Kimkim Trip Reviews

Smooth coordination and pleasant experience with Silvia and the drivers / guides who

I normally like to plan my own trip. Because it is my first time in Costa Rica and not speaking any spanish, I decided to use a travel agent. I am so glad that I found Kimkim. Kimkim's approach of connecting me with a local specialist - Gustavo made a whole thing work and worry free.

First there are lot of pre-curated tour information to give me some general ideas to work with Gustavo, then he sent me some initial choices which allows me to start to ask questions. He was always very prompted with my questions, we were able to refine and make quick decisions. It only took us a few days from start to finish to determine our trip, versus, it would have taken me months if I would do it on my own.

Second, some of the boutique hotels Gustavo found for me, I don't image that I would be able to find it on my own. I was very impressed by Rio Perdido Hotel and Thermal River recommendation. It is in the middle of no where has to go through some very bumpy road. Gustavo took care of booking all the transportation in and out which made it worry free. The other boutique hotel Tierra Magnifica is not even listed on Expedia. I am grateful that Gustavo picked out those hotels for us which made the whole trip experience unique and magnificent. As those hotel small as it, they offer very unique environments and yet with great restaurants, I can just take my camera and walk around grounds, I will see magnificent birds and animals.

Third, Gustavo picked some awesome tours with very early start time (6:30am, 6:45am). I didn't start to appreciate until I get there which only a local specialist can call it out. As the weather in August, it often rains hard in the afternoon, early morning tours guarantee better weather. The tour options are great, met with my family's interests. We had a great time with all of them. The planned timing is also great for example going to hot spring on the first day after the long flight and car ride. Our favorite activity is the Rafting on Rio Tenorio

As for feedback, I wish I didn't book a tour ahead of time during my stay at Rio Perdido -- as there are so much to do within the resort. I have to say the waterfall expedition tour would be a great option if the transportation to the Hotel Hacienda Guachipelin didn't take up that much time (1.3 hr one way)

There was one small hiccup at the last day. On my itinerary it listed 9:00AM pick up from the hotel, however, the driver is confirmed as 11:00AM. Didn't cause any issues, but want to mention it for completeness.

Overall, the trip was a great experience for my family. I would recommend Kimkim to my friends and will definite use it again.

Hotel Reviews

Tierra Magnifica

Nosara

It is a very small boutique hotel (14) rooms. Free laundry service is also great. The view of the hotel is magnificent.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Hotel has a great view. It would be a little hard to get to on your own. Recommend transportation service.

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Lomas del Volcán

Fortuna

From our bungalows, there is a great view of Arenal. The ground is amazing, we didn't use any of the pool facility as we were busy with the activities. The menu of the onsite restaurants is on the pricy side.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Río Perdido Hotel & Thermal River

La Fortuna

This is a very unique hotel, right next to a Thermal River. We had a center bungalow and an east bungalow. The bungalow is nested in the jungle. It has a rustic feel outside, however, once you get in, everything is ultra model. There are windows along 3 sides of the room. The outdoor rain shower is super cool. Center bungalow gives a more unique experience with the out-door shower.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Onside thermal river and hot-spring is a nice

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Private Sloth Discovery Walk

Arenal/La Fortuna

It was a nice day walk. The guide told us due to the rain, the sloth went up high and curled into a ball. We were lucky enough to catch a 2 toe-sloth in a slight lower position. Was able to see a red frog, lizzard and few other birds.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Guides and driver are very nice. They even prepared fresh Pineapple, juice and water at the end of the trip.

Mangrove Kayak & Standup Paddle Board Adventure

Nosara

The guide is knowledgeable about the animal. We were able to see a lot of water birds and crocodiles. The fresh coconut water is very refreshing.

{{start_location}} to {{end_location}} Rafting on Río Tenorio (Class 3-4)

Costa Rica

This is our favorite activity of the trip. It has the right balance of thrill and easiness. It was our kids first time rafting, the level 1-2 rapids are good learning ground. The river is warm and beautiful, there were good swimming spots a long the way. As the end, there were 3 level 3 and 1 Level 4 which adds the thrill.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Full-day Waterfalls Expedition

Rincón de la Vieja

Maybe it is during the low season, it is like a private tour. There were no other people around the first 2 waterfalls, it was a bonus.

Quality of Experience

Food

It is the standard buffet style food.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Although the transportation is long, my driver is very helpful. He prepared water for us, he told us about the surroundings.

Transport

The transportation is a bit long from my hotel to this activity. My hotel Rio Perdido offers very similar Hot-Spring, guided hike. If I knew this ahead of time, I might trade to take the activity at the hotel.

The Springs Hot Springs

Arenal/La Fortuna

The springs resort is beautiful, the spa setting is beautify. I am glad that Gaustavo picked the activity here for us to enjoy the view and food without needing to pay the exorbitant hotel room.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Lost Canyon Waterfalls & Rappelling Adventure

Arenal/La Fortuna

The activity is super cool and something to brag about. Love the man-made Dam effect, got a really cool video out it.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

We had a super experience! Valentine was very helpful, knowledgable and accomodated all our requests during the planning and booking of the trip. Everything was organised in a very short time period (7 to 10 days before the trip). Also, we really appreciated that she was available to us throughout our trip in France and we were able to reschedule some private transfers and one tour. The tour guides were very knowledable and interesting. The travel including private transfers, internal flight and train rides were all well organised. Perhaps one area of improvement would be that we would have liked a little more transparency with the costs of the individual tours and private transfers. Overall, we had a great expereience! Thank you.

Hotel Reviews

Renaissance Aix-en-Provence Hotel

Aix-en-Provence

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

B&B Domaine de l'Isle

Civray-de-Touraine

It was a very pretty and charming place but located a little far from restaurants.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Saint-Germain-des-Prés Pastry & Chocolate Walk

Paris

This was quite an interesting experience and in addition to being introduced to some of the better pastry and chocolate shops, the guide also took us to some of the churches in the area. Sampling the pastries and chocs was also grerat!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Private Tours of the French Riviera

France

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Chenonceau Castle: entrance tickets

France

Good audio guide

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Canoë under Chenonceau Castle

France

Great views of the Chenonceau castle and it felt good to do something active

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Afternoon Vouvray Wine Tasting Experience

Amboise

Very informative guides and enjoyed the scenic drives!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Louvre Private Family Adventure

Paris

Guide was very good and made it interesting for the kids.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Disneyland Paris: One Park Entrance Tickets with Premier Access Pass

France

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Driver was very friendly and accomodating

Eiffel Tower Summit Tickets

Paris

Amazing views of Paris from the Summit. Also, felt great to reach the top of one of the most famous structures in the world. Guide was also interesting and fun.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Seine River Cruise with Audio Guide

Paris

The boat was very crowded but we saw the basic highlights of Paris. It was sometimes difficult to follow the audio guide

Lorena planned a great trip! Even more important, flight changes required us to change our itinerary just a few weeks before the trip, and Lorena remade the plan without missing a beat. Vendors for the excursions/adventures she arranged were all fantastic: reliable, informative and fun.

Lorena was a great communicator before and during the trip. We need to go back to Chile to explore the parts of this beautiful country we didn't get to on this trip!

Hotel Review

Hotel Cumbres San Pedro

San Pedro de Atacama

Authenticity & Character

Location

About a 20 minute walk to town, but hotel shuttle was reliable

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Valle Nevado Ski Resort

Santiago

Rentals were very easy in Santiago before heading up to the mountain. The ride up and down can be a little stomach-churning with all the hairpin turns and the sometimes impatient drivers! The mountain was nice but only some trails were open. We spent a day skiing, which was enough - there wasn't enough open to spend any more time than that on the mountain (for reference: we are fairly experienced skiers - black/double black in the Rockies), but we definitely got a kick out of being able to ski in August!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Tour of Tatio Geysers

San Pedro de Atacama

Don't worry: getting up EARLY in the morning to head out to the geysers is worth it! They're almost other-worldly and they're absolutely beautiful rising in the cold air and as the sun rises in the morning. The tour company was great and prepared a delicious breakfast for us on the way back!

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Maipo Valley Wine Experience

Santiago

Four stars only because the second winery - Santa Ema - wasn't quite as fun/informative as the first, Santa Rita. I think Santa Rita does a LOT more tours, so they seem to have the whole experience better planned. Santa Ema's guide was friendly but not as informative about the wines, the terroir, etc. Having said that, it's a beautiful winery (as is Santa Rita) and drinking wine on a nice, sunny day is never a bad thing....

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Buggy Safari Through the Desert

San Pedro de Atacama

JP was a great guide for multiple excursions with him. We had a great time on the stargazing and buggy ride in particular. The buggy ride let us explore parts of the desert landscape that just weren't accessible by car.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Iceland was a spectacular trip. Janel gave us lots of good tips on places to see while in Iceland and mapped out everything great. There were a couple map points which were a little off but we figured it out. Everything was breathtaking. Our favorites were the Glacial Lagoon and Ice Cave Tour. Both highly recommended and not to be missed!!

