Kimkim Trip Reviews

Yasser was the best guide / driver we could have hoped for, so warm and welcoming. Highly recommend him

Hotel Reviews

Le Casablanca Hotel

Casablanca

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Riad Salam Fes

Fes

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Les Jardins De La Koutoubia

Marrakech

Perfect location and great staff… spa is awesome

Authenticity & Character

Location

Close to souk

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Review

Marrakech Evening Food Tour

Marrakesh

Quality of Experience

Food

Great insight into local cuisine

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Ibrahim was well organized and always on time. The private guides for Marrakesh (Yassine ) and Fez (Kamal) were knowledgeable and interesting.

The local roadside restaurants were absolutely fantastic and probably the best food in Morocco.

The Sahara excursion is a must!

Hotel Reviews

Riad Madu Luxury Camp

Merzouga

This is a must!!!

Authenticity & Character

Location

The camp is located furthest into the Sahara. All you can see are dunes and the mountains in the distance.

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Les Jardins de Skoura

Skoura

Authenticity & Character

Location

It’s a bit out of the way, but worth the extra drive. The property is beautiful

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel & Ryad Art Place Marrakech

Marrakech

Beautiful Riyad. Gorgeous rooms and very centrally located.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Review

Tea with a local family

Morocco

We did not enjoy this. It felt staged and unnecessary

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

The trip was amazing for the most part. Our guide and our driver (Ibrahim and Hassan) went
out of their way to accommodate us; they were patient and fun and met all our needs and
requests. We had a thoroughly enjoyable time with them and would definitely recommend them or use them again ourselves. They made the trip more than enjoyable, and we had a lot of fun with them during our drive times. We stopped for coffee, stopped and bought oranges, stopped to get wine for the desert camp.... They were fantastic. Our biggest issue, we feel, involved communication with our specialist, Megan, and the communication between her and the guide and driver. To begin, none of us like "tour" vacations but with the language barrier in Morocco, especially, we opted to use Kimkim/Wanderlust. We made it clear - we thought - to Megan that we did not want a "package" vacation and that we wanted free time to explore on our own, flexibility to change plans, and did not want to frequent the "tourist trap" spots of the region. When we arrived and were taken to our transport vehicle by our guide, we were introduced to our driver - a surprise to us as we thought we had a driver/guide in the form of one person. Our vehicle was a large 15 passenger tourist van/bus, with curtains on the windows, wifi onboard, etc.; possibly because there were 5 of us and our luggage, and we also needed room for any purchases, but still seemed like overkill and something that definitely didn’t blend in. We thought maybe it was also the reason for the separate driver, since it wasn't a standard car. We shrugged it off - and it did make for lots of space - went to our beautiful hotel and settled in. The food tour that night was perfect. The next day, during the Marrakech city tour with our local guide, we were taken to specific shops, even in the souk, to shop and make purchases. This was *exactly* what we had been concerned about and didn't want; we
were pretty turned off. Besides that, the guide was very informative and knowledgeable. Our schedule said we had free time the next morning, so we figured we'd go back to the market on our own; however, on returning to the hotel, we found out there was NO free time the next morning. (We did go back that night for some more food and a bit of browsing.) The next day we went to Ait BenHaddou, which was one of our highly anticipated stops. We again felt that
we were rushed through, in order to get us to the hotel..... which we arrived at with hours to spare before dinner and bed, feeling very disappointed in the day’s activities. Those activities had included the argan oil stop, which we could have skipped, was supposedly optional, and which we thought we had also said we were not interested in. This was when we first clued in that we were basically on a scripted tour and would have to be pretty vocal in communicating our desires to our guide since they had not been communicated by our advisor. (Our daughter messaged Megan about
it, and that was also her reply). From that point on, we did so and, while he seemed surprised at some of our choices (not dressing up and having our picture taken in caftans and turbans, for example), the rest of the trip seemed to go more smoothly. I’m still disappointed in the Ait BenHaddou stop, as I felt I saw nothing but some red walls. We had also expressed to Megan our daughter's desire to be able to take a short 'hike' while in the mountains, but the itinerary left no time to fit that in even though we'd been told we would be able to. We could have gone to the gorge after leaving Quarzazate, but our guide told us we'd have to leave at least an hour earlier in the morning, basically drive an hour, have time to stop and get a picture, and then drive the other way for hours to the camel trek; we opted to skip it. All to say that, even tho we felt we had communicated our wishes to Megan, they were not passed on and the trip did not seem very personal. We felt that either she didn't have a good grasp of distances and travel time, or just placated us with telling us that we would be able to do all the things we wanted. We would have made adjustments (e.g. skipped Rabat).... we relied on her 'expertise' rather than doing the homework ourselves - the main reason to hire a travel specialist - and were disappointed. There were a couple other small requests that were also not communicated to our guide. Basically, it felt that once we booked the trip, the cookie cutter parts were pieced together to hit our high points and the personal adjustments were ignored, as were realistic time frames. Still, we had a wonderful trip, thanks to Ibrahim and Hassan. Our guide in Fes, Kamal, was superb. The services provided by the Moroccan people to those who are traveling is so accommodating and hospitable, as they work to make you comfortable and welcome….something you don’t always find in areas heavily frequented by tourists. If we were to do it again, we decided we would skip Kimkim/Wanderlust, or any other travel service, find and hire a driver/guide via recommendation, and build our own trip from scratch - basically go back to what we have always done. We also feel that would allow more flexibility in stops…. there are lots of places along the way that we would have stopped and explored were we not on the ‘tour’, and others we would have skipped. Overall a fantastic trip, though.... it all worked out in the end.

Hotel Reviews

Riad & Spa Bahia Salam

Marrakech

Authenticity & Character

Great hammam!!

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Dar Kika Salam

Rabat

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Riad Mosaic Chefchaouen

Chefchouen

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Very personal and helpful. He is from Chefchaouen and obviously loves it. The only person who refused a tip and helped just because it's what you do.

Cleanliness & Comfort

I loved the hotel, but unfortunately our room was right on the corridor ("street") and noisy... people, dogs, etc. Probably wouldn't matter if we lived in a city where one is used to it, but we live very rurally and nights are really quiet (except for crickets and frogs in the spring and summer).

Riad Al Makan

Fès

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Riad Madu Luxury Camp

Merzouga

So much fun to be in the desert and pretend to live in a tent!

Authenticity & Character

Location

It's the Sahara.... what more needs to be said?

Staff

So much fun.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Riad Ksar Ighnda

Asfalou

Wonderful accomodations, large rooms, fantastic views

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Palais Sebban

Marrakech

Probably my favorite hotel of the trip. So much fun to explore, amazing mosaic and plaster work, beautiful rooms. Wonderful breakfast. Fantastic.

Authenticity & Character

rooms, mosaic, plasterwork, courtyard/garden, pools, food......

Location

Close to everything we wanted to do.

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Hassan II Mosque

Morocco

Amazing architecture, but by this point of the trip we had seen so much that it was almost overwhelming. In hindsight, I think we may have rather used the time for something else, thereby skipping Casablanca and allowing more time for other parts of the trip.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

The tour was a fairly large group of people, and there were several occurring concurrently. I know this can't be helped, but it does make it difficult to hear sometimes, especially when the guide is not speaking in his primary language.

Transport

En Route stop at Volubilis

Morocco

It was raining, so it wasn't a very leisurely exploration of the ruins, but it was truly beautiful.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Tour Fes with a Private Guide

Fes

I think Fes was one of the best parts of the trip.... so much to see and do.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Kamal was outstanding. So very knowledgeable. Lots of insightfulness and philosophical tidbits.

Transport

Erg Chebbi to Fes by way of the Atlas Mountains

Morocco

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Camel Trek into a Luxury Sahara Camp

Morocco

So fun, so amazing

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

It was a camel!

Ouarzazate to Erg Chebbi

Morocco

Beautiful drive, could have skipped the Argan oil stop. Would have greatly appreciated more time at Ben AitHaddou

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

This was the only disappointing day... just seemed to be a little rushed.

Transport

I can't imagine driving in Morocco, but Hassan never made me feel unsafe.

Tour Marrakech with a private guide

Marrakesh

The guide was very informative, but took us only to certain shops for shopping, rather than just letting us walk the souk and do our thing. Some of these shops seemed somewhat "high end" and specifically for tourists and travelers.

Quality of Experience

Just seemed a bit too scripted and planned out. Obviously made for tourists.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Mohammed was very knowledgeable. Appreciated his insight at the Bahia Palace and the mosque.

Transport

Food Tour

Marrakesh

Our favorite food is street food and the souk did not disappoint!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

we walked

This trip to Kenya 12/20-12/29/2024, was the trip of a lifetime. My kids ages 10 and 13 came with us which made it all the more special. The wildlife was surreal. We had a new stop each couple days that offered great diversity. Stanley was our driver and he has the perfect personality for the job. We found the people to be very genuine in Kenya and Stanley epitomizes that. The Maasai cultural experience is not one to skip. The 18 hours there was seriously life changing for my family.

The dog sledding in Alta was a highlight!!! I would love to go back and actually stay there. The outings for the northern lights were a bust until Tromso mini van trip. Kinga was excellent and the lights put on not only one show but two! Also very much enjoyed the reindeer. The snow mobiling was OK but I much prefer to be with animals more than motors. That is a personal preference. There were problems with the trip. Sometimes it took over 24 hours to get a response from anyone at KimKim. Also, several different people so there was no continuity. In Tromso we were given the wrong meeting place on the printed schedule which made us miss a half a day of our vacation and got up extra early. That was really sloppy. I would like to be reimbursed for this expense since we lost a half day and had to be rescheduled to another company. (Not as good as the Alta experience.)

This was a trip of a lifetime, allowing us to see the most we could in the time we had. Angel did a great job of getting everything in that we wanted to see and setting up the travel between all of the locations. Yumi was a great guide in Tokyo and adjusted our itinerary on the fly to make sure we saw all of the relevant attractions. Chizuko (Chi) was great for the 3 days we spent with her. She was very informative and had specific things she showed us as we went along. All of the hotels where excellent, and Angel piked well for us. We had an issue with a missed train connection, due to a blockage on the track, and Ms. Heidi was quick to help and even offered to pay the difference if we got charged for a change to the next train, which we did not. This is the 3rd time we have used KimKim and will absolutely use them again!

Activity Reviews

Half Day Fushimi Inari Taisha and Kinkakuji Temple

Kyoto

This was quit the experience, and would strongly recommend this and getting to see the culture aspects of Kyoto.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Tokyo Highlights Day Tour - East & West

Tokyo

Our guide did a great job of showing us all of the important things to see in Tokyo. Yumi was quick to adjust our itinerary to ensure we saw some of the historical aspects of Tokyo, which where close to our hotel.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Half Day Samurai Ninja Museum and Kimono Tea Ceremony at Kyoto Maikoya

Kyoto

The Samurai Museum will seem very touristy, BUT we found ourselves referencing the information we learned the rest of the trip. You really do learn about the Samurai and the history of them in Japan. The Tea Ceremony really got you the experience of seeing it in person and the opportunity to dress for it. Strongly suggest this tour, if this is your first trip to Japan.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Katana Sword Making in Kyoto

Kyoto

You get to learn about the history of swords as well as how they made. You end up with your own take home knife, that you helped craft, which really brings this home.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

A fantastic tour put together by Mathias! Every detail was thought out carefully and planned for our group of 4 adults and 5 children aged between 4-9. All we did was show up and the airport, and everything else was handled for the rest of the trip until we got back to the airport. Mathias was very responsive through the planning phase and always answered my multiple questions with consideration of my family and the needs of the kids and what we would all enjoy. All allergies and dietary restrictions were conveyed to everyone involved and all restaurants we ate at, so we never had to worry. When anything unexpected came up, our guide Mishell was quick to make changes on the fly and make sure everything was handled. She would always help watch out for our family and kids and watched their reactions at certain points ... She would then make suggestions on making any changes to future plans based on what she thought they would like. We had a great time in Quito and Otavalo seeing all the sights, the old town, the market, crater lake, the teleferiqo cable car, and so much more. Our time in the rainforest at was very different than other trips we have taken, but we thoroughly enjoyed our time visiting the Amazon and learning about the culture and people that call it home, including a boat ride down the river looking out for animals, and hiking through the forest. To end it all, we stopped (as planned by Mathias) for a few hours at the Papallacta hot springs to recover and relax after all the days of activities and excursions. Overall, the planning and execution by Mathias and the Authentic Ecuador team, as well as constant communication thought the trip between Mathias and Mishell, and with us... Was unmatched and unbeatable. Would highly recommend to anyone considering this tour or this company! Ask for Mathias, and you will not regret it and will have the time of your life in beautiful Ecuador! We are already thinking about a return trip in a couple years to the Galapagos!

Hotel Reviews

Hakuna Matata Lodge

Archidona

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Swissotel Quito

Quito

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Archidona - Papallacta Hot Springs - Quito

Ecuador

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Amazon Safari

Ecuador

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Chocolate Session

Ecuador

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Jungle Hike

Ecuador

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Otavalo Market & Cuicocha Crater Lake

Quito

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Quito Cooking Class

Ecuador

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Visit the "Middle of the World"

Ecuador

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Quito City Tour

Ecuador

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Our trip was absolutely wonderful! All the hotels were excellent and very helpful with maps and recommendations! In Madrid our first tour guide Alfonso for Prado museum and royal palace was exceptional. The King of Spain was in residence for Christmas so palace was closed to public. They made last minute change to Almudena cathedral which was great last minute alternate! Alfonso was so passionate about the art and history of Madrid. He took us for chocolate and churros where we can see them making the churros in business since 1902. This tour was fantastic and especially with our guide Alfonso. He pointed out and explained so many historical monuments. He was also the best possible guide for Prado museum! His passion was magnifico! Then on to San Sebastián where we had recommendations from hotel Room Mate Gorka for Narru restaurant where the food was wonderful! Thanks to Alba at Kim Kim we also had the best possible Christmas dinner in San Sebastián with music, food and wine! We had 2 food tours of the wine (rioja) country with pinxtos lunch and medieval village of LaGuardia. The wine caves were amazing. Then another day to a wonderful family owned farm with a fantastic meal we won’t forget! Our hostess was wonderful to walk us around her farm and serve us a delicious home made meal with Txakoli wine. Stop in Tolosa was beautiful! Last stop Bilbao and the Guggenheim. Hotel recommended restaurant Serantes. We had the best scallops I have ever had! Thank you Alba for a most wonderful trip with everything and more than we could have dreamed! I would recommend Alba for anyone who wants to see Spain as she was the best and always checking to make sure we were doing well. All hotels, transfers and tours were fantastic! I would not change anything!
I have so many photos and memories for a lifetime!
Thank you Alba!
Maisa and Robert

Hotel Reviews

Catalonia Gran Vía Bilbao

Bilbao

Comfortable and clean with great sleep and wonderful breakfast included. Room service was very good also

Authenticity & Character

Staff were helpful and packed us to go box meal for early flight departure!

Location

Very nice location

Staff

Wake up call and to go box meal for early flight departure was much appreciated!

Cleanliness & Comfort

Very clean and comfortable!

Gorka Room Mate

San Sebastián

Breakfast was wonderful and so were recommendations for shopping and food. Comfortable and quiet sleep

Authenticity & Character

This was great hotel!

Location

Great location

Staff

Good recommendation for food and ahopping

Cleanliness & Comfort

Very comfortable and excellent breakfast included

H10 Villa de la Reina

Madrid

Wonderful room with view of Gran Via and very comfortable! Staff was helpful with recommendations for late breakfast. Room was clean and very comfortable for great night sleep. Big plus for the balcony view!!!

Authenticity & Character

Lovely staff and very central location in city

Location

Central location with comfortable room and great balcony view. Quiet and comfortable

Staff

Mara at front desk was especially helpful with recommendations

Cleanliness & Comfort

Great room and very comfortable sleep

Activity Reviews

Private Basque Countryside Foodie Day Trip

San Sebastián

This tour was so much fun to meet the people who work and care for the animals and prepare the food. Beautiful countryside! No idea how you would find this without a guide. We had a wonderful meal and lovely experience with kind and generous people!

Quality of Experience

The food was excellent and our hostess was lovely

Food

Wonderful food and wonderful hostess

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Great trip

Transport

Tour of Tolosa was very nice. The farm was a hidden gem

Private Tour in la Rioja- Wine&History

Spain

We loved the tours of rioja country. Our guide Iker took us to 2 wineries where we were welcomed and shown around and explained the production and had tastings. The wine caves were incredible and we enjoyed this tour and the people who we met that were so friendly and welcoming. Easy to fall in love with the kind people we met in Spain.

Quality of Experience

Wonderful people! Beautiful country!

Food

Everything was good!

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Welcoming, friendly and fun

Transport

Iker was good host and driver

Madrid at a Glance, Culture, Royal Palace and El Prado

Madrid

We had the best tour guide! Alfonso was incredible with history and art in Madrid! We were fortunate to have Alfonso as our guide and had the most wonderful tour of Madrid with the Prado museum. He engaged with everyone and his knowledge and passion for Madrid was contagious!

Quality of Experience

Our guide Alfonso was exceptional

Guides, Drivers and Staff

The history and art in Madrid with our guide Alfonso made this tour special.

Transport

We could have walked but taxi was easier for us as we were not familiar with the streets and very busy time in streets at Christmas

If you are looking for a stress-free and reasonably-priced itinerary to Costa Rica, look no further than Kim Kim. From the very beginning of planning and customizing the itinerary, Olman was immediately responsive to my questions and concerns. The planning was transparent with information about hotels and activities. We felt confident going into the trip. We were then handed off to Graciela who was our contact in-country. The great communication continued. Our private driver Leo was the star of our trip, though. So gracious, so patient, such a wonderful lovely man who went out of his way to make our trip special by taking us to great restaurants and working in new things we wanted to do.

Prior to signing up with Kim Kim, I checked out several other tours that frequently come up on Google. We started in San Jose, stayed a few days in La Fortuna, moved onto Monteverde, and ended in Samara. So many logistics that these trips can get very expensive quickly. But, we found Kim Kim to be both accommodating and reasonably priced. I would use them again in a heartbeat.

Hotel Reviews

Leyenda Boutique Hotel and Spa

Hojancha Guanacaste

Very nice hotel outside the touristy areas of Samara. There was a beautiful courtyard area, with a beautiful pool and playground for young children. The rooms were spacious with a mini-fridge and large clean bathroom. There are two restaurants advertised at the hotel - This is critical because there are no restaurants within walking distance to the hotel. The lobby hotel was very good - very responsive and yummy dishes. The second restaurant - Hachidori - was marketed as an "asiatic" restaurant with sushi, ramen, and pad thai on the menu. Our experience was astoundingly bad (thus the three stars) - we waited 2 hours for our food, the food was barely edible, and we even didn't get our entire meals. It took us an hour to figure out that the food was being cooked at the lobby restaurant and walked over to Hachidori. Clearly the cooks didn't know how to cook this cuisine and there was no expediting to this restaurant. This experience, while isolated, defined our experience at this hotel.

Hotel Cipreses

Monteverde

Family run hotel which had a very nice personal homey feeling. The rooms did not have air conditioning. The December temperature was in the high 60s and low 70s so we didn't need cooling, but it was rainy and humid. I would refer to this hotel as a "budget" level hotel.

Hotel Magic Mountain

Fortuna

This was a perfect hotel for an 11-party group. The breakfast buffet included an omelet station which was really nice.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Whitewater Rafting Sarapiqui River (Class II -III)

Arenal/La Fortuna

Great adventure! We went at the end of the rainy season and the water was high! We've been on several white water rafting trips and this one was the most thrilling! Our guide, Carl, was super professional and calm. He gave great instructions and literally navigated us through rough waters. My only negative was that it was a gigantic group with numerous rafts going at the same time. But, when one raft flipped over, I appreciated how the other guides stopped and helped.

Arenal Volcano Canyoning Adventure

Arenal/La Fortuna

Absolutely the best activity we did in Costa Rica - The perfect blend of water, rappelling, and zip lining. Guides were very professional and we felt safe the entire time. Our family does a lot of adventure activities on vacation, and we have experienced nothing like this before. Lunch was great too! Just do it. You won't regret it.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Arenal Volcano & La Fortuna Waterfall Hike with Lunch

Arenal/La Fortuna

What a great nature walk at the volcano. Our guide, Franklin, was very knowledgeable about the wildlife and plant life. We learned a lot about each plant and their medicinal properties. Unfortunately, it was rainy and foggy that day and we couldn't see the volcano.

We thoroughly enjoyed the trip to Japan and would recommend it to everyone. Some of the timing could have been changed: for instance we spent a night in Sapporo that would have been better spent in Niseko. I think Alissa would benefit from taking a trip to Hokkaido herself.
Allan Tan, our guide in Tokyo was the highlight of our trip. He was not only very knowledgeable and helpful, but incredibly charming and enthusiastic.
Slash, our guide in Osaka and Kyoto, was also very knowledgeable and helpful. He helped us find and reserve some excellent restaurants.
The transportation everywhere was excellent. All our drivers were prompt and efficient.
We thought Kim-Kim did a fine job with reservations and we felt we got our money’s worth. Great trip.

Pedro was extremely responsive to us while planning the trip, and we were so impressed by the reminders he sent while we were on the trip. Everything was flawless. One of my sons got sick while on the trip and Pedro as well as our driver showed great concern for his well-being, offering to help in any way needed. Everything for the trip was put togehter so thoughtfully. We loved every aspect of it. We are recommending Kim Kim and Across Portugal to friends who want to vacation in Portugal. They could not do better!

Hotel Reviews

PortoBay Liberdade

Lisbon

Our rooms were extremely comfortable; the sheets were the softest I have ever felt. The lobby is very tasteful and modern. The restaurant was excellent. We really enjoyed th indoor pool.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Pousada Convento Belmonte

Belmonte

We stayed in the suite, which has so much beauty and character. The view is stunning. We highly recommend the restaurant which made the whole experience truly special.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Beautiful view of the mountains and Belmonte is a charming medieval town.

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Condes de Azevedo Palace

Porto

We shared a fabulous duplex with our two young-adult sons. It was perfect for us, with 2 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms and kitchen/living room. All the furniture was modern but mixed with original granite - very beautiful! The breakfast was also excellent.

Authenticity & Character

Location

We walked everywhere we wanted to go; it was near everything, including the bridge to Gaia.

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Unveil the Fairytale Villa of Sintra with a Private Driver Service

Portugal

The palace is very well maintained with original furnishings. The views are pretty. It was very crowded, however, which detracted from the experience. The better part of this day trip for us was visiting Cabo da Roca and the seaside town of Cascais, where we ate at an excellent seafood restaurant. This part of the trip had amazing views of the ocean and cliffs - very impressive natural beauty.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Carlos is local to the area and he took us to the most beautiful spots. He was extremely attentive to us. Just perfect!

Transport

Beautiful drive along the ocean on the way back to Lisbon.

Immerse Yourself in the Portuguese Culture by Experiencing a Fado Dinner

Portugal

This is a small space so everyone has an intimate experience with the performers, who were excellent. We did not expect much from the food, but it was very good. This is the best way to experience fado.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

About: Belmonte

Portugal

This is a particularly wonderful place for those interested in the history of Jews in Portugal, but it's wonderful for everyone. The town is beautiful. We ate a great restaurant full of locals right in the center of town.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

It's a scenic drive from Belmonte to Lisbon.

Porto's Historic Odyssey on a Private Walking Tour

Porto

Bernardo was an excellent guide, very knowledgeable and well spoken. He knew we were interested in Jewish history so he made it a point to show us some of that particular history. For us, the trip could have focused less on shopping, but still an amazing experience.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Kimkim and our local specialist, Olman, made planning and traveling for our Costa Rican vacation easy and stress free. The hotels and excursions that Olman recommended were perfect and appropriate for the needs of our family of four (which included two teenagers). I will definitely use Kimkim again for any future international trips.

Hotel Reviews

Hotel & Spa Poco a Poco

Monteverde

Charming hotel located right next to shops and food.

Authenticity & Character

Complementary drinks provided in fridge, great pool and hot tub as well as a fire pit for roasting marshmallows

Location

Great location!

Staff

Staff were very nice and helpful

Cleanliness & Comfort

Well maintained

Karahé Beach Hotel

Manuel Antonio

The private beach was amazing and the staff were wonderful and helpful. I will stay here again on my next trip to Costa Rica!

Authenticity & Character

We had easy access to the beach and ocean and also to the rainforests

Location

Beach was right next to National Park and full of services. Our kids took surf lessons from Waterdogs. I enjoyed a massage on the beach. My daughter and I got our hair braided on the beach and there was even a vendor selling coconut water in a coconut! The hotel and beach had monkeys and a sloth in the trees!

Staff

Staff could not have been more kind and helpful

Cleanliness & Comfort

Service staff cleaned the rooms daily and replaced beach towels each time

Activity Reviews

TreeTram, Hanging Bridges & Zipline Adventure

Monteverde

Our favorite experience of the trip. Suspension bridges were thrilling and we saw a tarantula in the rainforest. The ziplining was exhilarating. The staff were supportive and provided for our safety. Ziplining into the cloud forest was such a thrill.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

EcoTermales Hot Springs Experience with Meal

Arenal/La Fortuna

My husband and I visited this 20 years ago on our honeymoon and it was just as we remembered it but better!

Quality of Experience

Food

Drinks were delicious and decorative. We enjoyed the buffet dinner and it had a wide array of choices.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

This was our second trip planned with Kimkim, and it went equally as well! Anders took our requests and opinions and created the perfect 8-day trip to Oslo and Tromso. It was the perfect time of year to visit the Christmas villages in Oslo and to see the amazing winter landscape in Tromso. We were fortunate enough to see the Northern Lights too! The highlight of our trip and our top recommendation was the husky sledding experience. This visit highlighted the unique and nature-driven adoration that Norwegians live by. The dogs were incredible to meet and play with. We would certainly recommend visiting this country during the winter time to anyone looking for a winter adventure!

Activity Reviews

Reindeer Feeding & Sámi Culture Experience

Tromsø

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Oslofjord Dinner Cruise

Oslo

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Northern Lights Hunt by Minibus with Photographer & Campfire Dinner

Tromsø

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Northern Lights Dinner Cruise

Tromsø

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Shared Sauna Experience - Arctic Plunge (1 hour)

Tromsø

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Kvaløya Husky Sledding Excursion

Tromsø

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Overall, we had a fantastic trip. Kelli was very attentive and responsive to our questions and in helping us plan this trip.
Overall, the individual guides that we had in the different cities were quite good. The biggest issue with the guides is that their English was often very difficult to understand. I don't know if Kim Kim is able to choose specific guides but in the past we have had guides in other countries who we could understand much more easily.
On a positive note, all the accommodations we stayed in were extremely nice. Kim Kim, arranged for people to meet us at the airport and at the boat after a two day trip down the Mekong River, which was very helpful.
We did a cooking activity in both Chiang Mai and in Laos, which Kelli arranged and both were wonderful. We also loved the rice farming center in Luang Prabang. We visited many temples in both countries, which were extremely beautiful. All the guides seemed knowledgeable. They took us for lunches which were included in many of the day trips, and the food was generally excellent. At the end of our trip, we wanted to go birding and Kelly connected us with a guide who was reasonably knowledgeable about birds, and sent us to an area which attracts many bird watchers. In addition, he found local guides that accompanied us on the birdwatching trips, and we saw many species of birds and were even lucky enough to catch a wonderful sighting of a gibbon family on the last day.
The reason for four rather than five stars is somewhat complicated. I think that the biggest problem was that it seemed that Kelli had not experienced some of the activities which were arranged . For example, we had a bicycle trip planned in Luang Prahbang but part of it would have taken place on a very busy road and part of it would've taken place on an extremely hilly Road, probably beyond our physical capability. so we skipped it but had already paid. We substituted this with one of our favorite experiences which we found on our own -- learning about silk weaving which is a local craft. Also, some of the activities in Thailand were extremely touristy like the market train, which we would've preferred to skip. and and Visiting the "Karen tribe" in Chiang Rai; it seemed like the the women were on display and afterwards we read controversial discussions "on line " about the way these women are treated in Thailand.
This was our third time using Kim Kim travel and I'm not sure if I will use them again. The main reason is their lack of transparency about costs and the mixed experience I've had with finding someone who really understands the kind of activities we really want. Additionally, KimKim is really a "middle man" and hired another tour operator, which we could have done directly and paid for one less layer.

We worked more closely Fenne! Fenne was great and super helpful. I have feedback about the excursions that were chosen.

Hotel Reviews

Home Hotel Bryggen

Bergen

Seemed great we only there for a few hours!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Tromsø Lapland overnight in Lavvu

Ramfjordbotn

Loved sleeping out in the tent but no one told us when breakfast was so we missed it! I wouldn’t do this again or recommend the experience. Too touristy and not well managed.

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Scandic Ishavshotel

Tromsø

Great location! Bus terminal was close by and you could walk everywhere!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Radisson Blu Royal Garden

Trondheim,

Great location and delicious breakfast buffet!!!

Location

Easy walk from our bus stop and to city center!

Cleanliness & Comfort

Flåm Marina

Flåm

We loved the location and the dining room.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Loved being on the water with a balcony!!!

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Zander K Hotel

Bergen

Awesome location and delicious breakfast. So easy to get to the train station and walking to other areas.

Authenticity & Character

Clean, great lobby area and helpful staff!

Location

Easy access to the train station!!!

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Reindeer Sledding & Sámi Overnight Experience

Tromsø

I’d skip this! Too crowded and the overnight was ok, but the beds and sleeping bags seemed dirty and wet! Staff didn’t tell us when breakfast was so we missed it! There is no sink to wash your hands or brush your teeth. I wouldn’t not so this activity. We arrived very late back to Tromso and not as advertised on their site. The pictures are far nicer then the actual experience.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Snowmobile Excursion

Tromsø

Awesome! We had a great time.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Ice Gallery Experience

Tromsø

Terrible! Skip it! Small, unfriendly staff and so so so cheesy!

Quality of Experience

Kvaløya Husky Sledding Excursion

Tromsø

Really fun and something not to miss in Tromso!!!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Northern Lights Hunt by Minibus

Tromsø

We had the only clear night of the week and it was AMAZING!!!!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Fjellheisen Cable Car Ticket

Tromsø

Terrible! Way too crowded and packed with rude people, not the fault of the activity likely the time of our visit. We wish we had saved the money and time.

Quality of Experience

Winter Kayak Nidelven With Instructor

Trondheim

This was amazing!!! It was just the three of us and a guide and one of our favorite activities!!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

We took the bus and walked - super easy!

Winter Fjord RIB Safari & Hot Drink in Undredal

Flåm

This was awesome!! We loved this trip and the boat and learning about the area.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Pop

Transport

Fløibanen Funicular Experience (tickets included)

Bergen

It was so rainy we saw nothing!

Quality of Experience

Our trip was truly wonderful - This was our 1st time visiting Costa Rica and we felt welcomed and well taken care of throughout our time there.
Planning and booking: My experience working with Yuliana was great. Her model of asking for our input and then providing suggestions and guidance was super helpful. We planned a 9-10 day tour (flying in and out of Liberia), and our group of 8 included family members in their 80's, 70's, 50's, and a 20 year old. We wanted to get a sense of different parts of the country so we visited Arenal, Tortuguero, Puerto Viejo, San Jose, and Monte Verde. Yuliana helped plan accordingly and found both accommodations and activities to meet a wide range of interests and abilities. Yuliana was patient and very flexible as we made adjustments and tweaked travel plans. She went above and beyond our expectations with some last minute add-ons that really made our experience memorable. She responded quickly and answered our questions and addressed our concerns. We had a detailed itinerary in hand with activities, travel, and lodging clearly laid out in advance of the trip for everyone to review. The itinerary included confirmation numbers for lodging and activities and phone contact numbers. (I would encourage anyone traveling to Costa Rica who has a similar itinerary to print a hard copy to take with you as part of the wonder of our trip was being in remote natural areas where there is not always internet or cell service).
Trip Itself: Once we arrived in Costa Rica Yuliana had arranged for our transport and drivers through a company called Amazilia Travel. I cannot say enough good things about this company. Graciela was out point of contact in the office with Amazilia Travel and was excellent. She was available when needed, answered questions quickly, and anticipated our needs during the trip. During our trip we had 2 drivers, Leo and Adrien. They were fantastic. I recommend both without hesitation. Not only are they talented drivers, they have vast knowledge of the country and areas in which we traveled and were happy to engage in conversation and answer questions. While most of the trip went very smoothly we did run into a few minor issues. That said, both Leo and Adrien went out of their way to resolve the issues quickly making extra calls and inquires as needed.
Overall a fantastic experience.

Hotel Reviews

Monteverde Country Lodge

Monteverde

This lodge is absolutely beautiful. The grounds are picturesque and the birds that we saw (toucans, toucanets, motmots, bluegrey tanagers) were fantastic. Staff was fantastic, food was delicious. We were truly welcomed and made to feel at home and cared for.

Authenticity & Character

Beautiful, quaint, relaxing and comfortable. Excellent restaurant.

Location

We loved the location. We were not, however close to town. This made for a wonderful feeling of being out in the wild and for seeing birds and creatures right on the grounds. However, if you don't have a vehicle or a private driver, it could be difficult to get back and forth to town.

Staff

Some of the more friendly, courteous, professional, and helpful people we had the pleasure of meeting on our trip.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Auténtico Hotel

San José

Authenticity & Character

Location

The hotel location is good. That said it is not close to downtown and it is not on any public transit routes, so unless your group has a private driver, be ready for a lengthy walk (took us 40 minutes to walk to Central Market) or to pay for an uber or taxis.

Staff

Staff were friendly and professional, very welcoming and helpful.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Cariblue Beach & Jungle Resort

South Puerto Viejo

The combination of location (in the jungle, but right across the street from the beach) and the beauty of the grounds itself make it a wonderful place to stay.

Authenticity & Character

Location

We loved the location! That said, if you want to be within easy walking distance of town, this hotel is a bit far out.

Staff

Staff was helpful, polite, and professional. They spoke bot English and Spanish which was helpful for our group most of whom have very limited Spanish.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Pachira Lodge

Tortuguero

The lodge is designed in a way that you feel you are in the jungle. We saw both Howlers and Spider monkeys up close on the lodge grounds. Additionally we saw sloths, Jesus Christ Lizard, Toucans, Bare Throated Tiger Herons, and leaf cutter ants without leaving the lodge

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Staff here went out of their way to take care of us. Very friendly and attentive.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Keep in mind the lodge is in the middle of a jungle, so if you don't want to hear the sounds of monkeys and other creatures at night, this is not the place for you - that said our rooms were clean and spacious, and the beds were comfortable. The rooms do not have A/C, but at least in December when we were there, the evenings cooled off nicely and the ceiling fans kept us comfortable.

Arenal Paraíso Resort, Spa & Hot Springs

La Fortuna

Authenticity & Character

The character of this hotel with the view of Arenal, the lush grounds filled with tropical plants and the hots springs gives the whole lodge/hotel a feeling of natural beauty and awe. We saw birds on the hotel grounds that we didn't see anywhere else during our trip.

Location

The view of Arenal from this hotel is spectacular.

Staff

Everyone was attentive and willing to help.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Cloud Forest Reserve Hike

Monteverde

Our guide, Andrey was phenomenal. Knew so many things and was able to show us a huge variety of both animal and plant life on the way. As with other hikes, we would have missed so much if not for him.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Private Cahuita National Park Snorkel & Rainforest Hike

Puerto Viejo de Talamanca

Our tour guide Carlos was excellent. Very knowledgeable and helped us see so many things we would not have if we had gone on our own. The wildlife and plant life were stunning. The only thing we were not able to do was to try snorkeling - but we knew the odds of doing that were low given the time of year of our visit (Dec).

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Enjoy the Beauty of Tortuguero National Park

Tortuguero

Provided an experience were we truly felt we were out in the jungle and interactions with animals we didn't find anywhere else. We absolutely recommend a boat tour of the park. It is the only location in Costa Rica where we saw Spider, Howler and Capuchin monkeys all in the same day. It was also a great way to see both cayman and crocodiles. Our guide, Marco, and the captain of boat, Michael were both excellent.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Private Arenal Volcano & 1968 Reserve Hike

Arenal/La Fortuna

We toured with Franklin, he was fantastic. Knowledgeable and entertaining, he providing facinating facts and information about the volcano and the plants and animals we encountered on the hike. We would absolutely recommend him. He also helped us spot both toucans and sloths while in transit from the park to our restuarant.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Norway was one of those delayed-by-the-pandemic trips for us. We were childless when we first planned to go a few years ago. When we finally got around to going, we had a two-year-old and vastly different ambitions for what we might see and do while in the country. Booking through Kim Kim turned out to be a great way to square our past and present selves. With local expertise from Christina, Katie, and Tom, we still got deep into the country and saw amazing sights -- but weren't burdened by an overly ambitious itinerary that would have burned out our toddler (and us, frankly). They never pressured us to do and add more to our days, which was much appreciated.

Norway is a great place to travel with kids and our son had a great time on the trains, trams, and boats. It was so easy to get around on our own in between scheduled stops and we were never short on ideas for quick things to do, thanks to our guides. We were especially grateful for their help once we were in the country and needed to change one of our accommodations and add an unexpected outing -- and another time when we needed help reaching a taxi driver who didn't arrive to pick us up on time. They were very prompt to reply and put us totally at ease. I highly recommend this group to anyone traveling to Norway!

A well-organized compact trip to Patagonia and Santiago. Fransisco, our tour organizer's arrangements were detailed and his instructions were accurate. His and local support along the trip whenever we had hiccups was particularly impressive. Our activities were great, and the local guides were wonderful. We particularly enjoyed Nicholas for our Punta Arenas tour and Jorge for the kayak from Puerto Prat. They were both knowledgeable and their enthusiasm and love for the land was infectious.

Hotel Reviews

Hotel Sheuen Patagonia

Puerto Natales

Great hotel catering exactly for adventure travel. Staff was awesome. Beds were somewhat worn, but still recommend.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Alma Sur

Punta Arenas

Mid hotel. Hotel rooms were small, dinner and breakfast were mediocre and payment arrangements were messed up for us. The hotel was very busy with a lot of Antarctica tourists.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Director Vitacura

Santiago, Vitacura, Región Metropolitana

Excellent location, staff and breakfast.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Torres del Paine National Park - Panoramic Tour

Chile

Tour is amazing, lunch was a bit chaotic.

Full Day Valparaiso & Viña del Mar - Group Tour

Santiago

Tour guide was good, but the stops for food were poor.

Eberhard Fjord Kayak Adventure!

Chile

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

We had a wonderful trip to Thailand and Laos! The local guides were generally attentive and informative and communication between Kelly and them was quite good. The bookings for activities and accommodations were, with one exception, very good. Logistics were handled professionally and were generally seamless .

Activity Reviews

Kaeng Krachan National Park to Bangkrang Camp Ground area - Day 3

Kaeng Krachan National Park

Saw A scopes owl and a family of gibbons!!

Quality of Experience

Kaeng Krachan National Park - the summit area of Panoen Thung- Day 2

Kaeng Krachan National Park

Great birding

Quality of Experience

Bangkok - Khokkham - Laem Pakpia - Kaeng Krachan -Day 1

Kaeng Krachan National Park

Long day; excellent birding. Knowledgeable. Guide

Half day Local Farm Visit and Kuang Si Waterfall

Luang Prabang

Half Day Lao Cooking Class

Luang Prabang

Fun, we prepared a great lunch

Full Day Wat Xieng Thong and Night Market Tour

Luang Prabang

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Attentive, knowledgeable , friendly

Take the Mekong River Cruise to Luang Prabang (Join-in)

Thailand

Relaxing and beautiful . The food was great, too

Half Day Fun Cooking Experience With a Local Lanna Family

Chiang Mai

Lots of fun, informative and delicious

Full Day Chiang Rai Tour with White Temple & Karen Hill Tribe

Chiang Rai

I think the visit to the Karen. Village was exploitative and would not recommend it’ll

The guides from Kawen and trips in bariloche were great. 10/10 there

The planning in el calafate was not as good. The tour the first day spent way too much time on the boat and we barely got to see the glacier. And they failed to tell us that the tour the second day was at night (even though the schedule implied it would be during the day) until the day before when it was too late to make any other plans, and since it was Christmas Day there was literally nothing to do in town. This was disappointing because we asked if there were any issues with our tour being on Christmas and they said none at all.

Also the travel company failed to tell us to bring $100 bills so we could exchange money and that it was very difficult to get pesos without a $100 bill.

Overall we liked most of the activities but there could have been much better planning and communication and information sharing.

Activity Reviews

Half-Day Brazo Tristeza Navigation

Bariloche

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Half-Day Nativo Experience

El Calafate

Very fun and interesting

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Full-Day Mayo Spirit Trek

El Calafate

The sights were cool but there was way too much time on the boat. We spent more time on the boat than off it and only got to spend 35 minutes at the glacier. There are definitely better tours of the glaciers.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Too much time on the boat

Full-Day Kayak & Trekking at Lake Mascardi

Bariloche

Guide was great, activity was fun. I couldn’t recommend this more

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport