Kimkim Trip Reviews

We had such a wonderful trip! The details were perfect, and our tour guides from Paris & Beyond were excellent. Thank you for all of the recommendations and suggestions for our Mother/Daughter trip!

Hotel Review

Hotel Brighton

Paris

The hotel is in a wonderful location, and the staff is so accommodating! Our only complaint was the quality of the mattress and pillows which were not comfortable at all.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

As mentioned above, the mattress and pillows were uncomfortable

Activity Reviews

Moulin Rouge Evening Performance with Dinner

Paris

It was fun but not sure I would recommend or go again. It's very factory like and you're herded in like cattle. An interesting evening.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Private Louvre Museum Visit

Paris

Lilly was the best tour guide! We loved listening to her passionate stories!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Montmartre

Paris

Seine River Gourmet Dinner Cruise with Wine Pairing

Paris

A must-do for any visitors! We had a wonderful evening. The food and sights were fabulous. Quality of the boat and staff were first class.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

The taxi couldn't get us close to the boat, so we got a little confused finding the location.

Private Notre-Dame & Sainte-Chapelle Visit with Priority Access

Paris

Agatha was a great tour guide who was very knowledgeable and full of interesting stories.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Macaron Cooking Class

Paris

We had a very good time, but were surprised it was in the apartment of the chef. We were with a father and his son, who were very nice, and we had a great time.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Arc de Triomphe - Self-guided Tour (tickets only)

Paris

Private Exploration of Fleat Market

Paris

Very interesting wandering through the streets and visiting hundreds of flea market booths. Fabulous opportunity to see antiques and beautiful jewelry.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

We had a memorable, enjoyable, stress-free trip through Vietnam planned from start to finish with Long from Realistic Asia. Our initial contact was only 6 weeks prior to the trip which did not leave much time for planning, however the trip was fully planned and booked within a short two-week time period. After giving Long ideas about what we’d like to do and how much time we had, he planned an initial itinerary that we tweaked a few times before settling on our 11 days in Vietnam that was perfectly paced according to our request for a “somewhat busy” itinerary, leaving some time for relaxing. We requested private tours and transportation throughout the trip including airport transfers, tours, car travel between two locations and two domestic flights which required a lot of coordination and was executed without issue. We visited Hanoi, Hue, Hoi An and Ho Chi Minh with daily tours in each location. From start to finish everything went off without a problem, drivers and tour guides were always on time. The drivers were excellent in the busy cities, driving between cities and outside of cities to tours in more far-reaching areas. We enjoyed each of the tours that were chosen based on our preference for experiencing the culture and food of Vietnam and ranged from street food tours to historical tours to dinner with a local family. All of the guides were fluent in English, knowledgeable and personable. Mr. Sea and Mr. Koi who work with Realistic Asia were excellent guides in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh. Each of the hotels was located in a great area and was very comfortable with excellent breakfasts. Notably, in addition to all the planning/coordination of logistics, what stands out with working with Realistic Asia is the experience while on the trip where I felt taken care of throughout with Long keeping in contact to ensure we were being picked up on time, the guides were on time, confirming times for pick up, and that accommodations were to our liking. I felt that if there were any issues, that I had someone I could rely on. I highly recommend Realistic Asia.

Guides in Iguazu were informative and supportive, I would leave my greatest praise for Selena who guided us through most of the Mendoza visit.. an excellent job done by her.

Activity Reviews

Full-Day Wineries in Uco Valley

Chacras de Coria

Visited a large vineyard complex, and enjoyed good wine with a good description of the process and varieties. Had a great dining experience in Uco Valley at the second of our winery visits.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Half Day City Tour in Mendoza

Chacras de Coria

Drove and walked around the city centre. Great descriptions of the parks , monuments, history and current lifestyle by Selena our guide.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Hiking in Uco Valley

Chacras de Coria

Climbed our way to 2000 metres on a short guided walk. The pre Andes still provides some majestic scenery, and we were fortunate to see wildlife with foxes and buzzards up fairly close.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Full-Day Wineries

Chacras de Coria

Tasted some beautiful wines and talked with local staff to get a better understanding of what the region offers. Only down side is the extremely high cost to freight goods to US or Euro destinations.. freight often costing more than the produce itself.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Half-Day Iguazú Falls Brazilian side

Puerto Iguazú

See the falls from below on a 90 minute casual walk on the Argentine side.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Full-Day Iguazú Falls Argentine side

Puerto Iguazú

Simple and smooth entry to the park, program ran to time, guide managed ticketing for those that hadn’t already purchased entry tickets. (Do buy ahead if you can, it makes things simpler). The sites are amazing, mostly from the top of the falls, but take the boat ride that takes you under the falls, it’s brilliant, but prepared to be wet.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

We had a great experience! Highly recommend Kimkim. Working with Alex for the planning was smooth and all changes were handled with our best interests in mind. Mr. Nguyen Thahn Binh thoroughly enjoys his job and always greeted us with his smile. With specific dietary concerns, he made sure each cafe/restaurant was aware. He was enthusiastic, answered our many questions, was delightful, knowledgeable, and was excellent in getting us exactly where we needed to be to capture the perfect photo. Our driver, Bo, was always there to collect us after each adventure. He was courteous, polite and respectful.

The service provided by Sophie was fantastic. Every logistical detail of the trip was taken care of and every excursion was an absolute blast.

José was an exceptional tour guide. Knowledgeable is an understanding! And personable beyond expectations! I highly recommend if you want historical background and palace I intrigue, which I did!
Maria’s tour of Musé Sophia Reina was eye opening for this American! She is an awesome host and guide with detailed knowledge and passion for the modern art within the museum!
I highly recommend!

Trang set up a perfect adventure for us, it included biking, lots of sightseeing, historical and socially interesting activities we thoroughly enjoyed. Trang was available to us 24/7, she smoothed out any issues we encountered with great solutions and had our best interests in mind always. What a professional and personable specialist! Thank you Trang!!!

Over all our trip was amazing. Morocco is an exceptionally beautiful country both in natural beauty and artistically. We found the Moroccan people to be extremely welcoming. Majid always responded to me very quickly both in planning and during the trip. Highlights were our hike with Mohammad in Dades followed by lunch in his house, the trip to the Sahara desert, the Todra gorge the Hammam. If I had realized how much time I would spend in the car I probably wouldn’t have booked this trip but almost all of the trip is done driving in stunning Mountain Views so totally worth it! Having a driver made everything so much easier although we wish he were more communicative. He changed the route without telling us so we didn't understand why we weren’t stopping at the places on our itinerary. He also would stop and we’d get out of the car and have no idea why we were stopping there. Once we thought we were a hurry so we spent less time on the stops only to get to our destination 2 1/2 hours early , having to wait for our camel ride Another disappointment was the e-bike ride we booked in the Todra gorge. Our hotel was a short ride to the gorge, we could have biked from the hotel but instead we were taken a half hour away There were no e-bikes and after about an hour into the ride in a very uninteresting garden of wheat fields I asked for the second time what about the gorge and he said it would be a 3 hour RT bike ride from there and way too hard without e-bikes. It was a wasted day. There’s a great hike in the gorge we would have preferred to do but it was too late in the day at that point. Another disappointment was that we after booking the tour we decided to change to the higher tier luxury tour and I asked what the difference was from what we had originally booked. Majid said mostly accommodations and added a Hammam spa. We were in all the same hotels that we were originally booked in, but still in probably the least expensive, smaller rooms without fireplaces or terraces. It did not seem like we were upgraded even though we paid a higher price. After I asked Majid about it, we did get a bigger room with a terrace our last night.

Hotel Reviews

Riad Ksar Ighnda

Asfalou

Beautiful outdoor area. The view from our window was striking. There is an old mosque and Kasbah on the hotel property that you must see. The buffets were incredibly delicious with so many choice. Another really great hoyel

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Very helpful and friendly

Cleanliness & Comfort

Tiziri Luxury Camp

Merzouga

A highlight of the trip. I expected to eat in time plates around a fire but we had a very cozy and warm inside restaurant. The outdoor area also had so many places to sit even a tree house. I had wished we booked 2 days. I absolutely loved every minute

Authenticity & Character

Location

Amazing to be in the middle of the Sahara desert

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Very comfortable. Can’t really be considered camping

Auberge Le Festival Todra Gorge

Aït Baha

We loved this hotel. The outside area had so many places to take in the gorgeous view. We also loved the fireplace in our room. We had a very spacious suite with a large living room. Be on the lookout for a very friendly black and white cat!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Very close to the gorge

Staff

The only place in Morocco where the staff seemed unfriendly. Even our driver noticed

Cleanliness & Comfort

Dar Rihana Dades

Douar Aït Ouffi

This was probably the least appealing hotel in our tour but was made up for by Mohammad who seemed to do everything there, from concierge to waiter to launderer. He was incredibly hospitable and made up for what the hotel lacked. We were so grateful he told our driver who was about to take a different route , that there was a much more scenic route which was so worth a few extra minutes. The whole ride had stunning views. Dinner at the hotel was exceptional!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Very hard bed

La Maison Arabe Hotel

Marrakech

Wonderful staff and a really memorable Hamman. My skin has never felt better. Georgeous decor and outstanding food. A complementary bottle of wine. We loved this hotel

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Hammam Spa & Massage in La Masion Arabe at 3 pm

Marrakesh

It's been 5 days since the Hammam and my skin still feels so soft! We loved the Hammam! I've never had so much dead skin removed it feels amazing to be free of it. We loved being pampered! My husband and I thought we'd be separated but we did the whole experience together. We loved it so much we looked to see if we could get one in NYC, but my guess is that it won't be as good as the one we had in Morocco.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Guided Tour of Aït Benhaddou

Morocco

Totally worth seeing, fascinating site. Our guide went a little fast for me and I would have liked more info about the site. He did get us into the house of someone who lived in Ait Benhaddou and that was very interesting to me!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Ait Benhaddou, Tizi-n-Tichka Pass over the High Atlas, Marrakech

Morocco

I don't think I really understood where the Tizi-n-Tichka Pass was. would have liked more communication from the driver

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Merzouga to Ouarzazate via Draa Valley

Morocco

Spectacular views! Our hotel was an hour further than Ouarzazate (worth it because it was a wonderful hotel), but the itinerary said it was a 4 hour trip but it was actually a 6 hour trip. If we had known that we probably have timed things differently.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Wish the driver had told us the route he was taking before we started (he changed the route from the map we were given by Majid) and wish he had told us the night before it was a 6 hour trip. Needed more communication from the driver in general

Transport

Camel trek to your luxury camp

Merzouga

A once in a lifetime experience. I wish we could have stayed 2 days. It's so amazing to be in the middle of the Sahara desert. The camp site was amazing!! I thought we'd be eating out of tin plates by an outside fire - but we had a very comfortable inside restaurant (it was cold outside!) The camp was beautifully decorated with lots of outside places to sit including a tree house. We loved every minute

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Todra Gorges to Merzouga Sunset Camel Ride via Rissani

Morocco

Beautiful trip.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Todra Gorge E-Biking Experience – 2 Hours

Morocco

There are no e-bikes There is no view of the gorge unless you want to do a 5 ride that should really be done on an e-bike. Our itinerary said e-bike ride starting in the village and soon after arriving at the gorge. After an hour through some wheat plots I asked about the gorge and was told it would be very difficult to do without e-bikes. Our hotel was probably a 5 minutes bike ride to the gorge but this place was a half hour car ride from the gorge. A total waste of a day. Very disappointing

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Hiking & Cultural Immersion in the Atlas Mountains

Boumalne Dades

A Highlight of the trip was our hike with Mohammad. We loved seeing his house, meeting his family and hearing how he lived. He talked a bit about Islam and this was fascinating to me. Mohammed is a very spiritual person. He made a huge impression on me and my husband.

Quality of Experience

Food

We loved eating the olives from his trees and the bread from his wheat gardens

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Mohammed is an outstanding guide

Transport

Marrakech to Boumalne Dades via Ouarzazate

Morocco

Spectacular views. A longer trip than I anticipated - It was very cloudly that day but we returned the same way and the views are amazing for the whole trip.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Very comfortable car!

Marrakesh Medina & City Tour

Marrakesh

We spent way too much on things we bought. It would have been helpful to get more insight on how to negotiate prices. Later in our trip on the way to the Sahara we stopped at a market that had rugs for a fraction of the price we paid in Marrakesh. We wish we had been to told to wait.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Our guide Hammid is still helping us with some items we bought and are having shipped. He has been incredibly helpful and kind!! He went above and beyond We are very appreciative!!!

Transport

Marrakech Food Tour

Marrakesh

Very interesting but for me the food was a bit bland compared to the food we had later in the trip

Quality of Experience

Food

The olives!

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Each step of our trip was flawless! While traveling in a foreign country, KimKim made sure that everything was in place for us, from transit to/from the airport, to the delivery and pickup of our auto rental, to the hotels and activities! I would recommend KimKim to friends and family.

Hotel Reviews

Crowne Plaza San Jose La Sabana by IHG

San José

Very helpful staff and good location for restaurants, park, and museums. Good ending for our trip.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Nammbú Beachfront Bungalows

Sámara

Authenticity & Character

Location

Just a quick 5-minute walk down to the beach. Glorious view of the ocean from the pool/bar area.

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Eco Arenal

Fortuna

Great location and wonderful staff! One way to improve the room would be to provide indirect and/or lamp lighting. There was only overhead lighting.

Authenticity & Character

Location

The balcony opened up to a view of Arenal Volcano---very cool!

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Sleep Inn Hotel Paseo Las Damas

San José

Good place for us to start our trip. The restaurant made a good sandwich.

Activity Review

Caño Negro Wildlife Refuge Boat Safari

Arenal/La Fortuna

Lots of fun and very educational! Our guide, Jorge, was outstanding.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Jorge was wonderful!

Transport

We loved our time in Italy overall! Our small group tours were some of our favorites!

What a great trip.
It took a long time to get the trip right, but with the great help ofCami we got there, Cami was very patient as this was a special trip for myself and my wife, getting the balance right between having enough time in one place and getting the accommodation right all took time and Cami was very knowledgeable and helpful .
We spent the whole of February travelling the Philippines and hit was wonderful, saw so many places, great trips and excursions, all private as well which was great.
All pick up from hotels, airports, ferry terminals all went great and according to plan, not one thing what wrong which was amazing
Would defiantly use KimKim again and a big thank you and shout out to Cami.

Thank you very much.

From Shirley & Paul

Mathia did a good job arranging a nice selection of different locations in Norway, and scenic modes of transportation between locations. The hotels she selected for us were very nice, and generally well located for walking and accessing public transportation. The tour guides she booked for us were excellent. She did a wonderful job rescheduling our Northern Lights Safari due to inclement weather on the originally scheduled date.

My only disappointment was when she said she could not book the planned dog sledding experience. When I looked into this myself I found many opportunities, and arranged a great experience on my own.

Visiting Norway was a great experience. The country is beautiful at every turn, the food is wonderful, and the people very friendly.

Lorena did an amazing job communicating, being responsive and clear regarding our 8 day trip to Chile in February. Every single transport, accommodation and tour was really well done and reliable. We had weather issues in the Atacama that caused some reworking of itineraries and they were handled greatly. Shoutout to the Hotel Desertica who handled the numerous weather related power outages really well, even serving dinner by candlelight. Overall a great experience with Kimkim and its on to Morocco with them! Thanks again to Lorena and all supporting staff.

We had a wonderful vacation and all went smoothly. All of the tours and transportation were well planned with no issues.
Day 1 - Arrived in Sydney. Shangri-La Sydney is a wonderful hotel.
Day 2 - Chef Led Hunter Valley Gourmet Food and Wine tour was great. Jimmy owns/operates the tour and prepares food to pair with the wine. Highlight was going to the new Sydney Fish Market where Jimmy picked up fresh fish and oysters for our food later during the wine tour. The wineries and food were great.
Day 3 - Walking tour, Sydney Opera House tour, and Sydney Bridge Climb Summit. Craig led the walking tour and provided a wealth of information on the beginning of Sydney and concentrated on the botanical garden and how Sydney came about and significant events. The Opera house tour was very good and we were able to the wonderful architecture. It was raining during the Sydney Bridge Climb but rain coats were provided. It is not a hard climb and our tour guide, Nico, kept the group motivated for the climb. The guide has a transmitter and we had ear phones to hear him during the hike. We were drenched but enjoyed it.
Day 4 - Blue Mountain tour - It was raining and couldn't see much. Can't do anything about the weather. We did see another couple on our trip that went on the tour and they showed us pictures that looked awesome.
Day 5 - Travel to Cairns/Port Douglas - Ground transportation and flight went great.
Day 6 - ABC Reef Safaris - The snorkeling was wonderful. We spent about 1.5 hours at two different spots and were led in the water by ABC who also have Marine Biologists on the tour. We saw a Manta Ray which is very rare. The food supplied on the boat was great and plentiful.
Day 7 - Daintree Rain Forest and Nocturnal Tour - Another great tour led by our guide Nicki. We went out on a river boat looking for crocodiles and found a few along the shore. We saw a cassowary bird that is only found in Australia. We had dinner in the rain forest and able to try kangaroo. We did a nocturnal walking tour and spotted quite a few different animals/birds/frogs. Nicki was a great guide and loaded with information.
Day 8 - Bump Track Mountain Biking - This was canceled due to so much rain. The guide, Steve, for the bike ride was willing to do a different tour but the road was flooded. Steve was great to deal with and he was trying to give us a memorable tour but had to cancel.
Day 9 - Travel to Uluru/Ayers Rock with 4wd Mount Connor tour - No issue with ground/air transportation. We stayed at Sails in the Desert Resort and it was very nice. Mount Connor tour was very good but the highlight was having dinner with the cattle farm owner, Amy, where she explained the operation of the cattle ranch and growing up on a million acre cattle ranch.
Day 10 - Uluru/Ayers Rock tour - very good tour with history of the area learning the history of the aboriginal people. A net to cover your face is a must with the flies when it is hot out.
Day 11 - Transfer to Melbourne - No issue with ground/air transportation. Had a wonderful dinner at Hopscotch on Riverside Quay.
Day 12 - Yarra Valley Grazing Tour - We got on a bus from Go West Tours and Ashleigh was our guide/driver and was fun and very entertaining. We sampled wine, cheese, gin, and chocolate on the tour. Wonderful day with beautiful scenery.
Day 13 - Laneways of Melbourne - John was our tour guide and did a wonderful job explaining the history of the city and setting up lots and roadways. He was able to show us how the shops moved goods into the warehouses and the wonderful architecture that you would never see if you didn't know where to look for it. The public library was our last stop and a must see.
Day 14 - Great Ocean Road Tour - This was a tour with just the 4 of us in our group. Cory was our guide and did a great job explaining how the GOR was built by WW1 veterans to help them get over shell shock/ptsd. The coast was beautiful and stopped at a the 12 Apostes. (not really 12) We toured a wildlife sanctuary and spotted a couple of Koala Bears in the trees swaying in the breeze.
Day15-16 - travel back to Sydney and home to USA.

Overall, the trip was fantastic. The transportation within Australia was all planned by Vicky and we had no issues. Everything was planned very well and we loved all of the tours. Highly recommend Vicky!

We booked our Galapagos trip with Paola through KimKim. Itinerary was amazing! All of our guides, and naturalists were full of knowledge and went above and beyond to make sure we had the best time.
Danny greeted us at the airport in Quito and guided us through the city. He knew exactly what we wanted to see and do.
In Santa Cruz our naturalist guide was full of knowledge on the history of the island, the turtles and the volcanic tunnels. We visited the Charles Darwin Centre and again he could answer any question we asked.
Next we travelled to Isabella Island-Diego, Julio and all the guides again were amazing. I highly recommend using KimKim and definitely will for my next adventure!!

Hotel Reviews

Albemarle

Puerto Villamil

The view was amazing. You could hear the waves rolling in and watch the sunset right from your room.

Authenticity & Character

Nice lobby and beautiful pool with flowers surround it. A nice rooftop sitting area and wonderful staff

Location

Right on the beech in downtown Isabella island.

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Fiesta

Puerto Ayora

The pool and Hot Tub were amazing. Nice to come back from a day in the heat and cool off! Have a drink and unwind. The bar staff made yummy drinks!

Authenticity & Character

Beautiful entrance, pool and hot tub area. The flowers and trees where beautiful!

Location

Was within walking distance to downtown, yet in a quiet location far enough away.

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Ikala Quito Hotel

Quito

We felt very safe at this hotel. They created us at the door and escorted us to our room. Everything was fantastic.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Kayaking at Garrapatero Beach

Galapagos Islands

Although we couldn’t kayak. Our guide took us to a coffee, sugar and alcohol plantation which was great

Quality of Experience

P

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Excursion to an uninhabited island

Galapagos Islands

At first, we were worrying about the length of this trip and the fact that it said 80% on land and 20% in water. But this was one of the most memorable excursions we did. Our guide Diego had years of experience doing this excursion. It was nice to snorkel at your own pace and someone always had an eye on us to ensure our safety.

Quality of Experience

Food

All of it. The appetizers amazing!!

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Nice boat. Santa Fe and the crew made us feel special!

Snorkel at Los Túneles

Galapagos Islands

Our guide had a wealth of knowledge and treated all on board equally. He made sure to spend time with everyone individually which was nice. He explained things and shared his pictures with the group.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

So knowledgeable and really took care of us all.

Transport

The driver of the boat knew exactly how to ride the waves to get into the area safely.

Snorkeling at Las Tintoreras

Galapagos Islands

Great experience. Saw lots in the snorkelling adventure. Including sharks, penguins, turtles, and lots of colorful fish.

Quality of Experience

OP

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

The small group size.

Visit to the Charles Darwin Research Station

Puerto Ayora

Unfortunately it was raining when we visited here but our guide didn’t let that change the plans. We still have a full tour.

Quality of Experience

Adding fresh cold water when picked up at the boat would have been nice.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Transfer to Quito Airport, Arrival to Galapagos & Highlands of Santa Cruz

Galapagos Islands

Danny made sure all our travels were worry free. Escorted us throught he airport and sent us on our way. To the next adventure.

Quality of Experience

Food

The table and VIP service!

Guides, Drivers and Staff

A great experience!! The knowledge of our guide was impressive! He could answer any questions we asked.

Transport

Quito City Tour - Middle of the World

Quito

Danny was amazing. Everything was perfect.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Also Lilla! Great trip. Really got to experience Lapland, as well as spend time in Helsinki and Oslo. I appreciated the thought that went into the itinerary. The food was fantastic, as were the hotels. And all of the people were great. Would have liked a hotel in Tromso that was a bit closer to city center, in part because walking in the city was a bit difficult with all the ice, and our activities all started from city center.

Hotel Reviews

Amerikalinjen

Oslo

Cahkal Hotel

Kilpisjärvi

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Sunday Morning Resort

Pelkosenniemi

Authenticity & Character

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Northern Lights Hunting Tour

Tromsø

Well worth it, but the van is pretty cramped, and it can be cold while you wait.

Snowshoeing Tour

Finland

Northern Lights by Car Photography Tour

Finland

No oppty for Northern Lights, but Johanna took us on a great tour of the Snow Hotel, as well as on a walk. Tons of historic and cultural information. She was excellent

Evening Tour on Snowshoes

Finland

Long Husky Safari and Farm Visit

Finland

Really fun and learned a lot

We were very happy with our trip, overall, and the help we got from Charlotte and others. The various things that were less than perfect that we point out here are just for your ability to improve going forward - not strong criticisms!

Hotel Reviews

Puerta Chichen

Pisté

Everything was fine. The room itself didn't have much character. Pretty much like any other motel in the U.S.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Le Muuch

Valladolid, Yucatán

The hotel was both beautiful and very well located. The staff was exceptional. A couple of minor issues. The bed wasn't great. And the hotel was next door to what is functioning as a doggy day care or kennel, so every so often the barking was pretty crazy.

Authenticity & Character

beautiful combo of classic and modern styles. beautiful outdoor spaces.

Location

Near center of town. Exceptionally safe.

Staff

Many different staff members went out of their way to help us.

Cleanliness & Comfort

The bed wasn't great.

Activity Reviews

Bike Ride to the Cenotes around Valladolid – Eco-Friendly Activity

Valladolid

The cenotes were uncrowded, and totally beautiful. The bike ride was a perfectly reasonable way to get there and back, but nothing special. I think your info indicated a spanish speaking guide, which would have been ok, but he actually spoke english quite well

Quality of Experience

Market tour & cooking class

Mexico

Everything about this, from the setting to the market to the teacher to the food was great.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Ek Balam site with an English speaking guide

Mexico

This site was probably more beautiful and interesting than Chichen Itza. Again, the guide was both very knowledgeable and spoke English quite well.

Hammock Weaving Workshop

Mexico

We enjoyed this, especially my wife who is a knitter, etc., but to call it a "workshop" is an overstatement. We spent only a couple of minutes weaving, and no one spoke english. It was fun to watch, and try, briefly, ourselves.

Chichen-Itza site with an English speaking guide

Mexico

Our guide (trained as an achitect) spoke english well and was very knowledgeable. The site itself probably doesn't live up to the "7 wonders of the world" but was none the less very cool and interesting.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

The guide was excellent, both based on knowledge and english speaking ability

Transport

Kimkim's system for letting us know the time the driver would pick us up was hard to figure out at first. Two much technology -emails, what's app, kim kim website. Pick One! Unrelated - we had like a 12-15 passenger van, and there were only 2 of us . Kind of wasteful!

Michelle planned a fantastic trip! We loved New Zealand! Everyone has heard about the spectacular natural beauty - it is that and much more! In every corner of the country there are more awe inspiring views, fascinating microclimates to explore, gorgeous and well designed paths and treks (tracks), reserves and parks and open space, rural beauty with sheep - so many cute sheep! - and cows and horses, and rare protected species, - it makes your heart sing. What you may not know as much about are the people - their quality of life, the collective commitment to and appreciation of all the native flora and fauna . The steps they keep taking to more fully respect and integrate and honor the Maori. The pace is slow. People are patient, kind, easy going, generous. Your nervous system slows down. You realize it's possible to find a place where people live by different values and are proud of where they come from. Four 60-somethings, with two us celebrating our 70th. 3 weeks so we could see north and south islands. Our only regret - we should have planned a month. A few highlight places and excursions, thanks to Michelle. Milford sound. Stargazing in the hot springs of Lake Tekapo/Wanaka.. Farm and off-road tours. Hiking in Abel Tasman Natl Park and Mt. Cook. The Queenstown House B&B. Newton Heights B&B., visit to Flea Bay. The Te Papa Museum in Wellington. Te Karaka Lodge in Waikato. Kaikoura. And great food and wine everywhere. Thank you KimKIm, Michelle and the people of New Zealand for an uplifting adventure.

Kathrin did a great job for us! We really enjoyed our trip.

A few activities needed to be rescheduled because of weather, but the rescheduling process went very smoothly for the most part. One minor glitch was that the folks with the Milford Sound tour were trying to reach us because of a weather cancellation, but they did not have contact information for us so we did not find out about the cancellation until we went to check in for the activity. It would have been helpful to know about the cancellation earlier in the day so we could have make some other plans for that day.

A few of our favorite activities were Skydiving in Queenstown, the Fly/Cruise/Fly trip to Milford Sound, and the Glowworm evening activity in Rotorua.

Hotel Reviews

The Hotel Britomart

Auckland

The company that I retired from gave us the gift of a 4 night stay in one of the top floor suites. It was amazing, but I believe all of the rooms at this property were probably very nice as well.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Great location. Easy walking distance to the waterfront, Sky Tower, and other downtown areas

Staff

Regal Palms Resort

Rotorua

This property served our needs well, although it might have been nice to stay a little closer to the waterfront area withing walking distance of some restaurants.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

I believe one of the front desk employees was new. He was friendly, but was not sure how to answer some of our questions and we had small communication challenges at times

Cleanliness & Comfort

The Classic Villa

Christchurch

Great location in Christchurch for walking to downtown and the Botanical Gardens.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Mt Cook Lodge & Motels

Canterbury

This hotel served our needs quite well. The breakfast buffet at the Hermitage was wonderful.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Queenstown Park Boutique Hotel

Queenstown

Great location, good breakfast, friendly, helpful staff

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Glowworm Tour Nocturnal Adventure

Rotorua

This was a very pleasant surprise. We really enjoyed this activity. Small group, and very interesting information shared along the way,

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Christchurch Tramway Restaurant

Christchurch

We enjoyed this experience, but there is no narration as you travel through the city so its a little unclear what you are seeing sometimes. It would be nice if someone was onboard that could say a few words about what you are seeing as you travel on the tram,

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Skydive Tandem

Queenstown (NZ)

Very professional operation, which is definitely what you want when planning to jump out of an airplane!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Milford Sound - scenic return flights and cruise

New Zealand

The airplane ride through the glaciated mountains was incredible,

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Kateryna planned an amazing vacation in Scotland! She was super responsive at all times. She planned the trip according to all my must sees and helped me keep it within the budget I had planned. We had what could have been a disaster while on our flight to Scotland from the US our hotel canceled us for our first three nights. Kateryna had us rebooked into a new, and better, hotel and had our airport transfers adjusted before we even landed. I would recommend Kateryna to everyone I know and hope to plan a future trip with her some day.

Hotel Reviews

Ness Walk

Inverness

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Cuillin Hills Hotel

Portree

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Cameron house

Activity Reviews

Holyrood Distillery Tour

Edinburgh

Outlander Castle Tour

Edinburgh

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport