Kimkim Trip Reviews

Both our drivers were excellent. The hotels were lovely except the ibis in Surabaya which was fine. The Plataran hotel at bromo was fabulous. The M-gallery at solo was lovely although many of the things we tried to order (drinks and food) were not available as it was getting back on its feet post Covid. The M-gallery in Yogyakarta was also lovely and seemed to have everything we ordered. Its location is great as it’s near the Main Street. It was expensive though as tax and service were not included in its prices. The sunrise at bromo was great. The temples near Solo were lovely albeit not as spectacular is the ones near Yogyakarta. You need cash for tipping and some guidance on this might be helpful. You also need cash for visa on arrival. The traffic in the cities is very bad. Not as bad as Hanoi but progress is slow. Motorways work well. We bought some excellent batik at very good prices in solo and an artwork batik in Yogyakarta. We really enjoyed all the arranged tours.

Hotel Reviews

Plataran Bromo

Wonokitri

Lovely hotel. Very beautiful and classy. Great service.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Ibis Surabaya city center

It’s did what it said on the tin. But nothing outstanding.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Grand Dafam Signature International Airport Yogyakarta

Great brand new hotel. Lovely view from out north facing room. Really nice staff. Still awaiting an alcohol licence so we could not order the cocktails we wanted.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Perfect for the airport. Free transfer. At 5 am.

Staff

They provided us with a hot pack up breakfast with coffee at 5 am. Lovely check in staff too. Really helpful. New hotel so some staff appeared to be still being trained. But everybody was great.

Cleanliness & Comfort

The Phoenix Hotel Yogyakarta - MGallery Collection

Yogyakarta

Lovely hotel near the best shopping and eating street.

Authenticity & Character

Looked fabulously traditional despite being fairly new. Felt authentic.

Location

Short walk to great street food and restaurants, bars and shops. Near railway station.

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

The Royal Surakarta Heritage - MGallery Collection

Authenticity & Character

Looked much older than it was but done so well it added to the experience.

Location

Beautiful hotel.

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Sunrise Adventure at Mount Bromo

Indonesia

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Bumpy. Early start but great trip.

Sukuh & Cetoh Temple

Solo

Long but interesting drive. Very nice fairly small temples.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Taman Sari and the underground mosque

Yogyakarta

Really nice palace. Sadly underground mosque closed due to Covid hangover.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Sultan Palace

Yogyakarta

Lovely palace. But mostly exhibitions showing the life of Sultans.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Puppet & Batik making

Yogyakarta

Lovey quality of craftsmanship. We bought a beautiful batik created by our guide. No pressure to buy which is nice.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Visit Borobudur Temple

Yogyakarta

Quite a long way from Yogyakarta in terms of travel time. But it’s an amazing Buddhist temple. Sadly you can’t go into the temple post Covid but still fabulous to walk around.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Visit Prambanan Temple Complex

Yogyakarta

Like a smaller older Angkor Wat.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Sharon planned our trip and was outstanding and responsive before during and even after returning home as I'll explain. We needed Sharon only once while traveling to accommodate our son during our eight days on the road with our driver Hicham as our son wished for his own room during our final three nights together. She managed that process with our driver, Hicham once she gained our permission to adjust the extra cost for which we were grateful. Hicham was an outstanding driver, conversational if we engaged him (were not asleep) while always keeping us safe. He would meet us to pick us up at our accommodations not on time, but always early. Our vehicle clean inside and out. He was professional, and courteous. There were times we'd invite him to have lunch with us and he would politely decline. Of course this was during the time for him to make calls to confirm tour guides were at the ready for us whether it be two hours away or more, wherever our next destination was. He was never on his phone while driving nor checking messages. Our guides would magically appear and Hicham would hand us off and appear exactly when we needed him again. We did enjoy a few meals together, but Hicham was the consummate professional at all times. Hicham became like family to us as we traveled with our son during the first eight days before dropping him at his University to study abroad. Our son sat in the front seat listening intently to Hicham as he explained his roots in Morocco, that he is a proud Berber, among the original settlers of Morocco. Hicham drove many many thousands of kilometers somehow without GPS through the Sahara Desert by the Algerian border, and we always felt safe. It's customary to be stopped as a tour van and he always had perfect legal documentation. A highlight for us was luxury camping after riding camels in Merzouga, with our own private showers, wireless and Air Conditioning. We learned not all tours direct their clients to the luxury camps like we enjoyed; in fact, we were the only three at our camp, and neighboring camps included dozens of people sharing toilets, no wireless, nor AC. Among those were a honeymoon couple we saw the next morning at sunrise after climbing the highest dune to catch sunrise which confirmed what we already knew about Sharon and Hicham's utmost high level of integrity. Hicham helped us deliver our son and move him to Ifrane at the University and waited patiently for us when there were University snafus. He never complained and only exhibited the highest level of patience. We have incredible memories and photos now that we've been home two weeks, and finally need to mention that my son lost his debit card while traveling last weekend to Tangier about a six hour journey from his University in Ifrane. Morocco is a cash economy so it was frightening to our son to have just begun a long holiday weekend away with limited cash. I messaged Sharon to suggest solutions such as a wire, and she offered to have Hicham drive to our son to give him some Dirhams. Now that is going above and beyond! We love Moroccan Immersions!! Thank you, Sharon and Hicham. We will be referring all of our friends to you.

Hotel Reviews

Chez Ichou

Dades Gorge

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

cats roaming..my husband is allergic.

Merzouga Dunes Camps

Merzouga

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Riad al Rimal

Marrakech

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Riad Madu Luxury Camp

Merzouga

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Riad Al Makan

Fès

Authenticity & Character

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

super noisy in evening

Riad Hicham

Chefchaouen

excellent food!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Palais Zahia

Old Medina, Tangier

Shower over flowed. Drain was clogged. Made worse as there were No towels for post shower never mind to clean up floor, and When we asked for more, they brought ONE! In the alley next door, a man was working ALL NIGHT LONG. We never slept!!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Marrakech to Dades Valley via Ait Ben Haddou

Morocco

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Camel trek to your Camp

Merzouga

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Guided Tour of Fes

Fes

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

{{start_location}} to {{end_location}} via Volubilis and Meknes

Morocco

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Guided Tour of Marrakech

Marrakesh

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Dades Valley to Merzouga via Todgha Gorge & Tinghir

Morocco

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Tour of Desert Region

Merzouga

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Merzouga to Fes via Midelt, Azrou, & Ifraine

Morocco

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Guided Tour & Free Afternoon in Chefchaouen

Chefchaouen

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Guided Tour of Tangier

Tangier

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Head to Ifraine

Fes

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Great trip, and great adventure. Planned and executed very well. Plenty of organized activities mixed with ample free time. Guides were friendly and informative. Scenery was great. The home was challenging and very rewarding. All the food was great. Definitely recommend.

Chris was a great help with planning our trip. The itinerary was great and he was responsive to question and able to assist with unexpected events. We started in Athens and worked our way through Mykonos and Naxos to end at Santorini. Overall I would recommend and will consider booking through kimkim for our next trip.

Very good itinerary planned for a 10 day trip to Chile. I requested to replace Pentagonia with Atacama Desert and Puerta Varas and Lorena was able to put together a fun intinerary for me.
The guides at each of the destinations were responsible and were informative.

Hotel Reviews

Hotel Boutique Le Reve

Santiago

Authenticity & Character

Very cosy hotel

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel La Casa de Don Tomás

San Pedro de Atacama

This is the probably the only hotel I've seen that has a drive in lobby. It really helps as you can enjoy a cup of free coffee while waiting for your pickup early in the morning (most trips out to the desert start as early as 4 or 5am!). It beats waiting in the street for your pickup in the cold. The hotel restaurant has the best food I've eaten in this place. much better than what you can get in the town centre.

