Kimkim Trip Reviews

We absolutely loved everything about Morocco and about Original Travel who planned out whole trip. We are family of 5 with 3 small children, I have never used KimKIm before so I was little bit nervous. But everything went exactly how we planned and went beyond my expectations.
First and foremost our wonderful driver Farid. Btw if you are reading this Farid, kids are still asking about you. He was so patient with us, and so helpful in many situations and kids absolutely love him! He got us safely everywhere from Casablanca to Fez, Merzouga to Dedes and Marrakesh. He never complained about the long hours on the road.
As for the trip, we had only 8 days. but I feel we did a lot. We visited Casablanca, walked in medinas of Fez and Marrakesh; camped in the desert and visited many cabas that were on the way to Marrakesh. All guides that were provided were very knowledgeable with special shout out to Randy who was out guide in Marrakesh. He delivered phenomenal tour full of historical and cultural facts. We truly enjoyed it. Our favorite part was definitely in the desert. Over there we visited a nomad Berber family. The experience was really one of a kind and it put a lot of things in the perspective.
If you are having doubts about signing up to get to see this beautiful country, don't. They are very hospitable and I felt completely safe. Hotels and riads we stayed at were amazing and 5/5.
Thank you to Original travel and KimKim for making this family vacation unforgettable one!

Hotel Reviews

Riad Le Pèlerin

Marrakech

This was the best place we stayed period. Rooms- very clean and very comfortable. The best bed sheets by far! Breakfast- fantastic! Fresh and delicious. Staff- THE BEST! First night we came super late and the kids were hungry. He used his app to order pizza for us and then waited with me for the delivery to come even though his shift was over. That's going extra mile for a customer.

Authenticity & Character

Location

You are literally inside of Medina. The cars won't go in so prepare to walk from a drop off point to the riad with your luggage.

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Dar Rihana Dades

Douar Aït Ouffi

It is a bit remote hotel but it is absolutely beautiful. Beds weren't that comfortable though. The hotel has restaurant off site so you have to walk to the building next door to go to breakfast/ dinner. and actually, the best part of it is food. It is very fine dining and delicious. I didn't expect that. Even simple breakfast was elevated.

Authenticity & Character

Location

It is a bit far away from the action.

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Tiziri Luxury Camp

Merzouga

This was truly one of a kind experience. The camp was equiped with everything! They even have wifi! Heaters were running too at night so we didn't feel cold a bit. Each camp has it's own bathroom with sink, shower and toilet. They just ask you conserve the water. Which given the circumstance is VERY reasonable.

Authenticity & Character

Location

You are in the middle of Sahara desert!

Staff

They went above and beyond to make our stay comfortable. Food was also great in their restaurant. Probably the best beef tagine I ate.

Cleanliness & Comfort

This felt like a spa more than a camp which I wanted.

Riad Layalina Fes

Fes

Riad was beautiful and people there were absolutely amazing. However room that was given to us had a bathroom outside the room and across the hall. It wouldn't be a problem but hallways were really cold so taking a shower was uncomfortable. Also we couldn't get heater to work inside of the room . Kids room was much bigger, and their heater worked.

Authenticity & Character

Location

It is very close to medina.

Staff

Probably the best part of this riad. Very, very welcoming. We even met the owner.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Review

Quick Tour of Casablanca with your Driver-Guide

Morocco

This would've been better if our flight wasn't delayed for 4 hours. So we were late to go inside of the mosque. But we went all around and took few pictures. Took us half an hour. The rest was driving through the traitorous traffic of Casablanca.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