Hotel Reviews

Vík Apartments

Vik I Myrdal

Great location in the amazing town of vik. Beautiful view of the mountains and short walk to the black sand beach.

Authenticity & Character

Location

great great view.

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Gljufurbustadir Holiday Homes

Hveragerði

Was a little disappointed that we had to fill and empty the hot tub ourselves but otherwise was great. Nice location near the Viking Restaurant and a cute little town as well as places to hike. Comfy beds and plenty of room. Watched a great sunset from our porch.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Katla Ice Cave Superjeep tour

Iceland

Our guide Maria (from Greece) was amazing. Super helpful and fun. It rained when we went but it didn’t take away fro the magic at all. To walk in the glacier and see the enormity of it was breathtaking!!

Quality of Experience

Simply stunning. Well worth it.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Maria was amazing!

Transport

Nice view on drive out.

Hjalparfoss

Iceland

Stunning like all of the waterfalls we saw. Lots of cool rocks to climb around on to see from a different view.

Quality of Experience

The Secret Lagoon

Iceland

Vatnshellir lava cave tour

Iceland

Our guide was friendly, knowledgeable and helpful.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

We planned a family trip. Mom's 80th. Post COVID revenge travel. To Greece. About which we knew next to nothing. For a big group (6 adults) with complicated logistics.

We found KimKim on-line. Used their tool to assess our needs. And Irene put together a trip that matched our interests and met our needs.

We chose Thessaloniki for its importance in Jewish history. The tour was quite good. Though note to tour guide Dina, less emphasis on Jews' perceived wealth would have been okay. The one remaining synagogue is poignant. And the museum is well done. The waterfront and neighborhood around the hotel is beautiful. At the last minute we added a side trip to Pella. Kimkim made it happen promptly and smoothly. (That's the theme: Kimkim handled all of our requests and all of our needs smoothly, promptly and effectively.) The museum at Pella is fabulous. And empty. The actual dig site is not really developed to be tourist friendly. Perhaps if we had a do-over, we'd skip Thessaloniki and spend time at the Athens Jewish museum.

Athens is beautiful. Like the postcards. And mom climbed the acropolis. Don't miss the acropolis museum. Don't miss the archeology museum.

And when mom needed hearing aid repair, Kimkim found us a great audiologist.

Chania was our favorite. Less over-run by tourists. Lots of history. Don't miss the archeology museum (which we discovered on our own but which Kimkim should encourage). The wine tasting and olive oil tour was a fun day. But there was also a wine tasting on Santorini with better wine. (Sorry, Crete) We arranged a visit to Friday night services at Etz Chaim. Wonderful, warm and inclusive service. Glad it is an active synagogue rather than a museum to a lost community.

The beach day on Crete was beautiful. But mom and I missed it. Mom tested positive for COVID and we spent the day at the hospital trying unsuccessfully to obtain Paxlovid. Apparently, it is reserved for EU citizens and no mechanism to get it for Americans. They offered to admit mom for remdesivir, which she did not need. The rest of the family said George, their guide, showed them a great day.

Fortunately, mom never had more than a sore throat which passed quickly. Unfortunately, she spent the rest of the trip in quarantine. Kimkim nimbly made alternate travel and hotel arrangements to accommodate our new needs. And got her VIP handling at the airport for her trip to Athens then home.

Kimkim set us up with cars to travel from Chania to Heraklion. The trip was beautiful. Spectacular vistas. But if we went to the lake, we should have swam. Or not gone. And we didn't find the recommended waterfall though we did find picturesque restaurants in the vicinity

Impossible to overstate Knossos. Don't miss it. Better than acropolis. Our guide was unhappy that the museum was not on our itinerary. (And maybe I'd have preferred that to the wine tasting day. But our large group has other interests than just mine.)

Do not drive in Heraklion.

Car drop-off, ferry to Santorini went smoothly. When pick up at ferry was not smooth, a call to Kimkim fixed it.

Santorini is gorgeous. Magnificent. And so packed with tourists that it's unpleasant. I have no need to go back. The wine is better. Akrotiri is very impressive. And possibly important (But the remains of the third Minoan settlement appeal more to me than to others in the group.) The private catamaran trip around Santorini was a lovely way to end a hectic trip. The Galaxy S9 phone says waterproof. But died after the water.

We had too many travel days. And too many flights but much of this was of our own devising since we wanted to make the trip all encompassing. But Kimkim made the entire experience smooth and handled every situation that came up. They did an excellent job!

Hotel Reviews

City Hotel Thessaloniki

Thessaloniki

Nice room, nice location, nice breakfast.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Abelonas Retreat Sunset & Sunrise Lodgings

Santorini

Santorini is gorgeous in large part due to the challenging terrain. Many of the roads are windy and single lane though allow for two way traffic. Had a short but challenging walk from where we were dropped off by our driver to the hotel. Took us a while to locate the hotel office. Once there, while i was signing the group in, the inn keeper made a nasty comment about my unseen but heard (grown) "children"who were trying to get all of our luggage down the steep ramp onto the hotel property. There were some laughs but nothing disruptive. Bathroom was nothing special (it was impossible to shower without flooding the bathroom, the tile in the entire bathroom/shower was slippery when wet). Though reported by the innkeeper that the breakfasts were "award winning," we found them to be nothing special. In fact, of all the places we stayed, it was the worst. Breakfast is delivered to your room in 15 minute increments. The innkeeper also complained that our 9:30 AM tour was messing up the breakfast schedule since they don't start delivering breakfast until 8:30 AM, can only delivery to one room every 15 minutes and the earliest times were already booked. As a concession, he agreed to serve us cold options at 8 AM.

Authenticity & Character

Very pretty.

Location

Busses are within walking distance and got us where we wanted to go more reliably than a taxi.

Staff

Paul was very uptight but warmed a bit with time.

Cleanliness & Comfort

The room was clean and bed comfortable. The bathroom left much to be desired. Innkeeper (Paul) could be friendlier and more welcoming to guests arriving tired and weary, even if it is 12:30 PM.

Olive Green Hotel

Heraklion

Really nice room. Shower, toilet and sink were each located in a different part of the room so more than one person could be doing their thing without preventing a roommate to access the other things.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Kriti Hotel Chania

Chania, Crete

Nice hotel. Located across the street from a venue that had late evening shows and concerts. Glass doors and windows kept much of the sound out but was still audible in the rooms. Apparently one show did not end until midnight. Luckily we were so tired that it did not keep us awake.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Several of the rooms contained two twin beds. We were a large enough group that we were able to trade with one of our sons who had a king all to himself. My other son and his girlfriend called the front desk an they handled it by moving furniture and pushing the beds together.

Sweet Home Hotel

Athens

Lovely rooms with tall ceilings. Inn keeper and staff could not be nicer.

Authenticity & Character

Beautiful. Felt very European.

Location

Was a short walk to the places we wanted to go.

Staff

At breakfast offered to fill out water bottles with ice water!

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Useful Information

Greece

There was no time to experience Heraklion.

Quality of Experience

Transport

Private Santorini Driving Panorama

Santorini

We saw much of the island. Oia is so overcrowded that an hour there seemed like forever. And yet we went back for dinner. Akrotiri is spectacular. But I am in danger of making this an archeology tour. Wine tasting was nice. And better wines than Crete. A little uncomfortable with the lack of choice in restaurant.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Palace of Knossos Private Tour

Greece

Fabulous guide.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Not applicable we drove ourselves. An adventure for a different section.

Balos & Falassarna Beach Tour with Lunch

Chania

Gorgeous

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Loved George

Transport

Olive Routes and Villages Around Chania

Chania

Pleasant and fun day. Three wine tastings and an olive oil factory.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Private Old Town of Chania guided walk

Chania

Great knowledgeable friendly. Could have taken us to the excavations just a block or two away. But we made it back there on our own.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Local Transfer in Athens

Greece

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Private Acropolis Hill & Museum Tour

Athens

Fabulous. And fabulous museum. Time for the Brits to return the Elgin marbles

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Pella & Vergina Guided Tour

Thessaloniki

Museum is outstanding. And the guide who met us at Pella was extraordinarily knowledgeable. The actual site is not well developed for tourists. A few mosaics in a field.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Salonica Jewish Heritage Tour

Thessaloniki

Our guide was knowledgeable and informative. A little too much about Jewish wealth. (That stereotype breeds resentment and ultimately causes anti Semitic violence.) And so sad that the synagogue is a monument to people who are gone rather than a functioning congregation. The museum is excellent.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Private Santorini Caldera Cruise

Santorini

Excellent way to end a tiring but amazing vacation.

Quality of Experience

Food

The two person crew prepared a delicious Greek meal for us with pasta, grilled fish and yummy sides.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Christopher and Anastasia were warm, friendly and eager to make us comfortable.

