Travel12

My husband and I celebrated our 40th wedding anniversary with a trip to Italy. The trip was arranged through Kimkim with Paraskevas as our travel specialist. It was a wonderful experience with stays in Bologna, Siena and Greve in Chianti. We flew into and out of Rome. Our accommodations along the way were very nice and located will so we could travel on foot to see many local sites. Casa Bertagni in Bologna was a wonderful B&B - very classy place to stay with attention paid to details. The breakfast was wonderful as well. The Residenza d'Epoca Palazzo Borghesi provided a wonderful view of Siena as well as breakfast on our balcony served by very kind staff. Our last 2 days were at Peitra del Cabreo. This was an amazing place to stay at the end of our visit. The location was beautiful, peaceful and had wonderful staff. We had a cooking class with Lucca and then were able to have our class food served to us for dinner. It was an amazing way to end our stay in Italy.
Since my husband and I did not wish to drive, Paraskevas made arrangements for several train rides and limo services. Our itinerary was carefully detailed with locations, times, driver names and train tickets attached when needed. The limo drivers who assisted us were always professional and very helpful. They made every transfer go smoothly.
Our days were busy with local guide tours, food tours and day trips to wineries, beautiful Tuscany towns, and a Parma tour that included Parmigiano, prosciutto and balsamico. Every day had a fun adventure.
We also appreciated having the Traveler Care Team available. It was reassuring to know there was a team to assist us if needed.
It was a wonderful way to celebrate our anniversary! We have wonderful memories and pictures of our trip. Our thanks to Paraskevas and the team to helped to make our trip happen.

Hotel Reviews

Hilton Rome Airport Hotel

Fiumicino

great location due to connection to the Rome airport.

Authenticity & Character

rooms were set up well.

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Restaurant was very busy. long time to get a table. Breakfast very nice.

Pietra del Cabreo

Greve

Beautiful place to stay and experience. Wonderful way to end a trip.

Authenticity & Character

beautiful views from room windows and restaurant when eating meals. nice walking paths around the hotel.

Location

Staff

staff were so very helpful and nice.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Rooms were awesome, wonderful bathroom products, robes, towels, etc.

Residenza d'Epoca Palazzo Borghesi

Siena

I rated a 4 due to no small refrigerator in the room to use. Also bathroom products (soap, lotion etc) were limited and the hair dryer was difficult to use due it being a very cheap model.

Authenticity & Character

Location

the location was great. just a short walk to the Piazza del Campo

Staff

Staff were so very nice and helpful

Cleanliness & Comfort

see my earlier comments

Casa Bertagni

The hotel was so very nice. Great attention to detail, products for guests to use and location was great. Breakfast was wonderful. .

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Le Clarisse al Pantheon

Rome

Staff were so very helpful. A wonderful breakfast was included. Loved the location near the Pantheon, Trevi fountain and Navona Piazza.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Private Siena Walking Tour

Italy

I always enjoying taking a tour when visiting a new city. Our guide, Giulia, made our tour interesting and fun. She shared information about the Palio di Siena as we walked around Siena. We had the opportunity to learn more about Siena but also about this historic race. This made our tour quite a bit of fun and it felt like we had insider information about the race.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Evening Food & Wine Tour

Bologna

A wonderful tasty and fun evening. Valentina was a great guide. She shared many locations in Bologna with interesting information and good food and wine. This is a tour to definitely go on.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Cooking Class in Chianti

Italy

My husband and I really enjoyed this class. Luca was the chef who led the class. He did a great job explaining the meal preparation and how to's of making pasta. The meal we prepared was later served to us in the restaurant and was delicious.

Brunello di Montalcino Wine Tour

Siena

A very fun day. Our driver was knowledgeable about the wine region, wine and the wineries we visited. The lunch served at our second was awesome. We enjoyed all of the wineries.

Tuscany Day Trip from Siena

Siena

We enjoyed driving through the Tuscany countryside. Beautiful views and towns. I would have liked to have spent a little more time in the towns to walk around. The farm lunch was wonderful. So nice to meet the farmer and his wife. An excellent meal was served to us. Directly following the meal, we went to a town and had a wine tasting. It would have been nice to have the wine tasting a bit later as it was too soon after just finishing a meal with wine.

Parma Tour With Parmigiano, Prosciutto & Balsamico

Italy

Very interesting tour. My husband and I enjoyed it. Our guide Thomas was knowledgeable and wanted to be sure we enjoyed the tour. Our farm lunch was awesome.