I haven't finished my review of Spain, Sicily and Greece yet but here is a review of the Portugal portion of our trip that we arranged on our own.
October 15, 2025
Departed Anchorage on Alaska Airlines First Class at 6:00 am. We had about 2 ½ hours before our flight took off to London. We were all dragging a little but did go into the British Airlines lounge. Having wheelchair assist made the hike from North Terminal to South Terminal a breeze.
We boarded the 1:30 PM British Air flight, business class and settled in with carry-on luggage, reading material and sleep accessories. We had a nice meal and proceded to recline and get a little shut eye before landing in London. As we descended into London, after being awakened for breakfast, I thought it was funny that we were descending very close to Slough, England. We have been watching an Apple TV series called Slow Horses which is about a disgraced MI-5 group who have been banded to some run down offices in Slough. We landed a little before 7:00 AM on the 16th of October. Some of us were a little more rested but all were still quite tired. Our next flight from London to Lisbon was leaving at 11:15 AM so we again had a little time to kill which we used up in the British Air lounge. Again wheelchairs picking us up at the plane, taking us through passport security (we did not leave the international terminal so we never actually entered England and did not have to go through customs) and on to the lounge, then picking us up at the lounge and getting us to our gate was very helpful.
October 16, 2025
Business class on this Airbus A31X/32X was 3 and 3 across with the middle sear fitted with a tray so there were only 4 people per row but the seat size and the recline was the same as in economy.
The approximately 2 1/2 hour flight was uneventful and we landed smoothly in Lisbon at a little after 2:00 PM on October 16. Since we were in the European community, there was no passport or customs to go through. We went to baggage claim and picked up our 4 checked bags. Our transit driver was waiting for us and after getting all our luggage (4 checked bags, 2 backpacks, 2 carryons, and two purses) stowed in the van we were off to our hotel. Kathryn and Tucker had informed us that our hotel was in a no vehicle area and we would have to drag our bags about 2 blocks to the Lisbon Wine Hotel. A little boutique hotel in mid-town. Close to lots of restaurants and within walking distance of the train station, tuk-tuk parking areas, taxi parking areas, and several town squares. Our transit driver was a great help on getting our bags to the hotel where we checked in and got to our rooms to settle in. Typical European bathrooms with dim lighting and even though we had upgraded to bigger rooms, they were very small with little clothes hanging areas and not much space for open bags. They did have safes and pretty good internet. We had to have a tutorial on how to operate the AC units. We unpacked (Sic) and finally hooked up with Kathryn and Tucker who had arrived from Costa Rica the day before. Paula had done some research and gotten us a dinner reservation at a Restaurante Rocco. For the first of many times, all six of us crowded into a taxi with a third seat and even though most of the taxi drivers spoke pretty good English, we still had to make sure we had the address of the location we were going to. Taxis were reasonable.
Rocco food was pretty good but the service was not up to European standards. The table side preparation of Tiramisu for the six of us was a show but all of the interior decorations and preparations were eclipsed by the uni-sex bathrooms with spectacular hand painted tiles on all the walls and staircases.
October 17, 2025
After a fairly good night sleep, we all met for coffee in the little eating area in the lobby of the hotel and walked to one of the town squares where we met up our guide for our 3 1/2 hour walking food tour. It was our guide, Gabriel’s birthday and everywhere we went, the people were wishing him happy birthday. He was very nice and even though he was originally from Brazil he was very knowledgeable and gave us a lot of history on each location and the background on the food types, preparation and popularity of each tasing.
We started off by going to a little (4 tables) hole in the wall deli where we were introduced to a bifana which is a traditional small Portuguese pork sandwich. This particular deli had been in operation for over 50 years and apparently had the same clientele for most of that time. Our guide told us that if we saw an eatery like this that did not have big bellied men with large mustaches to keep going.
The sandwiches were delicious and the mustards and hot sauces added personal touches to every bite. For those of us who could handle it, the local beers went well with the sandwiches.
On to another restaurant that was on top of one of the local hills in the middle of Lisbon. For those of us with mobility problems, there was an elevator that we could take up 4 flights to the restaurant level. This was also our first experience with the weight and number of person elevators. If the number of people was within limits but the size of the people was not, the elevator alarmed and would not move until someone got off and decrease the total weight in the car.
At this restaurant we sampled various cheeses (sheep, cow, goat and combinations of each) as well as Mozambican samosas, some octopus bites and some lightly battered fried green beans. We learned about sardines, herring, sea bass and sea bream.
Our next stop was for a bigger meal (it was getting close to lunch time) and we feasted on salted cod and potato mixtures accompanied with some nice salads. Some of us got to try out some local wine as well as beers.
Our final stop was on the corner of a no vehicle street that was full of street vendors and many pedestrians. Gabriel had us wait on the sidewalk while he went into a local bakery and got us all different pastries with everyone getting to taste a traditional Pasties de Belem, a custard tart dusted with cinnamon that has to be enjoyed warm, right out of the oven.

After a little afternoon rest, we again piled into a taxi headed to the top of one of the local hills for some Fado entertainment while dining at Mesa de Frades. Even with the address of the restaurant, our driver could not find the location and her GPS was not a big help. She finally dropped us off at a local plaza and would not take any money for the at lease ½ hour ride because she said she could not take us to our destination. We divided to conquer and even though Mike walked to within a ½ a block of the establishment, Tucker found a Tuktuk driver who said he knew the restaurant and could take all six of us up there for 20 euros. He was a real character and kept us entertained while his vehicle struggled to make it up the steep streets. He got us to within 30 yards of the place before being blocked by an accident. His final advise was that a successful marriage was akin to a workshop – the husband works and the wife shops.
We were about 35 minutes late for our reservation and we had to knock on the huge, solid double doors that closed off the restaurant from the small plaza out in front. With a lull in the music, they escorted us to our table and in the dimly lit room that held no more than 10 or 12 tables, we ordered supper while the wonderful fado music started up with 2 men playing stringed instruments and 2 women taking turns singing. Fado was described to us as a mixture of blues and country music. It is very moving and even without understanding the words, we could all feel the emotion emanating from the strong voices of the singers.

We were much more fortunate in getting a taxi to find us and get us back to the Wine Hotel.

October 18, 2025
After experiencing the hills all over Lisbon, we decided to cancel our planned trip to Sintra after talking to some other tourists who had been there the day before. They described the large number of steep stairs to get around Sintra. Instead we hired a couple of tuktuks and went on a sightseeing tour of the city. We rode to the top of one of the central hills where we had a panoramic view of the city. After the tour, we decided to go to the Estrela Basilica or the Royal Basilica and Convent of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. The main attraction of this church is its famous Nativity set featuring over 500 pieces made of cork and terra-cotta made in the late 1700’s. Unfortunately, there was a wedding going on and we were not allowed into the church itself. We did go into an annex where we found a Ukrainian artist, working on a new painting and heard the story of how she left the Ukraine and moved to Lisbon to paint angels and other holy themed paintings.