Transport

The young driver who picked us up at our hotel drove the van backwards down a narrow windy road like a pro. Very impressive (this was done since there is little room to turn around at the drop off, near the water). ie We were ery mna aiwentptOur

This trip was incredibly well done! The website is very easy to use to plan and customize a trip. I frankly didn’t know quite how or where to start, and Camellia did an excellent job generating an agenda and tailoring it to our needs. The hotels were wonderful and activities perfect. Thank you!

Hotel Reviews

Hotel Majestic Saigon

Ho Chi Minh

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Aira Boutique Hoi An Hotel & Villa

Hoi An

Truly excellent and comfortable rooms!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Dragon Legend Cruise

Hon Gai

You can even get massages onboard!

Authenticity & Character

Nice, spacious rooms

Location

It’s a ship!

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

The Oriental Jade Hotel

Hanoi

Great location, nice amenities, very gracious people! Even gave us a going away gift.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Such nice, welcoming people!

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Ho Chi Minh Departure Transfer

Vietnam

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Mekong Delta Day Trip

Ho Chi Minh City

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

HCM City - Cu Chi tunnels

Ho Chi Minh City

This is fascinating. If you’re claustrophobic you might not want to actually go in the tunnels. But the overall experience is quite interesting nonetheless.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Fly to Ho Chi Minh City

Vietnam

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Visit Tra Que Village & Hoi An City Tour

Hoi An

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Bai Tu Long - Hanoi - Flight to Danang then Hoi An

Vietnam

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Hanoi -Bai Tu Long Bay welcome on board

Ha Long Bay

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Hanoi City Tour of Capital of Vietnam

Hanoi

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Really appreciated the nice air conditioned suvs!

Hanoi Street Food Tour

Hanoi

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Very fun people! And drove us safely even in the rain.

Transport

We loved our trip to Portugal both in Lisbon and Algarve. Pedro was fantastic. He was fast to support and quickly understood our interest of both active and relaxing vacations. We enjoyed all our actives and hotels were great ! His restaurant recommendations were spot on and really gave us a sense fro different locations to experience. Everyone loved the Cave Kayaking in Lagos as our best experience but it was all excellent. Pedro also checked in with us daily to ensure we had a great time and remind us on what the next adventure would be. I literally didn’t have to think which is what I liked best. We will definitely return to Portugal where the weather was spectacular and the people were so friendly .

Hotel Reviews

Pestana Cidadela Cascais

Cascais

So cute and very Artsy! It was a great stop on our last night. Staff was very helpful and friendly. So many places to explore in the hotel and the art work was so great.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Palmares Beach House Hotel - Adults Only

Lagos

Beautiful view of the ocean (just note you can’t walk to it). Restaurant was fantastic and service was very helpful and attentive. We got a shuttle to the beach and rented beach beds for the day and it worked out well. Dinner at this restaurant was our favorite on our entire trip. Very quiet and peaceful.

Authenticity & Character

Location

A bit far so you need a car or Uber but it balances the bush with quiet

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

The One Palácio da Anunciada

Lisbon

Beautiful hotel and very close to everything but quiet and serene. Breakfast was awesome in the beautiful outside garden.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Unveil the Fairytale Villa of Sintra with a Private Driver Service

Portugal

Very crowded so just be prepared. Our driver was great and recommended a great restaurant for lunch which was outstanding over the ocean and away from the crowds of Sintra. Hiking in the Pena Palace was our favorite and I would recommend if the lines are too long explore all the outside area and gardens and you could skip the inside if you don’t want to give up too much time on your day. Outside is beautiful.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Lisbon Walking Tour + Delicious Portuguese Flavours

Lisbon

Excellent guide and walk. He adjusted our walk based on what we had seen the day before which we loved. The wine tasting was a great way to end the walk and we covered a lot of ground.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Exploring Lisbon's Riverside on a E-Bike Adventure to Belém

Lisbon

Beautiful bike ride. And great views over the water and monuments.

To Eat Suggestion: Baía do Peixe

Cascais

Very good. Friendly staff and overlooking the water. Excellent seafood

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Immerse Yourself in the Portuguese Culture by Experiencing a Fado Dinner

Lisbon

The Fado as amazing once they started but they took a long break after 3 songs so why it goes for a long time into the night. Food is not worth it. We were told that was the case so all fine . I would suggest find a place to drink and listen to Fado so your not disappointed before the music starts.

Quality of Experience

Food

Explore the Enchanting Ponta da Piedade Grottoes on a Thrilling Kayaking Expedition

Portugal

Excellent guide and amazing way to see the caves. It was fun, easy going and beautiful. Blue fleet did a great job.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

To Eat Suggestion: Luca´s Rooftop Restaurant (Lagos)

Portugal

Food was great, view beautiful and staff friendly.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Private Boat Voyage to the Spectacular Benagil Grottoes

Portugal

Highly recommend. It’s so beautiful and cool to see the caves.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

We just returned from a fantastic 13 night trip to Colombia. Our travel specialist, Margarita, did a masterful job of arranging a complex itinerary with fantastic guides, flawless transportation, and numerous both educational and fun activities at each of our stops. The kimkim platform was easy to work with and allowed for an efficient means of communication between us and Margarita as the process involved numerous questions, updates, and options for the trip itinerary. It would have been impossible for me to create a trip like this without a local travel specialist like Margarita. Thank you Margarita, The Colombian Trip team, and kimkim!

The cheese tasting was excellent- a highlight of the Paris trip. So much care effort and knowledge went into that evening.
The bike tour was really fun and well-planned out. The bikes worked well. However, our tour guide was not Parisian or even French and her knowledge of history was a lacking (also negative, snarky). We enjoyed seeing the sights but her commentary was a bit superficial and geared toward a younger age group.
Our hotel in Paris (Novotel Les Halles) had a very convenient location and a nice breakfast each morning. Also a pretty interior courtyard. Our kid's room had a clogged shower drain that overflowed, and the A/C was not great.
In Normandy, the Hotel Bayeux was too rustic. We stayed in MAISON BLUE, #17, and it was awkward, uncomfortable, old and just odd. While the ability to stay in one apartment as a family, this was a bit too rustic for our tastes, especially the bathrooms, with cracked floors and tiny toilets without sinks nearby. The breakfast was fine.
The D-Day beaches tour was very thorough, and and the day by visiting the US cemetery at 5 pm for Taps was very moving. Our guide was very knowledgeable.
Clare Collins, our tour guide for Mont St. Michel, was excellent: extremely professional, efficient, and also possessing an amazing depth of knowledge of the historical site. We loved her enthusiasm.
Finally, Hotel L' Addresse, our accommodations in St. Malo, were quite nice, and more typical of what were were expecting. There was terrace and balcony off each room. There was a nice breakfast each day.. It was reasonably close to the walled city and close to beach stairs- a plus. The staff was extremely helpful and offered to be proactive with recommendations and with communication about our daughter's left-behind passport and medications. They also packed a to-go breakfast for us the morning of our departure.
Unfortunately, one of us seems to have developed a case of scabies from that hotel suggesting they may need some new bedding!
Adil, our St. Malo tour guide, was also very professional and knowledgeable. We were grateful for all of the time he spent with us and his driving us from Bayeux to Mont St. Michel and on to St. Malo.
Our driver back to Paris was very efficient and professional and made sure we linked up with the courier for the missing passport.
Nathalie, thank you for helping plan this trip for us. Thanks for helping retrieve the missing items left behind at the hotel in Paris, we are extremely grateful for that. It would have been so difficult without your help. We all will have wonderful memories of our trip to France in 2023.

We had a fabulous trip to Japan thanks to Sandy and the Kimkim team. Sandy helped us arrange a detailed to our interests vacation that was easy to follow and organized. She even gave us helpful instructions for transportation and sightseeing for our free days and checked in with us during a typhoon watch to make sure we were ok. When we had to make some last minute changes to our accommodations and train, Sandy was extremely helpful, attentive and timely. Our guides in Hiroshima and Tokyo, Hiroko and Yukari, were both gracious, delightful and informative. They made our sightseeing days fun and educational, and I would highly recommend them both.
I would use Kim Kim again for my next Japan adventure, theirs is so much more we want to see!

Hotel Review

Mount View Hakone

Hakone

We loved our stay here. The accommodations, the wonderful traditional cuisine, and the friendly staff all made for an unforgettable experience. It was our favorite of all our accommodations.

Authenticity & Character

A traditional ryokan with a wonderful onsen.

Location

Easy access to public transportation.

Staff

All were friendly and extremely helpful.

Cleanliness & Comfort

The entire accommodation was delightful and clean, the onsen especially wonderful.

Activity Reviews

Full Day Tokyo City Tour

Tokyo

Despite the heat (August) this was a great day and our guide Yukori delightful.

Quality of Experience

Food

Tempura

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Yukori as our guide!

Transport

Easy public transportation.

