Kimkim Trip Reviews

Sarah was BEYOND amazing. Wow. Every day she planned for us was just perfect. Her communication was spot on. Can’t say enough about Sarah. Thank you so much.

Activity Reviews

Visit a family farm for an authentic Croatian meal + visit small town of Cavtat

Croatia

Wow. The city was worth seeing and the highlight was the local lunch after that was set up for us was outstanding.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Dubrovnik Kayaking Adventure

Dubrovnik

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

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

Split

Marko the Captain and Katya were incredible. They made our day special.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Krka National Park + lunch in the countryside

Croatia

The local lunch after the walk was one of our favorite eating experiences.

Quality of Experience

Food

Amazing local restaurant.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Hvar - cycling excursion with local snacks!

Hvar

I highly recommend this activity. Beautiful cycling tour with history and concluded with an amazing wine cellar wine tasting and local snacks.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Oyster Tasting & Farming Experience in Ston Bay

Dubrovnik

Highly recommend. Just incredible. Probably our favorite day of the trip.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

This is the second time we have used Kim Kim to book our European vacations so I am giving this review based off the experience we had last year. Last year, our travel agent, Antonia, who booked our trip to Croatia, exceeded our expectations. She raised the bar very high and I guess I expected the same kind of service that we did not receive with Yuri. She was available literally 24/7 and responded immediately to all my questions with texts and phone calls even with the 7 hour time difference. She went above and beyond. With Yuri, I had to schedule phone calls at inconvenient early morning times. He wasn’t available on the weekends either. Like I said the bar was raised high with our first experience so it was just a little disappointing. Other than Yuri’s responsiveness as compared to Antonia, the trip was amazing, we enjoyed all the highlights of Spain, the tours and transfers were seamless.
Hotels were in great locations. All in the heart of the historic districts.
We enjoyed a day trips to costa brava and our stop in Ronda. Absolutely gorgeous! Highly recommend!
Yuri booked a Seville walking tour which we enjoyed learning about the history. It was a 2 hour tour well spent. Yuri also booked a walking tour of Granada which we also enjoyed touring the city center snd cathedral. It was left to us what we wanted to see which we loved about the tour.
Overall we enjoyed our trip to Spain and we will definitely use and recommend Kim Kim for future vacations.

Hotel Reviews

H10 Madison

Barcelona

Great location rooms and breakfast

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Amadeus

Seville

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Molina Lario Hotel

Málaga

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Casa 1800

Granada

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Vincci The Mint

Madrid

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Sunset Sailing in Barcelona

Barcelona

The skipper was amazing. Very friendly but I don’t recommend this tour. All we did was sail off the shore a little ways out and anchored for the whole hour and a half which was boring. I like to travel the sea and make stops at coves and islands and enjoy the scenery which Barcelona does not have to offer. The Barcelona coastline is not pretty.

Quality of Experience

Boring

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Great skipper

Transport

Historic Landmarks Walk

Seville

We enjoyed this 2 hour walking tour of Seville. Was a great way to learn the history and to spend the morning.

Private Day Trip to Costa Brava's Coastal Villages

Barcelona

Highlight of our trip! Palafrugell is a must. We absolutely enjoyed this all day tour from Barcelona. Wonderful guide!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Evening Tour of the Albaicín in Granada

Granada

This tour was custom to what we wanted to see and we loved that!

Private transfer from {{start_location}} to {{end_location}} with Ronda visit

Spain

Worth a stop for lunch and the beautiful scenery.

Private Flamenco, City & Tapas Experience

Seville

I was hesitant about this because it was 4 hours long but it didn’t feel like 4 hours. We enjoyed the seeing the flamenco dancing followed with visiting 3 tapas bars. Our guide was fantastic. She knew where the good tapas bars were and more importantly what to order for us to eat. It was one of our best dining experiences for amazing variety of tapas.

Sarah was exceptional! She did not miss a beat before and during our amazing vacation. All of her tours and transportation vendors were professional, punctual, and extremely knowledgeable about each region we visited. Marco who took us on his boat from Split to Hvar was the best. He made our day trip so fun and was one of the many highlights . The bike tour in Hvar, kayaking in Dubrovnik with Eddie, the list goes on. Sarah, you are very good at what you do! Our trip was seamless, worry-free, and incredibly relaxing because you had it all under control for our party of eleven. Thank you! This was a trip of a lifetime.

