attentive and sometimes came across a little short in her communication. That may simply have been a cultural or communication-style difference, but there was a noticeable difference from the experience I had with my original specialist.

Overall, I truly could not be happier with our trip. The entire experience was incredibly smooth, well organized, and allowed us to simply enjoy ourselves without worrying about the details. Any hesitation I had about using a company I had never worked with before was completely gone by the end of the trip. It was an amazing experience, and I would do it again a thousand times over!

While the process was quite simple, and the local specialist appeared to be very knowledgeable having had time to sit and reflect there are many things that were in retrospect quite frustrating. First I am not sure how a tour of the Ufitzi in Florence was not recommended as part of our itinerary. We spent four days in Florence, and it for sure should have been one of them. Second we were talked out of staying in Positano for New Years Eve because nothing would be open, only to discover they host a huge New Years Eve beach party so that information was simply false, and Positano remains one of the best two hour segments we had in our two weeks in Italy. Three days there would have been the best possible end to our adventure. Instead we spent New Years Eve enclosed in a restaurant with no views, and a ridiculously expensive pre-fix menu half of which my older daughter did not eat-which I was told was not alterable while tables around us had altered options. In my past experiences with Kim Kim the local specialist has had so much insight and has connected us with local guides who were simply amazing. Our Florence City Guide was amazing, as was our Coliseum guide-both so knowledgeable and passionate about the places we were seeing. Our Rome sunset tour guide was a nightmare-we did not get to go into the Parthenon which was supposed to be included, and when asked for a recommendation for food for my children who needed a snack she said she was on a diet and did not really eat out. It was truly unbelievable. I hope one day to go back to Italy, but this was not the magical trip we had imagined.

Hotel Reviews

Ca' dei Proverbi Suites

Venice

This was an amazing space in a fantastic location. Highly recommend for families who can use a little more living space. The stairs would not be great for young children, but school age and up would be a great fit!!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

So helpful, and walked us over the first night so we would not get lost. They were great.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Orto de' Medici

Florence

Location was AMAZING, and the room was decent sized with plenty of space for both of my daughters. It made all of Florence walkable but was in a quiet area.

Authenticity & Character

They provided a book about the Medici family my 16 year old was enchanted by. It had so many fun facts!

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Dei Mellini

Rome

This hotel is fine. The staff was friendly. The breakfast was okay, but nothing special. We ended up in two connecting rooms as opposed to the family suite we had booked. It was sort of close to everything which meant really it was close to nothing. Everything was a 20 plus minute walk away.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Palazzo delle Grazie

Sorrento

Super cute, just off the main square. Breakfast was nice, if not as fresh as we normally see in Europe and staff was so sweet.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Venice Walking Tour with St. Marks Basilica Access

Italy

This was very nice. Would have been better if it had included a tour of the palace as well as the church. It was a lot of you should come back here and do x-which given we were in Venice for two days was not great. However, the guide was very kind, and made great restaurant recommendations.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

It was a little challenging to find out guide, but once we located her it was very good.

Transport

This is a walking tour. So transport was your feet.

Private Walking Tour of Florence | City Highlights with David & Duomo

Italy

AMAZING. Our guide was the best we had in Italy-he was funny, engaging and picked up very quickly on what was of interest to my 16 and 21 year old. His love for the city and flexibility to what was of interest to use was an amazing combination. I wish Marco had been out guide for all of Italy!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

This is a walking tour-so transport is your feet.

Central Food Market & Tuscan Cooking Class

Florence

This was a very good experience, because the day we went the market was closed sadly we did not get the central food market experience. I wish we had known that, as we might have been able to go a different day.

Quality of Experience

Food

The ravioli and the sauce, it was all amazing.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

The young women leading

Transport

This category is not applicable.

The Best of Colosseum & Ancient Rome With Exclusive Arena Access

Rome

This tour, which included the entire area outside the coliseum was amazing. The guide knew all the stories, and to stand in the places where the history occurred while hearing the history was what I came to Rome for. The coliseum was one of the few things that really cannot be oversold. The size, the architecture it was surreal.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Walking tour-transport is your feet.

Highlights of the Vatican & Sistine Chapel Tour

Italy

Our guide was very good, but this was a bit of a nightmare. It was SOOOO crowded, and the guide was in a bit of a hurry. My teens would have liked to spend more time looking at the animal sculptures and she kind of rushed them through to walk through endless rooms of tapestries they had no interest in. The Sistine chapel was shoulder to shoulder-and not quiet, despite the photography prohibition people were taking photos on their phones and in general it just ruined the awe. Nothing however could ruin the awe of the basilica and Michelangelo's pieta.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

This was a walking tour-transport was your feet.

Full Day Tour: Positano, Amalfi & Ravello

Italy

Positano was AMAZING. I wish our lunch restaurant had an ocean view, but the food was very good. The guide was funny, and knowledgeable and the windy roads were well navigated.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Jewish Ghetto & Trastevere Tour

Rome

This was a bit of disaster. It became a tour of 1000 churches when we were really interested in the Jewish History of Rome. The synagogue was not included, and at one point in the Trastevere we walked in to tour a church while a funeral was occurring. We did see some amazing theater ruins, and some gorgeous, stained class as well as very old churches with wells in the front. Our afternoon ended with kosher pizza which was delightful.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Walking tour-transport was feet.

Private Evening Rome Walking Tour

Rome

This was TERRIBLE. The guide was awful and we did not get to enter the Parthenon as advertised because of some change of rule in guides being allowed in (I am still unclear on why a time change was not made to allow the tour to be what we were supposed to be having.) Additionally, when asked for a good place to grab a snack during the three hour walking tour the guide spent 10 minutes talking about her diet, and patting her stomach. When asked again she indicated she was not sure. We ended up a terrible tourist cafe which given we paid a guide was RIDICULOUS. The guide makes all the difference in these types of tours, and this was a failure of the travel agency.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Walking tour-transport was feet.

Free Day on the Amalfi Coast

Amalfi Coast

This was not an activity-unclear why it is here.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

This would be us.

Our trip was planned flawlessly by Leslie at KimKim! Can’t say enough how incredible the trip was and how every place, guide, and tour were wonderful - - - even in 100 degree heat!

Venice:
Our guide Sara was so warm, informative and loved her City. We learned so much about the history, saw the basilica, and went on a gondola ride. So lovely. Our hotel was fabulous and we made friends with the staff.

Florence:
Our guide Marco was charming and knowledgeable. We did some wine tasting, visited sites and were again spoiled at our hotel.

Rome:
Once again our guide and hotel were memorable. Our guide did her best to help us be more comfortable in the extreme heat, while we learned about our host city. We visited the Collisium and the Vatican; both left us speechless in their beauty.

Amalfi Coast:
We had a full day boat ride. The Captain and Marta were the perfect hosts who love their professions! We were shown the Blue Grotto, Mt Vesuvius, Capri, and the Sorrento coastline. We swam in the sapphire blue water, had a delicious Italian lunch and learned about the locations history. Our hotel was on the water and we got to relax a couple days and even got to see the Solar Eclipse!

I’m really not able to do the trip enough justice. Every guide, tour, ride, etc. was on time and high quality. Each hotel had a great location and was 4 - 5 stars. The memories my kids, grandkids and friend made together will last a lifetime. Can’t thank Leslie enough for her careful planning, availability, and kindness.

This was our second trip to Italy with kimkim. Our local specialist Leslie took our requests and planned our accommodations, tours, and transfers to suit us perfectly. Our tours of the Duomo and the Last Supper with local guides from Liv Tours were wonderful. Our group tour of the villa on Isola del Garda was a nice way to spend a day on the lake. We loved exploring the sights and streets of Verona. Our last stop in Trieste was memorable as it is an Italian city like no other. We were impressed with the architecture, sea views, restaurants and the vibe of the city. Lastly, our tour with a winemaker in Colli Orientali del Friuli was the perfect way to end our trip.

Hotel Reviews

Boutique Hotel Albero Nascosto

Trieste

Loved location, comfort of the room and the friendly, helpful staff.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Milu Milano

Milano

Authenticity & Character

Location

Close to subway and shopping

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Europa

Desenzano del Garda

Great location and breakfast.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Clean, but mattress is thin. Hallways are not air conditioned.

Hotel Indigo Verona - Grand Hotel Des Arts

Verona

Authenticity & Character

Location

Just outside of historic centre.

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Mattress was very comfortable. Shower stall is a little tight.

Activity Reviews

Express Milan Duomo Tour with Terrace Access

Italy

Great guide and perfect length.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

A Guided Visit to the Isola del Garda (Garda Island

Sirmione

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Wine Tasting - A Taste of Friuli’s Hill Country

Trieste

An in depth tour with the winemaker. Great wine and food.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Express Milan Last Supper Tour

Milan

Perfect length to learn about the painting.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

The trip was well planned from beginning to end. Leslie did an amazing job with selecting hotels that were novel and also in walking distance to the town centers.

We were concerned because of the record heat wave but we should have trusted in the team all the hotels had a good temperature. They either had AC or they were high in altitude and it was cooler or, in one case, the hotel was specifically designed to maintain a low room temperature despite lacking an AC.

Drivers came on time, hotels were unique, the tours were educational. The whole trip just worked like a well oiled machine.

Highly recommend this company, especially if you want to design your own trip.

This trip epitomizes why we use KimKim.
First idea, go to Barcelona to see some of the 2026 Tour de France and continue on. Second idea go early and end the trip in Barcelona, start somewhere else. Hmmm Verona looks interesting.
Contact KimKim and outline a driving trip from Verona to Barcelona over 18 days.
In comes Leslie, a KimKIm Italy travel expert based in Bologna who puts together an amazing itinerary. Stops, tours, things to see, with a few tweaks (for us no wine tours) and then we get to hotel selection. This is where Leslie and team excelled, we stayed at some wonderful places that we would never have found on our own no matter how long we scraped the internet.
Select the hotels, confirm the flights, add one more stop to break up a long driving day and we are good to go.
It all worked. The hotels were amazing, the tours and tour guides (Julien in Avignon was a stand out) were excellent. Working with Annalisa, our daily What’sApp contact, each afternoon we confirmed all the next days activity. We made a last minute change to a pickup point in Barcelona that was handled perfectly.
Memorable stops, Isola Bella ( just go), Avignon, Aigues-Mortes, Girona, cycling heaven. The history is amazing.
This was our 5th KimKim trip and was probably the best and definitely will not be the last.

Hotel Reviews

Hotel Accademia

Verona

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

La Maison Molière

Arles

Grand Hotel Des Iles Borromees

Stresa

Royal Hotel Sanremo

Sanremo

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

La Chapelle sur la Sorgue

L'Isle sur la sorgue

Authenticity & Character

Location

Perfect

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hôtel La Casa Pairal

Collioure

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Clean comfortable, but strange layout

Hotel Regina

Barcelona

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Palau Fugit

Girona

FAntastic, cannot recommend enough

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Private Walking Tour of Verona

Italy

Private Gothic Quarter Walk

Barcelona

Half Day Tour: Isola Bella and Fishermen's Island

Italy

Our favorite tour of the trip Who knew?

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

History, Legends & Monuments Walk

Girona

Avignon Private Guided Walking Tour with a Licensed Guide

Italy

Julien was our favorite tour guide of the trip

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff