Fantastic Itinerary, Excellent Travel Agency -- Highly Recommended!!
Japan
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Dec 27 - Jan 7, 2024
Our family has travelled to more than 30 countries and all seven continents. We have used various travel agents for trips to Africa, Latin America, Asia, Australia and Antarctica.
I can say without hesitation that Kimkim is the best travel agency, and our local specialist Sandy is the best individual travel agent, that we have ever worked with.
The planning process with Sandy was easy, transparent, efficient and informative. We went back and forth several times as we narrowed down our itinerary, chose our hotels and selected our experiences. Sandy always had great options, common sense suggestions and creative ideas. Every time I had a question or a message for Sandy, I would have a direct and helpful answer from her the very next day. And, importantly, she always respected our budget. We never felt rushed, manipulated or "up sold" on anything.
Our Kyoto guide Sunny was delightful. A longtime guide, his love for Japan showed through at all times. He was very easy to be with -- always going out of his way to find just the right snack or restaurant, shortcut or camera angle.
Or Hiroshima guide, Yuji was terrific. During Covid, he created a series of illustrated notebooks that cover every possible aspect of Japan's history, geography, culture and traditions. I think I learned more about Japan while reading his notebooks than at any other moment on the trip. Yuji also plays the flute and gave us an extraordinary sample of his musical talents while we walked through a beautiful forest on Miyajima island -- it was a totally magical and unexpected moment for us.
Yoshi, our Tokyo guide, was equally excellent. He took us across Tokyo on various subway and commuter lines -- covering more sights and attractions more immersively than we could have imagined. His choice of sushi lunch restaurant was absolutely perfect -- some of the best sushi I have ever had in my life. After just one day with him, we were sorry to say goodbye.
Finally, Ryoji, our guide for a night time food tour of the Shinjuku district of Tokyo, was absolutely amazing. Over the course of four hours, he took us to five different eating establishments, down narrow alleyways, along wide boulevards and through crowded neon-lit intersections. This was probably my favorite single experience on the trip.
Unfortunately, while in Tokyo, we had an unexpected health situation (totally unrelated to our activities or Kimkim's planning) that required us to cut short our trip and return home. In these difficult moments, Sandy was unbelievably supportive and helpful. She helped us make immediate and urgent changes to our plans, was available 24/7, and helped us get refunds on the activities that we could not do. Her constant availability, encouragement, and support helped us get through a difficult moment which required difficult choices and stressful adjustments to the trip.
Even weeks after our trip, Sandy was still engaged with us, helping wrap up final details and offering encouragement.
In summary, I highly recommend Kimkim, Sandy and our local guides. They really are the best travel professionals we have ever worked with.
We will definitely use Kimkim for our next trip.
If your experience is half as good as our experience was, you won't be disappointed!!
Activity Review
This was a fantastic experience. I highly recommend this. The highlight of our Tokyo visit!!
