Kimkim Trip Reviews

Adam provided us an excellent structure for our visit to Barcelona. He took all of our wishes into account and scheduled specific tours with amazing guides, from whom we learned so much about Barcelona's history, art, architecture, food and culture. Highly recommended!

Hotel Review

Hotel Villa Emilia

Barcelona

The hotel was very comfortable and in an excellent location. We looked out at one of the iconic intersections in Barcelona and from this starting point, we were able to walk easily to our scheduled tours. Service in the hotel was also excellent. We would be happy to return again in the future.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Private Tapas & Flamenco Experience in Barcelona

Barcelona

The tapas at two restaurants and the flamenco performance were a great way to spend the evening!

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Private Montserrat Sunrise & Brunch

Barcelona

One of the wishes that we communicated to Adam was our wish to hike uphill to the Montserrat Natural Park above the Monastery. Our guide, Anthony, provided excellent transportation to the Monastery, arriving just before sunrise, so that we could see the sun rise as we hiked. Anthony had no problem hiking with us up a very steep trail, which was well maintained but totally quiet at this time of day. The tour of the Monastery and brunch afterwards made for a perfect morning!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Private Gaudí Architecture Walk with La Sagrada Família

Barcelona

Our guide, Diana, from Runner Bean tours was amazing! She knew so much about Gaudi's life and architecture and she was so enthusiastic about sharing her knowledge. I give tours in Chicago and I learned some good tips about being a guide from her excellent presentations. She was a delight to be with, from start to finish!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Private Gothic Quarter Walk

Barcelona

Our tour guide, Ivan, from Runner Bean tours was absolutely excellent. We learned so much from him and he was a delight to be with.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Absolutely amazing guides; Ali Liddle, Charlotte Taplin, Sven Joest, Annina Scholl, Laura Ouwerkerk, Esther Josten, Marcelo Tarapow, Matthias Kopp and Karoline Baelum; and Pursers Oleksandr (Alex) Lyebyedyev and Roland Garcia.

Our trip to Costa Rica was very enjoyable. Before we discuss the trip, we must
acknowledge how helpful Gustavo was in planning where we went and where we
stayed as well as the excursions that we went on and as it turned out, what he
recommended was just right for us. Also, he was very responsive to any questions and
as I will explain later he and his team were especially responsive during our trip.
Our first stop was in La Fortuna with the Arenal Volcano in the background. As it turned
out our transfer from the airport took much longer than planned because of the unusual
traffic that we had leaving San Jose but the private driver made it his mission to get us
to our hotel, Arenal Manoa & Hot Springs, in time for our tour that started at 4:45 PM.
We arrived at 4:35 PM. There was a mix-up in our reservation, but the hotel manager
told us not to worry that we would have a room, and we should go on our excursion. I
texted to Gustavo and KimKim and told them of the problem. Before we returned from
our excursion, I received a message back from Gustavo, apologizing for any confusion
and let us know that they had upgraded our room to a suite since our original junior
suite was not available. By the way, the suite was fantastic. We recommend this place
to stay. The grounds are beautiful, the staff were very pleasant and accommodating,
and the restaurant both for breakfast and dinner was excellent.
The tours in La Fortuna were Nocturnal Frog Excursion & Traditional Costa Rican
Dinner, Río Peñas Blancas Safari Float Experience, and the Sloth Discovery Walk. The
first excursion took place on a family run farm and after our walk around we were
served a nice dinner. On the walk we saw several very colorful frogs and the special
sighting was a sloth up a tree and she was nursing a baby. The second was a very
pleasant slow drifting raft experience. We saw many birds, a crocodile, and a Cayman.
Our guide was very knowledgeable and told us a lot about the flora and the history of
the area and the river. Here also just before our boat ride we saw a sloth up a tree. On
the third tour, we saw sloths as we were supposed to. The one note is that it was a good
thing we obeyed the recommendation of bringing raincoats because even though it was
the dry season, it rained, although not the whole time. It didn’t bother the sloths and
ended up not affecting us much either. We saw both two and three toed sloths. Actually,
as we learned they were really two and three fingered sloths because all sloths have
three toes on their back feet. We recommend all three of these excursions.
On day 3 we had a private transfer to Monteverde. This included a driver who took us to
the boat, a private boat ride on Lake Arenal, and then another private driver to our hotel
the Hotel & Spa Poco a Poco. The afternoon we arrived we took a stroll down and up to
the town of Santa Elena. There were many nice shops there that had many local wares
and crafts: where we did a good amount of purchasing. The reason that I said down and
up is that essentially the town was on another mountain and we had to go down to the
valley to then go up to get to the two block, downtown. The walk was, actually, not bad

