Kimkim Trip Reviews

Mariano was an excellent tour guide through Arenal. He was friendly and knowledgable and made the trip fun!
Alex was an excellent driver, despite being stuck in non moving traffic for more than 2 hours, he kept his cool and was still a delight to have driving us.
The communication with Kim Kim and Elena was great as well.
This was an experience I will not forget.

Hotel Reviews

Parador Nature Resort & Spa

Manuel Antonio

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Arenal Springs Resort

La Fortuna

Beautiful hotel

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Catamaran Tour with Meal

Costa Rica

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Hanging Bridges, La Fortuna Waterfall, and Arenal Volcano

Arenal/La Fortuna

Absolutely loved the hanging bridges, this was my favorite part of the trip!

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Mariano was amazing!

Transport

Coffee & Chocolate Tour

Costa Rica

10/10 would recommend. Our tour guide was knowledgeable and friendly. Making chocolate was the best!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

There was a miscommunication in our transport to this activity.

Bruno was very responsive and so helpful. I had flight issues going to Croatia and leaving as well, and he was able to be super flexible in reorganizing my transfer and everything else. He also gave great suggestions for restaurants and was available everyday via Whatsapp. I also heard from hotel staff that he's their favorite person to work with, always sharing info ahead of time so the hotels have time to manage any guest needs.

Guides were amazing, drivers were great, accommodations were great choices (loved the historic and boutique hotels ), excursions were first rate, just an all around fun trip!

Hotel Reviews

Hotel Hospes Palacio San Esteban

Salamanca

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Parador de Monforte de Lemos

Monforte de Lemos

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Casa dos Lóios by Shiadu

Porto

Authenticity & Character

Oh

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Guided Visit of Salamanca

Spain

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Day Excursion along Ribeira Sacra: Rivers, Canyons & Vineyards

Spain

Included winery tour and fantastic four course lunch!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Discover Vigo on Foot with a Local Guide

Vigo

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Douro Valley Highlights: Olive Oil, Wine, & River Cruise

Porto

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Explore Porto’s Hidden Gems with a Local Guide

Porto

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Culinary Highlights of Porto: Food Delights & Bolhão Market

Porto

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

We Loved Our Trip!

Kateryna clearly took the time to create an unforgettable trip to London and Paris for my husband and I.

We began in London with activities planned to help us see the most important sights and landmarks. After a slight hiccup with a two hour delay leaving New York, and then another hiccup in the Heathrow Airport, in which the customs computer system went down, we missed our time slot to see Westminster Abbey. Kate replied to us while we were still standing on line at customs to change our call time to the following day. She also ensured that our transportation from the airport would wait for us! We got the chance to have a private tour of London in a black cab with our guide, John. John was fun, informative, and certainly a highlight of our trip! In addition to Westminster Abbey we were also scheduled to tour The Tower of London and go to The British Museum. On our final day in London we went on a bus that Brough us to Windsor Castle, Stonehenge, and Bath. Our tour guide Apple made sure that we stayed on time and had fun throughout the day. We had a great time in London, we stayed in The Phoenix Hotel, which was easily accessible and in a cute neighborhood that had everything we needed within walking distance.

The middle part of our trip took us to Oxford. Unfortunately, we were scheduled to be there during many of Oxford's graduations. We were booked to stay in a pub that was not in Oxford and we believe this is because many of the hotels were booked for the graduations. While Headington is not far from London, the 20 minute bus rides definitely put the brakes on exploring. In hindsight we wish that we had not been scheduled to go to Oxford. It was impossible to get tickets for Christ Church, Oxford's buildings were closed to non-graduates, and the streets were packed with people. We had a very hard time finding a place to have dinner in the city of Oxford and ended up having dinner at our pub, The Black Boy, both nights. While The Black Boy was a nice place to stay and we had plenty of room in our accommodations we couldn't help but feel that the overall experience was a little... off. While the owner was welcoming she also seemed annoyed that she had guests. The service in the restaurant was extremely slow and the staff seemed untrained. While we made the most of our time there- it probably would have been more fun for us to have spent those two nights in London. That being said, we did enjoy our tour of The Cotswolds, which could have been scheduled even if we hadn't left London.

Finally, our trip brought us to Paris! We loved it there. We got to go to the top of the Eiffel Tower our first night and the experience will stick with us forever. We were also scheduled to visit the Catacombs, which was both thrilling and chilling, and The Louvre! Our last scheduled event in Paris was seeing Versailles which was well organized and well timed within the scope of our day. Our schedule was open enough that we were also able to see Notre Dame and spend plenty of time in the Luxembourg Gardens. We were staying the WS Casanova. We had our own apartment which was cozy. We were on the top floor and were initially concerned about the fact that it had limited air flow, no direct access to the elevator, and no air conditioning (not uncommon in Paris!). The apartment worked out well for us as Paris experienced mild weather during our nights there. The only flaw is that the apartment was not a traditional hotel room and so there were no amenities such as room cleaning or fresh sheets and towels. There were also small signs of wear and tear on the room that, while not taking away from the usability of the space, did diminish its quality.

Overall we are really pleased with our experience. We would recommend Kateryna and KimKim to our friends in the future! Thank you for a great 10 days!

our trip to Australia went very well, with a couple of administrative problems. The pickup locations were sometimes wrong or contradictory. I opted out of Kata Juta but my sister marian was removed instead. our booking for the wine wildlife waterfall tour in sydney was made in gregs name, not us. But overall the excursions, tours, boat trips were very good. Hotels were fine. Car pickups all good.

Had a wonderful time in Tromsø and Svolvær. A big thank you to Anders, Finne, and Riccardo for all of their support throughout the planning process and during the trip!

The KimKim team built an itinerary that matched exactly what my family and I were looking for! The excursion experiences were perfect and their guides/ providers were nothing short of amazing.
They were communicative, listened to our needs, and worked with us when we needed to make alterations real-time. Excellent experience all around.

Hotel Review

NLH Fix Hotel - Neighborhood Lifestyle Hotels

Athens

Spacious quarters, located a short walk from the Plaka, the Acropolis, and Arch of Hadrian.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Delos & Mykonos Day Trip by Ferry

Naxos

The immersion of this experience on Delos was peak Ancient Greece and our guide Kristos brought it to life!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Acropolis Beat-the-Crowds Discovery Walk

Athens

Two-hour tour was perfect amount of walking up the slopes of the Acropolis. Our guide Calliope was wonderful.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Siena and the entire Kimkim team were fabulous!! They answered all our questions so quickly, even when we were already overseas. Thanks to their great planning, our family’s first trip to Greece was just perfect from start to finish. The activities they suggested were awesome, and the information they gave us about our location was super helpful. We would absolutely use Kimkim again!!

Hotel Review

NLH Fix Hotel - Neighborhood Lifestyle Hotels

Athens

This hotel was very basic, but our room was HUGE, which was very helpful for our family of 4. Excellent location, right near the Acropolis and Acropolis Museum. Walkable to tons of restaurants and cafes. One thing to note: the hotel has no lobby and has only a very tiny elevator. As there is no common space, overseas travelers will need to find someplace to rest while waiting for an afternoon check in.

Authenticity & Character

Hotel didn’t have much character. Very basic.

Location

Walkable to everything!

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Private Traditional Cooking Experience at Village Farm

Naxos

A thousand stars for Katerina and Maria!! This was such an incredibly special experience for our family. We made a DELICIOUS Greek meal, swapped stories, and feasted with these wonderful women. It was a way to truly connect with some local people and we loved every second of it. We will treasure the memories and recipes for a lifetime!

Quality of Experience

Katerina was wonderful at teaching and the food was so delish!

Food

Omg everything

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Delos & Mykonos Day Trip by Ferry

Naxos

Delos was incredibly interesting— it’s an active archeological site. However, I wouldn’t recommend this for small children or for anyone who can’t be in the sun for several hours. It was super enjoyable but exhausting and very hot. Our guide Christos knew SO much and so loved listening to his explanations and especially loved sitting at the Greek theater! Mykonos felt short— just enough time to grab lunch and do some shopping. Perfect for someone who wants to just get a sampling of the island but not enough to really experience it.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Chris is amazing and we liked the Gerry!

Transport

Private Countryside Walk: Naxian Villages & Local Food

Naxos

Loved our private walk through this adorable village! It was beyond quaint and we were the only people walking around. Our guide Christos was super knowledgeable and interesting and we loved spending the day with him! The olive oil press was so cool and everything was delicious! Would highly recommend!

Quality of Experience

Walking through the villages was so enjoyable, especially with our guide’s commentary!

Food

Omg! That galactaboureko!!!

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Christos was FABULOUS!

Transport

Extremely comfortable and efficient! Friendly driver!

Acropolis Beat-the-Crowds Discovery Walk

Athens

We LOVED this tour! Kaliope was a fabulous guide and gave us so much interesting information about the temples, the theaters, the history, and the myths. This is exactly the right way to experience the ancient ruins!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Kaliope was AMAZING!

Self-Guided Neighborhoods Walk

Athens

Quality of Experience

Gummi helped plan us the most incredible trip to Iceland! Somehow, each day things got a bit more extraordinary! Each accommodation, each restaurant, each tour...was perfectly curated for what we told Gummi was important to us. I keep telling friends who ask that our itinerary was quite literally perfect. Wouldn't have changed a single thing. We are so grateful to KimKim and to Gummi for helping us make those memories.

I had an amazing trip to Argentina. The guides were wonderful: Sandra, Carlos, Timothea, Marciano, Lucas - were all just fantastic. The hotels were in great locations with all of the rooms above par with great service.

Everything was what I expected it to be. I loved the tours of the Falls both from the Brazil and Argentina side. The bird park was fantastic. The Peninsula Valdes is just so special. Loved the whale watching boat tour and watching the whales from the beach. I came home with thousands of pictures.

Hotel Reviews

Dazzler by Wyndham Puerto Madryn

Puerto Madryn

Fantastic location and great restaurant. The room was clean and comfortable.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Right across the street to the beach.

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Rayentray ‍Puerto Pirámides

Puerto Piramides

I only spent one night here and did not have a lot of time to explore, but loved that it was on the water front nestled in the cute little town.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

La Reserva Virgin Lodge de Selva by DON

Puerto Iguazú

Very large comfortable room in the heart of the jungle.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Loved being in the jungle

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Mine Hotel Boutique

Buenos Aires

This is a special hotel in a great neighborhood. The room was great and the staff was wonderful. I enjoyed the hotel breakfast.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Close to great restaurants.

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Kayak with sea lions

Puerto Madryn

This was a very special activity that took me very close to the sea lions. I was a fantastic tour.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Discovering Doradillo beach with walking tour

Puerto Madryn

Loved being able to see the whales from the beach!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Península Valdés & Whales watching tour

Puerto Madryn

Can't say enough great things about this tour. The Peninsula is so surprising with its diversity of wild life. My guide made sure I saw what the Peninsula had to offer.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Full day to the Argentinian side of the falls

Argentina

The Falls are so unbelievable. Argentina has done a good job of making them accessible for up close viewing. My guide was attentive and informative. He made the experience one to remember.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Bird's Park

Argentina

Loved the bird park. I was up close and personal with many of the birds, birds I most likely would never see in the wild,

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Half day tour to the Iguazú Falls (Brazilian side)

Argentina

The visit to the Brazil side of the falls was not to be missed.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Buenos Aires Walking tour, La Boca & City centre

Buenos Aires

Sandra was very informative about the City and took me to places that interested me most.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Our week in Norway was nothing short of magical! Working with Mar, Fenne and the KimKim team made our planning and reservations stress free. We loved the itinerary they suggested for us and they worked so well to tweak it to our specific family needs and to fit in the places we wanted to see. Every stop on our trip was a highlight. Bergen with its historic sites and fantastic food, Balestrand was it quiet peaceful atmosphere, Flåm with its breathtaking views and incredible outdoor activities and then Oslo with its city vibe and atmosphere. We had a wonderful time!

Erica and the whole kimkim team did a fantastic job of planning our trip to Greece. We had several stops on the itinerary, with drivers, tours, and multiple hotels. We did not have a single hiccup. Having all of the info in the kimkim app was invaluable. We always knew exactly where we needed to be, and who to contact. Every driver made us feel like great friends by the end of the rides. The hotels were lovely, with helpful staff, delicious breakfasts, and suggestions for things to do. Everyone let us practice our Greek with them, which we appreciated. The whole trip felt like one long highlight, but two really stand out: the Majo Hotel in Naxos is incredible. Ioanna and her son have created a slice of heaven, with their beautiful rooms, private pools, and homemade breakfasts. It's a place I would return to again and again. Our other highlight was Solon and Maria from Hello Thessaloniki tours. Their hospitality and knowledge of the city perfectly kicked off our trip. We could have spent all day with them learning and laughing. Overall, it was an amazing vacation. Thank you so much to Erica, Lea and Summer for taking care of us so we could relax and enjoy our trip!

Hotel Reviews

Azure Villa Santorini

Santorini

I was not satisfied with the Azure Villa Santorini. While it was spacious, it had issues like cockroaches in the kitchen, mildew and mold in the bathrooms, and a water leak. For the cost, it was not a pleasant stay. It also didn't serve breakfast, which was something we missed.

Athenian Riviera

Vouliagmeni

The Athenian Riviera was a wonderful stay. Although we only had one night there, it was a beautiful place with friendly staff and a nice restaurant area.

Athens Manor Houses

Athens

Athens Manor Houses were great. The accommodations were lovely, making our stay in Athens very enjoyable.

Vanoro Hotel

Thessaloniki

We were super happy with the Vanoro Hotel. The stay was comfortable and met all our expectations.

Majo Suites Hotel

Naxos

The Majo Suites Hotel in Naxos was definitely our favorite during the trip. The experience there was just perfect, and we loved everything about it.

Activity Reviews

Sunset Caldera Catamaran Cruise

Santorini

The Sunset Caldera Catamaran Cruise was wonderful. We had a great crew and pilot. It definitely made the experience amazing.

Private Morning Old Town Walk with Museum, Castle & Portara

Naxos

We did a tour in Naxos that we really liked. It was a great experience exploring the Old Town with the museum, castle, and Portara. Really enjoyable.

Private Classic Sightseeing Tour of Thessaloniki

Thessaloniki

The Private Classic Sightseeing Tour of Thessaloniki with Hello, Thessaloniki and Maria was fantastic. We had the greatest time ever learning and touring with them, and could have easily spent more days doing so.

Overall, the booking experience was seamless as always. Tiago, our local specialist did an outstanding job organizing all the elements of the trip, which was no small feat considering we were a large group of 17 people across 4 families. During the booking process, Tiago was on top of all the timings, made sure we were aware of those so that we were able to finalize our key hotel locations. He was also flexible in changing our arrangements e.g. our family were supposed to leave a couple of days early, but then decided to stay longer, which he was quickly able to accommodate.

During the trip, Tiago was excellent in coordinating all our visits - across Tile Painting, to connecting us with a Surfing Lessons company, to the Fado music, to cooking classes etc. He was also a wealth of knowledge on Portuguese history, which we found extremely valuable and interesting. It kept the bus ride from Cascais to the Duoro valley, and then from there to Porto a lot of fun.

Out other local guide in Cascais - Gustav - was also great. He was funny, authentic, passionate and made our stay there a lot of fun. The highlight were the visits to Praia das Azenhas do Mar, and then the lunch at a local seafood place which was out of this world!

The hotel locations (The Albatroz in Cascais and Quinta del Vacaria) were outstanding! The Infante Sagres in Porto was also nice, but the hotel rooms had some issues (e.g. there was water leaking from an AC vent over our toliet), but nothing big to spoil the experience. The food tour in Porto was another highlight!

Overall, we had great time and Tiago played a huge role in enabling that for us. We would highly recommend folks to consider Kimkim and Tiago for your next Portugal trup.

Hotel Reviews

Infante Sagres

Porto

Authenticity & Character

Location

Right in the heart of Porto!

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

We had an AC vent that was dripping over our toilet seat.

The Albatroz Hotel

Cascais

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Torel Quinta da Vacaria - Douro Valley

Peso da Régua, Vila Real District

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Food Tour - OPTIONAL

Porto

Absolutely amazing and fun experience. Got to experience food from a true local lens, and were able to visit a couple of spots that we would have never found out about.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Azulejo Tile Workshop

Lisbon

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Tourism Tram Ride in Lisbon

Lisbon

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Me and my family had an amazing time. My favorite person during our trip was Mrs. Anita. She did an amazing job showing us around. It was like she was visiting Thailand as well but knew about Thailand already. Our stay was amazing. Overall it was the best experience ever.

Thanks to Erica at KimKim, our trip to Greece was absolutely AMAZING!! It would take me days to fully describe all the highlights of our 14 day trip, but here are just a few. I enjoyed the “Off the beaten path” excursions as they provided the opportunity to see and learn about Greek island history and culture. We did, unfortunately, miss a walking tour in Naxos b/c gps misguided us, but I believe we were compensated. The boating and wine tour excursions were very enjoyable. We found the local wines to be outstanding. Both excursions are a Must-Do! Our accommodations exceeded our expectations as did the service and friendly staff. Each hotel was ideally located and within walking distance to beautiful cities, towns and harbors. Everything about our trip was beyond anything we could have hoped for, and I would highly recommend Erica and KimKim to friends and family wishing to plan the trip of a lifetime! Special thanks to our favorite tour guides: Demetrius, Sandra, Elle, Adonis.

We had a wonderful time on our trip to Norway. The hotels were excellent (although in some cases a bit noisy) and the various transfers all worked out well. We particularly enjoyed the walking tour guide in Oslo (Marja), the train to Flam, the activities from Aurland, the fjord excursion from Alesund, and the Grieg concert in Bergen. However, there were a few things that, in retrospect, could have been changed:

1. We were under the impression that the Oslo dinner cruise would include views of the fjords, but it did not go very far away from the port, so we would not have taken that cruise.

2. The food and culture tour in Bergen did not offer enough of either category, so we would not have taken that tour.

3. Although we did enjoy the cable car ride, we wound up spending too much down time in Andalsnes, waiting for the bus to Dombas.

4. Had we known that almost all retail establishments and museums in Trondheim are closed on Sunday, we would have tried to alter our itinerary so that we would have spent an extra day in that city.

Tania was so very efficient and made great recommendations for activities and accommodation. She always replied quickly to any questions we had . We would certainly recommend her for travel advice

Hotel Reviews

The Lodge On Loch Lomond Hotel

Luss

Really modern, great location right beside the Loch with a private beach

Authenticity & Character

Really modern, lovely deck outside our room

Location

Right beside the loch

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Lovely room, great bed and bathroom. Good food and bar

Lime Tree An Ealdhain

Fort William

Helpful staff and a great location

Authenticity & Character

Old but renovated, lovely bedroom overlooking the Loch

Location

Walking distance into town

Staff

Helpful and friendly

Cleanliness & Comfort

Bed was comfortable, very clean. Good sized room with a great view

Bracken Hide Hotel

Portree

Good location with excellent views

Authenticity & Character

The chalets are really cute, bathroom is small but very nice. The buggy rides up the hill are really appreciated

Location

Great view and located pretty much in the middle of Skye

Staff

Always available and nothing too much trouble

Cleanliness & Comfort

Very clean and warm. Bed was very comfortable

Ferry Inn

Stromness

We arrived at the end of shopping week in Stromness and had a good time mingling with the locals

Authenticity & Character

But watch for the stairs!

Location

So close to the ferry terminal

Staff

Always helpful

Cleanliness & Comfort

The bedroom had been refurbished so we were very happy

Glenmoriston Townhouse Hotel

Inverness

Hotel and staff were great. Location was excellent for getting in and out of the city

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Review

Private Walking Kirkwall Tour

Scotland

We had a tour with Ebenezar to Skara Brae, it was incredible. . The best thing was his knowledge and passion of the area. Cannot recommend him highly enough

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Ebenezars knowledge and passion

Transport

Very comfortable van with a very safe driver

Monika helped our family with a once in a lifetime trip to New Zealand and Fiji. After sharing activities we were interested in, she was able to put together an itinerary for us to approve. If we wanted to change anything, she was very responsive, made changes, and fulfilled our wishes. She planned all elements of transportation to and from all venues, making transitions easy and without stress. We didn’t have any glitches and had an amazing time in New Zealand. Our accommodation s and trip to Fiji lived up to our expectations. Her suggestion to stay at a quiet island resort was just what we needed. We ended our vacation in such a relaxing and beautiful place that helped us replenish our energy and be ready to head back to reality. Thank you for such an amazing trip!

Cory planned a seamless trip for us and was available to fix any hiccups along the way. We had a short tour of three cities and we feel we saw the best highlights of all three. The information given beforehand was helpful setting up the best plans. I will use this service again!

Appreciated that we were taken care of every step of the journey, with immediate replies from Bruno when we had questions.