KimKim arranged an 8 day trip to Florence and Rome in September for me and my husband. We knew we were interested in science/engineering and food, and asked for a "mid-range, upscale" plan. KimKim quickly connected us with a local "travel designer" in Italy at a company called My Custom Journey. We were assigned to Valeria (and assisted by Lucrezia) who worked with us over the next few days to arrange a plan that gave us exactly what we wanted. The plan included an activity or two each day,...
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KimKim arranged an 8 day trip to Florence and Rome in September for me and my husband. We knew we were interested in science/engineering and food, and asked for a "mid-range, upscale" plan. KimKim quickly connected us with a local "travel designer" in Italy at a company called My Custom Journey. We were assigned to Valeria (and assisted by Lucrezia) who worked with us over the next few days to arrange a plan that gave us exactly what we wanted. The plan included an activity or two each day, with a free day in each city for us to manage on our own. The plan came in about 30% over the range I had selected, but it included everything we wanted, with excellent hotels (four star, centrally located, comfortable size and amenities) + private transfers and drivers for all the on ground travel in Italy. That means we were met at the airport by a guide, driven to our hotel, driven from our hotel to the train station and personally guided to the train, with the same level of service when it was time to head home. This made our trip completely stress free and luxurious feeling - well worth the extra cost. I'm sure they would have adjusted to fit into our range if we balked at the upgrades.
For one of our free days, we found an underground labyrinth tour that was a bit out of town, and Valeria was able to secure a car to take us to and from. She also contacted the labyrinth company directly when it didn't look like there would be an English tour on the day we were free. They were able to get us a private tour last minute! They were also very responsive about any questions we had about shopping areas, art galleries, appropriate attire, and scheduling.
On the ground in Italy we were supported by Daniela who we were able to contact easily on WhatsApp. She was quick to respond and great at addressing any issues that came up (e.g., there was a flood in Florence that affected a tour we had planned and she was able to adjust our day). The best tour Valeria and team arranged for us in Rome was an all day tour down Appian Way to see catacombs, mausoleums, and the ancient aqueduct. Our tour guide for that day was Maria Teresa and she was so knowledgeable! In Florence, we had the same guide for all our activities - Valentina - who was an art historian but was also able to speak knowledgably about the science museums we visited. She also arranged for us to skip the line at All'Antico Vinaio ;-)
The only thing we didn't love about KimKim is the fact that they use their own app to deliver the travel plans. It does a great job of collecting all the activities plus the tickets, addresses, and details we needed. So, on its own it's fine. The challenge is that we use TripIt for all our travel tracking and planning and there's no way to import the KimKim content in TripIt. Since TripIt is where we keep our flight info and restaurant reservations, it would be wonderful if we could have incorporated the KimKim stuff into the app we already use for all our other travel stuff.
Local specialist: Valeria Arcangeli
