Kimkim Trip Reviews

Mostly great
Couple of the hotels were a little short of what we wanted but given I chose them , then no fault of agent
Everything was smooth
Transport was good and the two main drivers we used very courteous and safe and reliable
Communication with agent via WhatsApp was also very good although difficult when away from
WiFi

Original Tours is a solid 5 stars-Said was always available through WhatsApp and he replied quickly -
Make sure you have WhatsApp installed on you phone before you leave your country
Below are my thoughts, not my wife's
Our driver Soukaina was incredible. She stopped whenever we asked to take pictures, or to get honey, or for the view. She was always on time and checked in with us to make sure everything was fine at the Riads we stayed in. Her laugh is infectious, and she alone gets 10 stars for being the only women driver in Morocco
Hanan- our tour guide in Marrakesh, 5 stars, was informative, friendly and was easy to have discussions about current and past Morocco. Walking thought the Palace she explained in details the family structure at the time of the Palace first resident. We met another group that had her as a guide and they too spoke highly of her
Mahomed, our Fez guide, 0 stars. He took us to a rug dealer, which we did not ask for. after some time there I told him we are done look at the carpets. Instead of him moving on, he said "you don't need to buy, just look", he then proceed to inform us how the shop could ship the carpet home. He took us to places that gave him a cut if we purchase anything. Though out the tour he would point out certain things but not really go into detail, and was not easy to have a discussion with. I could fill a page on this tour guide.

Hotel Dar Mounir - 5 stars - good location everything worked in the room
Riad Ghita - 4 stars, due to a draft coming in though the winder that the heater could not compete with, TV was broken. Host was wonderful, her breakfast and dinners were stunning
Tiziri Luxury Camp-5 stars- host were incredible. only recommendation is drive to the camp, take the camel to the sunset. 2 hours on the camel is 1.5 hours too much.
Riad Ksar Ighnda-3 stars only because it is in the middle of no-where and seemed pricey for what they offered
Palais Sebban 5 stars mostly due to the New Years Eve Party. The host was making sure people were dancing and having fun. The staff were dancing and having as much fun as the guest. I applaud the host that she included everyone at the party, which had a fire dancer, belly dancer, magician and a all women group that got the part going. Not to mention releasing doves at the beginning.

Rachel designed an incredible trip for me, my husband, and my 6 year old son. She provided great advice on what to do and what to avoid. (For example, she told us not to take the train from Edinburgh to London, as it wasn’t the experience we thought it would be.) I would certainly use her again to plan another trip.

Just returned from a 15 day trip to Thailand. Our local specialist Kelly did a fantastic job planning this for us. She was very responsive, always available during the trip and very accommodating of the last minute changes we had.
We visited Bangkok, Khao Sok and Phuket. The local guides at all 3 places did a great job. They were friendly and informative. We had transportation and support every step of the way.
The only negative, which was a small blip in a 15 day trip, was the Phi Phi Island excursion in Phuket. Our request for the entire trip was private tours but this one was not and the excursion itself was not worth it.
We provided feedback to Kelly and she was very understanding. Following this we checked on another excursion we had scheduled and when we realized it was also a large group tour we decided to cancel. Kelly was able to help us cancel and get a full reimbursement even though it was last minute. Her support was truly appreciated and made this just a small blip in our vacation.
We highly recommend KimKim and Kelly. We will be using them again in the future.

Hien was our tour organizer and helped us design the perfect balance of sights and activities including Hanoi, Halong Bay, Hoi An, and Siem Reap. Very nice hotels, smooth transfers, and knowledgeable guides. Learned a lot about the history, culture, and day to day lives of Vietnamese and Cambodian people, including a lot of nature, historic temple ruins, some hands on experiences at small farms and communities, shows, and delicious cuisine. She also checked in by WhatsApp daily to confirm everything was running smoothly. Highly recommended if you want to maximize your travel experience!

