Kimkim Trip Reviews

The entire trip was very well planned by Jean Carlos, it went off without a hitch. The drivers were all wonderful in particular, Otto on our mtn bike ride. We were lucky to be just the 3 of us. The zip lining was amazing, my first time, Sky Adventure were very safety conscious and encouraging. The bridge walk was okay, nothing exciting, it would have been good to walk down/up to the falls. Loved white watering, another excellent company - our guide Micheal was so much fun, but also very safe. Hotel Auténtico was great, and we enjoyed the pool at Arenal Country Inn. Jackie at the front desk of the Country Inn was delightful, always smiling.

Hotel Reviews

Auténtico Hotel

San José

Good location but not many restaurants around and the vote one is expensive. Fully recommend a Mexican one nearby El Mananitos, hard working man and great food.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Arenal Country Inn

La Fortuna

Nice location away from the busyness of La Fortuna. Jackie at the front desk is a lovey greeter and hard worker.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Jackie

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Whitewater Rafting on the Pacuare River

Costa Rica

Would love to have done a 2 day, 1 night lodge stay (instead of the day in San Jose.)

Quality of Experience

Our guide Michael

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Visit Paradise Hot Springs

Arenal/La Fortuna

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Free Day in San Jose

San José

Busy and noisy, preferred the area around La Fortuna

Sky Tram, Ziplines & Sky Walk Adventure

Arenal/La Fortuna

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Very safely conscious

Transport

Backroad Mountain Biking Around Lake Arenal

Arenal/La Fortuna

Otto was a great guide and provided a lot of local knowledge as well as a Spanish lesson. Hood bikes and pace, he found us a well hidden sloth

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Otto at Destifino was our MTN biking adventure and he was great.
The only issue was the pillows at Hotel Authentico were too big and hard. Some smaller and softer pillows would have been great but they were apparently not availabe.
Sky zip lining and the rafting were very well organized.
Jackie at Arenal Country Inn was very nice and always helpful.

My trip to Scotland was absolutely incredible. I just showed up, and everything was planned, including my train transportation.

We had such an incredible trip! Marc answered every question we had and was so helpful throughout the planning process. I had a lot of things to work through while planning and Marc was very patient and checked in throughout to see if we needed any help. He also helped us book our last flight getting into Indonesia, which took some stress off of us.
We cannot say enough great things about our driver, Dinar. He was so kind and taught us a lot about Ubud and Seminyak as he brought us places, and also made additional recommendations, such as visiting a wood-carving business, that we hadn't originally planned. He provided cold water for us each morning for our drives, which was greatly appreciated. He was super easy to contact and made our trip to Indonesia so smooth. We would not have survived the driving without him!
The accommodations were so beautiful as well. The staff were so friendly at each of the places we stayed and they went above and beyond and decorated our rooms with signs and flowers for our honeymoon.
We are so thankful to have booked through Kimkim and will be booking again with them in the future!

All good! Mads is professional, responsive and knowledgeable. Suman, our MTB guide was great as well: good English, very motivated and flexible.

It was tricky for me to decide where to go and what to do when we decided to go to Lisbon and Madeira. I contacted three different travel speacialists and from the start Marina and Kimkim were easily the most proactive and helpful to me and straight away made me feek like they wanted to help and not just throw a "standard" itinerary at me. The personalisation and the platform used made a real difference and was so useful throughout the trip. Also, when I decided to cancel a couple of things it was no bother and everything was supported out promptly, whether by Marina or by someone else when Marina was not working. It made no difference that the company is based in the US and that Marina was based in Spain and that I am based in Madrid! It just all worked really smoothly. Thak you so much.

Hotel Reviews

Portugal Boutique City Hotel

Lisbon

It was a decent hotel. The breakfast tables were tiny and the noise from all the night time clear up outside was not helpful if you left your windows open. Otherwise, really good location and nice staff.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

The Cliff Bay

Funchal

Amazing hotel. Great view. Fabulous food. Faultless really.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Introducing Funchal: Food, Culture & History Walk

Portugal

We did not do this trip in the end.

Sintra Heritage Hike: Hidden Secrets

Portugal

It was quite good. Dont bother though if you don tlike queues. The palace was horrendously busy and this is low season.

Lisbon Roots: A Food & Cultural Walk

Portugal

Lovely guide and very informative.

The Soul of Lisbon: Fado Dinner Experience

Portugal

Really average food and felt very touristy. Not the best evening to be honest.

Hike Pico Areeiro, Highest Peak of Madeira

Portugal

Great walk and amazing viws. Didnt need a guide but all the same it was helpful that we took a differenct route to most others who would hav ehad to have done a trip that went back the same way. Our guide had left a car at an alternative location the night before.

Get to Know Lisbon with a Local

Lisbon

Definitely do this. Really good.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Just returned from a trip of a life time. We have always used tour agencies to book our trips and this time I took a gamble and organized it online with Ali from KimKim. Right from the beginning our trip was put together with all the highlights we were interested in. Ali then gave suggestions and options on what to add to our trip. Our driver Ayoub (amazing) met us at the airport and was with us for 8 days. He is now a member of our family hahaha. He was so dependable and friendly and we always felt very safe with him around. One day I forgot my credit card at the hotel and we were on a tour with a city guide, Ayoub came and got me and took me back to the hotel to pick up my card and returned me to the tour. The city tours were well organizied with great tour guides. There is a lot of driving if you want to do the circuit in 8 days so it was important to be in a comfortable vehicle and have a good driver as the local drivers are a little wild. We were definitely sad to say good bye to Ayoub at the airport. Thanks Ali and Ayoub for making our trip amazing could not have done it without you.

Hotel Reviews

Karawan Riad

Fès

Wow is all I can say. A place of magic and everywhere you looked there was beauty. Great breakfast! Dinner needs to be booked early on in the day or you will not be able to go. Not many places to go for a nice dinner close by. Check out the roof top terrace it has an amazing view.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Loved that it was an adventure to get to the front door walking thru the tiny streets to get there.

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Mövenpick Hotel Casablanca

Casablanca

It is your average hotel. Some floors are very tired and need to be upgraded. Restaurant is on the 16th floor around the pool, it allows smoking at all the tables which was bothersome.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

La Maison Arabe Hotel

Marrakech

Very nice hotel a piece of paradise in a busy city.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Kasbah du Toubkal

lmlil

We were to stay here (4 star) but the hotel did not inform our travel leader that it was not going to be reopened due to earthquake damage until the day before our arrival. The hotel then put us in their “feeder” hotel Dar Imlil which is a 2 star. Dar Imlil is a very dark and tired hotel. There are funky little areas to hang out outside but the inside main area and the rooms need work. The staff were very nice and helpful. No alcohol available but we brought our own wine with us from Marrakesh and it was fine to drink it there.

Authenticity & Character

Very dark and uninviting

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

The pillow covering on all the couches seem very old. It is a very masculine looking and feeling hotel.

Dar Jasmine

Chefchaouen

Beautiful hotel - stunning views. There are a lot of stairs (150 - 200 lost count) to get to the main reception and then again to your room. It is worth it. The food was really good. No alcohol is served.

Authenticity & Character

Bright and clean

Location

Great views

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Guided Tour of Fez Medina

Fes

Great tour. Lots to see and experience. The leather factory was a little overwhelming with merchants trying to sell you stuff and it was very crowded.

Quality of Experience

Food

Lunch was ok nothing special

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Momo was a fun and very educated guide. Very happy we had him

Half-Day Guided Tour of Marrakech

Marrakesh

It was a great tour. The city square is alive with activity. We were there on a Sunday which is the busiest day of the week. Night time was a little overwhelming.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

She was very educated and a pleasure to be with

Transport

Chefchaoeun to Fez via Volubilis, Moulay Idriss & Meknes

Morocco

It is a nice break when in the car for a long time. We had just finished 2 weeks in Eqypt so it was nice to walk around without all the crowds we had experienced in Egypt

Quality of Experience

Hammam & Spa Experience Marrakech

Morocco

Our Hammam experience was moved to our hotel due to time constraints. I am so glad it was it took the stress away. This is a must do

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Marrakech Evening Food Tour

Marrakesh

This was ok. It was a Sunday night so the market was very crowed. At one point we thought it was too dangerous to go to the final food stop and turned back.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Quick Tour of Casablanca with your Driver-Guide

Morocco

This was not really a tour, It was our driver driving around the city. Not much to see or point out. We ended up at a nice restaurant he suggested over looking the ocean. It was a great way to end our trip

Quality of Experience

Transport

Imlil Valley Walk - Toubkal NP

Imlil

It was a great hike with fabulous views. However, our guide took us to his house for tea and cookies even though we had said we did not want to do a “family meal”. We were there for 40 minutes and it was very uncomfortable. I am sure he was being very hospitable but it was not we were expecting.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Puerto Maldonado was not a good option for us. I did try to give this feedback in the planning process, particularly that we would only like at most two nights but was convinced to stay longer. There is not that much to see there tbh and the conditions were terrible. I was assured there was a fan however this switches off two times a day due to no power. The resort also doesn’t provide any activities during these times and no wifi. We paid a lot to leave early which was disappointing given the trip in general was very expensive.

Cusco part of trip was excellent - though you should state that the ‘transfer by bus’ is two hours!! Luckily our guide and driver were awesome and picked us up from train station instead,

Eric from Kimkim planned a wonderful trip for us in beautiful Iceland! Having traveled many times independently, researching and making our own reservations and itinerary, my husband and I decided it was time to get assistance. It was a relief having a hotel each night where we were welcomed with arrangements already completed, having pleasant accommodations, scenic views, and great breakfasts. Trip plans and directions were provided for each day, including additional suggested activities – more than we could fit in. We proceeded with those we found most appealing and had a great time. Eric was very helpful in setting up the trip. We emailed and had more than a few phone calls with him beforehand, which he arranged with our schedules in mind. He was always pleasant, helpful, and never acted as if we were being annoying. He got back to us almost immediately with the changes we requested. When there was an airline problem and we arrived a day late (which had nothing to do with Eric or Kimkim) the trip was immediately modified appropriately, and Eric provided the documentation needed for the insurance company to get the cost of one day of car rental and hotel reimbursed.

Our three week self-driving tour of South Africa far exceeded our hopes and expectations. On past vacations we've always done our own research and booking, and typically that's worked out great. But for our first African vacation, and our first safaris, we reached out to the experts and they really delivered for us.

Our trip was a mix of animals, landscapes and culture. We started in Joburg with a bicycle tour of Soweto. From there we drove to Graskop and the Panorama Route along the Blyde River Canyon. The highlight was a half day hike into the canyon, where we saw our first monkeys and baboons and swam in a lovely water hole. Then it was on to Kruger, where we spent three nights at the Umkumbe Lodge in Sabi Sands and two nights at the Mjejane Lodge on the Crocodile River. The animal sightings were nearly constant, including a morning drive at Umkumbe where we saw the big 5 plus a cheetah. Watching a herd of elephants come to drink, play and cool off in the Crocodile River from the patio at Mjejane was another highlight.

From Kruger we headed south for two nights at Stone Camp in the Mkhaya game park in Eswatini. There the focus was on rhinos, including a pair that walked right through the camp! We continued south from Eswatini with two nights in Mkuze. The highlight there was a private birding safari in the Manyoni game park, which oh by the way included time with a pair of lions. We finished this segment of the tour with three nights at St Lucia, exploring the iSimangaliso World Heritage Park (hippos! crocodiles!) before flying to Cape Town. The weather on the cape was perfect for a drive to the Cape of Good Hope (penguins!), an exploration of the Kirstenbosch gardens and a hike on Table Mountain.

Throughout the trip the accommodations were excellent. We very much appreciated Esther and Lucy's suggestions for things to see and do and places to eat and shop. Three weeks went zipping by and we feel like we just scratched the surface. We hope we can come visit again soon.

Hotel Review

Stone Camp

We stayed in some beautiful places on our 3 week tour, but Stone Camp was our favorite. We loved the fact that there is no electricity, no phone and no internet. The huts are gorgeous, the food excellent, the people friendly, and the feeling of being out in the bush is unparalleled.

Authenticity & Character

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Despite being totally off the grid the huts felt quite luxurious

Activity Reviews

Cape Malay Cooking Safari

Cape Town

It was fun to learn about the history and culture of the Cape Malay population, but the highlight was making and eating amazing food with Faldela. We are so grateful to her for opening her home and sharing her expertise and personal stories.

Manyoni Birding Safari

Mkuze

Our birding safari was a welcome change from the safaris we had done previously in Kruger and Eswatini. While it was thrilling to chase the big game on the typical safari, it was quite satisfying to slow things down and have the birds come to us. Our guide Lucky was quite knowledgeable, teaching us not only about the birds we were seeing but also about the whole Manyoni park and ecosystem.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Soweto Cycling Tour

South Africa

The 4 hour cycling tour through Soweto was an excellent introduction to South African culture and history from the perspective of those who suffered most under the apartheid system. We very much appreciated the local guides sharing their lived experience.

Quality of Experience

Food

Transport

I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Morocco. My driver was always punctual and friendly. He was informative as well. The Riad in Chefchaouen was not a five star as advertised and it was noisy late into the evening. I thoroughly enjoyed Fes and the guide was informative and engaging. The evening with the Moroccan family was very nice and the Riad was outstanding. Truly a five star and I would stay there again. I enjoyed the La Tour Palace hotel in Rabat. I did not see what I was expecting to see in Rabat but I did get to the mausoleum and that was special.

Nearly perfect vacation

The night hike was disappointing as it was really more of a garden than a jungle.

Everyone at the Hideaway was gracious, helpful and attentive. Also, the food was very good.

The river rafting trip was great from beginning to end.

Marc did a great job in planning this trip and dealing with the flight changes that were necessary. Everything went very smoothly. Our guide on the Super Deluxe Klotok, Jeffrey was very knowledgable especially about the birds and monkeys we saw. The boat crew were excellent and went out of their way to point out birds and animals along the way and Cookie made very tasty meals.

Overall our trip to Morocco was wonderful. Loved the country, the culture and the people we met. There were a few issues on the trip. The drivers were changed without giving us notice ahead of time . Upon arrival at the airport, we discovered that we had a new driver. Mustapha Azigane was great driver for the trip. He was very personable, knowledgeable and handled all the questions we through at him, always on time, and had a great vehicle. Liked the SUV for easy in and out of the vehicle and to roll down the window to take some picture in route. Then we were advised on our drive to Marrakech we would have a new driver but we made sure Mustapha gave us the walking tour guide contact info and our new driver info. Yassine Hajjij drove us to Essaouira and then the airport the next day and he was fabulous.
The itinerary was good but we were disappointed when we found out on our way to Fes by other travellers that the medina would be shut down for the holiday the next day. The driver checked and said our tour was still on but we missed a lot of things that I found out after. Given that Meknes had all the sites closed, we could have arrived in Fes sooner and toured the medina when it was open. Or the itinerary could have been adjusted accordingly as we could have changed our dates had we known this. The major disappointment was the itinerary said we would have the option to take the camels or 4 x 4 from the desert camp back to the hotel to meet our driver. We were not given that option. We were told the night before that it was 4 x 4. Also the itinerary said there would be entertainment at the desert camp and there was none. Another couple at the site also commented on these things as they also had their tour done by Wendy. The itinerary was not clear on lunches and dinners that were included which luckily our driver advised us (i.e. Fes lunch and Ouarzazate dinner) and we started asking each day after the first time it happened. There are a couple of things I would change on the itinerary but again overall it was an amazing trip. Highly recommend travelling to Morocco.