Bologna Unveiled: Private Walking Tour of Culture, Cinema & Culinary Traditions

Bologna

Our guide from Bespoke Emila was very knowledgeable and made the time go by quickly. I am so sorry but I do not recall name. He was very interesting and made sharing his information fun. We had a very nice lunch together at the end of our tour.

Irene, Klio, and everyone else at Travel 12 planned a great trip. They flawlessly handled all of the logistics of getting us around Greece and they booked amazing guides for us.

The highlights of the trip included the Santorini Highlights with Wine Tour. Our guide Will was perhaps one of the best tour guides I've ever had. He did an excellent job getting us to all of the major sights in Santorini while avoiding the crowds and he kept us entertained during the entire tour. Other highlights were the Palace of Knossos tour, the reservation at Peskesi restaurant in Heraklion, and the tour of Delphi. I should add that every guide that was booked for us did an amazing job.

This was my third trip with KimKim and, like the previous two, this one was fantastic.

Activity Reviews

Local Transfer in Athens

Greece

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Private Cape Sounion Driving tour

Greece

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Private Delos Guided Tour

Mykonos

Starting later in the afternoon allowed us to tour a practically empty Delos. The timing was perfect!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Palace of Knossos Private Tour

Greece

This was a fantastic tour and definitely one of the highlights. Our driver had to leave to make another transfer, which allowed us to have almost an extra hour touring the site. Our driver was very apologetic about the situation, but I thought it worked out perfectly. Even better, actually. Also, I want to thank our guide for suggesting that we start the tour an hour earlier than originally scheduled. That was a great suggestion.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Private Acropolis Guided Tour

Athens

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Santorini Highlights with Wine

Greece

This was a fantastic tour and Will was an amazing guide. I would recommend Will and this tour to EVERYONE who travels to Santorini.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Snorkeling Boat trip in Chania

Chania

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Local transfer in Heraklion

Heraklion

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Premium Morning Catamaran Cruise in the Caldera lagoon

Santorini

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

My only complaint is when the tour ended, we had to wait in a parking lot under the hot sun for our transfer back to the hotel. Having a shade structure in the waiting area would make an otherwise very good experience perfect.

Private Delphi Day-trip

Athens

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Our guides were amazing and tours just the right group size. Lorenza was our tour guide at The Vatican, Lorenzo, Marco provides some amazing insights at The Colosseum in Rome, Lorenzo was our food tour guide in Florence, and Luca guided us through tue streets of Pompeii. We also enjoyed a boat tour of the Amalfi coast, led by Captain Antonio. I mention all their names because they were memorable and enthusiastic about their subjects.

Our hotels were perfect. Well-located to enjoy the sights and sounds of each city and within walking distance of major attractions and historic landmarks.

All transfers were easy and the drivers and livery were first class. Response to our questions via WhatsApp were promptly and professionally answered.The most impressive thing is that we opted for a budget-conscious getaway!

We would definitely recommend KimKim to others seeking a worry-free vacation!

Hotel Reviews

Hilton Rome Airport Hotel

Fiumicino

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Palazzo Tritone

Sorrento

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Alfieri9 Boutique Hotel

Florence

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Modigliani

Roma

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Florence Food Tour & Dinner

Florence

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Private Pompeii Tour

Pompeii

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Colosseum & Roman Forum Tour

Rome

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Local transfer in Rome

Rome

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Amalfi Coast Boat Tour From Sorrento

Italy

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Vatican Guided Tour

Rome

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Italy is amazing! The start of planning and booking with Irene was easy and Irene made sure to answer every question I had. Once the trip started, everything went as scheduled and we had constant communication with a travel team. Our guides through Liv Tours were awesome. They knew so much information and also engaged our teens through out. The cooking class with Towns of Italy in Florence was amazing and Lisa was an incredible instructor! Our food tour through Trastevere was so much fun. We enjoyed getting a tour of the neighborhood where the locals go and also tasting yummy food. Areulio (sp?) was amazing as well. Our favorite by far was Sorrento! We loved the Path of the Gods hike with Antonio through Leisure Italy. He was knowledgable and patient with us as we hiked. Dino, our driver was great as well for this hike! The boat day for our last day with Capitano Ago was just amazing. Our skipper, Orlando was great and we enjoyed the entire day seeing the coast and the blue waters. He recommended an awesome spot for lunch in Capri and even made the reservation for us! I can’t say enough about this trip, it was just incredible and our teens loved it as well! We can’t wait to go back!

