Kimkim Trip Reviews

Nick was very responsive and did a great job providing us with an itinerary and multiple options as we changed our dates. He landed us in solid places and we had a wonderful trip! The only bit of feedback is that it took a few days after we paid/confirmed for the final bookings to get made which made me a little nervous.

Hotel Review

MY Nature Resort

Sandakan

Wonderful place, the flying squirrel demo and tours were fantastic!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Review

Kinabalu Park Hiking

Kundasang

Our guide was wonderful and flexible - she adjusted the plans based on our preferences. She was knowledgable and warm. We had a great time!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Rachel and her team did an amazing job planning a trip for us. Rachel was patient and attentive to our needs. We had wonderful experiences, including a personal driver who took us through the wonderful Isle of Skye, a private sheep dog demonstration, and many memorable adventures. We would work with Rachel again in a heartbeat!

Our favorite guide by far was Phillip. Hr was phenomenal

From the start, we felt like we were in the most capable hands to plan our Southern Africa adventure. Through countless messages and a video call, Esther was able to design the perfect trip. She was very understanding of our wishes and desires, not only about the actual itinerary, but also to keep everything within a certain budget. It definitely gave us peace of mind to have everything booked and organized beforehand. During the trip, it was also so easy to get in contact with her. She responds quickly, checks in regularly, and follows up thoroughly. Overall, it was an unforgettable and enjoyable experience, from designing the trip to actually being there. A dream-come-true trip for sure!

Perfect planning and execution! Melanie helped us plan, organize and set up a perfect tour of Rome, Naples and Venice with our 16 yr old grandson. She took over with a short timeframe because I started with a trip planner that was not getting the job done. We needed to insure our teenage grandson had a memorable experience. Melanie took charge and the service we received was exceptional. Once on the ground, Giovanni joined our group to insure each day was perfectly executed. We communicated frequently. I cannot say enough about KimKim, Italy Charm, Melanie and Giovanni. We will definitely use again and we highly recommend their services. Thanks for giving us an awesome trip! Ron, Hulyn and Tanner Farr

Our local guide company, Visit Georgia, was great and we loved our guide and driver. There seemed to be many miscommunications between KimKim and the local company which impacted overall ease throughout the trip. This was unfortunate. Areas impacted included: the itinerary on Kim Kim did not exactly match our local guide’s plans for our day. The hotel in Kutaisi was below our standards. Two out of three hotels did not have the room accommodations requested. Our local guide was not aware of our dinner reservations or the itinerary provided to us by Kim Kim. Overall, using Kim Kim felt like more of a hassle and we would have been better off just booking directly with Visit Georgia.

I was a little bit hesitant on using a travel planner as I normally do this all on my own. However, being from the United States and not being familiar with Italy at all, it was a little intimidating to plan. I found Kimkim with an online search and amazing reviews and never looked back. From the start of the planning process to the entire trip, I was extremely impressed. Our itinerary was perfect and so were all of our tours, transfers and hotels. Rome, Tuscany and Sorrento gave our family a wonderful taste of Italy. The app was very easy to use with all of our train tickets and excursions listed right on it. The private excursions she booked were perfect and geared towards the ages of my teenage children. This memories we created on this trip were priceless! I’m already booking another trip through KimKim!

Activity Reviews

Guided Walking Tour of Florence

Florence

Our tour guide was amazing!!! We loved her and learned so much about Florence on this tour! Would highly recommend.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

After Closure Tour of the Vatican Museum & Sistine Chapel

Rome

Good tour overall but boring if you aren’t into art and statues. We were expecting more of a tour of the Vatican grounds and less of the museum. My teenage kids definitely were not fans of this one.

Capri & Costiera Sorrentina Boat Tour

Italy

The boat tour was amazing but I could have completely skipping visiting the island of Capri. Very crowded and difficult to get around.

Exclusive Colosseum Tour for Kids

Rome

Our tour guide was amazing!!! She was so good with our kids ages 11 and 13 and made this tour one of our favorites!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

We just returned from an amazing trip to Iceland organized by Gummi. I gave him a list of things I wanted to see and do with my teens and he prepared everything so well. He was very responsive and helpful answering questions and making last minute tweaks. We loved all our excursions and will remember this trip always! I can't wait to return.

Our travel agent Esther (via Kimkim) arranged a wonderful trip for my friend and myself in Zimbabwe and Namibia, despite having limited time and being bit late in booking (our fault). Everything went smoothly - from pickups and drivers through to the recommended lodges - and everything was wonderful. There were many once-in-a-lifetime moments on the game drive in Zimbabwe and river safaris on the Zambezi and Chobe rivers. Esther was very responsive to our preferences and our budget, and kept us up to date with visa requirements and other formalities. Highly recommended.

We had a great experience working with Kimkim team on this trip. Our tour guides, Juan and Martin were both very good. They were knowledgeable, funny, and went out of their way to make sure we were comfortable. E.g. helping us making frequent breaks to pick up supplies as needed, giving us lot of tourism tips and guiding us to the right food and shopping places. Most importantly, they had a deep sense of Peruvian histroy and helped us to get a really immersive experience.

I would heartily recommend the Kimkim team to anybody looking to have a great experience.

All of our guides and drivers were knowledgeable and friendly. We loved being able to stop and take photos with the alpacas on our way back from Palcoyo! We had a great time!

Our honeymoon in Greece was absolutely unforgettable\!

After all the stress of planning our wedding, we decided to use a travel agency to take the pressure off planning our honeymoon, and it was one of the best decisions we made\. Everything was thoughtfully planned for us\. All we had to do was book our flights and show up\!

Our trip was the perfect balance of adventure and relaxation\. We enjoyed incredible excursions while still having plenty of time to unwind and soak in the beauty around us\. Every part of our honeymoon was memorable, from taking a cooking class to swimming in the crystal\-clear Aegean Sea\. We were completely in awe of the beauty of both Crete and Santorini\. The food in Crete was some of the freshest and most flavorful we’ve ever had\!

The special touches throughout our trip made it even more magical\. Walking into a room filled with roses and ending our honeymoon in Santorini with flower petals and candles waiting for us was so thoughtful and romantic\.

We also loved the photo book, and it arrived on my birthday, which made it feel like such a special birthday gift\! Receiving a birthday card and a welcome\-home card afterward was another thoughtful surprise\. It’s those little personal touches that truly set Kimkim apart\.

We can’t stop recommending Kimkim to our friends and family, and we already can’t wait to book our next adventure with them\. A million stars\! ⭐️

Rodrigo was my personal guide for three days. His historical knowledge of Argentina and Cordoba is outstanding. His presentation was professional and warmly personal to my curiosity. He made it feel like I cruising around with a new friend.

Leny did a great job helping us organize and plan a Tokyo trip for our group of 7 people. Managing a group of this size takes a lot of coordination, and she kept us well-organized throughout the process.She provided us with a solid variety of activity options to choose from during the initial stages. We really appreciated her flexibility during the planning phase, as she listened to our suggestions and was very accommodating when we needed to make changes to the itinerary.Thanks to Leny’s thorough preparation and responsiveness, our trip to Tokyo went smoothly. She is a reliable planner who truly listens to her clients' input.

Our fun activites included go-karting on the streets of Tokyo, visiting the Tsukiji Fish Market, participating in a Japanese traditional tea ceremony, kimonos and all! We also visited a local garden.

Leny created a group chat on WhatsApp for our trip and was available throughout our journey.

Our driver Oussama was with us for the whole 7 day tour. Always on time, always polite, respectful, courteous, helpful & great driver. Oussama was our steady rock, full of great info in between all the different guides we had. We’re sure Oussama would be a great guide himself given the chance.
In Marrakech we had Ashraf as our guide & he set a bar so high that our other guides couldn’t reach. Sharif in Fes was also excellent & knows & loves his town so well. Abdul in Chefchaouen was difficult to understand & just wanted to take photos of us but knows his town. Tangier was self guided so those guides were also great 😅.
Planning by Kimkim needs to be tighter & itinerary followed. If there are changes they should be advised to clients asap.
Cave of Hercules is a tourist trap & shouldn’t be included unless requested.
Open air/zero sun protection sites like Volubilis in summer should be visited outside the peak heat of the day.
All in all a tremendous experience that we will remember forever.
Thank you KimKim.
Glenn & Oriana.

Hotel Reviews

Riad Mokhtar Tanger

Tangier

Nice enough room. No bar fridge in room for a 5star hotel is just not acceptable.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Lina Ryad & Spa

Chefchaouen

Lovely looking Riad. Nice rooms. Staff could be a bit friendlier.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Marrakech After Dark: An Evening Food Walk

Marrakesh

This magical night your was with Ashraf again & he was superb. Marrakech at night is something to see that you will never forget. Musicians, monkeys, snake charmers, horses & carts, local goods everywhere, the market at night is crazy but fantastic.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Marrakech - Full Day Exploration of the Red City

Marrakesh

Ashraf knows Marrakech amazingly well & is so knowledgeable about its history. The Secret Garden, palace, Mosque etc are all essential stops along with the Medina.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Chefchaouen: A Guided Walk

Chefchaouen

Our guide Abdul was very difficult to understand in English. Luckily he speaks some Italian & between that & English we understood about half of what was said. Abdul wanted to grab our phones & take pictures of us everywhere which isn’t what we thought guides are paid to do. Chefchaouen also has a major cat problem, much worse than Fes or even Marrakech. Keep Chefchaouen to a maximum 2hr visit.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Full-day guided tour in Fes

Fes

Sharif was very pleasant & polite. He certainly knows his city & its history & is passionate about keeping traditional crafts alive.

Quality of Experience

Quality of Experience

Food

Sharif took us to a hidden Riad restaurant, best lunch of the whole tour, best tagine ever.

Food

Sharif took us to a hidden Riad restaurant, best lunch of the whole tour, best tagine ever

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Transport

Private Transfer from Fez to Chefchaouen via Meknes and Volubilis

Morocco

Our driver Oussama was great. Meknes was a nice interesting stop. Volubilis was a surprise as we were unaware this had been added to our itinerary. We arrived at Volubilis without sunscreen as we were unaware of the extra stop. Unfortunately we got a little cooked & it made the rest of the day a bit uncomfortable.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Private Transfer from Chefchaouen to Tangier

Morocco

Our driver/guide Oussama was great. Sadly, the Cave of Hercules (which we had not asked to visit nor were we informed) was a tourist trap. Standing in line for tickets (which should have been pre-purchased online) we baked in the sun for an hour, without sunscreen or hats as we were caught totally by surprise by the stop.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Each of our guides in the various parts of the trip were superb. We really enjoyed our two guides in Lisbon - especially the guide from "We hate tours" as he was really knowledgeable, hard working and informative. Food was delicious and we really enjoyed our tour of the 2 palaces in Sintra. We also enjoyed Obidos and Nazare before going to Porto.

The accommodations were also wonderful - great locations and hotel selections.

Areas of improvement:
- Recommendations of restaurants or areas to visit when we had downtime; even scheduling some resevations ahead of time for us would have been helpful.
- We arrived at our hotel by 9am and breakfast was not included that day and we had a full day until rooms were ready at 3pm. They held our bags, but would have been nice to grab a meal included as most places were not even open yet.
- We had a full day in Lisbon on the day we arrived with no plans- would have been helpful to have our city tour this day instead of having that be day 3 of Lisbon. We ended up going to belem on our own but some guidance would have been helpful.
- Some of the Fado tour and the driving tour around lisbon overlapped so it felt a bit repetitive on where we went and what we did. Also the Fado location for restaurant and dinner was closed so our guide had to find another restaurant with Fado for us to go to. He worked hard and found a great place, but it was odd that our original place was closed without notice.
- The timing of the tours that were proposed were not accurate, especially the day trip to Sintra and surrounding areas. Due to high season, and major issues with finding parking in and around the palaces and town, we got back to our hotel 3 hours later than was intended on our guide. While we enjoyed the tours, we had to truly cut short our last city visit as we had dinner reservations that we would have been charged for had we not been there in time. In the future, the driver should either drop us off so he can find parking and we can walk around, or there should be better parking locations or have parking factored in somehow. It was more walking due to not parking close to city center in Sintra.
- would have been nice to have included a one day trip to the Duoro Valley. Our walking tour was great though and the port wine tour were great - they could have been combined on one day to allow for Duoro valley on one day.

Hotel Reviews

AlmaLusa Baixa & Chiado

Lisbon

Great location and great breakfast included

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Torel Palace Porto

Porto

We were upgraded and really enjoyed our accommodations and the breakfast included.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Gaia Port Tasting Walk

Portugal

We thought this was supposed to be small group but there were 15-16 people on the tour. Would have liked a smaller group experience as we had discussed, but we enjoyed the 3 wineries selected.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Local Secrets Excursion by Van

Lisbon

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Private Alfama Walk & Fado Dinner Performance

Lisbon

The restaurant we went to was wonderful - it wasn't the one that you had planned for us as that one was closed and the guide had to find somewhere else.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Private Transfer From {{start_location}} to {{end_location}} via Óbidos & Nazaré

Portugal

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Self-Guided Local Markets

Porto

We did this in about 30 min during our walking tour. Didn't need separate time for this

Hidden City Guided Walk

Porto

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Private Sintra & Cascais Day Trip with Pena Palace & Quinta da Regaleira Visit

Lisbon

We enjoyed this tour the most of any of the days on the trip. The Pena Palace tour was wonderful and not busy when we attended The full day was 3 hours longer than was planned due to travel times, parking locations being far away and requiring a lot of walking to get to and from starting locations.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Finding parking spots was difficult and added time to our tour

Our local specialist, Nikola was amazing. He was readily available with any questions we had. He was friendly and the whole process was flawless. Thank you for a wonderful vacations!

Activity Review

Korčula Half Day Boat Tour

Korčula

Highly recommend. This was a highlight of the trip. Our captains were informative, friendly and fun!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

We had a wonderful trip to Iceland and really appreciate the help that Gummi and KimKim gave us in planning this adventure for us. We went for 2 weeks and did just about everything we could think of to get the full experience and we still only saw a fraction of what there is to see. We went to Blue Lagoon and Sky Lagoon, rode Icelandic horses, went whale watching and saw loads of whales, visited ice caves, a volcanic crater and went kayaking in a glacier lagoon. We also went snorkeling in the Silfra fissure which was breathtaking (wear extra socks!). We saw endless beautiful waterfalls, all unique. For this trip we opted to rent a car and drive ourselves which worked out really well. The exception was a private jeep trip into "Thors Valley (Thórsmörk)" and I can't recommend that enough. We had Ragnar as our guide and he not only led us on multiple hikes, he also shared in-depth information about the park as well as about Icelandic culture in general. He was fantastic AND we got to drive through rivers in a big jeep. We also took the ferry over to Heimaey Island for a day to see the Beluga Whale sanctuary and see the museum to the volcanic eruption that happened there is the 1970s - well worth it. I recommended leaving a day or two to explore Reykjavik as well - we enjoyed walking the city and seeing all the public art and the giant church.

Hotel Reviews

Stracta Hotel

Hella

We had a "family apartment" here which was perfect for us. We didn't make use of the kitchen, but it was cozy and comfortable. And we loved that we had our own hot tub which we used both nights of our stay. The staff was very friendly and we were also able to have some laundry done quickly and affordably. The only small downside is that the units are a little old, kind of like a basic family cabin. But very clean with everything we needed. Would definitely recommend.

Authenticity & Character

The hot tubs and sauna were fabulous and the place was just very homey.

Location

Staff

They were really friendly and helpful and we appreciate how quickly they were able to do our laundry given our short stay.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Vík Apartments

Vik I Myrdal

These little apartments are brand new and have everything you could want in a small apartment. Ours was clean, well appointed and even had it's own washer and dryer in the bathroom. It was also right across the street from the grocery store in Vik and the Vik Hotel is just behind if you need a great meal. We loved it.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Geysir

Bláskógabyggd

Gorgeous hotel with excellent food and beautiful rooms. Also, a live geyser right across the street.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Right on our route through Iceland and near an excellent geothermal park.

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Heimaleiga

Reykjavík

These short-term rental apartments are super convenient and in an excellent location in the center of Reykjavik. However, they are a little run down/old. Our second apartment of the stay had wonderful views from the 4th floor, but a bathroom with mold all over the ceiling.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Get rid of the mold, put in rugs that are clean and don't hurt your feet when you walk on them.

Activity Reviews

Sturlureykir Horses Riding Tour

Iceland

It was great to ride and learn about the Icelandic horses. They are beautiful and very nice animals. We had a great guide, Carolina, and she was very knowledgeable re: how they got to Iceland and their current status. It was a rainy day so we mostly were able to just walk while on the horses and the times we did get to go at a faster pace, it was for a very short time (due to mud). We would have loved more time on these beautiful animals and the ability to do more on them. Maybe next time!

Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon Kayaking Excursion

Iceland

This was a beautiful kayaking experience. Our tour leaders did a great job of balancing safety with independence so we knew what to do and what to avoid to be safe and could explore a bit on our own. From this lagoon you have a close up view of the glacier and lots of small to very large ice bergs to paddle around. We wished we had more time on the water, but otherwise would definitely recommend.

Glacier Ice Cave Experience

Iceland

The ice caves were very beautiful and the tour operators managed the time and groups very well. We never felt rushed and didn't have to wait very long to enter the caves. They also did a nice job on safety, so we felt well cared for. The only downside was the trip out to the caves is long and bumpy and the jeep we were in was crowded with very poor airflow/air conditioning, so for me if was very uncomfortable. We also couldn't drive with the windows open because of the dust since we were driving through a black sand desert. Maybe I'd try to go with a smaller group if I were to do this again.

Faxaflói Bay Whale Watching Excursion

Reykjavík

We saw loads of humpback whales, so this was definitely a successful excursion. The boat was very well equipped and the tour leader did an excellent job of pointing out the whales as she spotted them, many quite close to the boat. We also saw our first puffins of the trip out with the whales, so that was exciting.

Inside the Volcano (Meet On Location)

Iceland

We loved this! It's very well run and the experience is wonderful being in the volcano crater. There is a 2 mile hike to get to what they call the base camp, and then another short, but steep climb to the entrance where you get on the open elevator to go down into the crater. So be prepared for that. The inside is stunning and weirdly disorienting, but not in a bad way. We were surrounded by beautiful rock and lava formations and it was easy to get around to see it all in the time we were down there.

Silfra Snorkeling Adventure

Golden Circle

A truly unique Iceland experience! We all really enjoyed this and it was as beautiful as in the photos you'll see online. The only reason this gets 4 stars instead of 5 is because once we were suited up in the dry suit (not the most comfortable, but necessary), we had to wait over an hour to get in the water. There are THAT many people there to do this activity. Once in the water it was great, but be prepared to have a cold face and hands. We checked in at 11 am and didn't finish until about 3 pm with only 30-40 minutes of that in the water.

Whales of Iceland Museum

Reykjavík

This was a nice place to visit before our whale watching tour. It's well done with beautiful models of all of the whales. There is also a fun origami station at the end which we enjoyed probably more than we should have!

Private Thórsmörk Super Jeep Experience

Iceland

We had a wonderful day with our guide Ragnar. It was a full day of adventure driving (through rivers!) and beautiful hikes. Ragnar timed everything so that we missed the crowds and still saw everything. He was a wealth of information about the park and it's history which we very much enjoyed. It's a stunning location and seeing it this way was really worth it for us.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Othman was our travel guide and he was outstanding. My husband loves to do all the travel planning and Othman was so helpful and offered excellent suggestions whenever we had questions. The only issues that arose during the trip were bookings we made ourselves. Because we are both seniors, we have some mobility limitations but we are able to access and make the most of the sites we visited. We particularly loved the Snæfellsnes Peninsula, the South Coast and the Westman islands. I give KimKim and Othman my highest recommendation!

While the guides were good, this tour company is overpriced and tough to work with. Despite confirming information several times they really had everything wrong - passport numbers, pick up times, number of people, dates. It was really disappointing based on how much they charge. I wouldn't book with them again.