Visited the Amalfi Coast and Sicily in October. Deborah was a delight to work with, very quick to understand what we were looking for on our trip and super responsive to many changes along the way, even last minute ones. Hotels selected were all excellent, tours well organized and transfers always on time. We especially loved Lara's enthusiastic tour of Palermo. She clearly was proud of her Sicilian home! Small touches added in celebration of an anniversary while there made it very special.
Perhaps we could have organized some things at a lower cost, however the overall package (which we could not have duplicated without detailed prior knowledge of the regions) and stress free travel made it all worthwhile. Highly recommended.
Ian & Wendy

Joel and his team helped make our honeymoon absolutely unforgettable! They handled every single detail for us over our 2 week trip to France. All of their local partners were exceptional--the hotels and tour companies they chose to work with. On our relaxation days we frequently found ourselves trusting Joel's travel suggestions for restaurants and attractions. They even helped us mid-trip when we ran into logistical issues with arriving on time for some of the tours. If you are looking to make your trip to France carefree, then definitely choose Joel and his team.

Hotel Reviews

Best Western Aramis Saint Germain

Paris

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel La Villefromoy 4*

Saint Malo

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Le Clos de la Commanderie B&B

Amboise

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

D-Day U.S beaches tour

France

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Private Guided Tour of Mont Saint Michel (Self Drive or Pick up in Bayeux)

France

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Half day guided tour of the Palace of Versailles with priority access in a small group (1 to 15 people)

Paris

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Saint Germain des Prés Food Tour

Paris

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Seine Cruise with Commentary

Paris

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Eiffel Tower Summit Ticket

Paris

Everything was on time and reliable and fairly easy but we would have loved more detail about how far away things were, what to expect and how long it would take. Pear was best guide and was able to tailor the day and trip to match what we wanted to do.

Hotel Reviews

TreeHouse Villas Villas Koh Yao Noi Luxury Beach Resort

Thailand

Nothing not to love, except access to cheaper things like normal price massages, Most meals were good, the seafood place was terrible.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Dusit Thani Krabi Beach Resort

Krabi

It was fine, nothing special.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

resort food options, but breakfast was good.

99 Heritage Hotel

Chiang Mai

loved everything about this place. staff, location, ambiance, small touches and details

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hintok River Camp

kanchanaburi

fresh water pools were so nice, overall cool experience. food was only shortcoming. It was decent.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Anantara Riverside Bangkok Resort

Bangkok

Breakfast was unreal, loved the ice bath and the gym open 24/7

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Chiang Mai Cooking Class Experience

Chiang Mai

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Chiang Rai and Famous Golden Triangle Exploration

Chiang Mai

Guide was awesome, trip home is long, could have maybe stayed there and flown to krabi from there.

Quality of Experience

Food

she took us somewhere great for lunch with the option to pay more which was preferred

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Half-Day Eco Elephant Care!

Chiang Mai

You should share how long everything takes to get there. Lunch wasn't good.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Transfer from Bangkok to Kanchanaburi via Mae Klong market and Damnoen Saduak Floating Market

Thailand

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Exploring Bangkok by local transfers and walking tour

Bangkok

Was very long, food choices were not at all what I suggested or particularly good. Was way too long and when we wanted to go to a rooftop bar and had 2.5 hours to kill, we couldn't. Didn't get much history/info about the exhibits on the way.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Emilce made this trip planning so easy! The whole service provided by her was amazing. She answered all my questions and helped us get a trip that we wanted. She even added a few last minute things for us in one leg of the trip. Our trip was fantastic and Emi’s knowledge made that happen! Thank you so much Emi!

Hotel Reviews

Hotel DoubleTree by Hilton Santiago Kennedy

Santiago

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Blanca Patagonia Boutique Inn and Cabins

El Calafate, Santa Cruz

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Posada y Cabañas El Barranco

El Chalten

Great location. Room felt small and a bit like a dorm room set up. But it was clean and the staff were amazing!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Weskar Lodge

Puerto Natales

Amazing location and amazing staff! The room was so great and breakfast provided was wonderful

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Santiago Markets City Bike Tour

Santiago

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Full day tour to Parque Nacional Los Glaciares and Minitrekking

El Calafate

Really fun day on the glacier! Not a super challenging day but amazing views and guides!

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Full day Hiking Base Las Torres - 20km approx

Puerto Natales

Our guide was fantastic. Transfers were all On time. Had a great day.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Absolutely amazing trip. Perfect organisation by Mads and his guides.

Entire Annapurna Circuit experience was amazing. Our guide, Suman Thapa did a great work to make all the logistic work and to assure max experience for us. Kudos!