Authenticity & Character

Location

About 600m from the town centre

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Bellavista

Puerto Varas

Nice hotel overlooking the lake. It's quite strange that the hotel doesn't provide bottled water nor are there cups in the room. I enjoyed the delicious dinner in the hotel restaurant.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Lake view. About 400-500m from town centre.

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

San José Volcano & Andes Mountains

Santiago

Great guides.

Quality of Experience

Food

Bonus -- nice wine and snacks at the end of the hike!

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Stargazing Experience

San Pedro de Atacama

It'll be cold at night. The telescope is amazing!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Knowledgeable guide

Transport

Excursion to Chiloé Island: Ancud, Dalcahue & Castro

Puerto Varas

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Trekking in Alerce Andino National Park

Puerto Varas

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Best vacation ever! Angela was very responsive and helped plan an unforgettable itinerary. Our guides were all fantastic, and we are most thankful for our guides we spent the most time with including Helena and Alexander.

Hotel Reviews

Grande Bretagne Hotel

Athens

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Ananti City Resort

Trikala

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Academias Hotel, Autograph Collection

Athens

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Mystique, a Luxury Collection Hotel

Santorini

Stunning location. Excellent service! Lots of stairs, but the staff was there to help with bags, making things manageable.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Phaea Blue Palace

Agios Nikolaos

Authenticity & Character

Location

A bit far for the tours we scheduled. But if you are looking to relax, this is a great place!

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

The Delicious Athens Food Tour

Greece

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Plaka Sunset Walking Tour

Greece

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Best of Ancient & Modern Athens

Greece

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Wonders of Mainland Greece Delphi Day 1

Greece

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Wonders of Mainland Greece Meteora Day 2

Greece

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

All time classic Santorini 2023

Greece

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Dinner at Oia Gefsis, Oia

Greece

Quality of Experience

Local tastings 2024

Greece

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

East Crete Secrets Off the Beaten Track: Through the Eyes of Locals from East

Greece

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Western Crete - Six Senses Mosaic & Venetian Rethymno from Her & West P3

Greece

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Greek Wedding Show

Santorini

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

We booked a trip to Costa Rica to check out the Caribbean coast, and it was fantastic! Our local specialist, Olman, set everything up and all we had to do was show up. We were picked up at the airport and driven to our hotel in San Jose for the first afternoon, where we did a little sightseeing downtown. The next morning we got picked up and driven on a nice bus across the mountains to board a boat to the lodge in Tortuguero. The resort was very nice and laid back, with lots of wildlife to see. The next day we returned to the mainland and picked up a rental car to drive south to Puerta Viejo de Talamanca for a couple of nights. Here we enjoyed the beach, saw the wild sloth staying at our hotel, hiked in the national park, and checked out the local nightlife. After our stay, we drove back to San Jose for one more night before flying out.

The best thing about this trip was that everything was arranged in advance (except my navigation skills on the self-driving part). We didn't have to hassle with arranging tours or getting reservations, and they even delivered our rental car to the lodge's restaurant. When I left my ID at the boarding area for the boat, Olman worked a minor miracle and arranged for me to pick it up on our return.

Everyone we met on the trip was helpful and friendly; the tour guides were great all around. Next trip like this we take, I will definitely book this way again.

Hotel Reviews

Gran Hotel Costa Rica, Curio Collection by Hilton

San José

Great location right in the middle of downtown. Everything worked, the room was very nice and very clean, and the breakfast was great.

Authenticity & Character

I don't know about "authenticity", but it's a modern hotel with the normal amenities.

Location

Staff

Super friendly!

Cleanliness & Comfort

Clean, nicely appointed.

Mawamba Lodge

Tortuguero

The individual lodges were a little spartan, but nice enough, and it added a little bit of charm. We really only used our room to store our stuff and sleep. They had nice porches with hammocks. The grounds are pretty cool, with some short nature trails and easy access to the beach, though the beaches apparently have strong currents and are not great for swimming. You can use the beach to walk to the town to pick up souvenirs or have dinner and drinks on the lagoon. The restaurant/bar was excellent. It is not a buffet style, and there was a wide selection. A few specialty items had upcharges (fresh seafood choices). The boat tour we took was great, and our tour guide was hilarious in at least 5 languages.

Authenticity & Character

I loved the atmosphere of the lodge; you can be as active as you'd like to be, but if not, it's relaxing and laid back.

Location

You have to travel there by boat, which was an adventure. The scenery is amazing.

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

The room amenities were less than you would get in a super luxury resort, but that wasn't what we were looking for. There's no AC in the rooms, though it was pleasant at night and we didn't spend much of our day in the room.

Le Cameleon Boutique Hotel

Puerto Viejo

This is a very modern-design hotel. It's got an open space in the middle with a nice pool and a hot tub, and each room has balconies looking into the jungle. The rooms open into large stairwells that lead directly to the pool area. The restaurant is right across the road and has indoor and outdoor seating with beach access. We really liked Le Cameleon!

Authenticity & Character

There is a sloth that came to visit the hotel!

Location

Everything

Staff

Friendly, efficient

Cleanliness & Comfort

Our only issue was that the water on our side of the hotel kept going out, but they were keeping an eye on the situation and got it fixed pretty quickly each time.

Activity Reviews

San Jose - Tortuguero

Costa Rica

We were picked up at the hotel right on time, and we joined a group of other people for the ride to Tortuguero. The drive was through the mountains and across the eastern side of the country; the driver was excellent and our guide was entertaining. He pointed out the sights and gave some commentary, but left plenty of time for napping and watching the scenery. Lunch was provided at the Mawamba lodge restaurant in Guapiles. The boat ride to Tortuguero was fun. We saw lots of wildlife on the way.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Wildlife Boat Tour in Tortuguero

Tortuguero

Spent the morning on a boat cruising around the lagoons. Our guide and boat pilot were excellent at spotting wildlife, including a crocodile, monkeys, turtles, iguanas, etc. Our guide was really funny and spoke something like 6 languages.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

It leaves from the lodge, no transport needed.

Guided Hike in Cahuita National Park

Puerto Viejo de Talamanca

Cahuita tours provides several different packages. We did only the nature hike (about 2 miles). Some of our group did snorkeling for part of the morning and met us for the hike back, but on the way out it was just us. Our guide was really good at spotting animals and was very knowledgeable. She was really friendly and didn't mind our tourist questions.

Quality of Experience

Food

Local restaurant, good food, good beer.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Got picked up at the hotel and driven in a van to the park (~20 minutes).

Visit the Jaguar Rescue Center

Puerto Viejo de Talamanca

The drive to the Jaguar Rescue Center took us about 45 minutes, except that we were driving to the wrong place (I blame my phone map). The actual Jaguar Rescue Center was literally next to our hotel. We ended up running about 5 minutes late to the tour after figuring out our mistake, but the staff understood and we got connected to the tour group. We saw a baby sloth, and a bunch of other animals. Definitely worth taking the tour to see some of the wildlife up close. The rescue center is a legit rescue operation, not a zoo, which was important to us.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

A Great Trip, Wonderful Hotels and tours. Everyone had a wonderful time. The tour guide Javier did a great job showing us around. Would recommend Kimkim service to all travelers.

Hotel Reviews

Nacar Hotel Cartagena, Curio Collection by Hilton

Cartagena

Very nice hotel with a Great staff and service. Nice bar and good food

Authenticity & Character

Great decor

Location

Inside walled city

Staff

Fantastic service

Cleanliness & Comfort

Very nice rooms and kept clean

Sofitel Baru Calablanca

Cartagena

Fantastic Hotel, Beautiful location on the beach ⛱️🏖️. Wonderful food 🥑 and Drinks 😊 Wonderful rooms. Service and Staff were just wonderful and treated all very special.

Authenticity & Character

Just Wonderful

Location

Beautiful Beach Location

Staff

Great Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Rooms were clean, comfortable and clean, Great cleaning staff

Activity Reviews

Dinner Reservation at Candé

Cartagena

Great Food,Staff and Music

Quality of Experience

Wonderful food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Great Staff and service

Half Day City Tour of Cartagena

Cartagena

Nice tour of city

Quality of Experience

Informative

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Learned a lot from guide and had a great driver

Transport

Nice Van

Dinner Reservation at Alma

Cartagena

Great Meal it was daughters birthday and she was treated like a Queen 😅

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Rum Tasting with Chocolate Pairing

Cartagena

Had a great time very good rum and chocolate

Quality of Experience

Great time

Drums and Music Workshop

Cartagena

Very interesting and informative tour. Very entertaining

Quality of Experience

Entertaining

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Great service

Transport

Nice Van

Trip was amazing! I wish we would've gotten a rental car in Milos because it was near impossible to get around the island without a car or ATV. Other than that the trip was amazing and so was Amalia. She made our Honeymoon a stress free trip for us :)

Activity Reviews

Day-Cruise around Milos

Milos

Absolutely amazing tour! It was fun to go with other people and visit areas around the island you wouldn't normally be able to see. We also got to snorkel and had amazing local cuisine cooked by our captains.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Santorini Cooking Class

Santorini

We didn't actually get to cook any food! The only thing we were able to do is cut tomatoes with safety knives and toss ingredients into a salad bowl. While it was interesting to hear about local cuisine, we had expected more of a hands on experience.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

We did a 10 day/9 night self drive tour from Dublin-Laragh-Cork-Killarney-Dingle-Doolin-Galway and it was lovely! The accommodations were all went smoothly and we had plenty of tips of where to go and what was on our way. We felt comfortable choosing what we did and didn’t want to do and even added some of our own stops along the way. I don’t think I could have had such a great trip without the assistance of kimkim and Ireland walk bike hike! The customer service was phenomenal and I have highly recommended this company to everyone! I will be using them again for another trip for sure! My only feedback was that the city of Cork was not very appealing and had a very very strong foul odor when we entered the city (I think it was the River/waste water). But not sure if the travel agency would have known this!

Thank you to all who helped us plan this unforgettable trip!

A group of 6 spent 12 nights together in Greece.

Angela curated a beautiful trip and we took her advice on where to go and what to do. I’m glad we did. We would have missed out on many beautiful things and experiences that will live with me for a lifetime.

Thanks so much for your help, Angela! She was available the entire time- like traveling with a friend.

We were impressed and happy with Pedro's attitude and service.He was faced with surprises which he dealt with efficiently.The whole plan was according to our expectations: a good mixture of walking and driving.I want to especially recommend Jorge who went out of his way in complying with our needs and wishes.
I definitely will recommend Kim Kim

Hotel Review

Vila Galé Cascais

Cascais

Authenticity & Character

Location

The vicinity to the sea

Staff

The guys at the reception were curt.

Cleanliness & Comfort

The room was clean and the bed spacious

Activity Reviews

8-Hour Private Driver Tour of Braga and Guimarães from Porto

Porto

Quality of Experience

Everything!

Quality of Experience

Everything!

Guides, Drivers and Staff

The drive, the view, the giudance.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

The drive, the view, the giudance.

Transport

The car was clean and comfortable

Transport

The car was clean and comfortable

Immerse Yourself in the Portuguese Culture by Experiencing a Fado Dinner

Lisbon

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

The driver couldn't bring us to the restaurant.Theplace was noisy to the point of disturbing the atmosphere.The acoustic was to intense.The food was not very good.But the music was wonderful and compensated.

Transport

The entire trip was well prepared. Ngima and his team did a great job. They answered every question very well and helped me to prepare the trip according to my needs.
I was warm welcomed in Nepal by Ngima and his team. My guide Ang was super polite, knowledgeable and was taking care of me throughout the trip.
Great Experience, can just recommend it to everybody.

Cheers, Alexander

Chelsea put together a fantastic itinerary for the North Island; the lodgings were fantastic, and the agenda was a nice blend of activities and downtime to explore. Unfortunately, one of the activities was canceled because of weather, but Chelsea was on top of it, letting me know right away, and helping me find alternatives. When I got in country she was indispensable, especially as unfortunately I got a little sick at the outside of the trip, but she helped me take care of the schedule.

Really loved the highlights in Aukland, Rotorua, Napier and Wellington! Can't wait to come back and explore more!

We are just in the way back from an amazing 10 day trip in Peru. Luisa and her team arranged a perfect itenary that included Tambapota lodge, sacred valley , machu pichu mountain hike and tour and palcoyo mountain tour. Gabi in Cusco and Machu Pichu made this trip memorable. She was wonderful Guide and took care of every little details and cheered us on a we made the hike in the mountains while she hiked effortlessly with us.
Overall Luisa and her team are impeccable in delivering the best vacation possible.

Hotel Reviews

Innside Lima Miraflores by Melia Hotels International

Miraflores

Very good

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Tambopata Research Center

Tambopata

Tambapota lodge was very very good inside the preserved Amazon forest. Haimie our guide was amazing. It took us a long time to get to the lodge since w we had to wait for other passengers to arrive babe we could take the boat My only wish was that the back windows had mesh window to keep the bugs out of the room. We had plenty of moth and occasional Beatles and aposssum in the room. There is Wi-Fi and electricity in the suite. E woke up to beautiful sounds of forest and howler monkeys and macaw. . The food was amazing with plenty of vegetarian choices

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Mesh window is my wish list so I can hear the forest without bugs in the room!!

Andenia Sacred Valley

Calca, Valle Sagrado

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Welcome drink was awesome

Casa Andina Standard Machu Picchu

Machu Picchu, Cusco

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

They were late in delivering our luggage to the train station we almost missed our train back to oluynthbo

Cleanliness & Comfort

Los Portales Cusco

Cusco

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Boat Ride to your Rainforest Lodge at Tambopata National Reserve

Tambopata

Took a long time because we had to wait for multiple passengers to arrive before our bus could leave to boat stop. I understand the reason why but when you have just flown a long way already, waiting for bus for more than an hour and then a bus ride for an hour, body ride for two hours makes it a really long day. But overall well worth The distance traveled

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Activities-a-la-carte at Tambopata Research Center

Tambopata

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Jaimie was excellent

Transport

Macaw Clay Lick & Floodplain Trails at Tambopata Research Center

Tambopata

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Leaving the Amazon Rainforest

Tambopata

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Exploring the Sacred Valley: Maras, Moray, Ollantaytambo

Peru

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Jose and Gabi teamit awesome tovisit Morales and Moray

Lunch at Chuncho Restaurant

Sacred Valley

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Machu Picchu Exploration

Aguas Calientes/ Machu Picchu

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Gabi cheered us on s as we made the trek up. We started at 7 before sun came out and by the team we reached the top the fog cleared up and we had excellent view of the runs down below

Transport

Jose a was awesome

Vinicunca, The Rainbow Mountain

Cusco

Quality of Experience

We

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Cusco Walking City Tour

Cusco

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Kimkim was fabulous to work with. They gave us a stress free, personalized trip. Our favorite part of the trip was our stay at an amazing hotel in Flåm with unparalleled Fjord views and floating sauna experience. This trip was everything we hoped for. We also had a big last minute travel change request and Kimkim made it happen with zero stress. They even worked with a hotel to find a necklace that I carelessly left behind!

I was so impressed with our trip, and I thank Liz Karen. When I decided to visit Peru, I looked into a group tour from a big company. But my husband discovered KimKim, and we contacted them. Liz Karen did a phenomenal job putting together a trip customized to the things we wanted to do. We also were happy with the pricing, which was less than the big company group tour I had originally planned.

Hotels were moderate-quality as requested, and we were happy with them overall. Each offered us an included breakfast daily. The Lima Arawi was an easy 15 minute walk from from the coast and the big Larcomar shopping area.

Casa Biru in Cusco was a favorite. We loved the courtyard inside it and sat there often. We made friends with the gentleman who ran the little shop between the courtyard and the street. We ate at the attached Bistro 390 restaurant and loved the reasonably-priced delicious meals, as well as the included daily breakfasts.

Susanna Inn in Aguas Calientes struggled a bit with a toilet that was stopped up when we arrived and quite a bit of noise at night (shouting, trains right outside the window). However, it was right by downtown and the breakfast there was amazing -- the best on our trip. The view from the breakfast room was right out on the river; beautiful.

Liz Karen put together a great group of guides for us. Rafael/Ramon? in Lima was nice, told us a LOT about the city's history, and helped us find a good ATM to use during our tour. We learned so much from him. David took us the Sacseyhuaman and told us much about its history. He was intelligent and cared about tailoring the tour to our interests. Daniel did a good job at the Moras Salt Mines and Moray, although this tour was less good than our others due to half or more of the narration being in Spanish (our group had Spanish and English speakers). Adriel, who took us to Pisac and Ollantaytambo, was the true star of the trip. WOW he knew a lot, and also was super alert to everyone's needs throughout our day, dropping people various places where they needed to be. I never saw him on his phone, etc. during the day. Ibrahin at Machu Picchu told us so much about the landmark (the reason for the trip to begin with) and again tailored the tour to our expectations. He also took several excellent photos for us and recommended spots that were goot for photography.

As far as memorable places -- Machu Picchu of course; I also loved Ollantaytambo which was impressive too but which I had never heard of. I loved shopping the markets and I loved Cusco a lot. The Peruvian people were so friendly and helpful. I also loved the women around town dressed in traditional clothing and with alpacas and lambs for photography. Another thing we did that I enjoyed was attend the evening program of dancing and music. This was included on a ticket we had and was an easy walk from our hotel.

Each driver was there on time (a couple of times they were 5 minutes later, but the came quickly after). It was so nice not to have to worry about getting where we needed to go or needing to navigate an unfamiliar city.

We totally loved the trip and would recommend KimKim and Liz Karen to others. Gracias!

Nadia designed this amazing trip for us. She understood our interests very well to come up with the trip plan. She provided prompt responses for all our questions. She also provided very detailed schedule we can follow during our trip. All the accommodations and tours worked out great!
We interacted with Chris during the trip. Chris was always there to provide support including restaurant reservations and cancellations. He always answered the phone and text messages whenever we had questions. We did not have any issues. Trip went very smooth and local support was great.
We visited Athens, Santorini and Crete. We did several private tours. We were very glad to have knowledgeable and personable local guides, we learned so much and liked them a lot.
We would use kimkim again in the future!

Hotel Reviews

Urban Stripes Athens

Koukaki, Athens

Convenient location, very private and quiet.

Authenticity & Character

Apartment is clean and has the view of Acropolis, but it's hard to tell it has any character or authenticity.

Location

Close to Acropolis, museums, and very good coffee place just across the street (I think it is called 'Migniardise, Veikou 30' and many restaurants to choose from!

Staff

Staff was responsive although there was no one physically there. All communications were done by text messages.

Cleanliness & Comfort

There was not daily cleaning, we found out by asking. There was one cleaning included free of charge during 5 night stay.

Goulielmos Hotel Santorini

Santorini

Very beautiful and peaceful hotel. Caldera views were unbelievable. All staff we interacted with were super nice. Very glad we stayed here (versus more crowded locations).

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Lato Boutique Hotel

Heraklion

Very good location. Staff were helpful.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Elia Zampeliou Hotel

Chania

Very nice views and clean hotel. We had to walk thru the old town with our luggage when we checked in because cars were not allowed. Although it was not a problem for us, if you have problem walking you might not want this hotel. Old town was very cute with boutique hotels and restaurants and shops!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Quaint old town with cars not allowed. Great views!

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Welcome to Athens!

Athens

Driver was waiting for us and gave us helpful information about Athens in a brand new Mercedes!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Restaurants in Athens

Athens

We did use a couple of restaurants on the list. But we found our favorite ones. ManiMani is very close Urban Stripes, food and staff are excellent and we ended up eating here 3 times. After a full day of sightseeing, having a good place close to us were a bonus. For a very special dinner, we chose CTC Urban Gastronomy (Michelin star). They served amazing tasting menu and interesting local wine match!

Quality of Experience

Acropolis & Flavors Combo Tour

Athens

This was an excellent tour. Our tour guide, Anastasia, was so knowledgeable and personable! Tour included Acropolis, the best Greek Coffee, markets, tasting..

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Private Sunset Excursion to Sounio and the Temple of Poseidon & Sea-side Dinner

Athens

Our guide was excellent. Timing was perfect to see the sunset. He was very helpful at the restaurant where we had the local whole fish!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Mycenae Tour, Wine Tasting and Nafplio Day-Trip

Greece

Excellent tour. Our driver / guide had excellent local knowledge took us to an eccentric antique/art store because there was a little extra time. Archeologist at Mycenae had excellent knowledge. We had a wonderful time learning and included private winery tour where we even bought some wine!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Santorini Day at Leisure

Santorini

It was a long day from Athens to Santorini. Transfers to and from ferry were comfortable and convenient. We were too tired to do any sightseeing after arriving in Santorini, especially the hotel was so nice and peaceful.. we just stayed and enjoyed the afternoon and evening at the hotel.

Transport

Fairytale Villages & Majestic Views in Santorini Tour

Santorini

Our guide (Elena) and driver (sorry, can't remember the name) were very personable. It was a very detailed and fun day. Nice lunch on the black beach, best fava beans, we liked the food very much.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

All Time Classic Santorini

Santorini

This was a last minute booking because we wanted a guided tour of Akrotiri. It was supposed to be a small group (14 pp max), but it ended up about 18. They combined the people from another tour that got cancelled and we had to change the bus due to having more people. They were not happy, we had do stop and pick up more people, etc. For us, there were several duplications with "Fairytale Villages and Majestic Views" tour. We finally got off the bus after Akrotiri, giving up lunch and wine tasting. Also Museum of prehistoric Thera was closed on this day, so they took us to Lost Atlantis museum which was not to our liking! We could've just done Akrotiri with the museum guide a lot cheaper and a lot less time than this tour!

Quality of Experience

Keep it 14 max as advertised.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

All issues are due to having more people than promised

Welcome to Heraklion

Heraklion

Ferry was late. We waited at the Santorini ferry terminal forever (we got picked up too early in our opinion) and ferry was late. Because it was almost two hours late, our driver must have given up and and left us stranded. We had to call the transfer company and Chris to sort it out and eventually got the taxi ride.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

The private tour of Knossos Minoan palace

Greece

The actual tour was only about 2 hours. Traffic was bad and took a while to go there and come back. Tour guide was entertaining with the stories of myths!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Welcome to Chania

Chania

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

The Walking Tour Of Chania Old Town

Greece

Our guide took us for a nice walk around Chania into different neighborhoods with lots of background and history. It was very interesting. Dropped us off at a very nice restaurant for wine tasting where we ended up having a very nice lunch!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

A family friend recommended kimkim to us for our trip to Iceland. We had an itinerary of locations to explore.
We shared this info with Lisbet, who added a stop in the highlands, and suggested additional stops along our route with pertinent information for each site.
She was able to secure lodging for us that was convenient to all our “must see “ attractions.
Each hotel had a restaurant on site with breakfast buffet.
After a busy day of sightseeing, we often chose to settle in with wine and dinner there and enjoyed our meals immensely.
We were very pleased with the accommodations she chose for us!
Thank you, Lisbet!
Evelyn and Tom

We had an absolutely flawless trip thanks to KimKim and especially Amalia.

Amalia took so much time to work with us an plan activities and hotels that exactly aligned with we asked for. In addition she communicated with us through the entire process and answered questions right away, especially while on the trip. Cannot say enough great things.

All of our plan activities were seem less. All of the drivers and employees of external activities were great.

Activity Reviews

Day cruise around Santorini

Santorini

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

The Acropolis & Ancient Greek Mythology & Museum Tour

Athens

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Cosmopolitan Mykonos

Mykonos

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Santorini Cooking Class

Santorini

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport