Kimkim Trip Reviews

Like I did before in my previous Kimkim experience, I'd like to split this review into 2: the kimkim team and the destination:
The kimkim team: Once again, the team was absolutely amazing, super responsive, flexible, accommodating, even while already within our trip, we asked for itinerary changes, additions and the kimkim team was absolutely great at accommodating, fast and with a smile, we felt in great hands throughout the entire journey, before and while on the trip, THANK YOU kimkim Team!!

The destination: Thailand is one of those places you fall in love with easy, you get the feeling while on the trip that you want to move there, the people are nice and welcoming, you always feel safe and views and attractions are just mesmerizing, you really don't want to go back home... unless you already live there :)
We will definitely come back to Thailand, we have some takeaways in terms if things we want to do differently, like renting a car or bikes while on the islands, that is more cost effective than taxis, choosing specific hotels and room types, locations on the islands etc... but other than that, perfect vacation!

Moonika put together a great itinerary for our road trip through the Baltics and Poland. She was very responsive throughout ensuring a smooth trip and able to make adjustments as needed while we were already there.
Our accommodations were beautiful and the drivers very professional. Highly recommend!

Marisa truly did put together a magical trip to Portugal for us. The tours were great, and we had time to explore ourselves. Her recommendations for dinners were excellent. It was awesome how we had all the numbers for tour operators on WhatsApp so if anything happened we could contact them….it was so reassuring . She really knows how to plan a trip to Portugal! We will be back and request her expertise again!

Hotel Review

NH Hotel Porto Jardim

Porto

Central location, great breakfast.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Scenic Voyage along the Douro River aboard an Exclusive Boat

Portugal

The captain was running behind, which was initially ok - we didn't mind waiting. But then our boat ride only lasted 40 minutes. We literally left the dock, did a short back and forth on the river, then came back to the dock. He gave us peanuts and one little glass of wine - he didn’t even offer to refill our glass, although he had opened up a new bottle of wine.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Indulge in Elegance on a Guided Winery Tour Infused with Tastings and a Delicious Lunch

Portugal

The tour of the winery was great, but we only had a couple tastings and then had to sit there for 30 minutes waiting for lunch. The lunch was in a crowded room with other tourists. It was very impersonal, and our waiter was very rude- probably because he was overwhelmed with the amount of people he had to serve at once.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Seamless Discovery - The Ultimate Douro Valley Experience with Private Driver Service

Portugal

Nice to have a private driver, but would have liked to see a little more than just going back and forth from the winery.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

To Eat Suggestion: Terra Nova

Porto

Food was great, but if you want to sit outside, best to just show up when it opens. (Reservations get seated inside.)

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Porto's Historic Odyssey on a Private Walking Tour

Porto

Great way to learn about Porto and get the lay of the land

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

To Eat Suggestion: Brasão - Coliseu

Porto

Perfect place to try Porto special dishes

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Uma did an outstanding job of asking questions about our interest and then proposing an amazing trip. We had a wonderful 3 weeks so saw a lot of New Zealand. We would highly recommend her to others.

Hotel Review

SkyCity Hotel

Auckland

Super location and views. Dinner in tower is a must

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Mitai Maori Village

Rotorua

Waitomo Glow Worm Cave Tour

New Zealand

Cape Reinga Half Day Tour by Aeroplane

New Zealand

Waiheke Island Vineyard Explorer

New Zealand

Enjoy the panoramic view of Auckland from Sky Tower

Auckland

Roberto was an excellent travel advisor. From our first email conversation, he always seemed to know what we needed. His network of drivers were always there when scheduled. And we’re very knowledgeable. The guides spoke excellent English and led us through our adventure with all their local knowledge. Johnny was especially helpful after I forgot the vouchers for our Krka National Park tour. Within minutes, he notified Roberto and Roberto sent him the vouchers.

Hotel Reviews

Valamar Collection Dubrovnik President Hotel

Dubrovnik

Huge hotel . Around 500 rooms. Our room 3049 was about a quarter mile to the elevator. The room was very nice but the view of the beach was obscured by shrubs. The view overlooking the Adriatic and the sunsets was great. The beach was quite nice and the staff was helpful.

Hotel Marul

Split

Lovely boutique hotel of 14 rooms. It was within walking distance of all the old town. Very good morning breakfast. The staff was very friendly and helpful.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Walking distance to all the old town sites.

Staff

So very helpful.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Krka National Park- 1 days trip from Split

Split

Beautiful drive up to the park and back. The ferry ride up to the falls nice. Not too long, just 15 minutes. The white swans were so elegant. The hike up the falls was a bit steep but the history of the power house was enlightening. A very pleasant tour.

Explore Split & Diocletian's palace

Split

Arrival in Split and transfer to accommodation

Split

It was a great trip. One that my family will never forget. The scenery is other worldly. The plan was excellent. Our pictures are amazing. Highlights were Blue Lagoon, Sky Lagoon, Ice cave.

Guides were all good, their areas of expertise was very thorough. Accommodations for each city were great, each hotel had its own charm.
Kim Kim’s service was attentive and pretty much immediate. The only hicup we had was timing on our pickups from the train depot. We were able to arrange our own ride in Seville.

I consider myself a seasoned traveler, but until this year, never did a custom trip!

My college friend of 60 years is not a season traveler, but wanted to give customizing a trip a try.

In her research she found and contacted Kim Kim Travel letting them know that we were interested in visiting Portugal and what we hoped to see and do

Kim Kim presented us with an itinerary which we modified to better suit us. And after a few back-and-forth iterations , we had an itinerary complete with Hotels restaurant suggestions Drivers and Tour. Guides.

We saw and experienced Portugal from the moment we arrived, and through the eyes of the nicest individuals all of Portuguese descent. Each and every driver and Tour Guide surpassed expectations with their knowledge , sharing history of Portugal both past and present, pointing out architecture, statues monuments, and providing insight into the arts and music.

We had requested boutique hotels, and we marveled at each and every one from location to comfort, decor, amenities, including amazing breakfasts

We enjoyed walking tours in Lisbon, Porto and Portab Delgado. We visited towns of Sintra, (Pena Palace), Coimbra (university dating back to 1850’s) , Obidas(medieval Town), Nazare ( surfer’s paradise), Douro Valley (wineries mainly Port) and, our favorite, Cascais.

After nine days on the mainland, we flew to San Miguel Island in the Azores for four nights. We enjoyed two full day tours of the island and a walking tour of old town..

The day tours took us all over this beautiful and lush Island, where hydrangeas line streets and pathways and cows, outnumbered people

We took it all in and each site and experience was better than the other.

We enjoyed volcano cooking including an amazing Portuguese meat, and vegetable stew.

We tasted passionfruit liquor at an award-winning distillery

We relaxed in a pool heated by geothermal heat.
And walked through a beautiful botanical garden.

We visited a tea plantation, enjoyed wine, tasting, visited the king of cheese shop and fell in love with pumpkin jelly

Would I use Kim Kim again??? Absolutely!
Already thinking about my next great adventure🙂🙂🙂

Pedro and Team,
You rocked it!!!

Thank you♥️
Jane Craven

We had a wonderful trip to South Korea. With the help of our local specialist, Jessica, we planned an itinerary to Seoul, Gyeongju, Busan and Jeju Island that was filled with K-Drama locations and other must-see Korean sites.

Our drivers were all very kind and strong (they had to lift very heavy luggages)!

Our guides Taylor, Luke and Clover were kind, friendly, knowledgeable, and excellent photographers. When it rained they were readily prepared with a Plan B. And they even went out of their way to help us check off many bucket list items that weren’t necessarily part of our itinerary. We loved the time we spent with each and every one of them!

Every guide was amazing!!

Initial pick up at Bologna airport: unsatisfactory - driver late, had wrong name, told us on the way he hated Bologna, and then dropped us off blocks from our airport.

The rest of the trip went very well. Hotel Brun was lovely and within walking distance of downtown. The arrangements for the cooking class and the class itself were excellent and we loved getting out in the countryside.

Car rental was easy, drive through Modena to Levanto lovely. Hotel in Levanto was a gem - great choice.

Had trouble with the car on the way to Alba. The company was unresponsive and refused to assist us. Everything was in Italian and we were left to solve ourselves. It was completely unacceptable.
Our host at the Mi Clara Relais hotel intervened, arranged for a tow, and we ended up renting from another car agency for the balance of the trip.

Hotel Reviews

Hotel Crowne Plaza Milan Malpensa Airport

Authenticity & Character

Location

close to airport - that was very helpful

Mi Clara Relais

Alba

Clara, her mom Monica and father Paulo were wonderful hosts. Setting gorgeous, and their wine the best in the region

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Clara went above and beyond. When we had car trouble, is was Clara, not the rental car company, that arranged for our pickups. arranged to get the tow, and helped us find a rental car for the balance of the trip.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Park Hotel Argento

Levanto

First class, lovely setting, walkable to downtown, they helped us rent bikes, arrange transportation to the train station, and book reservations for dinner. Great breakfast included!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Particularly Frank and Martina (?) - very helpful and knowledgeable

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Brun

Bologna

lovely and great location.

Activity Reviews

From The Vegetable Garden to Table: Cooking class with Locals

Italy

lovely setting, organic gardening. Very informative and knowledgeable instructor. There was just one item we learned to prepare - pasta. And we had to share the pasta making activity- and there was not It might have been a little more valuable if we each had our own pasta activity. Also, it would be more valuable is we had learned how to make the sauce. She had everything else (Caprese, pasta sauce, etc) premade.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

N/a

Transport

we drove ourselves, once we had a different rental car

Cooking Class at a Farmhouse in Bologna Countryside

Italy

Elizabet and Roberto were marvelous - got a full 4 hour class. and then had a lovely dinner with other guests.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

I started touring Europe 45 years ago and one way or the other always had to delay my start due to time constraints (work) and so never made Italy as it was always the start of these summer trips where I chaperoned high school students. The teacher in charge of these trips had been every year for 20+ years and was thus knowledgeable and thorough in their highlights and sites to visit. Each student would cover a subject in their respective city so it was quite informative.
Giulia has managed to put all that together for my wife and I as though she was actually on the tour with us, what with flawless transportation and guided tours with the most informative locals who prefer small groups (like just the 2 of us) over the larger tours with people wandering around tethered to listening devices.
In Milan the Duomo was handled by Emanuela who was easy going, knowledgeable and enthusiastic in our tour. You know your guide is good when other guides stop to ask advice!
In Venice for our cicchetti tour we had Lorenzo who was born and raised in Venice so knew every story, side street and place of interest from a personal connection. By the end of the trip we felt as we had known each other for years and actually enjoyed each other’s company for some time after the tour had officially ended. Excellent experience!
In Bologna we had Riccardo who used to be a professor, now you talk about passion for all things Bologna this man has it! He knows everyone and even got us into places that were already closed so you talk about a personal experience this was it! I highly recommend him and suggest to Giulia that you’d like him as your Bologna guide!
We also got to meet Giulia and we had a wonderful lunch where we learned all about the different cold cuts and cheeses! Such a treat for us!
We felt guided, safe and cared for with Giulia and her team, communication was great, recommendations were superb and we moved flawlessly through Northern Italy.
Though a bit more expensive than other tours or attempting to do it yourself my experience has always shown that having a travel expert who lives in the areas you are visiting is a very valuable and worthwhile investment!
Thank you Giulia for a wonderful experience, my wife is only crying intermittently now as she didn’t wish the trip to end! Hope to use you again soon!
Grazie,
Bobby and CeeCee

The planning process with Anita was thoughtful and responsive to our preferences.

All three destinations - Bologna, Levanto, and Alba - proved to be excellent and not over-touristed. The three accommodations were first-rate, and the cooking classes were fun.

When we experienced a car problem, Anita and the KimKim team were available and helpful in resolving it.

All in all, we were very satisfied with the experience of working with KimKim, and will be back for future trips!

Activity Reviews

From The Vegetable Garden to Table: Cooking class with Locals

Italy

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Cooking Class at a Farmhouse in Bologna Countryside

Italy

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Our recent trip to Italy was wonderful. The amazing KimKim team helped us plan the trip and assisted us with our transportation, hotels, restaurant reservations as well as tours in 3 different cities. Our travel specialist, Valeria Arcangeli, was awesome and so very helpful in helping to plan the itinerary. She even helped us with reservations for restaurants in the 3 cities we visited (which we learned later was outside of her normal scope).

We unfortunately lost luggage on flight from Geneva to Florence, however our contact Marta in Florence was very helpful in giving us the correct way to handle retrieving the luggage. She also was so kind in her instructions for our train trip to Venice, even coming to station to make sure we got on the correct train. We always had people waiting for us to transport us from trains to hotels and everyone was so kind and helpful. We loved the walking tour we had in Venice, our guide was exceptional.

The entire experience was amazing. We have used KimKim for previous trips and have recommended them to our friends and plan to continue to use them in the future. Thank you to all for the wonderful Italian experience.

Gloria Tudor

Activity Reviews

Milan Duomo Rooftop Terraces Guided Tour

Milan

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Private walking guided tour of Venice highlights

Venice

We had the very best guide for this walking tour - Alyssa! she was so knowledgeable and helpful!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Florence and Accademia City Tour

Italy

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

We had a great time and the route was well planned out. If I were to do it again I would fly in and out of Bergen. I felt that for us Oslo didn’t add much to the trip and it was a long drive up to our next destination. The last day was way overbooked, thankfully the golden train was not running, otherwise we would not have started our trip back to Oslo till the afternoon. It took us 8 hrs to drive to Oslo and we had to forfeit stopping in Lillehammer as we ran out of time due to a road closure and diversions that increased our driving time. All hotels and excursions were booked without issue, better communication regarding golden train cancellation could have been handled better.

Hotel Reviews

Bergen Harbour Hotel

Bergen

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Porthole type windows that you could see out of, made it dark. No real lounge area.

Clarion Hotel Oslo

Oslo

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Aurlandsfjord

Aurland

Parking is very limited for size of hotel. Front desk staff could have been more helpful.

Authenticity & Character

Lovely front porch to sit out at.

Location

Staff

Dining staff were great, front desk staff could be more helpful.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Booths were comfortable, but the chairs at tables were very small and uncomfortable. Beds could be firmer

Olden fjordhotel

Olden

Decent dinner buffet, breakfast was ok, however we had a substantial surcharge for gluten free bread.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

More comfortable beds

Grand Hotel

ÅNDALSNES

Authenticity & Character

Location

Walking distance to shops, golden train and gondola

Staff

Front desk could be more pleasant

Cleanliness & Comfort

Beds could be more comfortable

Hotel Union

Geiranger

Spa feature is special here. Beautiful location and outdoor hot tub overlooking mountains and fjord.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Walaker Hotel

Solvorn

Beautiful hotel, pride of ownership clearly evident. Service impeccable, lovely one night stay as town is small.

Authenticity & Character

L

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Eidfjord Hotel

Eidfjord

A little rustic, could be cleaner.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Romsdalsgondolen - Romsdalen Cable Car (round-trip)

Åndalsnes

The views are spectacular. Worth the trip

Geiranger Skywalk Visit

Geiranger

Great views if you’re close by otherwise just a nice views along the road

Geraingerfjord Safari by RIB

Geiranger

I wouldn’t recommend it particularly if you’ve already been on the ferry as you will not see anything new. Very basic, nothing special.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Hotel Union Spa Evening

Geiranger

The day we booked our spa there was a huge convention going on and it was crazy busy. Hotel gave us a free pass for the following day which was much quieter. Nice way to decompress after long driving or hiking days.

Summer Kayaking Excursion

Norway

Go for the joy of kayaking more than the scenery as we really didn’t go anywhere you couldn’t see from land

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Flåm Railway Round-Trip Experience

Norway

Definitely a must for tourists. Beautiful scenery.

Njardarheimr Viking Village Visit

Gudvangen

Pretty basic tour, certainly couldn’t spend more than an hr there.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Past & Present City Walk

Bergen

Did not get to go into churches or buildings, just stood outside them

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

City Excursion by Bike

Oslo

Booked e-bikes but only got regular bikes. Tour was pretty basic.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Guide was very personable.

Transport

Knowing that Alex was a phone call away, even though the planning was air tight, was a comfort to me.

Again, the planning was air tight including vital times, mode of transportation and what to expect. If you have something go wrong, chances are...you were not paying attention. There was plenty of time to explore and decide what you wanted to do and when to do it. The meal at the taproom was a nice touch with the paring of a variety of dishes with different beers.

Diana

Could rave about Nikola for hours. Truly amazing and made for the most relaxed trip. Next level service!

Everything worked perfectly as planned The accomdations exceeded expectation The variety of food in Scotlant leases something to be desired.

Tetiana, thanks for everything,. You are very good . Russ

We loved our trip!
We would 100% recommend Kimkim and Ashley.

Ashley was in contact with us every step of the way, always providing just the right amount of information, and she was incredibly quick to make adjustments when we decided to add two extra tours.

Our tour guide Bao in Sapa was our favorite, though each guide we met was unique and shared not only details about the sights but also insights into the Vietnamese way of life and thinking. The rice fields, Fansipan, and the waterfalls were breathtaking. However, the Ecolodge (our hotel in Sapa) was a bit disappointing—there was a lot of humidity and an unpleasant smell in the rooms.

In contrast, the hotel in Hanoi was fantastic! The rooms were wonderful, and the staff were extremely helpful and welcoming. We also loved the Jeep tour—it was such fun! The only thing we would have added was a visit to the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum.

The cruise in Ha Long Bay was perfect! The crew made everything fun and easy-going while still being very professional. The rooms were absolutely dreamy.

A special thank you to Ashley for immediately rearranging our bus when we mentioned it wasn’t convenient—she made everything so smooth.

Da Nang wasn’t our favorite stop. While the hotel was excellent and the spa there was amazing, we felt the city itself didn’t have as much to offer. We’d recommend staying two days in Da Nang and adding one more day in Hoi An instead, which was lovely. Our guide in Hoi An did a fantastic job, listened to our needs, and tailored the experience perfectly.

Saigon was a revelation! The Vespa tour was one of the absolute highlights of our trip—the guides there spoke the best English of all and made the experience unforgettable. All the tours and guides in Saigon were excellent.

Overall, every airport transfer was on time and seamless, all the hotels were in great locations, and thanks to Kimkim and Ashley, the only thing we had to worry about was having fun!

Hotel Review

La Casta Cruise

Halong

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Review

Saigon By Night - Street Food Tour By Vespa (Updated)

Ho Chi Minh City

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Ivan and Sarah were very responsive throughout the planning and during our vacation. Our drivers and guides at all locations were timely, professional, and very engaging. The hotels in Split, Korcula and Dubrovnik were very good for the price we paid. The hotel in Hvar was massive with no character, problems with bathrooms in both rooms, smaller rooms than in the other three locations, and people were not nearly as friendly as in the other three hotels. Miko Ivanisevic who lead the bike tour on Hvar, and Donko who took us on the island boating and swimming excursion, were tremendous. George who drove us from Dubrovnik to Split and then again around Dubroknik later in our trip was superb. The tour with Dubravka Radis was excellent.

Hotel Reviews

Hotel Lero

Dubrovnik

About 20-min walk to old town. can take #4 bus from just across street. Spacious rooms. Nice staff.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Korsal

Korčula

Good location, nice staff, clean room with nice view.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Amfora Hvar Grand Beach Resort

Hvar

No character. People not friendly. Bathrooms had leaky showers, hand-helds that did not work. Rooms were small.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Bathroom fixtures were not functioning. Water leaked all over.

Time Boutique Hotel

Split

Excellent for price. About 15-20 minute walk into the old town. Nice small spa area with pool, sauna and steam room. Good breakfast. Very nice people (and bartender!)

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Tour Dubrovnik's Old Town

Croatia

Dubravka was a tremendous tour guide. Personable, proud of the culture, and patient with us as we had many questions!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Hvar - Island Bike Tour with Local Food and Drink Tastings

Croatia

Miko our tour guide was awesome. He is so proud of the local culture where he grew up. Could be doing anything he's so bright and personable, and chooses to give these tours. It was an awesome experience capped off with unexpected wine tasting at a small private winery.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Private Motor Boat Excursion to Brač & the Pakleni Islands (end in Hvar)

Split

Donko our boat captain was fabulous. Swim, and stops at two islands, were great.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Plitvice Lakes National Park

Split

great walk. we diecided not to wait in line for boat to cross back across a lake (long line would have taken an hour to board) and instead walked. This was a grest decision. Hardly saw any other people on this segment and really enjoyed it.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport