Vio Travel

My family and I are truly grateful for the partnership and support of Leny and her team.

From the very beginning of the planning process I felt at ease and excited about receiving the best care and advice from Leny. I had already talked to two different planners at independent companies and neither of them could provide the service that Leny did. She offered great recommendations, and coordinated the best hotels and guides and could give true feedback being a local and speaking the language.

Our memorable excursions were the samurai experience, ramen making and the open air museum. Thank goodness for all the Shinkansen help- she told us the platform and all the information beforehand- otherwise it would have been overwhelming to navigate . I changed my plans when we were nearly done with our planning and Leny worked through all the changes and stayed positive and professional ☺️

I especially want to point out the help she provided my husband when he lost his passport- she connected with the uber driver/taxi company and helped work out the return of his lost bag. She stayed calm, worked late and really went above and beyond to help us come up with a plan. We are forever grateful.

Thank you Leny and team- and we plan to use KimKim for future trips- and have already mentioned the company to our friends.

Monique and Nick Williams

Fine job in selecting guides in Kyoto, but other than a food tour in Tokyo the experience was not as expected.

Activity Reviews

Kanazawa Food Tour: Private & Personalized with a Local Guide

Kanazawa

Not a normal food tour as it was going to two restaurants and ordering off the menu. Not what we expected, fortunately the food was good.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Authentic Ramen & Gyoza Making Class in Kyoto

Kyoto

I would recommend this cooking class to anyone

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Enjoy your private open-air bath and dinner

Kaga

We didn’t care for this experience

Kanazawa Artisan Half Day Tour

Kanazawa

Didn’t have a very good guide, though the experience was good

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Dinner with Maiko in a Traditional Kyoto Style Restaurant Tour (Small Group)

Kyoto

Not to be missed experience in Kyoto and great fun evening.

Welcome to Kaga: Japan's Hidden Gem of Hot Springs and Art

Kaga

Not enough information on the experience

Best of Shibuya Food Tour

Tokyo

Great tour guy with lessons in Japanese culture which was great experience

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Private Half-Day Walking Tour: EasternTokyo Your Way (by Public Transportation)

Tokyo

Unfortunate heavy rain dampened our experience and SkyTree was a bit too commercial.

Tokyo: teamLab, Azabudai Hills & National Art Center Tour

Tokyo

Poor guide, but ok experience.

Kyoto Arashiyama Bamboo forest & Garden Half-Day Walking Tour

Kyoto

Good guide for the local temples and the forest experience.

Kimono wearing and Tea ceremony (Sado) in Kyoto (Private)

Japan

Good experience for our 17 year old grand daughter.

Really enjoyed planning this amazing first trip to Japan. Marii listened to all of my requirements and helped me put together a trip that was memorable for all. We did encounter some glitches, but she rectified them and in the end everything worked out well
Tokyo stay at the Indigo Shibuya was amazing. The meiji shrine shinto ritual tour is highly recommended. We toured Tokyo on the east side with Molly and Yuri and had a great time exploring all the food choices and getting their recs for shopping and dining places in Asakusa and Akihabara. The sumo wrestling is just a fun family event so would rec.
Hakone Ryokan was superb and relaxing as an in between city stay
Kyoto was a favorite and we enjoyed our Tea Ceremony the most. The Gion tour was not necessary as we could have done on our own. The Thousands Tokyo is very well situated near the station allowing us quick in and out for exploration.
Hiroshima/Miyajima tour was well executed by our personal tour guide yuko who kept us on track but never made us feel rushed.
All of our train tickets were purchased ahead of time and we used our suica card for metro and short travel distances which worked great. Our guides were a big help in helping us navigate all this when asked.
I highly rec Kim Kim for those travelers that need some help with coordinating hotels, transfers and ideas for tours. I was fully involved in all the decision making with Marii guiding me along the way.
I really enjoyed our 2 main chats to put together all the days and tours which helped personalize our trip.
We were exhausted at the end of the day but really enjoyed the whole trip and will be back to Japan to enjoy at a bit of leisure. Awesome country with amazing people who were very welcoming.
We returned back to Tokyo for another day and loved the Wagyu beef and sake tasting tour. Probably should have done earlier in our tour so we could enjoy the correct sake for the rest of the trip!

Hotel Reviews

Daiwa Roynet Hotel Ginza PREMIER

Tokyo

After our other two hotels, this one is mediocre. But pricing of hotels in ginza are astronomical so this was more of a budget hotel, with a comfortable room. Breakfast was okay but not as nice as the other stays in Shibuya and Kyoto

Authenticity & Character

very basic

Location

Staff

helpful when needed but didn't go out of the way

Cleanliness & Comfort

clean but no real ambience

The Thousand Kyoto

Kyoto

Great location and the staff is very helpful with navigating the area and trains. Make sure to come out the central hall at the station to get to the hotel. We went out the wrong way. They were very helpful in transferring our bags back to Tokyo and it only took a few minutes on our end.

Authenticity & Character

beautiful lobby

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

room was big enough for the 3 of us

HAKONE GORA BYAKUDAN

Hakone-machi

A must for a first time traveler. But one night is enough.

Authenticity & Character

the decor in the room was amazing

Location

one with nature

Staff

treated us like royalty with great attention to detail

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Indigo Tokyo Shibuya

Shibuya

Decent size room for 3 people. Well situated near Shibuya station but quiet. Breakfast was amazing and service excellent

Authenticity & Character

the decor

Location

Staff

everyone was very kind

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Kyoto Evening Gion Food Tour

Kyoto

Our guide was very kind but could not speak fluent English. He walked us around Gion, but we could have done that on our own and read from tour books. Took us to a traditional Kyoto Kaiseki dinner and conversation with him at that time was good.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

very kind guide, but his English was not very good and he was not able to engage with information during our stroll. He did take very nice pictures of our family

Relaxing Evening: Private Onsen and Kaiseki Dinner

Hakone

This is a 5 star experience you should not miss. We stayed at Gora Byakudan which provides an amazing experience at the Onsen, dinner and breakfast. They explain the tradition of the onsen and there are many instructions to follow prior to stepping in to the open onsen. We had a private one on our balcony as well which was nice. The dinner is like nothing I have experienced. You have to keep your mind open as it is very traditional kaisaki.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Dinner & Live Sumo Show with Former Professional Wrestlers

Tokyo

No trip would be complete without a live sumo show. Had a good time with our daughter and the crowd really fed in to the whole experience

Quality of Experience

Food

Hot Pot and Champo were okay

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Wagyu Beef & Sake Paring Foodie Tour in Ginza

Tokyo

Really fun experience with a knowledgeable guide. Encompasses understanding sake and then a very nice teppanaki style wagyu experience

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Full Day Hiroshima and Miyajima Tour from Kyoto with a Multilingual Guide by Public Transportation (Private)

Kyoto

Yuki was a wonderful guide and helped navigate the trains, boats and admission to the sites.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

You use high speed trains and local transport that is included in the cost of the tour. Tickets were prepurchased

Kimono Tea Ceremony Gion Kiyomizu (Private)

Japan

One of our favorite experiences. Very authentic and full of detail and beauty. She was so knowledgeable of the customs and rituals. They use excellent matcha so enjoy

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Tokyo to Hakone Transfer: Mt. Fuji and Hakone Full-Day Tour with English-Speaking Driver

Japan

Our driver Gary was committed on getting us a view of Fuji which we somehow did for 15 min before the cloud cover came back. Took us to some amazing view points and never rushed us. Was a great resource on culture in Japan and ways to navigate the other cities. Spoke excellent English

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Bring your music and enjoy on the drive!

Master Tokyo's Must-Sees: 5-hour Tsukiji, Akihabara & Asakusa Highlights Tour

Tokyo

Great way to get an understanding of the fish market and the offerings. It is overwhelming with instagram influencers swaying you to go to certain vendors. Our guides knew where to go for the best offerings and introduced us to so many dishes which helped with our choices later in the trip

Quality of Experience

Food

so many varieties to sample.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

navigating the metro/subway for the first time so it was helpful

Special Access: Join a Traditional Shinto Ritual at Meiji Shrine

Tokyo

Highly recommend to immerse yourself in to the shinto culture and get an inside peak at the shrine

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

My favorite activities were the knife making and the gold leaf chopsticks. I really liked all the wood I saw in Japan. Tons of the signage is just a large slab with their name on it. I did bonk my head fairly hard by looking down at the floor construction while walking through a samurai house, the wood working was fascinating. The ceiling height not so much. 4 out of the 5 places we stayed were absolutely incredible, top notch. The hyatt in kanizawa, was not bad by any means. It's just the other 4 were much better.

Everything tour wise went great, each guide met us in our lobby and had local/native knowledge of the areas we toured. I asked each day if the driver would eat lunch with us, and was told no, and that I should not get him a lunch from the restaurant. That felt strange to me.

So much of the history has burned down and been rebuilt, but it was neat to see things that had survived

I cannot recommend Leny enough! From the very beginning, she took the time to get to know both me and my daughter and what we hoped to experience on our mother-daughter trip to Japan. She truly listened to our interests and created a personalized itinerary that was perfect for us. She arranged our train tickets, coordinated activities, and handled so many details that made the entire trip stress-free.

What really set her apart was the support her and her team provided while we were actually in Japan. Whenever we had questions or needed guidance, we could reach out through WhatsApp and receive quick, helpful assistance. It truly felt like we had someone looking out for us every step of the way.

Leny is incredibly kind, friendly, knowledgeable, and genuinely cares about creating meaningful travel experiences. Thanks to her, my daughter and I were able to enjoy an unforgettable trip together and make memories that will last a lifetime. Her attention to detail, responsiveness, and personal touch made all the difference. I would absolutely use her services again and highly recommend her to anyone planning a trip to Japan or any other destination.