A Fun-Filled Cooking Class in Tokyo - Wagyu Beef and More

Tokyo

We lived this class. The staff was great, the recipes easy to follow and delicious. Hopefully we can recreate them at home!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Full Day Itsukushima Shrine and Memorial Park Tour

Hiroshima

By far one of our favorite excursions. The history of Hiroshima and the beauty of Miyajima island and Itsukushima Shrine were both beautiful and emotional. And our guide Hiroko was delightful and attentive.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Easy ferry and public transportation.

Transport

Kyoto Cooking Class

Japan

We loved this class! Cooking and then eating delightful food that we hope to recreate at home.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Easy. We walked.

Beatriz was great! She helped us plan trip to Barcelona and Mallorca. She gave us great options for tours to choose from, things we wouldn’t have though about. Our favorite one was tapas tasting walking tour - so fun, and our guide was amazing, we learned so much about food and traditions and got to taste a lot of tapas and drinks too. I highly recommend this tour and thankful to Bea for suggesting it. Another great suggestion was a tour of Montserrat - it was out of the busy city and very beautiful. Every guide Bea booked for us was a top notch - very knowledgeable, informative, always on time. All our transfers were on time with nice vans to fit our family of 5. Another great part is that Bea was using the Trip Plans app. I never used this app before. It was so convenient - all details of our itinerary were in the app, with our guides contact numbers just in case, as well as restaurant suggestions and tours and sites description. Also, Bea was responding immediately to any questions via the app. It was so easy and convenient to follow. Thank you Bea!

We took an 11 day trip to Basque Country in Spain. Bea (Beatriz Lopez Diaz) set up the trip for us and did a fantastic job! We received Bea’s initial proposal, with our request to focus on food & wine and historic sites, and after a couple of minor changes, had our final agenda in hand. We flew into Bilbao where we stayed for a couple of days and then spent the rest of the trip in San Sebastián. We had an initial delay to the trip with our international flight from Detroit being cancelled. Bea worked with us to notify the hotel and car service of our new arrival and the arrangements were seamless. We had two pintxos tours, one in each city, and the guides (Jose and Veronica) were magnificent with detailed knowledge of the areas and what each pintxo bar’s specialty was. The food and wine were simply amazing. We had a one day tour through Rioja with Dani and he took us to two outstanding wineries, Tritium and Ostatu. Again his knowledge of the area and Rioja wines were second to none. We also took two day trips to some small towns in northern Spain (Hondarribia, San Juan, and San Pedro) and southern France (Bayonne, Biarritz, and St. Jean de Luz) and saw some beautiful historic churches and had some fantastic views of the ocean. On our free day we took a tour of the Ameztoi txakoli winery with some friends who happened to be visiting at the same time and had a blast eating good food and drinking good wine. We finished the trip off with a fish cooking class at Mimo Bite the Experience- we worked with one of the chefs and took a market tour as well as prepared multiple dishes including whole monkfish. Super fun.

All in all, we had a great trip and a huge part of that was working with Bea at kimkim. My wife has a food allergy and Bea made sure there were gluten-free accommodations made for each activity. We were thoroughly impressed with Bea’s customer service and would highly recommend her if you are planning a trip to Spain. Thank you Bea!

Silvia and Halldor were really professional in planning our trip from start to end. We felt very assured by their friendly and fun demeanor, clearly knowing what are the experiences we were hoping to get. Silvia remained contactable throughout our trip and we could count on her to get all our queries met, even in urgent situations when I had required unexpected medical attention. They also shared top experiences and food options for us to consider, making our role in the trip as just living our wanderlust!

My son and I traveled around France for 2 weeks. I was anxious about planning the trip but Valentine made it stress free. She was easily accessible and answered all my concerns very timely, making changes I requested, listening to what we wanted and arranging the trip perfectly! The accommodations and tours she arranged were better than expected. I would definitely recommend her and use the services for any future travel.

Awesome trip. Saw so much in 10 days and really appreciated having to plan so little!! Totally worth the cost and wil use kimkim in the future.

Hotel Reviews

Fosshotel Hellnar

Hellnar

Lovely location. Rooms basic and small but clean. Restaurant was excellent. Locks on room doors were REALLY hard to open with the keys. They really need to modernize the locks.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Great hike along the coast from the hotel. Views of the glacier.