October 19, 2025
On Sunday morning our private driver with his large van, managed to drive right to the front of our hotel so dragging luggage several blocks was not an issue. We left sunny, warm Lisbon headed towards cooler, rainy Porto. Our first stop was in the walled medieval town of Obidos with it’s ancient church and streets full of vendors.
We then turn off at Nazare to see if we could see the site of the 100 foot waves known to surfers all over the world. We enjoyed a lunch of fish and chips at a food truck hundreds of feet above the crashing surf.
Our last stop before Porto was at Fatima, a well known Catholic pilgrimage site where in 1917 three children reported seeing visions of the Virgin Mary. This site now is the location of the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary, where the three shepherd children are buried, and the modern Basilica of the Holy Trinity. We experienced our first Portugal raindrops while here.
We then drove on to Porto and checked in to the Torel Avant-garde Hotel. The hotel overlooked the Douro River and featured a unique floral-styled sitting area off the lobby. It was late by the time we got our bags to our hotel room and we decided to grab something to eat at the hotel restaurant before it closed. The food wasn’t bad but the service was very poor. Dinner service had been curtailed from season high levels due to the lateness of the season. After that night, we availed ourselves of the wonderful local restaurants. The rooms were strange with only one chair to sit anywhere and no convenient places to put our luggage. The bathroom was quite large and had a tub as well as a large walk in shower. We struggled with the AC controls again and the dim lighting in the bathroom. Fortunately, the front desk staff were very helpful and met all of our requests quickly.
October 20
After a wonderful breakfast buffet that had enough choices to meet anyone’s specific tastes, we piled into a large tuktuk and journeyed across the Douro river to a view point high above the river at the old Nossa Senhora da Conceição church. On the way back, we had just crossed the river and were climbing up a moderate hill when the electric motor quit right in the middle of the road. Our driver struggled to diagnose the problem and after moving every switch on the car, she got the engine engaged again and we were off.
A little later we took an uber to the central market where we saw a display of about 50 different kinds of canned sardines, many kiosks of vegetables and fruits as well as a bakery and butcher shop stand.
We had lunch across the street from the market and wanted to try a Francesinha, the traditional Porto sandwich. It is made up thick slices of white bread with layers of ham (Portuguese Fiambre), sausage, cheese, and steak. The sandwich is then topped with more cheese, usually taken to the oven to melt, and lastly, a slightly spicy sauce poured on top. A local person, sitting near us was having one and when we asked him how it was, he replied that it was not as good as at some other restaurants and not to order one here. Apparently, the final sauce poured over the sandwich was the key and it varied from restaurant to restaurant.
In the same area, we had tickets to see the Livraria Lello labeled as the ‘most beautiful bookshop in the world’. J.K Rowling drew inspiration from this location for the Harry Potter stories. We had to stand in line until the hour that our tickets allowed us to enter the shop. An amazing spiral, wooden staircase, rail tracks through the store, wheeled ladders, and many other Harry Potter recognizable items are spread throughout the bookstore.
After over and hour in the bookshop, we decided to have something to eat at an Italian restaurant in a very modernistic looking shopping center just a half a block away from the bookshop. The food was very good and the rain that had started about an hour earlier let us just in time for us to get an uber and travel back to hotel.
Uber worked well in Porto but, as we visited other Spanish and Greek communities, its availability and quality varied. Good to check with the locals as to the preferred transportation option.
October 21
After another delightful breakfast buffet, we met up with our private driver for a Douro Valley wineries tour. We drove South of Porto through some fairly heavy rain, through very long tunnels through the mountains, over several bridges and finally turned onto a two lane highway that paralleled the Douro river. In a small town of Amarante we visited the Church of São Gonçalo, a historical monastery and church located right next to the famous São Gonçalo bridge. According to popular legend, São Gonçalo is a matchmaker for older women and it is for this reason that during religious feasts S. Gonçalo’s “phallic sweets” of all sizes and shapes are sold and appreciated next to the bridge.
We continued on to the town of Pinhao where we boarded a traditional Rabelo river boat for a one-hour cruise down and back on the Douro River passing spectacular vineyards on the steep hill sides on both sides of the river.
We stopped for lunch at a local restaurant that was full of locals. We feasted on traditional Portuguese dishes including delicious fish, pasta and salad.
Then it was on to the first of two wineries where we tasted different Port wines (olive oils for me) and got to see the wine making facilities. Each of the wine tastings were accompanied by olives, breads and some sweet pastries.
Then it was back to Porto and our hotel. After a little rest we Ubered to a restaurant where Kathryn had made reservations. After a little driving around to find the restaurant, we finally located it only to find that it was closed.

October 22
Sadly, Kathryn and Tucker left us, travelling back to Lisbon, onto Southern Portugal and then on to Palermo, Sicily where Paula and I would see them again the following week.
The four of us, Kathryn, Mike, Paula and I, took an Uber back to the market where we did a little shopping. The girls went to a local shopping center looking for bathing suits and other fashionable togs.
We walked to the São Bento Railway Station to see the amazing work of artist Jorge Colaço. Its main hall is covered in around 20,000 blue and white azulejo tiles depicting scenes from Portuguese history, royalty, rural life, and the evolution of transportation.
We then embarked on another adventure with an Uber driver on how to find a restaurant where we had made reservations for supper. After driving in circles for 15 minutes, asking local pedestrians, and then driving various directions for another 15 minutes, we ‘were finally dropped off by the driver with the instructions that the restaurant was ‘that away.’ We finally walked to the facility and settled into our table where we ordered local foods again.
Then it was Uber back to the hotel. Ubers here in Porto were very reasonable with most of our fares being between 5 and 10 euros for 6 of us.

October 23
Kathryn, Mike, Paula and I packed up and did a transit to the airport for our flight to Barcelona. We managed to get the hotel to give us a late checkout for our Vueling Airlines flight at 4:55PM.

Overall the Kimkim team performed exceptionally well both in the planning stages as well as communication and support during our trip.
Our hotels were overall excellent. Due to the lateness of the season, some services at hotels were not available. However overall, the hotels met our expectations.
Air reservations were well-arranged and everything went smoothly thought the half-hour time from "wheels down" in Athens connecting with our flight to Zakynthos was a little stressful. In fact, we and our luggage made the flight and we understand that, unless we wanted to lay over a day in Athens, this was our only flight.
One comment, our last night in Athens, we arrived in Athens from Zakynthos in the early evening and had to depart from Athens from our hotel at 4:30 AM. Our hotel was 30-40 minutes from the airport. I would suggest a hotel nearer the airport with this tight layover. The hotel was nice.
We appreciated the pacing of the trip without continuous activities. We were in Europe a month total and it was good to have some down time or simply some time to explore the destinations we stayed on our own. We are experienced travelers.
We loved the activities/tours planned for us. Cape Sounion; Archological Museum, Food tour of Athens; Peloponnese tour, Acropolis, Santorini Village and Wine tours. All our guides were fun and very knowledgeable.
All our transportation connections made it easy to keep our connections stress-free. The ability to Whats App our drivers was especially helpful when connections were late or other complications.
Finally, your Kimkim app worked beautifully and was easy to navigate. The only comment I would add is that, while the app has a link to log in, you cannot actually login. The only way to activate the trip is following the link given us by our arranger. Just a bit confusing. Either let us log in or remove the link.

Vicky was able to accommodate our ever changing schedule. We were so grateful.

Our guide in Jaipur was our favorite and our driver for Agra and kochi were our favorites by far they went above and beyond

Hotel Review

Houseboat

Looks nothing like the photos looks like they took a ferry and put a bed on it

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Review

Bathe, Paint and Feed- A life-time experience with elephants at Elefantastic

Jaipur

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Our family of four (kids, ages 10, 12) had a wonderful time in Rome and Florence. Melanie planned a trip that was well suited for our children--they were not bored once and thoroughly enjoyed the cooking class, tours and day tours. We could not have asked for a better trip. Melanie and her team were available every day and updated us of any changes to our plans.

Hotel Reviews

U-Visionary Roma Hotel

Rome

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Calimala Florence

Florence

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Otivm Hotel

Rome

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Pisa and Lucca with private driver

Florence

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Vatican & Sistine Chapel Tour

Rome

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

The Accademia Gallery tour - skip the line

Florence

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

COOKING CLASS TO MAKE REAL ITALIAN PIZZA AND GELATO

Rome

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Private Family Experiences: Colosseum Tour for Kids

Rome

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Great job arranging the trips to see Ecuador’s amazing natural beauty. The guides were all very knowledgeable, patient and enthusiastic about the wildlife and landscape. Special shoutout to my coordinator Valentina who was in touch with me everyday to make sure everything was going well.

Planning our trip was easy and seamless. Mathilde was very helpful and responsive. She was especially helpful when there an issue with the Italian railway system, and was able to change our tickets to a different time and route in order to get us to our next destination with time to spare.

Love the trip planned all the right activities. Wish she was a bit more communicative about her travels when she wasn’t going to respond and make sure we had someone to communicate with but she planned a great trip with great activities

When we arrived to Seoul, we were supposed to have a 4 hour tour coming straight from the airport. However, it was 6.5 hours and we only did 2 of the 5 things listed on the itinerary before forcing to call it quits due to the young children in our group. This day was very poorly planned. We got to the lunch spot, bought a few different items, and were ready to go, but we were told we needed to stay put and wait for 30 minutes until our guide and driver had time to enjoy their lunch. This was a waste of our time. The guide also told us she’d reach out to her manager to see about a refund for the spots we were unable to hit and I have yet to hear back. If the cable car is known to have lines and you chose to not purchase tickets in advance, why would that not be the first stop?

The second day at the DMZ was amazing. Vincent was great.

I cannot express how amazing this trip was! Olivia planned such an amazing itinerary based off of the things we were interested in. Her expertise made our trip so easy and fun. Our guide Yoshiko was the absolute best! She went above and beyond and made our days so fun. I hope KimKim gives her a raise because she is one of the best tour guides I’ve ever met. Sonny was also awesome!

Our hotel Sakura Terrace was a lovely stay. They have an amazing ceramic plate sauna, and massage chairs in the lounge.

I don’t think our trip could’ve gone better and I will definitely be using this company again.

With many thanks and appreciation to Ada for planning an itinerary that included most everything that we requested. Ada was there with support from start to finish. Hotels were booked within walking distance to the rail stations, and our rail tickets were sent to our first hotel location. Drivers and guides were prompt, professional, and kind. Ada's attention to detail was amazing. She even helped us to contact and visit with relatives that we initially had no information of their whereabouts. That was the highlight of our trip. Thank you, Amazing Ada!

Hotel Reviews

Daiwa Roynet Hotel KANAZAWAEKI-NISHIGUCHI

Kanazawa

Very conveniently located. Clean, comfortable room. Wonderful breakfast.

Authenticity & Character

Authenticity & Character

Location

Location

Staff

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Cleanliness & Comfort

THE BLOSSOM KUMAMOTO

Hotel was convenient. Many shops nearby for shopping. Clean, comfortable room. Breakfast was wonderful. Very friendly staff member offered to take photos of us in the indoor garden.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Around Takayama, Ascend Hotel Collection

Takayama

Convenient for our walking tour of the city. Comfortable, clean room. Wonderful breakfast.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Chisun Grand Nagano

Very, very convenient to public transportation. Clean, comfortable room. Delicious breakfast.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Taoya Kisoji

Tsumago

Lovely setting. Clean, comfortable room. Wonderful breakfast!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Park Hotel Kyoto

Kyoto

Room was clean, comfortable, located conveniently for our activity. Delicious breakfast!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

高野山 真田坊 蓮華定院 -Koyasan Sanadabo Rengejoin-

Kota

Luxurious lodging! Wonderful opportunity to attend evening meditation and morning service. Breakfast and dinner were incredible, very interesting, very delicious.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Forza Osaka Kitahama

Osaka

Very friendly staff. Great location. Amazing breadkfasts.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Takayama Full-Day Walking Tour

Takayama

This was an enjoyable walking tour of the marketplace and walks along the river. Tomoko san comes from that area, so our tour was more personal because she gave us information as a native of the city. She stopped often and offered to take photos of us at scenic places. She took us to a family operated noodle shop, which was a real treat. We enjoyed Takayama very much.

Full Day Shirakawa-go Tour From Kanazawa to Takayama

Kanazawa

We really enjoyed Shirakawago. The history of the village and the tour of the Temple and the museum were fascinating. I took many photos with hopes that some research now will give me a better understanding about the silkworm business. Naoko san was an excellent guide, speaking English and educating us about the history of the World Heritage Village and offering to take many photos of us. This was high on our list of places we visited. Our driver was prompt and very patient.

1 Day Historic Obuse and Hokusai Mad Man of Art Tour in Nagano

Nagano

We learned quite a lot about Hokusai and were able to see some of Hokusai's work and learn about his history. Our guide was very knowledgeable. We enjoyed our time with him.

Full Day Snow Monkey Park Tour (Join-in) & Sake Tasting

Nagano

Sake is not my drink of choice, but I did settle on a sake that I liked. We were given many choices. Staff at the sake brewery were pleasant and helpful. The Monkey Park was a nice hike up the mountain trail, and we were grateful that one monkey was there to entertain us.

Hike from Magome to Tsumago

Magome

This was the initial reason for going to Japan, but it left me the most disappointed. Tour guide was not astute enough to realize that I was recovering from bilateral Quadriceps strain from climbing the 5 tier pagode in Osaka a few days earlier. I am 84 years old and was carrying a backpack with overnight necessities. She walked rapidly, leaving me about 25 yards behind and then having to rush to "catch up." At one point, I asked her "May I ask a favor of you? Can you walk slower?" As a result of not walking a steady, slower pace, I was unable to physically complete the last bit of the trail to Tsumago. It required a taxi to get to our hotel. Although she stayed with us to register at the hotel, we did not require that help. That added time made her late for her train connection and she had to stay in a hotel that night. We offered to pay for her overtime, but she declined. I am disappointed that I couldn't complete the final part of the Nakasendo Trail.

Enjoy Temples & Bamboo Grove in Kyoto

Kyoto

Hector was a wonderful tour guide who taught us so much about the history of the area as well as of Japan. We will remember him warmly.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Learn the Secrets Behind Ramen in a Cooking Class

Osaka

This was a fun class. Certainly will attempt to put to use what we learned about ramen and gyoza.

Osaka Day Trip: Shitenno-ji Temple, Hozenji Yokocho, Kuromon Ichiba Market

Osaka

Riwal did an excellent job planning our Chilean wine & more excursion! He was extremely professional, in spite of us making several changes along the way. He was quick to suggest options during the planning process and continued to check in with us throughout the actual trip to ensure we were enjoying ourselves. We were able to visit wineries from several areas including Maipo Valley and Valperaiso. Each was a unique experience and we kept saying that each one was even better than the prior one! Although we asked to do winery tours every day, towards the end of trip we were a bit "wined out" and asked if he could cancel our last winery and find something else for us to do. In less than a day we were rescheduled for a Chilean cooking class which turned out to be one of our very favorite experiences on the trip. Our guides were fantastic and our driver was great. I would highly recommend kimkim for anyone planning a trip to Chile and would suggest you ask to work with Riwal -you will not be disappointed!

Hotel Reviews

Casa Higueras Hotel

Valparaiso

I cannot say enough good things about this hotel. The staff was amazing from Marco who met us when we arrived, to Dorinda who served us at breakfast (and even going ac way to get me coke light instead of coffee each morning) to Christobal who took care of us at dinner. The location was beautiful, the rooms were spacious and each one was unique, and the people couldn't have been nicer.

Authenticity & Character

Each detail of the hotel was unique and beautiful

Location

At the to of the hill with fantastic views of the city and the ocean.

Staff

Everyone was so friendly and helpful

Cleanliness & Comfort

Casa Bueras Hotel (ex Lastarria)

Santiago

The hotel and the staff were wonderful. While Lastarria was interesting, we didn't feel as safe walking around there as we did in other places in the city

Authenticity & Character

The outside area terrace and pool area were excellent places to just hang out after a busy day.

Location

The surrounding area was a little less safe feeling than other places in the city.

Staff

Eric was great!

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Full Day Quintero Coastal Experience + Visit to Aconcagua Farms

Chile

We started the day at the beach and stopped at a local fish market for some samples of fresh ceviche, clams, and shellfish. The highlight, though was Aconcagua Farms - by far our favorite winery! It's a small winery that also produces sangrias which was an interesting change of pace. Their sustainable and regenerative farming practices were so interesting and the owners were so energetic and likable!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Visit to the Santa Ema Wineyard - with winetasting

Chile

Sophia led our tour. She was so engaging and you could tell that this family owned business feels like family to the entire staff. It was a great tour and the wines were excellent.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Chilean Food Tour & Picnic with a View of Santiago

Santiago

We always start every new city with a good tour and this one didn't disappoint. In addition to the stops to try various dishes, we got some interesting history from Angel, and then bought food in the market that Jenny put together for a picnic lunch in the hills above the city -- it was perfect!

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Full Day Colchagua Valley Wine Tour: Explore Montgras & Santa Cruz Vineyards

Santiago

We changed this to a coming class with Responsible Travel Chile and we're so glad we did. The best experience of our trip.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Jenny and Angel are the best!

Transport

Angel picked us up and took us directly there. We wanted to take the metro back, do he made sure to walk us there and that we knew exactly where to go

Overall, a well organized trip with very responsive contacts .
We enjoyed the trip to IGUAZU and the hotel was adequate but poor breakfast service
Trip to Mendoza was amazing with a lovely stay at Club Tapiz where the daily free wine tastings before dinner were well received..

Hotel Reviews

Club Tapiz

Maipú - Mendoza

Very good staff A little out of the way but UBER was cheap Nice rooms but no windows

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Village Cataratas

Puerto Iguazú

In the middle of a forest. Too far from town

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Amérian Park Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires

Poor choice Staff very inexperienced and unwilling to help. Breakfast staff were really the best people working in this dump of an old and dated hotel. We did not even have a phone in our room and had to go down to reception if we needed anything. The only clean place was the lobby

Authenticity & Character

Renovate

Location

Central

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Better beds, furniture and sheets

Activity Reviews

Good Bye Argentina!!👋👐

Argentina

Overall very enjoyable

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

High end Malbec – Lujan de Cuyo & Maipú 🍷🧀

Mendoza

Not really a high end Malbecs. Expected boutique wines but ended up in a winery that produces 6 million liters of wine in a year. Found the wines to be expensive and not necessarily all that great.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

We had such a great experience with KimKim. We started planning with Moonika and met Lilla. a little later on and they were both fantastic. Lilla took the time to greet us at the airport which was very thoughtful. We had a few bumps in the road because of weather and Lilla was very communicative, even on the weekend outside of business hours, and helped us adjust as needed. The companies they booked our tours with were also great with kind and knowledgeable staff and both accommodations were wonderful as well. We were warned ahead of time about this time of year being a shoulder season which we definitely experienced but it did not take away from our trip at all. The trip was everything we had hoped for and we can’t wait to go back

Hotel Reviews

Arctic Light Hotel

Rovaniemi

Staff were extremely friendly and accommodating. We had some noisy upstairs neighbors and when we called at 130 in the morning the problem was handled right away. Great sized rooms and amenities

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Very friendly and professional

Cleanliness & Comfort

Apukka Resort

Rovaniemi

Great activities and amenities. Food on property is overpriced but other than that it’s a great property

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Review

Snowmobile Safari Into the Wilderness

Apukka

Even though a lot of the snow had melted this was a very fun activity

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Olman was truly exceptional — not only was he a great person to spend time with, but his knowledge about so many aspects of the trip made a huge difference. He quickly understood exactly what we were looking for and arranged everything perfectly to match our preferences. His professionalism, flexibility, and insight made our experience even more memorable.
Overall, we are very happy with the service and the entire experience. Thank you once again for taking such good care of us.

Hotel Reviews

Hampton by Hilton San José Airport

Alajuela

One of the very comforting hotels. Great choice

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Playa Espadilla

Manuel Antonio

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Great staff and very friendly

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Cipreses

Monteverde

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Arenal Montechiari

La Fortuna

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

WiFi at the room wasn’t available and it was bit inconvenient to go to reception or buffet area to browse the internet.

Rincón del Valle Hotel & Suites

San José

Location-wise, the hotel was convenient, and the breakfast was excellent. However, the amenities could have been better to enhance the overall stay.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Few restaurants around to check!

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Rooms were quite dusty and the bathrooms weren’t that clean.

Activity Reviews

Selvatura Park Self-Guided Hanging Bridges & Zip Lining

Monteverde

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Night Excursion at the Wildlife Refuge in Monteverde

Monteverde

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Whitewater Rafting on the Balsa River Class II & III

Arenal/La Fortuna

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

El Silencio Hike & Visit to Ecotermales Hot Springs

Arenal/La Fortuna

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Knowing that all of the major things were taken care of was a huge relief. I wanted someone to coordinate transportation and accommodations for me, as those are generally what are the most stressful for me to figure out. I talked to Moonika and told her what I was looking for plus some of my concerns for traveling. She coordinated all of the overnight stays and transportation necessary and made sure I had the information I needed to get there. Accommodations were exactly what I was looking for, and drivers were professional.

We were a party of 3 friends who booked our trip to Turkey with KimKim and we 100% recommend them and would return to Turkey to travel again with this agency! Our tour arrangers were exceptionally responsive - Murat and Hulya helped coordinate for us when we were in Turkey and were incredible - our messages were meticulously detailed with our itinerary, driver information and flight info. They went above and beyond to take care of us- when I left my Kindle at a hotel - they coordinated with our driver and guide in the next city to retrieve that item for me so I could have it in hand before I left Turkey. Similarly, when the weather was not looking good for our hot air balloon flight in Capadoccia, they rearranged our itinerary so that we could go on our flight the day before - and it was SO memorable! Our tour guides - Emre, Ozan and Efe - were all so knowledgeable, hospitable, and professional - Ozan especially enriched our experience and helped us fall in love with Turkey. All of the drivers and tour vans were exceptional - my friends and I had never ridden in such comfortable tour vehicles (they had refrigerators in the car for water). All of the hotel accommodations were comfortable - Berat made sure we each had our own beds in each hotel. Amongst all of them - we LOVED the Kale Kona Hotel - we hope to return there one day, it was an amazing place. We hope to return to Turkey with KimKim one day to go to other places we have not seen yet.

We came in at the last minute with a week before our flights to Thailand looking for trip options (was a last minute vacation!) and Bella promptly went back and forth with us several times at odd hours of her day on the other side of the world, quickly helping us land on a great trip for us, including having to very very carefully play tetris with shifting availability days/times as we booked so close to the days of the events.

Everything was meticulously organized -- drivers and guides for every segment, with her WhatsApping us contact info beforehand and quickly changing drivers when we had a delay during one event to make sure we were continually cared for. The guides she picked for us were very interested in going out of their way to customize the experience to our trip desires, flipping up destinations midday if they had more interesting sounding ideas after they got to know us, adding side trips, etc.

We couldn't have asked for a better experience, and especially with such wildly limited notice our expectations were very exceeded.

Hotel Reviews

Buri Sriping Riverside Resort & Spa

Chiang Mai

Staff were super friendly. 24 self laundry was awesome. The grounds were beautiful. The pool was lovely. The breakfast was so-so. We wished we had been closer/more walkable to old town - there wasn't much in walking distance from the hotel.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Radisson Suites Bangkok

Bangkok

Great location. All the staff were really friendly. Room was great. Breakfast was outstanding.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Chiang Rai in a day!

Thailand

Absolute must-do experience. The white and blue temples are unbelievably pretty and interesting. The grounds of the white temple can be explored for hours. The art by the designer of the white temple is also very interesting and he was prolific. Long drive but completely worth it.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Traditional Khantoke Dinner

Chiang Mai

Very very touristy experience -- tour bus after tour bus pulled up and filled the venue. But the dances were fun, the food was pretty good, and it was a good duration. The cocktails were mediocre.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Chiang Dao Cave & Art Village Baan Kang Wat Visit

Chiang Mai

Quite a long drive for an okay-ish cave. We ended up doing a different crafting village/fair another day instead of the Baan Kang Wat one, so this review is only for the cave. Most of the cave is unlit (the guide used a propane lantern and flashlight), and significant portions have been permanently closed off for safety after floods the last few years. Still pretty and interesting, but not very long and middling as limestone caves go.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

A Day trip to Doi Inthanon National Park!

Chiang Mai

Good set of activities in or near the Doi Inthanon park. Very pretty views -- waterfalls, forest hikes, hill tribes, temples.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Elephant Jungle Expedition at Chai Lai Orchid Ecolodge!

Chiang Mai

It was a fun experience petting and feeding the elephants in a couple different spots, but the rest of the "whole day" experience was some odd random activities that were mildly entertaining (bamboo raft ride, walkaround the hill tribe village without much explanation, etc.) but would have been better spent doing other things.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Ayutthaya’s Ancient Wonders & Local Flavors

Thailand

The scale of the ruins was grandiose, but the lack of our (humanity's, not us the tourists) knowledge about the history of the site means that it's mostly just a bunch of ruins with very limited context to walk around. We tend to be looking to combine historical context with tours, so this one was a bit disappointing compared to our other activities on this vacation. The food stop itself was good for river prawn fans, but outside of the local river prawns, nothing special.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Dinner at Blackitch Artisan Kitchen

Chiang Mai

Our dinner at Blackitch was truly excellent.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Traditional Thai Massage at Fah Lanna Spa

Chiang Mai

Our time at Fah Lanna Spa was wonderful. The staff were very friendly and all our services were excellent.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Chiang Mai Cooking Class Experience

Chiang Mai

This was absolutely a highlight of our trip. Our chef instructor was incredible and gave us way more than just recipes, but instead a set of guidelines for how to be creative with Thai cooking. She also helped provide tips about how to get ingredients back home. It was really fun to go around the market with her before we headed to the cookery. Everything we cooked was delicious, but I am also going home looking forward to being able to re-create what we made.

Quality of Experience

Loved having the private experience - we were really able to ask questions specific to how I cook at home and I really feel that I'm going home with practical knowledge.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

True Taste of Chiang Mai with Evening Foodie Tour

Chiang Mai

Once again, we trusted all the choices with our guide and that was not a mistake. Everything we ate (and we ate a lot!) was delicious. It was super fun hopping around in the tuktuk.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Half-Day Doi Suthep Temple Tour

Chiang Mai

Once again, this was a perfect activity to do on a travel day. Our guide was extremely informative and we learned a lot of new things despite already having been to several temples. The views from the temple were really stunning and the overall ambiance was really lovely.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Day trip to Erawan National Park visit

Thailand

This was a really fun day - we enjoyed getting out of the city and seeing some stunning waterfalls. The hike up to the last waterfall wasn't too strenuous.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Food Tour by Tuk-tuk in Bangkok!

Bangkok

We followed our Guide's recommendations all evening and tried things that we would never have otherwise known to order. The food was delicious and we particularly loved the latter stops on the tour that were more market/street food like.

Quality of Experience

The one thing we would change would be the first stop that we did - it was inside a food court. We'd recommend sticking to the more open street market locations!

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Half-Day Bangkok City Tour

Bangkok

The Grand Palace and all the temples were really beautiful. We learned a lot about Thai history and Buddhist practices. Our guide was great and the pacing of the tour was perfect. We saw so many things!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Welcome to Bangkok! A short visit to Wat Saket Temple

Bangkok

This was a perfect arrival activity for when we were a a bit jet lagged. The temple was pretty and had a good view. Our guide taught us some basics about Bhuddism.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

First of all, this our 2nd time to use KimKim for a trip. They certainly have made traveling more enjoyable, and in actuality, cost efficient!
We were working with Liz Karen for quite a while. She is knowledgeable about the various options for a Cusco trip which helped us make our decisions.
Since we started many months prior to traveling, we really appreciated Liz Karen’s patience and creativity. We end up with 9 iterations of our trip, and she helped with all the information we needed to have a good trip.
When we finally arrived, our in country help was Oscar! That guy is really patient, but I also think he knows how to build in the perfect amount of time for each of the outings. He kept us on pace, especially with our reserved luncheon at Ollytantambo and with the rather complicated 2 day trip for Machupicchu with buses and trains and other hotels, he made it easy. He really allowed us to enjoy ourselves and masterfully moved us around. To where we needed to go at what time we needed to be there.
We had a 6 day trip from USA, all in Cusco/Aguas Calientes area. With 11 people including 2 grandparents and 1 grandchild, the private tours and travel were of necessity, and here is where KimKim does so well. That’s the really service we appreciate because we get to enjoy the trip and the sights!
We stayed at Tika Wasi in the San Blas area of Cusco, which was a perfect funky hotel with nice courtyard area and the surrounding area is comfortable and plenty of food alternatives.
Definitely want to make sure you are acclimated to the altitude as not sure we could’ve done machupichu in the 1st couple days, pretty rough already.

Hotel Reviews

Pucara Machu Picchu Hotel

Can’t beat a hotel right downtown, such convenience.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Tika Wasi Casa Boutique

Cusco

Very nice comfortable boutique in San Blas. Breakfast was good, along with the courtyard area. No televisions in rooms, which is nice to have, but then again we were so tired that probably didn’t matter. The staff was friendly, knowledgeable about the area, and even helped me fix one of our luggage zippers!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Right at the edge of the area. Far enough away from noise and hustle, yet close enough that we could walk everywhere

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Explore Machu Picchu & Return to Cusco (Private Guided tour in Machu Picchu)

Peru

We simply travel to go find out about places, so we certainly got out fill of being in the area long enough, but then to add this really awe inspiring mountain top city basically in the middle of nowhere was simply breathtaking. Not to mention the climb up to go down to the part of the circuit 2A we went on. Oscar was helpful getting us around as he did all week.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Private tour to The Sacred Valley: Maras, Moray & Pachamanca

Peru

Basically it was all about the Pachamama, as we are a family that loves to eat. Learning a bit more about the indigenous culture, in that setting at El Albergue was fantastic. The distillery and the coffee roasting facilities were a nice surprise.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Private tour to Pisac: Andean Animals

Cusco

This was pretty neat, and really helped us understand where we were geographically: very high up in the Andes! So awesome! Was cool to see the local animals and birds, and see the countryside.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Private Half-Day Walking Tour: Sacsayhuaman, Cusco City & San Pedro Market

Cusco

This was basically filler and a get to know the area excursion. I think our group was too big to make it special, as no one paid much attention and went off on their own anyway.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport