Southern Spain and Madrid
Spain | Jun 4 - Jun 13, 2022

Mindy
Mindy B.
New Orleans, LA | Reviewed on Jun 20, 2022

Our trip to Spain was amazing! Our hotels were lovely. The travel within Spain was convenient and efficient. We loved all of our guided tours and activities. The absolute highlights of our trip were:
1. Private tour of Cordoba with our tour guide Guido. Guido was so knowledgeable, well mannered, and kind. We felt as if he really listened to what we were interested in, and adjusted his tour accordingly. We loved the Mosque Cathedral and the Jewish Quarter and synogogue. He recommended a great Moroccan restaurant.
2. Private tour of Ronda with Manuel. Manuel was also very knowledgeable and really fun. He gave us the right balance of guided tour and free time. We loved the Natural Park Sierra de Grazalema and Ronda.
3. Tour of Caminito del Rey. This hike was amazing. It was challenging enough (but not too hard) and the views were spectacular.
4. La Alhambra is a must-see. Absolutely breathtaking!
5. We loved the e-bike tour in Madrid. It was really fun, and a great way to see the city.
6. We really enjoyed our museum day - the Reina Sofia and the Prado.
7. Our wine and tapas tour in Malasana was amazing! Amy was a great guide who curated the food and drink of the area perfectly. The 3+ hours went by so quickly. She was fantastic.
The only negative was the written materials we were given. There were a lot of inaccuracies in our itinerary (times, activities, items included, pick-up and drop-off points), and many of the recommendations were outdated (several restaurants were no longer in business, hours listed for sites and businesses were incorrect). That was disappointing and not what we've come to expect from kim kim vacations.

Hotel Reviews
H10 Casa de la Plata
Sevilla

Lovely, well located hotel. Helpful staff. Great breakfast.

Tips for future travelers

There is a pool. Bring a bathing suit.

Authenticity & Character
Location
Staff
Cleanliness & Comfort
Palacio de Santa Inés Hotel
Granada

Friendly staff. Well located. Charming, but a little older and less amenities than the other hotels on our itinerary.

Authenticity & Character
Location
Staff
Cleanliness & Comfort
Our shower was broken, but they fixed it right away.
Eurostars Hotel Plaza Mayor
Madrid

Very nice and clean hotel with a friendly staff. It is located in a high-traffic, tourist neighborhood and maybe we would have preferred staying somewhere in Madrid with more character.

Authenticity & Character
Location
Staff
Cleanliness & Comfort
Activity Reviews
Off-the-beaten-path City Tour
Off-the-beaten-path City Tour
Seville

This was a lovely introduction to Seville on our first night.

Quality of Experience
Guides, Drivers and Staff
Tapas & Flamenco night
Tapas & Flamenco night
Seville

It was not clear from our itinerary, but this was the same thing as the walking tour. It was listed as two things, but it was really one and the same.

Quality of Experience
Guides, Drivers and Staff
Day tour to Córdoba
Day tour to Córdoba
Seville

This tour was a highlight. We loved our guide Guido.

Quality of Experience
Guides, Drivers and Staff
Transport
Day tour: Ronda & White villages
Day tour: Ronda & White villages
Spain

This tour was a highlight. We loved our guide Manuel.

Quality of Experience
Guides, Drivers and Staff
Transport
Caminito del Rey
Caminito del Rey
Seville

This hike was one of the best activities we did on the whole trip. Beautiful views, challenging hike, and knowledgable and fun tour guide.

Quality of Experience
Guides, Drivers and Staff
Transport
The bus was very comfortable.
Sacromonte and Albayzin tour
Sacromonte and Albayzin tour
Granada

This was a very interesting way to see the city on our first night. The guide was very nice.

Quality of Experience
Guides, Drivers and Staff
Alhambra Tour
Alhambra Tour
Granada

The Alhambra is a must see! This was a great day!

Quality of Experience
Guides, Drivers and Staff
Essential Madrid bike tour
Essential Madrid bike tour
Madrid

This tour was so much fun! A great way to see the city!

Quality of Experience
Guides, Drivers and Staff
Day Trip to Toledo
Day Trip to Toledo
Madrid

Not applicable. This activity was eliminated from our itinerary. We would have loved to do it, but we ran out of time.

Tickets for museums & monuments
Tickets for museums & monuments
Madrid

The timed tickets were helpful. A private guide was recommended, and we declined. Once there we felt validated in that decision because a private guide was not necessary.

Quality of Experience
Tapas in Malasaña
Tapas in Malasaña
Madrid

This tour was one of our favorite things about our trip. It was absolutely the best food we ate the whole time we were in Spain. Our tour guide Amy was so lovely, knowledgeable, and personable. She curated a beautifully diverse menu and drink selection. Absolutely top notch!

Quality of Experience
Food
Our tour guide Amy was spectacular!
Guides, Drivers and Staff
Airport transfer (return)
Spain

Our driver was on time and very efficient.

Quality of Experience
Guides, Drivers and Staff
Transport
Local specialist: Luis Fernandez de Vega
Luis
Luis Fernandez de Vega
Local specialist in Gijón, Asturias, Spain | Replied on Jun 21, 2022
Dear Mindy, Thank you for taking the time to send such a complete review. It is very important to me because it helps me improve my service and way of proceeding. I’m glad to read you enjoyed each of the tours I arranged for you. Believe it or not it took me more than 2 years to select the right tour guides and companies in each of the areas of Spain to offer more than tours, experiences that offer more than a guided explanation of the cities. Regarding the travel book, I can just... Read more

Dear Mindy,

Thank you for taking the time to send such a complete review. It is very important to me because it helps me improve my service and way of proceeding.

I’m glad to read you enjoyed each of the tours I arranged for you. Believe it or not it took me more than 2 years to select the right tour guides and companies in each of the areas of Spain to offer more than tours, experiences that offer more than a guided explanation of the cities.

Regarding the travel book, I can just apologize and say I try to improve every day and have noted each of the erratum in it. People traveling with me usually uses it as a guide, not as a bible, and they all do well. Luckily none of the errata resulted in a wrong meeting points or wrong schedules or you would have missed the tours. Luckily all that was well arranged since you didn’t miss anything. I understand it is disappointing not to find the recommended restaurant in my travel book open because of bankruptcy due to covid and I need to update that information. Still, I think being so unlucky for 3 errata in a 152 pages document is a bit unfair. It also has lots of information about the area and cities you visit, maps, tips and so on and I think all that was useful. Just to point out the positive points of the travel book, not just the bad ones.

Please trust I’ll be learning from this and will try to make this travel book a better document (though actually I’m preparing an e-guide that will make this other one disappear) for the next travelers. I really hope you enjoyed my presents along the trip, my continuous follow up and the ability to solve anything within minutes. Hopefully you can value that as well and if you think in a future trip to Spain or Portugal you can keep me in mind. I’ll love to read from you every some time so please, keep in touch.

My best wishes for a great 2022 ahead!

Luis