My husband and I had the best time in Italy! Tasos and the kimkim team did a fantastic job from start to finish. We stayed in beautiful hotels, usually tucked away on a quiet street but still in the heart of each city. The excursions booked were all with incredibly knowledgeable guides. My favorites were an ebike tour through the heart of Tuscany and a boat ride around the Amalfi Coast. The restaurant recommendations in each city were also great, kept us away from any tourist traps. The kimkim care team was super responsive during our trip as questions came up. The whole trip was so seamless, and we can't wait to use kimkim for future European travels.

Hotel Reviews

Hotel Michelangelo

Sorrento

A very nice hotel in Sorrento! We stayed here three nights in one of the recently renovated suites. Beautiful balcony with a view, used the pools, and enjoyed drinks at the rooftop bar. Decent location, about 25 min walk to get down to the main marina.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Modigliani

Roma

Loved this hotel! It's tucked away on a quiet street in the heart of the city. We walked past the Trevi fountain every night on our way back to the hotel. The breakfast was decent, and the dry cleaning service was a huge plus after traveling for several days prior.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Residenza d'Epoca Palazzo Borghesi

Siena

This is the sweetest bed and breakfast in the heart of Siena! Very close to the Siena Cathedral and main piazza, with a beautiful view of the city. I would give this hotel 5 stars, but my husband had a hard time sleeping due to some festivities in the alley behind our room both nights of our stay.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Olimpia

Venice

The best hotel breakfast! We stayed here for two nights. It's in a very better restaurants and museums, but didn't have to walk more than 25 minutes or so in any direction. convenient location, close to the train station and the part of Venice accessible by car. It did mean it was a bit further to walk to. Room was quaint and clean, and staff was very friendly.

Authenticity & Character

The best Euro breakfast!

Location

Close to train station and ferry station, but a bit further from the best restaurants.

Staff

Very friendly and knowledgeable about the city

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Amalfi Coast Boat Tour From Sorrento

Italy

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Chianti E-Bike Tour with wine tasting

Italy

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Venice Boat Tour by Night

Venice

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

All the tours by LivTours were excellent, the Venice guide Nico was great as was the guise for the Forum and the Vatican guide. Breakfast at the Rome hotel was very limited compared to the other hotels.

Hotel Reviews

Hotel Le Clarisse al Pantheon

Rome

Authenticity & Character

Location

U

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Villa di Sorrento

Sorrento

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Duomo

Florence

Amazing location. The reception was on the 4th floor with rooms on 3rd or 5th floor which was a little awkward. Free gelato!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Al Theatro Palace

Venice

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Lancaster Hotel

Milan

Great breakfast, good location

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Local transfer in Milan

Milan

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Milan Highlights Private Tour with Last Supper & Duomo

Milan

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Private Evening Aperitivo in Navigli

Milan

Not much food, more drinks

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

The WhatsApp support group during the trip was amazing! Prompt, helpful, and proactive to make sure we were setup with everything we needed on our trip.

Hotel Reviews

Hotel Modigliani

Roma

Charming spot, super nice and helpful staff, safe location.

Authenticity & Character

Upgraded but still had older charm elements

Location

A bit of a walk to main attractions, but nice neighborhood and fun to walk around to things nearby.

Staff

Very willing to help with luggage, bar, breakfast, etc.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Palazzo Tritone

Sorrento

Fabulous location for exploring Sorrento! Clean and spacious

Authenticity & Character

Unique setup, with some modern touches

Location

Short walk to dining and shopping and main Sorrento attractions

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Villa Accini

Great location, kind staff, great outdoor relaxation space.

Authenticity & Character

Some components were a little dated, but it gave it charm.

Location

Close to town.

Staff

Super kind and helpful

Cleanliness & Comfort

Spacious room and clean!

Alfieri9 Boutique Hotel

Florence

Adorable setup, extremely clean, wonderful staff. Was a little bit of a walk to main attractions, but not bad. Would recommend and stay again.

Authenticity & Character

Unique, cozy, great decor

Location

Little closer to main attractions.

Staff

Friendly and helpful

Cleanliness & Comfort

No issues in room or lobby.

Activity Reviews

Private Pompeii Tour

Pompeii

More to see than expected and pleasantly surprised at the different bits of history to take in.

Quality of Experience

The 2 hours was plenty to take in the history and have time in the day for other things.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Guide shared lots of facts we wouldn't have known otherwise. We were able to see highlights and most important things in a timely manner. Very nice and thoughtful with answers and conversations.

Transport

Hiking the Path of Gods

Sorrento

The most incredible views! Great to experience the landscape and learn about the communities in the area.

Quality of Experience

The views and the guide sharing info along the way made it more memorable.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Wonderful - outgoing, kind, and knowledgeable!

Transport

the drive to the starting point is a bit curvy and slow, so plan time accordingly.

Private Colosseum Tour with Underground Access

Rome

The guide was so sweet and knowledgeable. Was able to share info that made what you were looking at and walking through so much more meaningful.

Quality of Experience

Learning while seeing ruins was a great experience.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Sweet and smart guide. She enriched the experience and made it worthwhile.

Transport

Meeting point was easy to navigate.

Vatican Guided Tour

Rome

We were happily surprised how great the tour went. The right amount of time and highlighting of key points of interest. Especially cool to learn things you wouldnt know if you didnt go with a guide.

Quality of Experience

So much history and info shared that only a guide would know.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

David was incredible - helpful with questions, balance of time to absorb and experience, but got through a lot of things to see!

Transport

Meeting spot was easy and the line didnt take long to get through.

Chianti Wine & Olive Oil Tour from Florence

Florence

The guide was funny, insightful, and made the experience really great.

Quality of Experience

The wineries and staff at the wineries.

Food

Lunch at the winery was authentic and paired well with the wine.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

shared lots of great history and info to make the drive and in-between time go by quickly

Transport

Bus was great

We were unsure as to whether or not use a travel agent for our trip, after this trip…we will probably ALWAYS use one! We had the best experience with KimKim and Irene. Scheduling was prompt, detailed, and everything we wanted. No detail left undone. Irene was always very fast to respond to our inquiries, and always open to a call or Teams meeting. When we would suggest an idea, she always gave her honest option and recommendations which were very much appreciated based on her experiences. Irene was unavailable after we had booked our trip and we were passed to another local agent. This made us a little nervous because Irene had been with us all along, however we had the best experiences with the new agent yet again! Absolute perfection! While on our trip to Italy we had a couple of questions or concerns along the way. We were able to message KimKim and we had a response each time almost immediately! One of the issues was with our first hotel checkin, and they even called and spoke to the hotel directly to clear the miscommunication up. Our travel guides on our actual trip were incredible! All English speaking, kind, funny, knowledgeable, and had our best interest along the way. We are grateful for all of them and the experiences they gave us. Kimkim did a great job of rearranging our travel plans one of the days unexpectedly. The Pope was in town and they adjusted our drivers/tours/times to make sure that we were able to enjoy our vacation to the fullest, rather than being stuck in traffic not able to access the city that was blocked off. Overall 10 out of 10 for the KimKim team that carried us through this amazing adventure! Thank You!

From the moment Irene reached out to me to start the planning of our trip, to the time we boarded our return flight - everything went as smoothly as possible.
This was our third trip w/ Kimkim and we are happy that it worked out as we expected.
We are super thankful to Irene and Travel12 team for making our trip memorable.
All the guides, drivers were very knowledgable, respectful and we enjoyed talking to them during our tours.
Thank you!!

Hotel Reviews

Hotel Modigliani

Roma

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Royal Continental Hotel Naples

Naples

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

The front desk staff can do better with friendly communication.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Santa Maria Novella

Florence

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

The Floor

Milano

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Private Appian Way and Catacomb Tour

Rome

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

did not expect a Merc S350 :) this transport was the best of the trip.. enjoyed a lot!

Private Full Day Tivoli Tour from Rome

Rome

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Vatican Guided Tour

Rome

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

we walked to all the destinations - hotel selection was really good.

Private Amalfi Coast Driving Tour

Italy

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Afternoon Naples Walking Tour & Seafood Dinner

Naples

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Milan Highlights Private Tour with Last Supper & Duomo

Milan

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Milano Fashion Tour

Milan

we were delayed by 15-20 mins, no mistake of our guide, but the GPS took us on a long route. though our time was short, we got good info on Armani, walked to Prada. Very nice of our guide to spend good time w/ us.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Lake Como full-day Trip from Milan

Milan

we had a really good visit to Lake Como. The weather goddess favored us and gave such a wonderful day - both cloudy and bright and sunny.! our guide adjusted our plan for the day according to the weather. He took care of the subway and the train tickets and over all had a lovely day w/ his help.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

very friendly, informed and adjusted plans according to our interests and weather.

Transport

Our guide took care of the public transportation tickets etc also so smoothly and ensured we had a proper back and forth. Train journey was very nice!

Private Tour of Brera District

Milan

Our guide was very knowledgeable and explained the paintings, history well!!