13 days in Spain, 2022
Spain
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Sep 18 - Sep 30, 2022
The entire kimkim experience was incredibly easy, pleasant, and perfect. After this trip, I can't imagine traveling without kimkim again.
We traveled to Barcelona first on our 13 days in Spain. We were greeted by a professional driver in the airport and transported to our first hotel. The driver was extremely kind and made the transfer pleasant after a long flight. Our Barcelona hotel, Casa Luz, was all that it was advertised to be. We had many wonderful choices through kimkim, and we were very pleased with our hotel.
We were guided on a Gothic Quarter walking tour by Theresa. The experience was incredible. She was local to the area and had incredible knowledge about Barcelona and the Jewish Quarter. We were inspired by her stories and the deep history she shared about the buildings we saw and the area generally. She also gave us great restaurant recommendations that turned out to be some of our favorite meals on the trip.
We also enjoyed the day trip to Costa Brava for sea kayaking and hiking. Our guide, Stepan, was truly amazing. He is a wonderful, patient guide, full of fun and insightful knowledge about the region. Our kayaking and cliff jumping excursion was a truly memorable and fun part of our trip! We totally recommend this excursion.
We also enjoyed a private guided tour of Sagrada Familia. Our guide, Gemma, was truly awesome. She shared such deep details about the history and construction of the Sagrada Familia, as well as connections to nature within the church that we would not have known we were seeing. She also shared local restaurant recommendations with us that were terrific.
Each of our guides and tours in Barcelona was 100% terrific and we recommend them wholly.
We next transferred to Madrid. We enjoyed the self-guided walking tour of Madrid provided by kimkim. The instructions were easy to follow and gave us a great tour of the city.
We had an extraordinary day trip to Avila and Segovia, guided by Martin. Martin was a true professor of the region and the history of the sites. Everyone would be lucky to have Martin as their guide. We had an unforgettable day-long experience at these important historical sites. We highly recommend this trip!
We also enjoyed our short Prado Museum visit immensely. Our guide, Maria, was so enjoyable and she made the art and history of the museum truly enjoyable. The Prado is huge, so having guidance to some of the most important points and art in the museum was extremely helpful to make the visit meaningful. Highly recommended.
We next transferred to Valencia. We enjoyed the self-guided walking tour. We also enjoyed our beach day in Valencia. We had a small group tour set for the second day in Valencia, but our guide didn't appear at the time in our itinerary from kimkim. We had a phone number, provided by kimkim, to contact the company. I reached out, but we were not in their system. I immediately let our kimkim consultant know of the issue, and within minutes, we were rescheduled for a private guided tour the next day. This slight error was the only thing that did not go perfectly for our trip. But it was rectified quickly, and kimkim made sure to provide a private tour for us with extra time included to make up for the mistake. I hate mentioning it, because it didn't seem to be kimkim's error. But I want to highlight how professionally kimkim responded and how they went above and beyond to correct any errors. I now can't imagine missing the the 3 hour guided tour we enjoyed so much.
Our private guided walking tour of 3 hours around Valencia, with our guide Laura, was also a highlight of the trip. She was extremely knowledgeable and shared many relatable stories about Valencia, along with its history and culture, with us. We thoroughly enjoyed this amazing tour! Many thanks to kimkim for the add-ons.
We also took the small group guided tour of the Albufera Natural Park, thanks to kimkim! We enjoyed this tour greatly. Our guide Paulino is an expert in the area, and he made sure we knew the history of this beautiful park. We had a short van ride filled with history, then some easy walking in Albufera. The surprise of the tour was a boat ride into the lagoon to enjoy the sunset. It was a meaningful and pleasant, relaxed journey to a beautiful place that is very important in the region of Valencia. We highly recommend it and enjoyed it!
Each hotel was great. We had a hard time picking hotels because each option kimkim provided was terrific.
Each of our guides was an expert and so wonderful to spend time with.
Each driver, with the exception of one, was perfectly professional. Our only sub-par driver was the driver who picked us up at the Valencia train station. He was not terribly professional, did not offer to assist with bags, played loud terrible music in the van, and was pretty dismissive. It was not a big deal, but it truly stood out after each of our other drivers had been so kind, attentive, and professional.
We especially enjoyed the ease of the transfers from hotels to airports and train stations. Kimkim arranged those transfers and set the timing, taking the guessing out of when we needed to be at each location. Kimkim provided specific instructions for each of our guided tours. The whole itinerary was easy to follow and made for a seamless trip.
Thanks for reading this long review. We cannot recommend kimkim highly enough. We will be traveling with them again. I have already recommended the service to many of my friends.
Thank you kimkim for a truly remarkable and memorable vacation! We cannot wait to travel with you again!
Hotel Reviews
This hotel is on a quiet street. We had an interior room, but windows on two sides. The beds were comfortable and the room itself was quiet, clean, and perfect for our needs. The hotel is in a very nice area and we felt exceptionally safe there.
This hotel was terrific! We were very pleased with our choice. The only observation we had was that our room was on the first floor. We could hear noise from the reception area downstairs at times. If you are looking for very quiet rooms, ask to be located higher up and away from the staircase.
We stayed in this hotel the final night of our journey. We loved it.
Casa Luz is a standard hotel in Europe, but the location is incredible. Our room was on a very busy street, but the room itself was perfectly quiet. The shower in the room was incredible. The room was very clean, and the beds very comfortable. The hotel has a beautiful rooftop restaurant to enjoy. The location made walking in Barcelona easy and enjoyable. The room had everything we needed for our 5-6 days in Barcelona. Highly recommended!
Activity Reviews
Our guide made this tour extremely enjoyable!
Gemma was an exceptional guide!
I had no idea what to expect, but this day was beyond what I could have imagined. This day was really fun, full of history, and really fulfilling.
Maria made a short visit to the museum extremely meaningful!
We actually had a private tour of 3 hours, because somehow our reservation for the small group tour did not get set. The 3 hour private tour was amazing, fun, and meaningful. We highly recommend!
This tour was really interesting. Albufera is a really important historical sight in the area, and it's beautiful. It's also an interesting natural park. The boat tour was a surprise and such a fun part of the evening. Highly recommended!
Wow! Kelley! Thank you so much for your review!
This would be very helpful for me and future travelers. Trully appreciate your time to write all those wonderful reviews!
It was a pleasure helping you create your trip to Spain! See you soon, planning your next trip to some other wonderful country!
P.S. I've also addressed the issue with the driver in Valencia. And meeting point for Gothic Qarter tour.