Louise commitment to have a memorable trip in this amazing country was excellent. She done a great job booking all transportation which was my main concern. Very prompt in answering all my questions and requests. Well-deserved five stars!
Few feedback and recommendations:
- I had doubts about motels accommodations but seams that the motel 59 on Cron street at Franz Joseph was much better than Heartland hotel in Queenstown regarding facilities.
- At Franz Joseph, due to weather conditions, my heli trip was cancelled but I manage to find a driver to take me to Okarito. Was a great trip, see the beach and do the Trig walk, great views. I recommend having this option for the case another tourist facing same situation.
- The tour with Gray Line from Franz Joseph to Queenstown was split between two drivers. That was fine as was no need to transfer baggage, but the second driver was driving very fast and unsafe, even I mentioned to him that is driving very fast for a big bus he continues to do so. I was very uncomfortable and thinking even to make an official complain.
- At Milford Sound, thanks to the guide from RealNZ - Alisja, I could have a flight back to Queenstown. My wish was to have a helicopter tour on this trip, but the flight with the small plane and great pilot going around on top of the mountains can't describe how wonderful have been. :) RealNZ is a top class Tours Company! Five stars from me :)
- The tours with Cheeky Kiwi and Cheeky Kea were great, good drivers, funny and share information about areas we were passing.
- As a conclusion, the tours companies should give drivers enough time for the trips, their clients are tourists and want to stop more often in places of interest to make photos and enjoy the views.

My top two experiences are flying over the mountains and Mitai Maori cultural history experience.

As an overview I can say I had an amazing time. I'll share my experience with family and friends and hopefully I can come again.

Thank you Louise and thank you Kim Kim!

Adina Tutu.

Hotel Reviews

Oaks Auckland Hotel (Prev. Nesuto Stadium Auckland)

Auckland

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Sudima

Christchurch

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Sudima Lake Rotorua

Rotorua

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

58 On Cron

Great hotel, big room, very clean, kitchen with all you need.

Location

Only 5 minutes walk from center but quite and great view of the mountains.

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Bella Vista Christchurch

Christchurch

Activity Reviews

Explore Queenstown on Your Own

Queenstown (NZ)

Mitai Maori Village

Rotorua

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Glacier Valley Shuttle

Franz Josef Glacier

Quality of Experience

Depart New Zealand

New Zealand

Quality of Experience

Transport

Rotorua to Auckland, Hobbiton

New Zealand

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Real Rotorua - Thermal Path Tour

Rotorua

Quality of Experience

Milford Sound Coach/Cruise/Coach inc lunch ex ZQN

Queenstown (NZ)

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

TSS Earnslaw Farm Tour & Dinner

Queenstown (NZ)

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Irene Lappa and her team at Travel 12 were absolutely phenomenal. We don't generally use travel agents, generally choosing to plan trips ourselves, but I couldn't be happier with our decision to work with Tavel 12. They put together an amazing itinerary. Wee did things, and stayed at hotels we never would have found on our own. They were there to support us during the entirety of the trip, including helping us reschedule and navigate changes to the wether. Thier on the trip support was at the same high, I would say unexpectedly high, level as their help planning the trip. Aside from the amazing locations and activities they meticulously found for us based on our preferences, one of our favorite parts of using this travel agency was never having to find a way to get to our destinations. No matter where we were, there was always a vehicle waiting to take us where we needed to go. We saw many another traveler spending lots of time trying to coordinate travel arrangements and we were so incredibly thankful we didn't have to worry about that at all. If you are going to Greece, I couldn't recommend more highly that you choose to work with Travel 12.

Activity Reviews

The Vineyard Picnic Experience

Greece

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Rethymno Food Tour

Rethymno

Outstanding tour guide, this was our favorite tour of our two week trip to Greece!

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

The trip was very well organized. All the guides and drivers showed up when they were supposed to. The guides were all very knowledgeable and personable. We spent the most time with Andres for our Playa Tayrona National Park portion of the trip. He was a great person to work with, fun, knowledgeable and polite and well organized. We had a great day hiking with him in the Park and another great day with him tubing down the Don Diego River. Our private boat trip through the Rosario Islands to snorkel was fantastic!

One aspect of Kim Kim I loved was being able to ask questions of the guide on What's App such as what to bring, when we were going to have lunch, etc. It was like having a personal guide with you all the time at your disposal.

I would highly recommend Wendy and the KIM KIM team for your travels to Colombia.

This trip was really wonderful. Margarita was excellent. She was responsive and always able to come up with plans and was extremely accommodating to our preferences and requests. The on-site representatives and drivers were great. They were on time, friendly and easy to communicate with. Of note, Camelo and Andres were absolutely wonderful, going above and beyond. Andres was extremely knowledgeable about the history and facts of Colombia. He treated us like special guests throughout our time together. The hotels and restaurants that Margarita selected were excellent quality. We'll definitely be using KimKim to plan future travel adventures. Thank you!

Our guides Volcan and Hattice were superb. History, culture, sightseeing, and cuisine were all very well explained and experienced.

We had a fantastic 10 day trip to Turkey seeing the highlights in Istanbul, Cappadocia and Ephesus/Sirince. We loved our guide in Istanbul, Volkan, and the sights were amazing; Hagia Sofia, the Blue Mosque, the Cistern, and the Bosphorous cruise. The hotel in Old Town was excellent! Cappadocia lived up to the hype with the amazing hot air balloon ride, cave frescoes, and exploring the valleys. Staying in a cave hotel was a unique experience! Our guide Hattice was excellent with our son! Ephesus was amazing and we enjoyed exploring the town of Sirince. The boutique hotel on the hillside over Sirince was so traditional and the restaurant was amazing. We enjoyed the cooking class we did with the chef!

Hotel Reviews

Kale Konak Hotel

Such a unique experience, staff did an excellent job mitigating some cleanliness concerns in one of the rooms, rooms are dark but that is to be expected, hotel facilities are very nice (Turkish bath, terrace). Some minor flaws, nail in the wood on the bed sticking out, dogs were somewhat agressive coming in late at night, dirt from the cave ceiling falling down).

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Cleanliness issues caused by the cave environment

Nisanyan Houses

Selçuk

Very unique boutique hotel obviously built with love and run by excellent staff. The terrace house was beautiful, and the tower house 3 room was fine, a little small for 3 people. There was a lot of work being done around the property given that it was the off season. Restaurant was amazing and the cooking class was a lot of fun! The hotel is not meant for people who don't like cobblestones or stairs.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hagia Sofia Mansions Istanbul, Curio Collection by Hilton

Fatih Istanbul

Absolutely beautiful, great location, fantastic breakfast

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Visit to Ephesus Archaeological Museum + House of Virgin Mary

Turkey

Quality of Experience

O

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Wine Pairing Dinner at Revithia Cappadocia

Cappadocia

Very nice, only snafu was over who was paying for it, but it was worked out.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Visiting Göreme Open Air Museum (UNESCO World Heritage)

Cappadocia

Amazing - recommend including visiting the Dark Church in the price

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Explore the Ancient City of Ephesus

Turkey

Can't miss.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Food Tour in Istanbul

İstanbul

Would recommend doing this earlier in the trip.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Discovering the Ihlara Valley and Light Hiking Along the Melendiz River

Cappadocia

Beautiful and great speed for my in-laws. The stop for pancakes along the river was fun.

Quality of Experience

O

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Private Boat Tour on the Bosphorus

İstanbul

Very interesting experience and the boat was great!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Kaymaklı Underground City

Cappadocia

Amazing

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Explore Sinasos: The Pearl of the East

Cappadocia

I didn't really find this worthwhile. We only visited the church and it didn't seem particularly special.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Sightseeing Around Uçhisar and Discovering the Cappadocian Valleys

Cappadocia

Beautiful

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Hot Air Balloon Tour at Sunrise

Cappadocia

Flawless - must do

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Istanbul Archaeological Museum Tour

İstanbul

Surprisingly good for kids.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Discover Byzantine + Ottoman Istanbul

İstanbul

Excellent overview of Istanbul and you hit the high points of the Old Town!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Volkan was an excellent guide!

Transport

Ceramic Tradition in Avanos + Light Hiking in the Love Valley

Cappadocia

We enjoyed the Ceramics experience; amazing work and it was fun that Connor got to try it. We did not do the hiking in the Love Valley due to timing and physical constraints.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Whirling Dervish Ceremony at Saruhan Caravansarai

Turkey

Very authentic

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Hattice was wonderful to keep Connor during the experience.

Transport

Eminönü Heritage Tour: Explore the Historical Bazaars and Ottoman Architectural Sites of Istanbul

İstanbul

A must do in Istanbul.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

My husband and I had a lovely trip in Morroco. We had a private car & driver take us from Marrakesh to Ouarzazate, Dades, Merzouga and Ait Ben Haddou. Everything was very comfortable and we always felt safe, which allowed us to relax and enjoy the sites. Our driver, Hamsa, mas very kind, attentive, timely and friendly, always sharing insights about the region when we asked and made sure we were enjoying our experience. All of our hotels were as pictured and we enjoyed all of our stays, we especially appreciated the Le Petit Riad in Ouarzazate - the room was very large and dinner and breakfast were delicious!
Booking everything with kimkim made this trip even better! Communication with our travel expert, Hakim, was always delightful, speedy and with all of the rich details we needed to make decisions and book our trip. He was flexible to adapt the trip itinerary to our moving schedule. Once the trip was booked, we did not have to worry about coordinating anything, everything was seamlessly taken care of, we just needed to show up at the airport and everything was easy.

Alex was extremely responsive and helpful in planning our trip, as well as during the trip to help make last minute changes to accommodate things we wanted to add. Our guide T for Vietnam was the best we had all trip - he was extremely knowledgeable about the history and culture, and always went above and beyond to ensure each day was a great experience. The trip overall was a good balance between sightseeing and relaxing, and was a great first experience for both of us in Vietnam and Thailand.

We had a wonderful trip! Thanks to Lareine for sorting things out so well and in particular to Ahmed on the Nile Cruise and Khaled in Cairo for a brilliant time. We could not recommend KimKim highly enough!

We, a family of 4, had an amazing experiences with Kimkim/Active India.
Ravi was our specialist. He amazingly organized a custom trip for us to see the highlights of Rajasthan.
I can't believe how well organized the trip was, not a qlitsch. We really had a VIP experience, that we never experienced before.
Ravi listened to what we wanted and was very quick in putting the trip together.
Airport rep met us at the airport in the middle of the night when we arrived. The driver, Josie was very nice and drove well, and had good recomandations. Guides were very punctual and knowledgeable and made the whole trip flow great. I would recommend to my friends and family to travel with Active India because it's just a much much better experience than trying to do it on your on, or with a company less experienced. The hotel selection and activities were great, too. Thank you Active India

We've traveled many places around the US and the world and have never been to a place, like Sardinia that was more welcoming. The people were kind, helpful, generous and fun!

The travel team set up everything from the car... to hotels... to private tours. And someone was always available 24/7 when we had needs or even just questions. It made life so much easier.

Hotel Reviews

Albergo Diffuso Corte Fiorita

Bosa

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Carlos V

Alghero

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Palazzo Doglio

Cagliari

The hotel itself was gorgeous! It was surround by a beautiful courtyard with 5 nice restaurants. Every member of the staff was kind and helpful. The snacks and drinks in the "American Bar" were super.

Authenticity & Character

Location

We arrived quickly from the hotel and were able to unload our bags right at the entrance and the park underneath the hotel. Easy!

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

The rooms are large with small balconies that have a great view. The bed and linens are superb and the oversized soaking bathtub was unexpected, but well-loved.

Activity Reviews

Guided Visits of Archaeological Sites and Wine Tasting

Oristano

We missed this tour.

Guided visit to the Sounding Stone Museum

Oristano

We missed this tour (messed up driving directions) - our fault.

Light and Surprise at the End of the Tunnel

Cagliari

We missed this tour (slept-in due to jet lag)

Nuragic Sanctuary of Santa Vittoria - Self-guided (with audioguide)

Italy

We missed this tour (head-colds)

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Private Guided Tour of Cagliari

Cagliari

Once again, our guide Rafa has more knowledge than we had taken in from books or Google. She was excited and willing to do everything and answer any questions. We never felt rushed, but spent a lot of time with our mouths open in awe of the history and beauty.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Winery and Cellars Visit & Wine Tasting

Italy

We LOVED this tour. The scenery was beautiful. The drive to get their was gorgeous. Plus, add sheep being herded right before us... geese running a squawking along the way... Our host was a real delight, but the specialties of this particulare winery (including the clay pots) are exceptional. Don't skip this because you've done a wine tour before. We had as well - and this was special.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

The guide was sweet, smart, well-spoken and actually very excited to share the history of this vineyard and winery, as well as the history of wine-making in general.

Private Food Tour in Cagliari

Cagliari

The guide (Rafa) was so kind and so much fun! Sheknew the area and all of the history of the buildings, etc. She communicated well with us (in English) and with the restaraunt staff at each location. She had already made plans for meals and accompanying drinks in advance. This was a super way to see parts of the city at night, while enjoying the people and food/drink.

Quality of Experience

Guided Tour of Nora

Cagliari

The guide was so knowledgable - very patient with all of our questions - and flexilble to adjust the tour to our desires. We learned so much!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

We loved having our own vehicle, but had to get used to finding locations that are not always simple to get to.

The communication with Agnes was good from the beginning. The trip was organized well. The hotels they've booked for us were on the expected level, the safari was organized professionally, the driver spoke English well and was always trying to find the best compromise between our wishes and what was realistically possible in the given timeframe. All ground transfers were there on time and got us to where we needed to be on time. We felt very safe with all the guides and drivers we've been in contact with, we never had a feeling that they are doing anything that is not in the guest's best interest. The team was very responsive and eager to help all the time, so they really deserve compliments for this.

There were some minor details regarding the activities in Zanzibar that were not scheduled in a way that we requested when planning the trip. However, this was quickly solved after contacting the team, so we could see and do everything we've planned prior to the trip. And the plane transfer from mainland Tanzania to Zanzibar was organized a bit "the local way", but in the end we got to Zanzibar safely and on time.

Fei did a great job planning our trip to Japan! We wanted to cover the most popular locations but also experience some local favourites and we enjoyed all the activities that were planned. There was ample time also for us to explore by ourselves and the instructions for all travel legs were very clear and there were almost no hiccups. The local guides that were taking us around were also very kind and helpful!

Special shot out to Fei for arranging a private driver from Yuzawa to Tokyo when we were stuck after the earthquake. She promptly responded and found us a driver. I was skeptical initially as we didn’t have a direct contact to Fei but she continued to respond outside work hours to help us out!

Would highly recommend Fei to organise your trip!

Hotel Reviews

Sotetsu Fresa Inn Hiroshima

Hiroshima

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Shojoshin-in Temple

Great experience staying in a temple. The rooms were comfortable for us to rest!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hilton Garden Inn Kyoto Shijo Karasuma

Kyoto

Spacious rooms!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Helped us a lot with our luggage transfer!

Cleanliness & Comfort

HOTEL TORIFITO KANAZAWA

Hotel was clean but the rooms were too small where we couldn’t open our suitcases.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Green Plaza Hakone

Hakone

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Shibuya Tokyu REI Hotel

Tokyo

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

karaksa hotel TOKYO STATION

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Drive to Hakone by Private Car

Japan

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Sumo Morning Practice

Tokyo

Great learning experience watching the wrestlers up so close! Plus they allowed us to take photos in the end which was cool!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Our guide patiently walked us back to the pickup location even though she didn’t have to!

Full Day Nara Tour From Kyoto with Naramachi District

Kyoto

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Our guide was very kind to bring us back to the city and take us to a shopping area to buy snacks!

Kimono Tea Ceremony at Kyoto Maikoya

Kyoto

Since we already enjoyed the Tea ceremony elsewhere that part felt unneeded. But the dressing up part was fun.

Quality of Experience

Shirakawago Day Trip

Kanazawa

Ended up being a perfect day weather wise to visit! A great day trip from Kanazawa

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Our guide was very experienced and shared a lot about the local tradition!

Transport

We got a upgraded super comfortable ride!

Full Day Mt. Fuji with Lake Kawaguchiko Cruise and Iyashi no Sato

Tokyo

It was a great experience to be up close with Fuji!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Full Day Tokyo City Tour with Senso-ji Temple (join-in)

Tokyo

The tour took us to nice places but felt the timing in each location is not enough

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

I was very pleased with our trip in Spain, everything was very well organized and planned.
Thank you for taking care of us, we enjoyed Spain and will be back soon!

Julian and Clementina were very attentive on Whatsapp. Everything was on time.