We absolutely loved Iceland!! Gummi helped us with every detail. He even made sure that we could communicate before we ever left the states since coverage is so different in Iceland. We had trouble with our first place we stayed not having a workable shower and it turned from bad to worse, we were immediately moved to an amazing place in downtown Reykjavik. The itinerary was amazing. We had so many hikes and natural wonders to view. Iceland is expensive, there is no way around that and we have celiac disease so have to be careful where we eat. Gummi was great and set us up in places that had kitchens or kitchenettes. so we could make a lot of our meals. The Find Me Gluten Free app works really well there if anyone needs the same accommodations. If you are coming from the states you may want to get a hotel you can check into and sleep the first day. At least a few hours. Our first day was tough because we were so tired. The ice caves were the favorite activity planned. Our guide, Pasquale, was so professional and kind. I am incredibly afraid of heights and he took care of me with all the kindness in the world to help me walk across the bridges through the cave. It was so worth it!!!! Such a beautiful wonder! We really enjoyed our days in the car going from site to site as well. When we went to see the glaciers breaking apart we spontaneously to a kodiak boat ride out to it. Peter was our guide and he was very informative and such a great guide. Next time we will spend a day in Reykjavik exploring the museums and such there instead of whale watching. I really liked the way that Gummi arranged for us to stay in the southern region instead of trying to go all over the whole island. He planned the trip just like we discussed. I just cannot say enough good things about our trip or how fabulous Gummi was. I have never met him, but my whole family thinks of him as a friend that helped us enjoy our time in Iceland.

Hotel Reviews

Stay Apartments Einholt

Reykjavik

This was an awful place to stay. Our shower was clogged and flooded the apartment. Finally after 5 hours someone showed up without tools and no intention of fixing it. The next day we returned to our apartment to find someone had worked on it. The shower was disgusting and their things were laying out everywhere. Then the next morning sewage started bubbling up out of the shower. Would not ever say again. They did give us a place to shower, but good grief!!

Authenticity & Character

Location

We could walk to most things

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Stracta Hotel

Hella

Room was perfect for our family. We had 20 year old girl and 18 year old boy. There were beds for everyone. We have to eat gluten free and there was a frig and a stove there where we could make things. They do not accommodate gluten free with their breakfast, so eating in your room might be a better choice. Also, this was right in the middle of our trip. When we asked for laundry facilities they actually had us pack all our laundry in a bag and they washed our clothes overnight. It was handed back to us damp and unfolded (just heads up) but it was fine. We were happy to have clean clothes.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Welcome Hotel Lambafell

Eyvindarhólar

The hotel itself was so cool!! It had a glacier above it. The beds were great. It had a hot tub outside that was open 24 hours. We really did not know anyone else was there until the morning at breakfast. There is a really cool 100 year old pool up the mountain that is filled with an underground hot spring. The reason I rated just mid was the staff was not friendly at all. There is no one there when you check in and they had not sent us the information how to get into our room. I called on the phone at the desk as instructed. A woman came and looked at us and said " Do you need to check in" we said "yes" and she turned and started walking away. Thank goodness I followed her. She handed us our keys and turned and left. It was very obvious she did not want to be there and did not want us there. We walked through kitchen area that had all sorts of cookies/ biscuits and a pie. They had a coffee machine, tea and hot chocolate. We just assumed they were open for consumption. There was a sign that said breakfast 8-10. When showing up at breakfast we were met with the same attitude. Told they had nothing gluten free. You get mixed signals. In one sense there is everything laid out for comfort but then the staff is not welcoming at all. Cute place and I would stay again, just need to know they are not very personable.

Authenticity & Character

Of the hotel

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Konvin Hotel by Reykjavik Keflavik Airport

Keflavík

This was our final hotel and it was perfect to stay in before our flight the next morning. The rooms were much bigger than we had been use to so it was easier to repack our things. It was close to great restaurants. It was perfect for what we needed.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Reykjavík Classic Whale Watching

Iceland

The whale tour was ok. It would have been better if whales had made their appearance more. It was cold. Staff was nice and helpful. There is a cabin on the bottom floor that has hot drinks and snacks. That was nice to warm up with.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

How to be­come Icelandic in 60 minutes

Iceland

You actually learn things about Iceland that help with the trip in a humorous way.

Quality of Experience

Langjokull glacier snowmobiling

Iceland

The staff, transportation and experience was good. It was just sleeting and raining the entire time.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Katla Ice Cave

Iceland

This was our favorite experience!! We loved our guide Pasquale. They are professional from the start. You meet in a restaurant that has the best hot chocolate I have every had is made. Then you get on a bus that takes you to the glacier and your get your footwear. The guide takes you to the cave and beyond. It is so beautiful and the experience is invigorating. I cannot recommend this enough!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Lunar Landscapes & Healing Waters – Blue Lagoon Immersion

Iceland

This was the perfect end to our trip! Enjoy floating in the natural hot pool and use the mask, get a drink and just enjoy. We stayed in for about 3 hours. You can stay as long as you like. We ate at the Lava Cafe. Good food and service.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Our guides name was Agith, he was fantastic. Very knowledgeable and patient making sure to explain every attraction we visited with meticulous detail. A real pleasure to spend time with. Dhanushka, the trip oraganizer was always available and replied to me messages immediately. We only spent 5 days in Sri Lanka, but we felt like we managed to experience way more.

Krista was our initial planner and then other planners came into the mix. I did not like that process as information was not always transmitted accurately and at one point we had a big snafu regarding one of our destinations. It did not work for me to have probably 4-5 different trip planners working with me On the trip. I will say that Meree, the last planner we worked with, was most responsive and very empathic to the challenges we faced with our lodging.
I am not sure I would work with KimKim again. I have planned all
Of our prior European travels but decided to get professional help with this trip due to my time constraints. I have to say that for all the money we paid, we did not get very much for the money spent. Furthermore there were real problems with two of our accommodations (the best place we stayed in Norway was found by me!), and given that the primary request was around comfortable accommodations, I would
Say KimKim failed miserably. To their credit, we were later refunded some
Of Our money which I did appreciate, however that still did not truly
Compensate for our disappointment in where we stayed. I was
Clear with Krista that two of our foursome were 80 years old, and I am not sure she truly took that into consideration when making some of our arrangements. For example, the fjord safari out of Flam was totally inappropriate for the older couple traveling
With us, so they did not go. "Farm tours" were not truly "farms" so I felt a bit misled. We liked the fjord ferry to Rosendhal and that was a highlight. KimKim also neglected to give us some important transit info (eg how to get to the ferry, etc), but when I asked, they were pretty immediately responsive.
All in all, I would not use KimKim again. While some of the planners (especially Meree) were great and tuned in, I am not sure
Others were. While we made the best out of the inconveniences, I think I will go back to
Planning for myself. On balance this was an expensive lesson to learn.

Hotel Reviews

Hotel Norge by Scandic

Bergen

We had received a. "Upgrade " at this hotel But when we arrived we were told that our prepaid rooms were given away. And then told we were given a "better " room. They were small, cramped, loud (practically at street Level) and the attitude of the staff was "too Bad". Very unpleasant stay

Location

Near the museums. Loved that

Staff

Being taken more seriously given their mistake in giving away our rooms

Cleanliness & Comfort

Flåmsbrygga Hotel

Flåm

Loud and not well appointed at all. No one told us that getting food after 7:30, unless reservations were made well in advance. Abd our fjord safari did not return til 8. So no dinner for us that pm

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Terribly loud, especially from the upstairs room. We did not sleep Well that nitht

Thon Hotel Rosenkrantz

Bergen

Comfortable and spacious. Nice breakfast

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

29|2 Aurland

Aurland

We loved being at the farm and the staff, especially sjorg and Anders who were fantastic. The rooms we stayed in were small but lovely, but required climbing a treacherous ladder that was quite dangerous for us and our companions who were 80. We never should have been in those rooms. That step ladder is a Lawsuit waiting to happen. Minimally no one over 50 Should be climbing up those "steps" and a railing should be installed. Apart from that , the farm Is a special place and the meals were very good.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Clean but hard to navigate our rooms. See above

Activity Reviews

Summer Fjord RIB Safari & Undredal Cheese Tasting

Flåm

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Experience Aurland with a Local Guide

Aurland

No real tasting of any food so a bit of a misrepresentation

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Anders was a wonderful Guide

Transport

Fjord Cruise to Rosendal

Bergen

Lovely place to visit

Quality of Experience

Transport

Anna did an excellent job in planning our 11-day trip to Norway. Listening to our interest in hiking and exploring fjords and the coast, she designed a custom trip that exceeded our expectations. It was a great adventure for my wife and me.

I simply loved my trip to Costa Rica. My experience with KimKim was amazing. They really worked hard to work with my budget and created 3 different itineraries for me until I was finally happy. That to me is amazing. They were so quick to respond and they worked with me in a rush last minute to quickly book my stays and tours. ALL the tour guides were amazing! And I really appreciated that the tours were kept to small groups. It made my experience more intimate and enjoyable. It was my first time working with a travel agency and they did not disappoint. Thank you for making my trip an amazing one and accommodating my refunds quickly when 2 of my tours got cancelled due to matters out of our control. I look forward to working with you again and will recommend you to friends and family.

Hotel Reviews

Hotel Playa Espadilla

Manuel Antonio

This was my favorite stay out of the three I visited! The receptionist here is amazing! The food wasn't great, but there are so many restaurants literally 2 mins away walking. I loved the pool, breakfast was included, the bar was awesome, their laundry service is a fair price, and the ambience in general is really nice here.

Authenticity & Character

Location

walking distance from national park, the beach, and plenty of restaurants

Staff

The receptionist was my favorite person

Cleanliness & Comfort

Ficus Sunset Suites

Monteverde

This hotel is a very nice hotel. Only negative aspect is that there is no AC in the rooms & they make you sign off in renting their fans. However, the view from the rooms is amazing. I only stayed one night here so I can't really comment much on anything else.

Casa Luna Hotel & Spa

La Fortuna

The rooms and staff were really nice. The only negative would be that the hot tubs were definitely not hot. Although they were beautiful, we couldn't really enjoy them because of how cold we were.

Activity Reviews

Waterfall & Volcano Hiking Adventure with Lunch

Arenal/La Fortuna

Our tour guide, Mariano from Serendipity Adventures, was AMAZING. He was so real and down to earth and had so much knowledge to share. He really made this an amazing experience. The restaurant he took us to was my favorite restaurant from the whole trip! Definitely an experience I would encourage others to take.

Quality of Experience

Food

This was the best restaurant I tried in my whole trip. I wish I could visit this restaurant again!

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Mariano from Serendipity Adventures was amazing. Great knowledge, great food recommendations, and great attraction recommendations.

Transport

Manuel Antonio National Park Guided Hike

Manuel Antonio

Andres from Endemic Bird Expert was my favorite tour guide to have met. His knowledge of the animals and the jungle is incredible. His personality was just the most amazing. I felt like he was spotting so many animals that others weren't catching. I strongly recommend this tour with this particular guide.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Andres from Endemic Bird had such an amazing personality!

Transport

We had a fantastic experience with our greece vacation through kimkim! Angela was amazing - putting together many different itineraries until we had the right one. She was incredibly responsive answering all of our queries usually within minutes if not seconds!! All of the logistics were perfect and she found us some beautiful and unique places to stay that were within our budget. Some highlights were the views and kind staff at our athens hotel, amazing location of hotel and the wonderful kitron tour with sofia in naxos-not to be missed! and the incredible sunsets from our place in santorini. We were so happy with Angela and would definitely book again!

Hotel Reviews

Athens 21

Athens

Amazing-clean, kind staff, generous breakfast and gorgeous rooftop

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Ippokampos Beachfront Hotel

Naxos

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Azure Villa Santorini

Santorini

The best sunset views in all of santorini!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Athens Highlights Mythology Tour

Greece

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Following Ariadne’s path in Naxos (Wine, Spirits & Olive Oil Tasting)

Greece

Sofia was incredible! She kept both kids and adults engaged throughout! Not to be missed!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

The trip was amazing! Our main contact, Barbara, in Venice was wonderful and so helpful. She checked in with us every few days and was a pleasure to meet.

Hotel Reviews

HOTEL CA' AMADI

venice

The room was nice and big, right on a canal. It was fun to hang out at the window and watch the gondolas go by. But, it was also loud throughout the night being right on a thoroughfare. The breakfast was very basic and the reception desk was rarely staffed. If we had to choose again we would not stay here.

Authenticity & Character

It was relatively basic with some nice chandeliers

Location

Noisy at night

Staff

The reception desk was rarely staffed and breakfast service was lacking

Cleanliness & Comfort

Grand Hotel Cavour

Florence

Centrally located and well staffed. Breakfast was wonderful. Rooms were small and clean.

Authenticity & Character

Modern hotel

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Corallo

Sorrento

Ver nice hotel with beautiful views. Food was very average. It is not easy to get from the hotel to the town of Sorrento - either a 30-min walk or a scheduled shuttle from the hotel. We would have preferred to be more centrally located in Sorrento since we were only there for two nights.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Residence

Amalfi

Nicest hotel of our vacation. Located right off the main square and easy to walk around Amalfi. Across the street from the beach and a beautiful town.

Authenticity & Character

Beautiful spiral staircase and terrace for breakfast

Location

Right off of the main square in Amalfi

Staff

Welcoming and helpful

Cleanliness & Comfort

Relais Dei Papi

Rome

One step up from a hostel

Authenticity & Character

Felt like an office building

Location

Rome is a big city and this is a 20-30 min walk to most attractions

Staff

Nice but not English speaking and kitchen staff were reluctantly helpful in the morning

Cleanliness & Comfort

Beds felt like box springs, not mattresses

Activity Reviews

Full day excursion to Pisa and Lucca

Italy

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Venice Gondola Ride

Venice

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Venice walking tour

Italy

Silvia was a great guide and helped us navigate the large crowds

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Private guided tour of the Uffizi and Accademia Galleries (4 hours)

Florence

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Sorrento Coast & Capri Boat Tour

Italy

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Visit of The Amalfi coast Villages Full Day

Italy

Loved having time in Positano

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Small group tour of Vatican City , Sistine Chapel & saint Peter's Basilica

Rome

Small group tour of max 6 people became a large group of 12 when we arrived. As a concession the tour agency gave us vouchers for 200 euros per person to book “our next tour” which they knew we wouldn’t be able to use because all their tours were overbooked. Felt like a scam.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Small Group tour of Colosseum underground, Palatine Hill, and Roman Forum ( max 6 people)

Rome

Great guide and we remained a small group regardless of the crowds.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Kim Kim provided a great trip itinerary. All of the guides and transportation were on time. The local guides were very knowledgeable and helpful and kind. We very much enjoyed the time we spent a Kicker Rock and Bartolomé Island.

Our Iceland adventure was chock full of vigorous activity and natural splendor. We loved it all. Your planning went quite well (except for one tour that would have required us to awaken at 5:30 to catch the ferry…but we were able to change timing with providers), and delivered as promised. Guides for lava tunnel, glacier hike, lagoon kayaking, whale watching (we saw four!) and Reykjavik food walk were all personable and well prepared. Hotels and food also first rate. We came home tired but happy. Grateful to Terry for making it happen!

La atención el cuidado de cada una de las personas que hicieron posible un tour maravilloso para mi hermana y para mi fue genial con personas geniales cada Guia en cada lugar nos enseñaron la historia de cada lugar el chofer Don David los guías Diana Sr Oscar Sr Odilio todos fueron extraordinarios GRACIAS y Eduardo quien fue nuestro enlace con ellos

Amazing adventure. Kimkim could not have been a better service to book with. We had the absolutely most amazing time in Morocco & saw so much of the beautiful country. Communication was exceptional, any question or minor issue (we got the stomach bug) was quickly answered and taken care of by them. Our driver, Samir could not have been better. We were absolutely obsessed with Samir, he was professional, informational and truly made our trip once of a life time. We could not have nicer things to say about Samir. Thank you Kimkim for setting us up with an incredible trip to morocco!

Effie and her team were amazing! Given our difficulties with flight connections just getting to Greece, the personal touch that Effie provided us by meeting us in the Athens Airport prior to our flight to Crete was such a warm and generous gesture, and one that couldn't have been more welcomed. We loved getting the "whatsAp" updates daily as to any schedule changes or just subtle reminders about the next day's activities. All of our drivers/guides were prompt (if not early!), and very generous/friendly with information, knowledge about the local trails we were hiking, insights about cultural landmarks, etc. We loved the "balance" she created between our hiking adventures, cooking explorations, and sight seeing/walking days. It was really an incredible experience and honestly beyond what we could have imagined.

Hotel Review

Cretan Renaissance

Chania

We loved the location, ambiance and staff at this boutique hotel...everyone was amazing! The breakfast was delicious and it was particularly lovely eating on the terrace overlooking the sea each morning!

Authenticity & Character

This is a restored villa over looking the sea, the decor is decidedly authentic and the character remains true to it's historic past.

Location

Location is right in the heart of the historic district and easy walking to everything/anything in Chania!

Staff

So generously welcoming, friendly and warm. My husband arrived injured, and despite the fact there are no elevators (and he had difficulty climbing stairs), they did everything they could to make him feel comfortable!!

Cleanliness & Comfort

Rooms were immaculate; linens fresh daily. Extra touches like a bottle of wine, olive oils and cookies in the room were a special touch.

Activity Reviews

Samaria Gorge Private Guided Tour

Greece

This was one of the more amazing experiences we had in Crete! The Gorge is not to be missed! We had an amazing guide that was both knowledgeable, tireless in her ability to answer ALL of our questions, warm/friendly and sensitive to our needs (my husband hiked this gorge injured---which is not the wisest of moves, but he is in excellent condition so despite his knee injury and with the help of walking sticks, was able to make the hike). Our guide had suggested, based on her personal opinion that we use the "point of no return" to assess my husband's condition, given that the only way after that point would be by donkey. Her sage wisdom was a comfort, & against her best recommendation, my husband decided to continue. She was spot-on to recommend we turn around, but I have a highly conditioned/stubborn husband who was sure he could make it despite a sprained knee. And make it he did; it was an experience of a lifetime even with this injury!

Quality of Experience

Scenery, quality of the guides, and challenge of the hike.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Attention to needs, friendliness, extensiveness of knowledge, and engaging personality.

Transport

The Authentic Cretan Cooking Small Group Experience

Greece

I think this cooking class, while fun,is really more of a "cultural" experience than it is a cooking class, and very much geared towards the person who has not cooked before. We would have preferred a bit more cooking, and less "geology/history" lesson, though we did enjoy the wine tasting that was also offered. It is a "long" afternoon, evening and seems like it could be better organized to make more efficient use of the time. Still, a fun event for those looking to learn more about how to make some basic Cretan dishes.

Quality of Experience

We had to "wait" a long time between preparing the meal and eating what we prepared. I think this probably could have been organized a bit more efficiently, perhaps with fewer people in the class?

Food

These were very basic dishes, aimed at the person with little to no cooking experience.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Imbros Gorge Private Hike and Sfakia Village Visit

Chania

Excellent hike, we had the same guide as we did for the Samaria Gorge, so were thrilled to have someone we already had gotten to know and trust. The scenery is amazing, the hike is much more forgiving than Samaria Gorge, but no less spectacular in scenery!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

We absolutely loved La Fortuna and Monteverde. We especially likes the tour guides with Desafio Tour company in La Fortuna. They were always on time, professional, very personable, friendly, accommodating, safety conscious, and best of all knowledgeable about the flora and fauna and really caring about the environment and climate change. Some of the awesome tour guides from Desafio were Samantha, Arturo, Ronnie, Hosea, and so many others. Loved the lunches, too. We extremely loved all the hikes, water fall, and canyoning!
The hotel was great, with a good breakfast, and convenient to all the restaurants and amenities in town. They were also very accommodating by creating a boxed breakfast for us because we had an early excursion one day.
We also loved Monteverde and and the beautiful country lodge. We has an awesome night hike with our knowledgeable guide, Brandon, who tried his best to find night life in the pouring rain. We loved the 2 mile jungle hike by a river. We felt like we really in deep rain forest. The El Trapiche Tour was awesome and beautiful. It was so much fun to taste all the stuff. I can't remember our guide's name but she was wonderful, knowledgeable, talked about how they try their best fairly pay and treat seasonal migrant workers, and the environment. She was also made the tour interesting and fun to listen to! We also were really impressed by our zip liners, Mauricio or Marco ?and his partner (forgot his name), who were very safe, patient, professional, helpful, and fun. We wished we would have brought more cash with us to buy the pictures. We were a bit disappointed That we didn't have enough cash to purchase any. Oh well, next time. Pura Vida!
Overall, the whole trip was well planned, organized, perfect to our liking ! Our drivers were also awesome and brought us to the perfect places to eat breakfast or lunch with good food and a place to walk, stretch, view the scenery, or shop around. Our drivers were all very professional ans excellent and safe drivers, but for some reason i can't remember all their names, except for our driver from La Fortuna to Monteverde, Rolando. I think the first driver from San Jose to La Fortuna was Mauricio ? Anyway, they were all wonderful! We had a memorable trip of a lifetime ! Thank you so much!
Warm regards,
Emelyn and Bob Judge

Hotel Reviews

La Fortuna Downtown Boutique Hotel

La Fortuna San Carlos

We really enjoyed that there was breakfast every morning. They also made a box breakfast for us one morning since we had an early excursion. The pool was nice and cool to go to after a long day. We had a nice view of the park, church, and side view of the Arenal Volcano. The place was a bit noisy at night but very convenient and walking distance to restaurants, and cafes. We really enjoyed our stay there. The staff were very accommodating and helpful.

Authenticity & Character

Yes! A lot of character and nice lobby star with local arts and crafts.

Location

Great place to be if you want to be in downtown. Very convenient and walking distanceto restaurants, church, post office, pretty park with fountain, and stores.

Staff

I can't remember their names but the two ladies were helpful.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Bed was comfortable. Nice window view. Bathroom needed a bit updating or remodeling. But still useful and the housekeepers did a great job keeping our room and the hotel clean and tidy.

Monteverde Country Lodge

Monteverde

Love the location and environmentally beautiful place, land scaping, and great breakfast every morning. Very accommodating and friendly staff. The housekeeping people were great!

Authenticity & Character

The Place blends in well with the environment. Beautiful and peaceful and relaxing to be in.

Location

Love the location and environmentally beautiful place, land scaping, and great breakfast every morning.

Staff

Very friendly, professional, caring and accommodating.

Cleanliness & Comfort

The room was great, with a nice window and porch, and view! The bed was comfortable and bathroom very nice. Great housekeepers !

Activity Reviews

Cloud Forest Reserve Hike

Monteverde

Loved this hike! Carlos, our tour guide for the Monteverde Cloud Forest , was excellent, knowledgeable, and very interesting to listen to, and cared about climate change! I recommend this to everyone! You will learn a lot!

Quality of Experience

I also like the souvenir shop that supports the cloud forest and indigenous people.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Hanging Bridges, La Fortuna Waterfall & Arenal Volcano Hike

Arenal/La Fortuna

Loved our guide, Samantha! So knowledgeable, environmentally aware of climate change, and wild life viewing land really watched out for all of us. Loved that we were able to view sloths, and other flora and fauna. Love the beautiful Volcano hike, wished we could have hiked more. Also, the falls was very refreshing and just the right amount of time. Really enjoyed the snacks of fresh fruits and authentic lunch!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Coffee, Chocolate & Sugar Cane Experience (English Tour)

Monteverde

Awesome and informative tour about Costa Rican coffee, chocolate, and sugar. Excellent knowledgeable and interesting guide. Beautiful farm, plantation, and views. Great info on Sustainable and ethical practices.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

We had a fantastic time in Iceland, and so much of it was thanks to Gummi and his expertise, patience, and kindness. He helped us plan a trip that was jampacked, but not overwhelming. He was totally responsive to my questions, and even fielded a panicked phone call when I could not find a meeting place for our horseback riding excursion.

Some wonderful highlights were the walking food tour that jumpstarted our first day there (we ❤️ Victor), Sky Lagoon (luxurious and fun), horseback riding on the beach in Vik (we got to experience the unique Icelandic horse trot), an unbelievable ice cave tour (the drive there takes you through Game of Thrones kind of territory,), and a lengthy, but totally worth-it trip to the glacier in Jokulsarlon (saw seals, blue glaciers, and a piece of an iceberg fall off). Also loved loved loved Borealis Hotel!!

I have never really used a travel service before, and I am so so glad I did. Thank you Gummi and Kim Kim!

The trip was phenomenal. After about a week in BRISBANE at a conference (June 02-07), we headed south on a 10-day driving tour toward Melbourne. The first night we stayed in BYRON BAY; in driving the next day ( June 08) we visited Brunswick Bay, Minyon Falls, Byron Bay lighthouse, Bangalow, all beautiful landscapes and small pleasant towns. The next night (June 9), we stayed in PORT MACQUARIE, followed by visits on the 10th to Shelly Beach, Sea Acres Rainforest Trail, Burrawan State Forest, and the Old Bottlebutt Red Bloodwood tree (state park). Other towns and cities we visited were SYDNEY, BATEMANS BAY, NAROOMA, GIPSY POINT, METUNG, RHYLL (on PHILLIP ISLAND), and finally into MELBOURNE. There are too many highlights to list, but rest assured there were plenty of stunning natural landscapes and pleasant city and town environs. We managed to see beautiful coastal areas, mountain rainforests, and kangaroos, wallabies, koalas, wombats, kookaburra, magpies, black swans, and a lot more. A couple of additional highlights to mention are the Penguin Parade (really) on Phillip Island and the Australian Rules Football game in Melbourne...by the way, it was the Richmond Tigers vs. St. Kilda Saints (and, Richmond won). It was a once-in-a-lifetime vacation, and would recommend Australia to anybody.

Nikola helped us to curate a fantastic trip to Croatia. Absolutely top-notch customer service, great communication, beautiful hotels, and excellent restaurant recommendations. We really enjoyed the daily check-in's and Nikola's quick assistance in making some last-minute adjustments to our itinerary. We wouldn't have had the same quality of a trip without the help of Nikola and his team. Thanks for helping us make such good memories!

When we found out we were going to South Africa for a conference, we decided to tack on some vacation time, so I started looking around online for recommendations and travel agents. I had never used Kimkim before, but I liked the idea of getting matched with a local agent based on our interests. The platform turned out to be easy to use, particularly for emailing our agent back and forth.

We loved the local agent, Esther, that Kimkim recommended. So started creating an itinerary for us right away, integrating our feedback and comments. She was very communicative and answered email on the platform so quickly that I barely noticed the timezone difference between the U.S. and South Africa. Her suggestions for hotels and excursions proved a good match for our priorities, and we particularly liked the mixture of different types of places...none of which I would have ever found on my own by just searching on the internet. Once we arrived in South Africa, she stayed in touch with us via text to make sure everything was going well, and even called around to check on entrance roads for us as there had been a lot of rain.

Our itinerary included time in the Winelands, and then a road trip to De Hoop Reserve and a safari at Inverdoorn Game Reserve. We got to see an amazing array of animals and birds. The food and staff at every place we stayed was amazing. My husband is a vegetarian, and he said he had some of the best and most inventive vegetarian food ever while in South Africa. We both must have gained 5 pounds each :) We also got to enjoy some wonderful dark sky gazing. I would highly recommend South Africa for U.S. travelers that want an affordable place for a variety of experiences. We would love to go back and see more of the country in the future, and will definitely use Kimkim and our local specialist Esther for our next trip!

Hotel Reviews

Hotel Verde

Great place to end up after a very long flight from the U.S. Lovely hotel with a garden. Very good food in their restaurant, and a fabulous breakfast. Easy access to Cape Town airport.

Authenticity & Character

It's a nice oasis after a grueling night of airplane travel.

Location

Very close to airport.

Staff

Very friendly and helpful.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Loved the attention to environmentalism.

De Hoop Collection

A truly unique place, with probably some of the best opportunities for wildlife viewing in that part of South Africa. The power was out for most of our stay due to load-shedding, but that made the experience (and the dark skies) all the more unique. We had the whole Manor House to ourselves. Food in the restaurant was amazing.

Authenticity & Character

Unique collection of buildings, situated in a truly picturesque setting.

Location

Great for wildlife viewing and dark night skies. Have to travel on a dirt road to get there.

Staff

Very friendly.

Cleanliness & Comfort

These are old buildings, complete with all the charm and idiosyncrasies that come with that.

Kughana Tented Camp

The tents were very nice, and provided a different kind of experience from all the other places we stayed. We loved the chef and our safari guide Chereen. Very attentive staff.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Great for being far out and dark skies. Roads were a bit muddy from all the rain.

Staff

Wonderful staff. We felt like we had our own personal chef for a couple of days.

Cleanliness & Comfort

The tents are quite luxurious.

Mont Rochelle

We landed at Monte Rochelle after 2 different game reserve environments, so this was a good chance of pace and an excellent way to wrap up a trip. This place is the lap of luxury. We had the vegan taster menu from the restaurant. I also hit the spa for a reflexology/pedicure treatment that was to die for.

Authenticity & Character

Very thoughtfully decorated and appointed. Generous in-room snacks/drinks.

Location

On top of a hill overlooking Franschoek.

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

We had a gorgeous room. A good place to unwind from a bunch of traveling.

The Lord Charles Hotel

We spent 10 nights here, as it was the conference venue, so this place became like home for a while. The weather was bad, so we appreciated the fact that they had a couple of restaurants on-site. The Scottish style pub was our hang-out, and we got to know some of the staff, including Griszelda, who managed the breakfast room each morning. Overall, a lovely old hotel for a conference and an extended stay.

Authenticity & Character

This hotel is an old mainstay for Somerset West that was renovated during COVID. The renovations were lovely, while keeping the charm of an older place.

Location

Very centrally located for touring the Winelands.

Staff

We stayed long enough to get to know a few of the waitstaff. Lovely people.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Foodies on Foot walking & tasting tour

South Africa

A very fun and informative tour. I had a lovely time talking with the guide.

Quality of Experience

I liked the tastings. Had gin and tonic for the first time.

Food

Good variety of tastings. I liked the explanations of local food.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Very informative and friendly.

Transport

I took an Uber to the tour.

Your stay at Inverdoorn

South Africa

We loved our guide, Chereen, who took us out a couple times a day for wildlife viewing. She was very personable and a real bad-ass when it came to driving the safari truck through washed out roads.

Quality of Experience

Excellent food. Was like having your own personal chef.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Everyone worked to make our experience top-notch.

Transport

Our guide Chereen did most of the driving. She was awesome!