for us Septuagenarians but the remarkable fact is the wind was blowing at 40 miles per
hour with gusts up to 60 mile per hour or so. There also was a cold spell, so we had our
winter coats on and we almost flew down the mountain as the wind seemed to want to
pick us up and take us for a ride. The town was quaint and the people there, as were all
of the people in Costa Rica that we encountered, were really very nice and helpful.
On the next morning, the cold wave that made the entire northern part of the western
hemisphere was alive and well in Monteverde and the winds did not die down either.
The locals remarked about how it is never that cold. Our scheduled excursion that
morning was to take a 1.5-mile walk covering several long hanging bridges. We opted
out of that trip. We did walk around a path that is attached to the Hotel Poca a Poca
which was fun and relaxing and the trees helped block out the winds. The hotel has lots
of nice areas where you can walk and where you can sit and relax. One caveat about
the hotel. As we mentioned, it was very cold, supposedly it broke a local record, and
the hotel rooms only had air conditioners. We were able to score an electric heater from
the few that the hotel had for the second night. We enjoyed the heat that night.
In the afternoon the winds started decreasing and our tour was the Coffee, Chocolate &
Sugar Cane Experience at Don Juan farm where they grow all three of these
commodities. The guide that we had on the tour was not only very knowledgeable but
was a lot of fun. There were several hands on experiences from shelling a ripe coffee
bean and observing how slimy they are before being dried, taking a cocoa bean and
tasting it and not being so enthralled by it, to tasting the coffee that was made fresh
from beans, and making some sugar by grinding sugar canes which one of us was part
of the grinding process using the old hand cranked machine. We learned a lot about all
three including how to judge which is better and which is not.
The next morning, we had a leisurely breakfast and then took another private drive to
Manuel Antonio. On this drive we took several stops to look at birds, and spider
monkeys, and we stopped at alligator bridge where we took a pleasant walk on the
bridge. Once we were out of the mountains, the weather was pleasant. While that drive
was long, it was pleasant both by the accommodations in the vehicle and the views that
we had. One thing I haven’t mentioned previously, is that all but one of our transfers had
WIFI. We arrived late in the afternoon at the Si Como No Resort & Wildlife Refuge.
The Si Como No is situated on the outskirts of the national park and has beautiful
scenery all around. Our room had, as we were told, the highest view and it was
spectacular and certainly worth all of the steps to get up to it. We also had our own
personal jacuzzi. We sat on the porch and viewed the Pacific and multiple birds
including a magnificent red macaw. Some of these birds even decided to use our railing
when we were inside and we even had a spider monkey give us a show out there.

There were two restaurants. We had breakfast and one lunch on the one near the pool
and dinners at the main restaurant. All our meals were very good.
We had a tour of Manuel Antonio National Park Nature Hike through the park with our
guide was not disappointing. We learned a lot about the history and the flora and had
the opportunity to see several sloths, monkeys, snakes, many beautiful birds, and we
even saw a porcupine. We spent a little time at the beach which had very soft sand and
essentially no waves in the ocean. In the afternoon we went across the street to a
butterfly garden that had a restaurant in it. We sat eating a sandwich and having a
coffee with butterflies flying around us. It was amazingly relaxing. Just what we needed
near the end of our time in Costa Rica. The next morning, we went on a Mangrove
Boat Tour. Again, we saw many birds and learned about the history of that area. The
special part of this tour is that the guide brought some bananas, and we went to the
shore and suddenly, we had a family of capuchin monkeys all around with some coming
on the boat. Both my wife and I had the pleasure of having one sit on our head.
Thankfully, I had a hat on.
We had another private transfer back to San Jose where we stayed the night at the
Grano de Oro Hotel. This was a nice modernized old hotel that was very comfortable.
We ate at the restaurant which had good food and a nice old San Jose atmosphere.
The next morning, we had our private transfer to the airport for our flight back home.
We had a great time in Costa Rica and recommend this itinerary to everyone. However,
we could not have had this wonderful adventure without the planning and support of
Gustavo and the whole KimKim team. Also, as we mentioned, while we were on the trip
when we needed them, they responded quickly and took care of the issue. Thank you,
Gustavo, Kate, and everyone at KimKim.

Absolutely loved everything about the trip. Excellent riads, tours and itinerary!

Our driver, Sofiane was brilliant. He is a credit to your company. He couldn't possibly have done anything more and it was great to get to know him.

Thank you so much. I have been so impressed with how the trip was arranged and all the communication in the lead up.

Hotel Reviews

Riad Kalaa

Rabat

Fantastic location, beautifully decorated, comfortable and welcoming.

Authenticity & Character

So different to other riads as muted tones but gorgeous!

Location

Perfect

Staff

Very welcoming

Cleanliness & Comfort

Perfect

Riad Semlalia

Fès

Beautiful view, very comfortable, gorgeously decorated, fantastic food. Lovely and calm location tucked away.

Authenticity & Character

Looks like a palace!

Location

Quiet

Staff

So friendly and wecloming

Cleanliness & Comfort

Perfect

Tiziri Luxury Camp

Merzouga

Incredible location. So attentive. Excellent music in the evening. Staff so friendly and welcoming.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Perfect

Staff

So attentive

Cleanliness & Comfort

Tents are so inviting and comfortable! Warm and snug for cold desert nights. Couldn't have asked for anything more!

Dar Rihana Dades

Douar Aït Ouffi

The food was the best we ate in the whole of Morocco!

Authenticity & Character

Newly done

Location

Beautiful view

Staff

One brief mention being vegetarian and it was rememebered!

Cleanliness & Comfort

Spotless!

Palais Sebban

Marrakech

Everything perfect. Location, food, rooms, pools, staff!

Authenticity & Character

Beautifully decorated

Location

Central

Staff

Friendly and so helpful

Cleanliness & Comfort

Everything!

Activity Reviews

A Guided Exploration of Rabat

Rabat

Highly recommend. So much to see and also learn. Fantastic guide - she really made the tour fun.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Sand-Boarding in Erg Chebbi (Free of Charge)

Merzouga

Simply grab the board and climb a dune!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Visit Majorelle Gardens

Morocco

Gorgeously peaceful and a wonderful break from the craziness of Marrakech!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Half-Day Guided Tour of Marrakech

Marrakesh

We learnt so much! Asked a million questions and our guide answered them all. So interesting and not sure we wouldn't have managed to see everything without our guide!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

So knowledgeable!

Transport

Met at our riad!

Marrakech Evening Food Tour

Marrakesh

Highly recommend and so interesting to try new and different things. Takes you to places you would never go yourself. Very interesting and knowledgeable.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Great guide!

Transport

Met at our riad so very convenient!

Everything went perfectly. I was picked up at the airport and then hardly had to worry about anything. Amir has a very good knowledge of history, which he conveyed in excellent English. The excursion to Alexandria then nicely expanded this knowledge with Greco-Roman history. The hotel in Cairo was very well located, clean, and had very polite staff. The breakfast was ample and varied.
The flight to Aswan and the pick-up there went smoothly. My guide's English wasn't great, but he more than made up for it with his attentiveness. The tours always started very early, which suited me perfectly as it allowed me to avoid the tourist crowds and the high sun. The hotel in Aswan was excellent.
The hotel in Luxor had a wonderful garden overlooking the Nile. Unfortunately, I only got a room facing the street, which meant I could never open the window. The street was simply too noisy. I must also mention Omar in Luxor, who took excellent care of all my needs and was always there to help and advise me.
The transfer to Hurghada was a bit odd. The seats were covered in plastic, but there were two exhaust pipes in the trunk without any protective coverings. As a result, my luggage was dirty after the journey. However, the resourceful cleaning staff at the hotel in Hurghada took care of it. The hotel itself was very quiet and relaxing. My only slight disappointment was that they only offered Italian cuisine. When I travel abroad, I like to experience the local dishes... But the staff was great, the hotel was clean, and it was right on the beach.
All in all, a fantastic trip. I would recommend it without hesitation. Many thanks to the whole team.

Hotel Reviews

Iberotel Makadi Beach

Hurghada

Quiet, clean, friendly staff, very attentive cleaning staff, right on the water. I missed having local dishes at the full-board buffet.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Ibrotel Luxor

Luxor

A bit noisy, clean, the carpet in the room sometimes makes me a little nervous, friendly staff, wonderful garden with a view

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Basma Hotel Aswan

Aswan

quiet, clean, slightly outside the city, friendly staff

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Royal Great Pyramid INN

Giza

Good location, clean, friendly staff

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Tour Of The East Bank In Luxor

Luxor

My excellent guide always got me up early, which was great for enjoying the temples before the other tourists. Standing in the colonnades, you really do feel quite small.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Tour To The West Bank In Luxor

Luxor

I know, of course, that I'm not the only tourist, but it's quite crowded here. I'm glad I saw it and I can recommend it to everyone. My guide provided me with all the information one could wish for.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Habu Temple , and the Valley Of Workers , Queens ,Nobels

Luxor

The temple and the excavations in the workers' quarters are not heavily visited by tourists, which makes them truly relaxing, interesting, and worth seeing. My guide had a deep knowledge of the locations and was happy to share it.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Transfer from Aswan to Luxor Via Kom Ombo and Edfu

Egypt

The boat trip through the green belt along the Nile was very refreshing after the tours through the desert. The temple complexes were beautiful and not crowded with tourists. My guide was very knowledgeable and happy to share his knowledge.

Abu Simbel Temple

Aswan

I at least learned what the Egyptian way is, and that it doesn't necessarily work :D - I find even information like that super interesting. Background: the road to Abu Simbel is closed until 5 a.m., and a long queue forms. That's something that could perhaps be improved. Otherwise, it was a beautiful drive through the desert. The field systems in the desert, fed by the Nile, are also fascinating. Abu Simbel was a bit crowded for my liking, but we made the best of it.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Tour to High Dam, Philae Temple, and Obelisk

Aswan

I would have been interested in a guided tour of the inner workings of the High Dam. However, that's related to my engineering background... The temple is visited via a relaxing boat trip. And the unfinished obelisk offers a glimpse into the production process. My guide was very knowledgeable and answered many questions.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Tour to National Museum, Salah El Din Citadel and khan el khalil

Cairo

Lots of mummies, a flight through the history of Egypt, a beautiful view over Cairo, and coffee at the bazaar were great. Amir delivered a very good all-around performance.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Full Day Tour to Alexandria from Cairo by Car

Cairo

The journey was a bit long, but Amir managed to make it feel shorter. He also has a very good knowledge of the Greco-Roman period in Egypt.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Giza Pyramids & the Grand Egyptian Museum

Cairo

Amir has a very good knowledge of history, which he presented in good English. There was a change in the order of the visits: first the museum, then the pyramids, which makes sense to avoid the crowds of tourists.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

I have no idea how anyone can stand the traffic in Cairo. ;)

From the moment Irene reached out to me to start the planning of our trip, to the time we boarded our return flight - everything went as smoothly as possible.
This was our third trip w/ Kimkim and we are happy that it worked out as we expected.
We are super thankful to Irene and Travel12 team for making our trip memorable.
All the guides, drivers were very knowledgable, respectful and we enjoyed talking to them during our tours.
Thank you!!

Hotel Reviews

Hotel Modigliani

Roma

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Royal Continental Hotel Naples

Naples

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

The front desk staff can do better with friendly communication.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Santa Maria Novella

Florence

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

The Floor

Milano

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Private Appian Way and Catacomb Tour

Rome

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

did not expect a Merc S350 :) this transport was the best of the trip.. enjoyed a lot!

Private Full Day Tivoli Tour from Rome

Rome

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Vatican Guided Tour

Rome

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

we walked to all the destinations - hotel selection was really good.

Private Amalfi Coast Driving Tour

Italy

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Afternoon Naples Walking Tour & Seafood Dinner

Naples

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Milan Highlights Private Tour with Last Supper & Duomo

Milan

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Milano Fashion Tour

Milan

we were delayed by 15-20 mins, no mistake of our guide, but the GPS took us on a long route. though our time was short, we got good info on Armani, walked to Prada. Very nice of our guide to spend good time w/ us.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Lake Como full-day Trip from Milan

Milan

we had a really good visit to Lake Como. The weather goddess favored us and gave such a wonderful day - both cloudy and bright and sunny.! our guide adjusted our plan for the day according to the weather. He took care of the subway and the train tickets and over all had a lovely day w/ his help.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

very friendly, informed and adjusted plans according to our interests and weather.

Transport

Our guide took care of the public transportation tickets etc also so smoothly and ensured we had a proper back and forth. Train journey was very nice!

Private Tour of Brera District

Milan

Our guide was very knowledgeable and explained the paintings, history well!!

My overall experience in Brazil was just okay, largely due to poor planning and communication from our specialist, Federico.

First, he scheduled our departure to Paraty for 7:00 AM the morning after our Sambadrome experience. We had asked about this days in advance and were able to change the departure time to 9:00 AM. However, the itinerary listed the Sambadrome activity as running from 8:00 PM to 1:00 AM. Upon arrival, a man met us and escorted us through to the stands. There was an issue scanning the tickets, but we were eventually able to enter. We later discovered that the person who escorted us was Federico himself. He never introduced himself or asked how our trip was going, despite the fact that we had been communicating with him for nearly a year. This felt very off-putting.

Additionally, after speaking with others, we learned that the parade typically does not end until after 5:00 AM. I do not understand why our transfer out of Rio was originally booked for 7:00 AM when he should have known the true timing of the event. This was never communicated to us. Had we known in advance, we might have chosen a different night to attend the Sambadrome.

On our way to the Sambadrome, the transportation provided was also not private as booked. The van made additional stops to pick up other passengers, causing delays. When we questioned this, we were told the van originally allotted to us had a flat tire. Again, this was not communicated in advance and reflects poor planning and transparency.

The next morning, the KimKim team/Federico also failed to notify the driver that our departure time had been changed to 9:00 AM instead of 7:00 AM. As a result, the driver arrived at 7:00 AM and hotel staff woke us to inform us he was waiting.

To make matters worse, we were expecting a private van—as had been provided for our tours in Rio—but instead two cars arrived to transport our group and luggage for a nearly three-hour trip. We were originally supposed to be a group of nine people, so it is unclear how everyone would have fit comfortably in two cars. Even with eight travelers, the ride was extremely uncomfortable, and the change in transportation was never communicated to us. This reflects very poor planning and communication. When I asked in the KimKim group chat what other details we needed to clarify, no one responded or acknowledged our discomfort during the ride to Paraty.

Furthermore, as we were nearing the pier for our boat tour, the driver asked if we needed to stop at a grocery store because there would be nothing on the boat except ice. Advance notice would have allowed us to plan accordingly. When I mentioned this in the group chat, there was still no response.

Overall, while Brazil itself was wonderful, the repeated breakdowns in planning, communication, and follow-through significantly impacted our experience. I hope this feedback is taken seriously so future travelers receive the level of service and organization that was promised.

Activity Reviews

Experience the Rio Carnival from the grandstands of the Sambadrome'

Rio de Janeiro

Great experience! Lots of energy, color, culture, music!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Our Specialist Federico met us there an never introduced himself

Transport

A private van since we booked a private experience

private transfer from Rio to Paraty with stop in Angra for boat tour

Brazil

We were expecting a private van—as had been provided for our tours in Rio—but instead two cars arrived to transport our group and luggage for a nearly three-hour trip. We were originally supposed to be a group of nine people, so it is unclear how everyone would have fit comfortably in two cars. Even with eight travelers, the ride was extremely uncomfortable, and the change in transportation was never communicated to us. This reflects very poor planning and communication. When I asked in the KimKim group chat what other details we needed to clarify, no one responded or acknowledged our discomfort during the ride to Paraty.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

a private van for 8 people instead of two separate cars

Half Day Favela Tour - Rio de Janeiro'

Rio de Janeiro

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

We rode in motorcycles to the top of the Favela, which was awesome!

Our driver was excellent and made the trip most enjoyable. It would not have been the same without him. He was kind, considerate and went out of his way to make the trip most pleasurable for us. Lela will provide a more detailed review after we return home.

All of our arrangements were done well. We enjoyed both the provided tours and exploring on our own. Our guides were very knowledgeable and great people to talk with as well. The drivers for our transfers were also wonderful. I think one thing that will always stay with me is the feeling I got as I climbed the steps at Monte Alban, knowing that those same steps were once walked upon by the Zapotec people very long ago.

Hotel Reviews

El Sueño Hotel & Spa

Puebla

The room was clean and nice, but we noticed that the lamps by the bed kept flickering and upon inspection the wiring for them was scary. The restaurant was kind of spendy with a limited offering. The breakfast that came with the room was okay at best, and also very limited.

Authenticity & Character

A bit too much spa like for our taste.

Location

The location was good, near most of what you will want to see in Puebla.

Staff

The staff were wonderful.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Our room was clean and comfortable.

Majagua

Oaxaca

It felt like some of the staff was exhausted and overworked. The bar was supposed to be a restaurant too but all we saw was a rudimentary breakfast. Most of the staff were pleasant and helpful, but others, not so much. The facility was quite pleasant looking and most things worked well.

Authenticity & Character

New and modern but I prefer traditional.

Location

Adjacent to a great park with lots going on and one of the best Italian restaurants I’ve been to - Arte Italia.

Staff

Mostly fine.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Casa González

Mexico City

We have stayed at this hotel twice now, it is always clean, the gardens are beautiful and a pleasure to sit and relax in after a day of exploring. The breakfast they offer is as good as you will find in any of the restaurants nearby.

Authenticity & Character

Like the city itself, it is a mix of newer amenities but, with that old world look and charm.

Location

It is located in an area that is very walkable to many sites in Mexico City.

Staff

The staff is warm and friendly, as well as always being ready to help, rather you need something in your room or a recommendation.

Cleanliness & Comfort

This is. Very clean hotel, they also offer laundry service for a reasonable fee.

Activity Reviews

Explore the history and crafts of Oaxaca through Monte Alban, Arrazola, Cuilapam and Coyotepec.

Oaxaca

Fabulous!

Puebla City Tour & Talavera Workshop

Puebla

Bottom line - I’d do it again.

Clemens and crew did an amazing job of putting together a fantastic itinerary on short notice! All plans worked well as we made our way through to countries and over 1000 miles of travel. All accommodations were excellent, trips and tours were interesting and exciting. I endorse using Clemens and his team on any European adventure!

Michael from Chaska Tours set up the perfect itinerary for our family’s vacation. We had fascinating cultural experiences, delicious food, exciting adventures and peaceful relaxation. Knowing that everyday was meticulously planned, including all the drivers and the guides and even most of the meals allowed us to truly enjoy everyday and not have to worry about any logistics. Everyone of our guides (Froi, Sebastian, Joi, Nancy, Thomas, Carlos, Gloria, Mary) was knowledgeable, helpful and kind. Experiencing Colombia with Colombians by our side allowed us to learn so much more about this wonderful country and its people. By the end of our time with them, our guides felt like our friends. I would highly recommend kimkim and Chaska Tours in Columbia if you are interested in an active, immersive, and adventurous trip and don’t have or want to spend the time to organize every little detail.

Hotel Reviews

Ermita, Cartagena, a Tribute Portfolio Hotel

El Cabrero, Cartagena

Villa Maria Tayrona, a Kali Hotels

Los Naranjos

Dann Carlton Medellin Hotel

Medellin

Activity Reviews

Rosario Island Beach Day (Coralina Island)

Colombia

The staff at Coralina Island was very accommodating and helpful. The water was spectacular. They have a boat and a kayak available to use for no additional cost. It was the perfect way to end an active and busy holiday.

Boquilla Mangrove Tour

Cartagena

Peaceful and beautiful tour led by a local. Very authentic and another opportunity to see the real Cartagena. A great tour for bird lovers and watchers. A demonstration of how the locals catfish and an opportunity to do it yourself.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Market Visit & Cooking Class

Cartagena

Visiting Bazurto market was one of the highlights of my time in Colombia. I am pretty sure we were the only tourists there. I felt like I was experiencing the true Cartagena. The sight of all the colorful fruits and vegetables; the sounds of a community coming together, playing music and doing business; the smell of the food, the heat from the oil and coals, all added up to an unforgettable sensory treat. Our cooking instructor, Gloria, led us through the creation of a truly memorable and delectable meal.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Walking Tour & Street Food

Cartagena

My whole family loved trying the street food of Cartagena as well as all of the tropical fruits and juices that we are not familiar with in North America. Our guide Nancy’s love for her country, food, and culture was infectious and rubbed off on us.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

This was a walking tour and I like walking

Full Day Trek on the Bunkuany Trail

Colombia

Joi led us on a fun-filled, challenging and rewarding trek through the beautiful Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountains to a beautiful and fascinating ruin of an indigenous village. The lunch prepared by the family living on the mountain was delicious. The refreshing and cool swim in the river was rejuvenating and exhilarating.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Full Day: Urban Art & E-Bike Experience

Medellín

It was a pleasure to spend time with our guide Thomas and immerse ourselves in the energy of Medellín.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Serendipity did a fantastic job organising our trip in Costa Rica- plenty of planning discussion on the hotels, schedule and wildlife experiences.. Elena and Nancy were extremely helpful and had lots of useful suggestions to make sure we had plenty of bird watching, nature tours, and visits to Guayabo monument and Turrialba volcano. The trip was amazing and we had great fun managing to dodge between the rain showers even in Tortuguera which provided excellent photographic opportunities on the boats to get close to wildlife, including sloths! Adrian was on hand via the WhatsApp link and was extremely helpful in suggesting additional trips and making sure our pick-ups went to plan. All accommodation was spot on - clean, spacious with great restaurants - lots of rice and beans! All our guides were really knowledgeable and highly motivated. All in all a wonderful holiday, thank you KimKim and Serendipity!

Hotel Reviews

Rancho Naturalista

Cartago

A wonderful place for bird watching and knowledgeable guides ! Meals at set times on shared tables, so plenty of opportunity to talk with other guests

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Casa Turire

Turrialba

Wonderful hotel full of character and with fabulous gardens. Huge room and great service.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Le Cameleon Boutique Hotel

Puerto Viejo

Fabulous jungle setting, restaurant and beach across the road but very easy access.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Easy to get access to Cahuita and Manzanillo parks. Try Nenas restaurant close by for rice and beans!

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Tortuga Lodge & Gardens

Tortuguero

Superb room overlooking the river, excellent food and great guides (Manuel and Bernardo). Fantastic boat trips getting close to wildlife.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hampton by Hilton San José Airport

Alajuela

Close to airport and welcoming, frequent shuttle. Special Valentine's breakfast!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Private Birding at Rancho Naturalista

Turrialba

Thoroughly enjoyed the bird watching- from the early morning feeding of the birds in the garden to the walk around the estate.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Fabian was an excellent guide - spotted lots of birds we would have missed.

Transport

Archaeological Tour of Guayabo National Monument

Turrialba

Interesting - you do need a guide to understand the history and what remains of the structures.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Our guide Roseta was especially enthusiastic and knowledgeable about the archaeology and birds. Sergio was a great and safe driver and took us to an authentic Soda cafe for lunch.

Transport

Private Hike Turrialba Volcano

Costa Rica

Once the cloud cleared (luckily) great views and an interesting hike around the side of the volcano seeing the dead forest and new agriculture.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Private Cahuita National Park Excursion + Group Snorkeling

Puerto Viejo de Talamanca

The Park was good and the guide excellent - saw 10 sloths and 2 snakes but relatively few birds, great path by the sea. Part of the track was closed due to wet weather. Our snorkeling was cancelled due to poor visibility following turbulent sea.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Guided Boat Excursion Through the Tortuguero Canals

Tortuguero

Boat trips allowed you to get close to wildlife and great opportunities for photography

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

The planning phase as a bit messy with many back and forth adjustments required until I finally got exactly what I wanted. Changing Kim Kim contact person late in the process was ok but some details fell through the cracks and needed attention. I would have preferred to have final final details much sooner than what you provided, because even at that late stage there was a serious error that required correction

In the end all was corrected so that is good

And the actual experiment of hotels, drivers, guides, booked meal en wine tastings and tablado in the velodrome were exceptionally good. Our trip to Uruguay was a real treat as we discovered this gem

Hotel Reviews

The Grand Hotel

Punta del Este

Perfect location on Playa Brava with convenient bus stop right in front and a wll maintained private beach. We were speed by the gorgeous views from our ocean view suite

Authenticity & Character

Very modern architecture with lots of great workmanship details

Location

If you want to be right on the beach this is it

Staff

Concierge helped us make tour arrangements that we really enjoyed

Cleanliness & Comfort

Spotless

Narbona Wine Lodge

Colonia

Beautiful maintained winery with lovely landscaping. Fun to tour the grounds and facilities

Authenticity & Character

A historical site

Location

Beautiful is beautiful

Staff

Friendly and responsive

Cleanliness & Comfort

Alma Histórica Boutique Hotel

Montevideo

A charming little gem, centrally located in the old town, we loved the motif of the various rooms and common areas. Breakfast was delicious. The tango music themed room we stayed in was delightful.

Authenticity & Character

Classic charm. Lots of unique antiques on display

Location

Easy walking distance near the port and important sites in the old town, and historic historic Plazas

Staff

Helpful every step of the way

Activity Reviews

Montevideo Tour with Mercado del Puerto

Montevideo

Er

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Our guide was very knowledgeable

Transport

Comfortable van

Visito to Carnival "Tablado"

Montevideo

I did not know what to expect and was blown away by the costumes, humor, satire and creativity of the various Murgas we saw. Especially nice seeing the manu families that crowded this late evening event

Quality of Experience

Families, enetertainment, food options

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

This is our third experience with KimKim planning an adventure for us. It was just spectacular. Our original concept was seeing the Olympics, which was an adventure unto itself.

Planning began months ago. But it’s hard to understand everything in advance. Our contacts in Italy, Sonia and Lucrezia, worked around the events we had purchased tickets for perfectly. They were also very patient with our silly questions.

It always starts for us with hotel selection, and once again they were stellar. The location of our Milan hotel was perfect, a very short walk to the Duomo and Central hub for transportation. They introduced us to Larissa our private guide for visiting the last supper and other amazing sites around Milan. We are amazed at our local advisors ability to again identify private guides that speak excellent English and are able to give us the special flavor of the city where they live. The guides themselves become an additional set of advisors for us during our stays.

In Verona, the hotel was not only perfect, but it had a history. Our guide in that city was CECILIA. Amazing, lovely, information packed, and personal. We totally see the value of private guides and all recommendations from Kim Kim have been perfect perfect.

Off to Lake Como and another amazing location with a room facing the lake. We enjoyed our calm time there and our boat guide taking us around the lake, pointing out villas and their histories, and a lovely walk around Bellagio. We also met Max for a bike tour that took us up into the mountains around Lake Como. We were on E bikes, while our guide was on a regular road bike. Pretty impressive thing. He also gave us restaurant recommendations locally of his favorite places, and they were delicious.

Cannot forget the car rental. Seems like a simple effort. We like driving in a nice car when we are in another country. Kim Kim saw to it that our selected vehicle perfectly met our standard again and also met the anecdotal requirement of not being too large. If you’ve ever gone to an Italian parking lot, you will know what I am talking about!

Finally, our local concierge Roberta picked us up at the airport and was available to us all throughout our stay. She checked in regularly and in advance for pre-scheduled activities. Always providing Detail on pick up or meet up location, the name of our guide and the expectation. It was in retrospect, very comforting.

I know that in 2026 people fancy using social media to identify ways to visit foreign cities and find unique experiences. From our perspective, Kim Kim is a very unique one stop shop. They anticipate the details and make our experiences into adventures. We are not the type of people who want to travel on a bus or with a group. We are looking to plan our next adventure to bring our children and their mates so they can experience what we have.

Thank you, Kim Kim, again!

—
Paul and Lynn Essner

Our trip to Morocco was fantastic thanks to Kim Kim! We had 3 kids ages 3-11 and were nervous about traveling with them but the whole experience was smooth, comfortable, exciting and fun! We loved Fez, Marrakesh and especially Essouria. Our driver Mustafa was so skilled, gracious and thoughtful. He did things like making sure that all of our rest stops during long drives playgrounds! The fantastic local guides were knowledgeable, flexible and made sure we spent our money in places that would be high quality and truly support the local people - for example we visited worker cooperatives to learn about everything from ceramics to aragan oil. They are so kind to children generally as a society in Morocco. It was beautiful to experience and made the trip that much easier and more welcoming. Kim Kim and the guides were also good about making some adjustments to the trip as we went along and adjusted to the reality of travel. For example we had over planned and not factored in a day of two for kids to just hang out and play at the pool!

Hotel Reviews

Riad Atrium & Spa

Marrakesh

Authenticity & Character

Charming road. Staff was so nice! The breakfast every morning was a highlight of the trip!

Location

Great location in the median in a quieter area. Away from the major hustle and bustle. Was a bit of a walk from where drivers could pick us up but we quickly got used to it.

Staff

The manager was so sweet as were the chef and the main server/bellman. The manager gave our kids little gifts at the end!

Cleanliness & Comfort

Riad Mimouna

Essaouira

Location and views could not be beat! Lovely staff. Clean historic hotel.

Authenticity & Character

Right in the middle of the medina. Historic building. Very Moroccan decor and style.

Location

Right on the ocean. Fantastic dramatic views

Staff

They answered lots of questions and helped us with what we needed

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Family Cooking Class at Amal Non-Profit Center: Cooking with Purpose in Marrakech

Marrakesh

This was such a unique experience and great for the whole family. We learned how to make traditional Moroccan dishes like chicken and lamb tagine, as well as things like how to prepare a proper Moroccan mint tea, which is way more intricate than I had ever thought. It was wonderful to do this with a local non-profit supporting local young women.

Quality of Experience

Food

I think this might have been the best, or one of the best meals we had in Morocco!

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Marrakech Family Food Tour

Marrakesh

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Family pottery and mosaic workshop

Morocco

This was a fun way to learn about ceramics. I thought there was going to be more pottery making by us/kids based on the description but it was really more of a quick fun few minutes for each of the kids. We loved it though. Great unique opportunity to see experienced artisans and work and understand how it all comes together.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

A Family's Guided tour of Fez

Fes

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

First, we can tell you that our overall experience was excellent and the job you did was also great. We would like to break down each category and give you our feedback this way.

Flights: All flights within Australia were fine. There were no problems checking in and they all left and landed on time. Virgin Australia is a very basic airline. We had to ask for water on our flight from Cairns to Melbourne.

Accommodations:
The nicest place we stayed in was the Maq01 in Hobart. The room was spacious and very comfortable. Breakfast was excellent and the location was perfect. Our second best was the hotel we chose in Brisbane, the Treasury. That room was also spacious and we liked the old world charm. Location was ideal there too. The Floriana in Cairns was ok. It was north of town and we should have chosen the alternative that Siena mentioned in our video conference. However, everything worked out ok. The two hotels in Melbourne were inadequate. The rooms were small, especially the Standard X. There was barely enough room to open our suitcases and the locations were not great. 13 years ago, we stayed close to the river within walking distance of the tennis center and that was much better.

Transportation:
That was excellent. All of the pickups at airports and hotels were great and on time. There was water in the vehicles for us and the cars were all comfortable. The one exception was a confusion in Cairns on the 12th, the day we did the Michaelmas Cay Cruise. The instructions for pickup were confusing because it said hotel, then on the next line, 181 Esplanade. Our interpretation was that the pickup point was at our hotel because its address is 181 Esplanade but what it really meant was that the pickup was at the Hotel 181 Esplanade which was on the next street. We didn't know that that hotel even existed. We got it sorted out with a telephone call and we got to the boat on time. It was just a bit nerve wracking. There was no reason that the pickup couldn't have been in front of our hotel.

Tours and guides:
Overall, we felt that our private tours were far superior to the group tours. In Brisbane, our first tour was up to the Sunshine coast with Rashid. That was excellent and very enjoyable. Rashid was very pleasant and we interacted with him very well. The second tour was the Daintree Adventure from Cairns. It was a group tour and our guide was James Unfortunately, that was not as good. First, it was a large van not a 4wd vehicle, There were about 10 of us and James talked the whole way there and back, was hard to understand because of the speaker system on the van, and he repeated himself several times. The walk we did on the walkway to see Cassowaries (we didn't see any) was a bit disappointing. We felt that it was difficult to interact with the guide to appreciate the beauty of the sites.. The third tour to the Great Barrier reef was ok. We expected a lot of people on the boat so that was no surprise but the boat was overcrowded. They took us to an atoll where we started our snorkeling. The site was crowded with other boats and we had to swim out to the reefs which were about 100 meters from shore. The corals were beautiful but the fish viewing was disappointing. 13 years ago, we went on a ship and snorkeled from the ship not from shore and that was much better. The fish diversity then was also much better- the difference was probably the places they took us to. You should consider another boat option. The following private tour with Sean in Melbourne was good. We did a hike in Dandenong and went to the Yarra valley to do some wine tastings. It was a beautiful day and very enjoyable. In Hobart, we did three tours. The first to Freycinet and Wineglass bay with Alex was just ok. The walks we did there were very crowded and we hardly saw any wildlife. We felt that we were taken to all the sites that tourists are taken to and so it was far from ideal. The next tour on the boat for the gourmet seafood lunch cruise was outstanding. It was literally a seafood orgy and extremely enjoyable. The two guys on the boat (Jordy and Lawrence) were great. The food was exquisite and we loved it. The final day, we were picked up by Dave who took us to the Tasmanian wilderness where we did a 4 mile hike and saw three waterfalls. He then took us to an animal sanctuary where we saw Roos, devils, echidnas, an emu and other animals. We had a great time there as well. Finally, we should mention the Q train experience even though it was not part of the package with you. We first took a ferry across the bay and then boarded the Q train for a leisurely 3 hour ride and lunch. We enjoyed that as well and you should consider including it in your packages.

Thank you for organizing this wonderful trip.
Sue and Dan Simmons

My feedback regarding the Egypt tour from Jan. 16 to Jan. 23, 2026 (3 nights in Cairo + 4 nights on the Nile cruise) is as follows:

Egypt tour: Overall, we enjoyed our first trip to Egypt, organized by Nader Hussein, the local agent of KimKim Travel.
1. What I liked:
- As local agent, Nader was very helpful and responded quickly to my questions; I would recommend Nader to my friends in their future quest for travel to Egypt
- Omar was a top notch guide during our Nile cruise trip; he was very knowledgeable, friendly, helpful and effective coordinating our shore visits with the cruise ship; we felt very safe and comfortable traveling with Omar and I certainly would recommend Omar to my friends in their future travel to Egypt
- Our visits to the Giza Pyramids, the Grand Egyptian Museum, and the sites in Luxor, Edfu, Kem Ombo and Aswan, and the hot air balloon ride in Luxor
- Staff on board the Nile cruise ship, the Semiramis III, is friendly and helpful, and the meals are good and well prepared
2. What I wish can be improved:
- The travel rep who met with us at Cairo airport upon arrival showed up late; this created some apprehension
after a very long flight and arriving at night in an unfamiliar, crowded and seemingly chaotic airport
- On the second day in Cairo, a Sunday, the visit to Al-Muizz Street & Khan el Khalili bazaar took barely an hour and was not a good way to spend our time in Cairo, because Al-Muizz St. was closed, and empty on Sundays
- The travel rep who met with us at Luxor airport came in very late, and left us stranded at the empty airport, long after all passengers from the incoming flights to Luxor left with their tour buses
- The selected hot air balloon company (named Excellent Air Balloon, I believe) picked us at 4:15 AM in a big bus, which went around Luxor to many other hotels to gather many more riders, and made us wait in the cold and in the dark in the fields until one of their (apparently few) balloons was available and ready for us to board (we saw passengers picked up in smaller minivans by other operators, and loaded more quickly onto balloon gondolas because these operators seemed to have more balloons available)
- For a better experience travelling on the Nile, I would not choose the Semiramis III cruise ship again:
a. the docking (together with ships apparently belonging to the same company) was very noisy during the arrival at the very early hours in Edfu when staff responsible for the docking shouted loudly to each other and waking up passengers; also, this ship came in Edfu at the place where a large number of ships docked and where most of the horse drawn carriages assembled, at a very chaotic, dusty, dirty and smelly place (we saw a few other ships docking a little further away where the transfer to the horse drawn carriages was a more orderly and peaceful) and this left us a not so good impression of the landing in Efdu
b. this ship arrived in Kem Ombo very late in the evening, and forced our guide to rush us thru a very short visit to the temple visit before the closure time, thus taking away the enjoyment of this site visit, the last one on our itinerary

Thank you to the entire KimKim team for making our trip run so smoothly. They took care of us from the second we reached out until we touched down back home. Will absolutely be using them again in the future ❤️

This truly was the trip of a lifetime. My friend and I spent 8 days experiencing the southeast region of Iceland by car.

We benefited enormously from the knowledge, planning skills and affable manner of our trip planner, Gummi (Guomundur Oli). He was able to take our broad goals and ideas of what kind of trip we wanted and planned it for us perfectly. He was responsive throughout the trip and gave us really good ideas as questions arose as we made our way through this almost other worldly experience.

We drove the perimeter of the Snaefellsnes Peninsula and then made our way around the Golden Circle. The northern lights, waterfalls, canyons, tectonic plates, volcanic landscape, black sand beaches, a glacier, ice caves, horseback riding, lava tunnels, amazing food, the city of Reykjavik, thermal lagoons, and more.

The one person we met who really stood out was the fellow who took us on the ice cave tour. His name is Siggi and his company’s name is CrystalCave.is. He takes small groups (there were 4 of us that day) out on the glacier and down to the ice caves. In addition to his knowledge of the glacier and the ice caves, he offered us a view into his world, the respect the other guides clearly have for him, his sense of humor, his wisdom, and how he came to do this work that he loves (I won’t spoil it by telling you here). He truly inspired us, made us laugh, and left a lasting impression on both of us.

I am riding high after this trip.

Our guide Marino was amazing. He added so many details that we would have walked right by. He was flexible to our needs.

Activity Review

Private Guided Hike in Arenal Volcano Park 1968

Arenal/La Fortuna

Weather was very bad which hampered the experience.