Rutopía

We had an amazing trip planned and carried out by Kimkim to the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico. Our stay included three nights each in Valladolid and Tulum. Our activities included seeing various Mayan ruins (Ek Balam, Chichen Itza, Coba and Tulum), a boat ride seeing crocodiles and flamingos (our captan Luis was the only one who went far enough out to see the flamingos while we were there, and then we had a delicious lunch at his house prepared by his wife, Malchita, got to play Uno with their grandson Matias), snorkling with turtles, swimming in 4 different cenotes, cooking lessons on traditional Mayan foods. The hotels we stayed in were local, we enjoyed avoiding the big name companies and got to experience more true Mexico than a room that could be anywhere in the world. The ease of the trip was a blessing, from the planning to the execution. We were met at the airport and then each morning by our driver for the day, who took us to each of our destinations, waited for us, and took us to our next and then back to our hotel. Our amazing drivers included Jesus, Carlo, Francisco, Ivan #1, Ivan #2. I got an update each evening with the next day's plans and identifiation of the driver which made it very straight forward. I would highly recommend Kimkim to anyone travelling and looking for local experiences and low stress vacations.

Hotel Reviews

El Mesón del Marqués

Valladolid

Great room, friendly people, excellent food. Flavor of Mexico.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Piedra Escondida

Tulum, Quintana Roo

Beautiful location with friendly, helpful staff.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Guided tour to the AS of Ek Balam

Valladolid

Baltazar was an excellent guide.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Jesus was amazing

A pink-ish day at Río Lagartos & Las Coloradas

Mexico

Our captain Luis (Baba) was amazing, took us further out than any of the other boats in order to find the flamingos, then went back to his house for an amazing lunch prepared by his wife Malchita.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Snorkeling and Sightseeing with Turtles in Akumal

Mexico

It was really amazing to see the turtles. Unfortunately, the seaweed came in a couple days before we got there, so visibility and enjoyment were not as good as they could have been.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Visit Chichén Itzá, Wonder of the Maya World

Mexico

Amazing experience. Enjoyed the knowledge of our guide, Ricardo.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Carlo was an amazing driver and guide. He taught us about the Mayan culture, including helping us learn some basic words.

Visit the archaeological site of Tulum

Mexico

Beautiful. Our guide was acceptable. I think the 4th ruin was a little too much for us. Kids loved seeing some of the animals before we entered the park.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

This was the only activity where we had trouble meeting up with our guide. Our driver, Ivan, was very helpful and made calls to get us in the right place.

Transport

Cooking Cochinita Pib with locals at Yaxunáh

Mexico

The food that was cooked was amazing. The experience was brief but enjoyable. The kids enjoyed the "hands on" aspect.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Cenotes of Chemuyil

Mexico

This was by far our family's favorite activity. We were picked up by one of the founding members, Ivan, of the Cenotes of Chemuyil restoration project. We enjoyed hearing about their effort at cleaning up and protecting their community and space of their childhood memories. The bike ride was easy and pleasant, getting to see some of the town along the way. The variety of the cenotes, from cave-like to open, was cool. The water refreshing, the guides friendly. The food at the end of the day was the cherry on top. I would highly recommend this tour.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Visit to Lol Ha cenote in Yaxunah

Mexico

This was our first cenote experience and we really enjoyed it. Fun to explore, cool off, experience something new.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Explore Cobá!

Mexico

Our guide, Sebastian, was friendly and very informative.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Driver Ray and guide Francisco were superb, could not ask for better.

This trip to Mexico was amazing! The ruins were fascinating and the beaches and lagoons were spectacular! The staff at Rancho Encantado in Bacalar were particularly friendly and helpful. They were great at helping us get transportation when we needed it and helped us plan our day to make our son’s birthday a wonderful day!

Our favorite parts of the trip were floating in the Sian Ka’an and going to see the ruins in Calakmul. Being so far out in the rainforest. Seeing monkeys swing from the trees, and climbing up the ruins to see the amazing views from above is something we will never forget! My one critique is that a couple of the activities that we had planned on the itinerary were not what was described for us. We were put in a large group tour to Chichén itza when we were told it would just be a small group tour and it felt very rushed that whole day. Other than a couple discrepancies like that between the itinerary and what really happened, the trip went smoothly and kimkim did a great job helping us plan it. Thank you kimkim!

We had a great time. The trip gave us a true flavor of the city, the neighborhoods, history and the food. Oh the food! Hugo put together a great itinerary including some things we would definitely not have considered if we had just planned it ourselves, like the Lucha Libre experience and the "tortilla crawl."

Hotel Review

Andaz Mexico City Condesa

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Discovering Teotihuacán by bike, a unique archaeological experience

Mexico City

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

La Lucha Libre! An authentic México City Experience.

Mexico City

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Everything was perfect. Everything was well planned. Everything was punctual. The hotels were beautiful. The guides were great. Could not have asked for a better vacation.

Jorge and Alejandro made our trip unforgettable. Ana Sofia and Luz Maria were very helpful and attentive. Great experience!

Kimkim Travel Planning Service arranged our personalized trip with a local travel group called Rutopia. This well curated trip of Puebla and Mexico City for 7 days is titled "Flavors, Art & Heritage: A Mother-Daughter Journey Through Mexico." And we did just that! It was seamless with well communicated daily agenda that had fun, educational experiences and extraordinarily delicious tastings included. Just let them know what you want to see, do and experience and they deliver them very nicely! We highly recommend them!

Ana Sofia faced-time with us to get a sense of what type of experience we wanted, give us a chance to convey our goals. Of course, throughout the time of planning, we came up with more requests and ideas, and so did Ana, who made the necessary adjustments. Ana was very responsive to our needs. And so were Luz and Maria who were the local agents. The drivers and tour guides made us feel very safe and cared for. We sensed their pride for their culture which made it more enjoyable for us.

Highlights: A. Museum of Anthropology, Museo Soumaya, Frida Kahlo's Red House, Anahuacalli Museum, Frida Kahlo & Diego Rivera's Houses and Work studios. Puebla City/Cholula is a must for its charm and slow pace. The beautiful cathedrals, hearing the histories, their differences in beauty.
B. Street Food Tour in Puebla - It's the only way to taste and experience what the locals do, so fun and delicious!
C. The Milli Restaurant, Corn Kitchen in Cholula - excellent food, demonstration with audience participation in this nationally award-winning cooperative of farmers promoting ancient, original corn.
D. Wonderful Tastings menu and experience of a Milpa Dinner at Tezontle restaurant in the Casa de la Luz Hotel.
E. The hotels that were centrally located, catering to our needs of having a pool for relaxation between the activity-filled days.
F. Sonora Grill Reforma - One of the recommendations when we were on our own. Just the type of break we needed . It had a lively atmosphere and very delicious steaks!!
G. The door to door private ride service and tours: Worry free car rides and tours that started from our hotel.

You may skip the boat ride of the canals of Xochimilco. A one-time experience is more than enough. We happen to have asked for it and didn't know aside from the write-ups. Although, it was nice to drive through the very long garden/flower market. Unless you want to have an hour-long party drinking, eating, singing with a Mariachi band while riding the vey colorful boats, it's not our groove. We found it too commercialized and the river jam packed with boats and cacophony of different Mariachi bands singing side by side. One boat even had music playing loudly amongst the other live bands. I could imagine how it must have been a long time ago when the boats were decorated with fresh flowers and steered along the shallow river by the boatman using his long pole.

Suggested improvement: Having the drivers (and their cars) and tour guides refrain from wearing strong scents. I happen to be very sensitive to it and Luz listened to my needs and responded quite well by making the necessary adjustments, after a couple of tries. The driver replacement did not wear perfume but his car, although it was very clean, was heavily scented. The issue was eventually resolved.