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Apótek Hótel by Keahotels

Reykjavík

Great location right in the heart of historic area. Rooms were small, but well appointed. The bathrooms are beautiful. I was a bit disappointed that the bar was so crazy but we happen to be there on the day of the pride parade so I’m guessing it’s not normally that crowded.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Efficient bit not terribly friendly.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hótel Klaustur

Kirkjubæjarklaustur

Lovely, modern hotel in a tiny town in South Iceland. The rooms were beautiful. The common spaces at the hotel are also beautiful. The breakfast was excellent.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Anna

Hvolsvollur

Pretty dated but very nice rooms. Their new hot tub was beautiful. The restaurant was excellent.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Volcano Huts Þórsmörk

Thorsmork

We stayed in the Glamping tents. They were beautiful. My only complaint is that the tiny heater in tent number two did a pretty poor job of keeping us warm at night. Thank goodness for the heavy down comforters!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Great at recommending hikes.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Better beat for tents. Showers were also cold unless you waited for the first one. Bathrooms were pretty nasty and need to be cleaned better.

The Greenhouse Hotel

Hveragerdi

Cool place in a great area. Rooms were small but nice. Food hall downstairs was great for late meals when everything else was closed.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Very helpful thank Ben we had a problem with a room lock.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Fosshótel Reykholt

Reykholt

Much more modern than the first Fosshotel. We enjoyed the hot tub and spa here. The restaurant was also very good.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Jokulsarlon glacier lagoon Zodiac boat tour

Iceland

Our boat captain, Adam, was fantastic. He clearly loves his job and his country. This was my favorite experience of the whole trip.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Solheimajokull Glacier Hike

Iceland

I loved this experience. It was very informative and beautiful.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Silfra Snorkeling

Iceland

Did this with her two teenage boys. It was very cool. It was a bit cold, but not intolerable. The staff was awesome.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Blue Lagoon

Iceland

Magical first stop. It was not very crowded because we were there early. The kids loved it.

Quality of Experience

The dressing rooms need to be warmer, especially because they don’t give you robes unless you pay extra. Bigger towels would also be nice.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Staff not very friendly.

Our trips begun with the charting of itinerary with both Morocco travel experts from KimKim- Ali and Said, who have been very helpful in working out the fine details to ensure we get to fully experience Morocco that we wanted. This already marked the beginning of an amazing journey with great excitement and anticipation to the trips.
We met our local driver (from Fes) - Soukiana, who is always on time and manage to arrange pick up and drop off swiftly with the locals (hotel, restaurant, etc). To put a note here, KimKim’s thoughtfulness to able to arrange like minded driver and guide that able to provide comfort and helpful companion travelling throughout the trip. Especially those long hour drive into the desert.
Overall, it is great experience and a wonderful journey that leave a deep impression of Morocco. Thank you, Ali, Said, Soukiana and team.
Note: if you have specific places to visit, or hotel or food places, please do not hesitate to let Ali and Said know, they will be helpful to arrange it into the itinerary.

Yang

Great resort in Aernel and all the rips selected were very good. Zip lining expereince in Moteverde was great we had great fun on this trip an d looki ng to back next year. Well organized trip by KimKim. The sighseeing in San Jose was not that great. May skip that. But overall exoperience with hotels and food was very good.

Hotel Reviews

Hotel Presidente

San José

Nice large rooms and great service and freindly staff. Great buffet breakfast

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Arenal Manoa & Hot Springs

Fortuna

Beautiful room and view from the hotel and great service and food.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

El Establo Mountain Hotel

Monteverde

Rooms had no Air conditioning and no fans were provided. N o nprivacy in the rooms open toilets. Guest service not upto the mark.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Great view from the rooms

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

100% Aventura Zip Line Monteverde

Monteverde

Great e xpereince but things were being rushed. Need to ntrain staff a bit more

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

San José City Evening Tour

San José

Evening tour was good but most musems were close and everthi g was in the dark

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Coffee & Chocolate Experience

Arenal/La Fortuna

Very good expereince and very good explanation by the staff

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Arenal Hanging Bridges & La Fortuna Waterfall Hike with Lunch

Arenal/La Fortuna

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Gummi did a superb job. I had scouted out places I wanted to see each day but his list was much more comprehensive and had many places I would never have known about. He was also a great help straightening out a couple snafus that were not his or our local agents fault. I highly recommend him!

Robert was extremely knowledgeable and easy to work with. He knew the history of every site we visited and the history of Croatia. Every place we went to and every place we stayed was exceptional! The activities were well orchestrated and the food was delicious. Robert listened to our requests and gave us exactly what we wanted. The trip exceeded our expectations. In our many years of traveling and sightseeing Robert set a new standard.

Activity Review

Explore Split ,Ston & Pelješac penisula

Trogir

Robert knew the best time of the day to go and interesting facts.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport