Kimkim Trip Reviews

Working with Zulmy was a great experience as together we were able to setup a fantastic, first time trip to beautiful Panama. The balance of tours, and sight-seeing expeditions was a perfect balance. We had some organized excursions where our Guides and Drivers handled all details, tickets, admittances, getting to the front of the lines, and even a meal here and there. However, we also had our own free-time to pursue what we wanted, and didn't want, to do.

Definitely recommend Panama as a MUST see and do to every traveler. Can't say enough about how well that KimKim coordinated our trip. It was smooth and flawless so that we could just enjoy being there and taking it all in.

Thanks again, Zulmy!

Nikola was just perfect to work with (and I am a particular, seasoned traveler!) He did an amazing job keeping us up to date ahead of and during our visit, understanding our travel preferences, and accommodating changes as needed during our trip (things happen!) I highly recommend Kimkim and Nikola if you are considering a trip to Croatia.

We just loved Dubrovnik (Villa Orabelle accommodations, dinner at 360, the boat tour, and culinary experience at Konavle), Split (Hotel Park accommodations & walking tour), and our all-day boat tour when at Hvar. The Croatian people are so warm, fun, and friendly. It's a beautiful country that we plan on visiting again.

Thank you!

Hotel Reviews

Villa Orabelle

Dubrovnik

The hotel is beautifully and conveniently situated - a short walk to old town, overlooking / accessible to a local beach (Bellevue) & beautiful views of the sea. The staff is so warm, friendly, and conscientious. The rooms are really nice & convenient for a family (2 rooms available). The food is delicious. We would stay here again.

Authenticity & Character

The rooms were really nice, the pools (views!) beautiful.

Location

Views of the sea & local beach (on cliff).

Staff

Everyone that works there is so friendly, warm, and conscientious. It seems like they love working there!

Cleanliness & Comfort

Everything was in order, clean, and nicely appointed. The restaurant was a great surprise - delicious.

Resort Apartments Teranea

Hvar

It is a nice condo complex - felt like the pictures made it look a bit nicer than it was. Hvar is definitely a party town and I think it is showing the wear and tear of a lot of partying visitors.

Authenticity & Character

It was just average - I didn't love the party atmosphere of Hvar in general (felt like Vegas), but that's just me.

Location

I bit off the beaten path - not in center of town, which we liked.

Staff

Extremely accommodating and friendly! Didn't love that some of staff were sitting nearby breakfast area smoking during breakfast.

Cleanliness & Comfort

The quality of linens, amount of linens, breakfast options. Everything was average, except for the staff - but you could tell they had a lot on their plate to keep the partiers from destroying things.

Hotel Park

Split

The hotel is beautiful and located close to old town. The pool area is really fun and nice. The staff were extremely friendly & accommodating - they worked magic for us to stay an extra 2 nights.

Authenticity & Character

A beautiful hotel that felt new. The pool area was super fun and nice.

Location

Close to downtown and close to the water. Was thinking views of the water would be better, but it was fine that they weren't.

Staff

Everyone worked extremely hard to make our stay special.

Cleanliness & Comfort

The food could be a bit better (more choices & better flavors).

Activity Reviews

Private Culinary Experience at Family Estate in Konavle Region

Dubrovnik

This experience is not to be missed! The family was so warm & friendly, and it was so fun to hear their extensive family (15 generations!) history! It gave us such a better appreciation for the Croatian history and people. We loved the food too - nothing better than a simple farm-fresh meal grown feet away!

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Elafiti Islands - Private Half Day Speedboat Tour

Dubrovnik

Our driver Mauro was fabulous and the tour is not to be missed. He was extremely flexible and showed us some really fun spots. Loved it!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Private Full Day Boat Tour to Blue Cave & Pakleni Islands

Croatia

The Blue Cave was closed due to weather (currents?) but I think that ended up being a great thing, since it is a long process to visit it. We were able to have a nice lunch in Palmizana at Bacchus Restaurant, saw 20+ dolphins, and visited some beautiful beaches (blus lagoon, Stiniva, etc). It was a wonderful day.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Austin was great. The process of planning was super and we were responded to in every request. We (kimkim, Austin and my wife val and I)
Crafted a great holiday and then they made it all happen
Our trip required flexibility and adaptation along the way but all the planned details were able to flex with us.
We are home now and already clear that this vacation was one of our all-time best

Activity Review

Guided Walking Tour of Dublin

Dublin

Quality of Experience

Transport

Everything was very well planned for us. We did a lot in a small amount of time. We enjoyed the different locations each one having a different vibe and things to offer. The guides were very good, Maria- Paula in Rome, Santi at the Vatican, Simona in Florence, Antonio in Pompeii. Each guide was different in their approach and added to the experience. All the private transfers were very good and relaxing and the drivers were very skilled. Thanks to Andrea for a great itinerary. We especially enjoyed the hospitality of Manuela at the hotel Villa Della Palme, she really looked after us. We would definitely recommend KimKim to friends and family.

Rebecca was very knowledgeable and very helpful--her choice of hotels for us was perfect and she was always very organized with all the details of our trip and was always available to answer our questions.
She was a life saver in assisting us in retrieving a computer my friend had accidentally left on our shuttle.
All her drivers and guides, especially George, who drove us to Zaharo so I could visit my grandfather's grave--he even placed flowers on his grave--were experts and so friendly! I cannot say enough how delighted we were with our Greek vacation because of all her planning and hard work and taking care of all the travel details! I feel as if I met a new friend --she truly is a wonderful travel agent and she really made our trip special! We thank her so much--I want to return to Greece soon!

Hotel Reviews

Amalia Hotel Athens

Athens

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Erato Hotel Mykonos

Mykonos

Loved this small and so endearing hotel!

Authenticity & Character

I

Location

Staff

Very friendly, told us about several tours and restaurants in the are and gave us directions to the town and local bus stop

Cleanliness & Comfort

Volcano View Hotel

Santorini

Authenticity & Character

Location

Liked the extra alcove room, also the massage that was offered

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Porto Antico

Chania

Loved this hotel--right in the heart of the old Venetian port of Chania

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Athens Starlight Hotel

Athina

Very small room, adequate, but no extra space

Authenticity & Character

Location

In a more dilapidated part of Athens

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Shower door made a large bang when shut and no curtain to contain water from the shower--bathroom was tiny.

Activity Review

Welcome to Athens

Greece

Great overview of the city and it's various sights and neighborhoods! George, our driver/ guide was very knowledgable and friendly!

Quality of Experience

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

George was great--very knowledgeable and friendly!

Guides, Drivers and Staff

George was great--very knowledgeable and friendly!

Transport

Good car, comfortable!

Transport

Good car, comfortable!

While our trip to Bolivia was short, the choice of hotel accommodation was excellent. The food was amazing. Milenka was always available to help.

We wouldn't have made it in to the country without our great guide, David, who was also really good at interacting with the kids (aged 11). The countryside around Lake Titicaca was stunning. La Paz was an amazing city. Bolivia was the last stop on our visit, we had already been traveling for a month, but David made it exciting and fun. Our drivers were super and always helpful and accommodating. When we come back to Bolivia, I'll definitely use kimkim.

Tafadzwa (Taf to us) Chindove was the generous genius that helped my family plan and execute our life changing trip to Southern Africa. It was the 50th anniversary of our marriage, the high school graduation of our oldest grandchild, the 15th wedding anniversary of one of our children and so much more to celebrate that the trip just had to be perfect. It exceeded all of sour expectations.

There were 22 of our family on that trip. My wife and I, all four of our kids and spouses and all of our grandchildren ranging in age from 5 to 18. All along the way there were fascinating things for all of us to see and do. We had dinner in a world class restaurant on a Cape Town mountain top with great child care we got to interview ahead of time, we saw the good the bad and the ugly of Soweto, the creation wonder of the Kruger complex including 43 species we counted of animals including all of the “big 5” at Kapama reserve, the Victoria Falls in full bloom, and had dinner on a 19th century luxury steam train on our 50th in Zambia.

Everywhere we stayed we saw the magnificence of Africa. And Taf was right there the whole time. We modified things along the way and she was right there to pave the way. She arranged medical visits to out hotel when testing for travel to Zimbabwe was required, handled small issues of time changes and large matters of air flights with coolness and professionalism.

Taf and her team are all 5 star as far as my family are concerned and all of the adults are professionals used to efficiency and competency and in KIMKIM and Taf we found that in excess. We will always remember our days in Southern Africa and if we ever get the opportunity to return to this sweet land you can bet we will be in touch with Taf before all else.

Taf and her company Salty Travel are amount the best of the best and is affiliated with KIMKIM travel as the consultant for South Africa. We really trust KIMKIM. When traveling in the first world we often plan our own trips though we consult with KIMKIM on diversions into the second or third world areas, or on hard to reach or time constricted travel. We used them to plan trips to Turkey, last fall to Egypt and now to Africa. They are just the best. Period

We had a great trip to Colombia. Both Felipe and Margoth helped us during the entire vacation and took care of everything from start to finish. All was outstanding but we especially liked our travel guide Pablo in Medellin, our tour to Cafe de la Cima, chocolate tasting at El Arsenal The Rum Box, Cartagena and the cooking class at Oh La La also in Cartagena. We would not hesitate to recommend Felipe to anyone that wants to visit Colombia.

Activity Reviews

Coffee Farm Day Tour

Medellín

Wonderful! We loved it! Great visit with the family at this coffee farm.

Quality of Experience

Great coffee. Wonderful family.

Food

Excellent.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Amazing!

Transport

Great transportation.

Rafting Tour at Rio Claro

Medellín

So much fun! Highly recommend!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Private Cooking Class and Lunch

Cartagena

Very fun cooking class and great food.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

The Best of Medellín City Tour (with Comuna 13)

Medellín

Great tour! A must!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Wonderful!

Transport

Guatape and El Peñol

Colombia

Great experience!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Wonderful staff!

Transport

Welcome to Colombia!

Colombia

Just great!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Dinner Reservation at Andrés Carne de Res

Medellín

Loved this!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Alto de San Miguel Forest Reserve Birdwatching Tour

Medellín

Great tour!

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Bird Sanctuary

Colombia

Very nice!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Depart Colombia

Colombia

Went great!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

The trip planning and customization was easy and well managed. The overall trip plan was organized well. The itinerary was well thought out, covering some of the most essential areas of the country given our interests. The plan and communication around hotels, drivers, daily activities and travel were all communicated well. Most of the local guides were excellent. One, in Medellin, seemed a bit less well-versed and enthusiastic than the others, but was sufficient for the tours.

The country and its people are amazing. The natural beauty, culture and the Colombian spirit are inspiring.

Our one criticism was about the communication of what Tayrona Park promised to be versus what we experienced. For us, as experienced outdoors people who relish the solitude and wild aspects of natural places, the park was not what we had anticipated. It is a walk to several beaches, not a wilderness experience. To be fair, we arrived on a 3 day national holiday, so the park was full. But, we were quite unhappy with the day. Our local guide, with support and approval from our Kim Kim liaison made things right by swapping out an alternative for us. We had one other wrinkle, when bad weather prevented us from visiting one of the islands off Cartagena. Our liaison changed the itinerary easily for us to make sure we were happy.

This is our second trip with Kim Kim. In the end, they work hard to give you the experience you want and to take over the heavy lifting. They are solid communicators who work at those goals.

We highly recommend Emanuela. We had a wonderful experience in Iceland. Hotels, itinerary and food recommendations were amazing. Would definitely book with her again.

My family and I just completed a three week tour of Italy , with stays in Lake Como, Milan, Florence, Rome, Amalfi Coast, and Taormina Sicily.
Jessica Proietti , at Story Walking Tours, worked closely with me to make sure the hotels, tours, activities restaurants met and exceeded our expectations.
While we were Italy she was in contact with us each step of the way making certain that each event went off as planned and she accommodated slight changes we made o the fly.
I am a seasoned traveler, and I would rate the activities she planned for us, the hotels and restaurants she selected and the services provide by Jessica a 10 on a scale of 10.
I am very pleased that we used Story Walking Tors and will recommend Jessica and her agency to all my friends who intend to travel to Italy in the future.

Hotel Reviews

Hotel Lorelei Londres

Sorrento

Very pleasant hotel in good location

VOI Grand Hotel Mazzarò Sea Palace

Taormina

This hotel was a big surprise- It was perfect

Authenticity & Character

Wonderful Veranda - Great dinners with a piano player - Magical!

Location

Has it's own private beach and located new the gondola make going to town very convenient

Staff

Couldn't be friendlier or more attentive.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Rooms were perfect!!

Villa d'Este

Como

My favorite Hotel - Its Magical

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Grand Hotel et de Milan

Milan

Hotel is old and tired.

Authenticity & Character

Hotel is old and tired - needs to be torn down and rebuilt

Location

Staff

Staff very helpful

Cleanliness & Comfort

Grand Hotel Bristol Resort & Spa, by R Collection Hotels

Rapallo

Loved the hotel - sorry we didn't stay longer

The Place Firenze

Florence

Very pleasant small hotel

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel de Russie

Rome

My favorite hotel in Rome

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

The Grandeur Of Como: Villa Olmo and Brunate Funicular

Italy

Enjoyed the tour

Milan In A Nutshell

Milan

Very enjoyable and informative tour

Full Day Tour: Positano, Amalfi & Ravello

Italy

Private boat tour: Pearls of Lake Como

Italy

Had a great time

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Genoa Market & Old Shops Food Tour

Italy

Pleasant guide - but nothing special about the food.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Pisa: full ticket entrance and private guided tour

Pisa

Loved the tour and vising the surround structures near the tower

Quality of Experience

Great tour but day was very hot

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Private Boat Trip along the Taormina Coast

Taormina

Lot's of fun - Swimming off of the Boat was great- Ending up ma t a restaurant a real treat Great Day

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Cannolo Cooking Class

Taormina

Making Cannoli- lots of fun

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Como Food Tour

Italy

Great time

Florence Art Tour: Uffizi & Accademia

Florence

A wonderful tour of the exceptional art

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Market tour and Cooking Lesson with a Farm Chef

Italy

A truly outstanding experience that my entire family will always remember. The best cooking class we have ever taken.

Quality of Experience

Food

Unbelievable experience

Transport

Private Evening Rome Walking Tour

Rome

Good tour of some of the highlights. Guide was terrific

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

NA

Limoncello Tour & Tasting

Amalfi Coast

Great fun - Chef was terrific

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Guided Visit to the Gentile Company Factory

Italy

An interesting tour of the silk factory

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Sicilian Street Food

Palermo

Guide was very good - tried hard- but touring in Palermo is not very interesting

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

We loved this trip. Our favorite stop was Douro Valley and Porto. The Quinta in Douro was amazing so beautiful and homey. Only issue was our map tried to take us up the backroad into the vineyard which was very scary on the small single lane, rocky road. The suggestions in the guidebook were great and made it very easy to check off the main tourist attractions in all of the smaller towns where we only had a night to visit.

Tiago was also great and answered all my questions and handled my covid anxiety before the trip very well! When the airline lost our baggage he even tried to help track it down for us and checked in with us multiple times during our trip. Overall a great experience.

Eleni is amazing!!! We will defintly use her on our next rtip. The whole team is great. Great follow up. I have already recommended them to several friends

I tried planning our trip to Costa Rica on my own but then someone told me about kim kim.com and what a fantastic tip that was! Brittany did an incredible job listening to what I was hoping for in this trip and then planning every detail to make it worry-free and even better than I'd dreamed! She organized all of our transportation and the service was impeccable with courteous, friendly and informative drivers who were always on time. Although I changed my mind a time or two prior to the trip on timing or excursion ideas, Brittany was very responsive and accommodating making it such a pleasure to work with her. And the excursions were so much fun! We absolutely loved our trip to Costa Rica and I'll never plan another big trip without KimKim. The pricing was fair and so worth every penny for peace of mind and the most well-executed vacation we've ever had. Thank you Brittany for your incredible expertise. We made memories to last a lifetime!

Activity Review

Shuttle Transfer with Rafting on the Sarapiqui River En Route

Costa Rica

This might be the BEST excursion of all during our trip to Costa Rica! Gabriel was so much fun and so skilled at whitewater rafting that we immensely enjoyed our exciting, thrilling trip down the river and none of us fell out of the raft! John was our driver from the hotel to the meeting place on the river as well as taking us to our hotel after the whitewater rafting. He shared with us so much history and insights about Costa Rica that made it interesting and informative plus he was also friendly and fun.

Quality of Experience

Food

The pineapple and watermelon on our fruit stop on the river tasted delicious! And the Costa Rican lunch after the rafting was so good - we loved it!

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Our trip was absolutely fantastic! IT was 2 weeks and we did so much. There were a few activities that had to change and we received communication way ahead of time. This is the second time I have used Kimkim Travel for trips and I will continue to use them. I was so please with how Lucy stayed in touch and responded quickly. This trip was only my youngest son and myself. We will be taking the entire family back after such a wonderful time we had. We WILL be contacting Lucy through KimKim.com again! We had a very detailed itinerary with rest days and were able to move things around if needed.

I loved the people in South Africa. I felt at home everywhere we went. I have way too many wonderful pictures, so picking one for this is NOT easy.

We had a wonderful 3-generation trip. The Rainforest Chocolate Tour in La Fortuna was really well done - engaging, informative, and not too slow or too fast. They were terrific with our kids (3 and 8), giving opportunities to participate, and everybody had a great time. We went ziplining with Vista Arenal and they were also really fantastic with the kids, who had to ride with guides due to their size. We all could have kept going all day (even the 3yo) and really enjoyed spotting toucans, sloths, and all kinds of ants. We visited Kalambu Hot Springs on our own and it was a lovely spot. It wasn't nearly as chaotic as some water parks we've seen elsewhere - the small kids' area was manageable, not overwhelming - and it was actually quite enjoyable to be in the hot springs during a rainy season downpour. We hiked the Arenal 1968 trail and it was beautiful, although we were aware we were missing many rainforest critters due to being unaccustomed to spotting them. During this time we stayed at the Red Frog. They had truly excellent food and coffee (probably the best of our whole trip) and the hosts were lovely warm people with adorable puppies. The rooms were great and the open-air living/dining/kitchen was an unexpectedly useful and comfortable home base. I would especially recommend Red Frog to families traveling together. In Monteverde we very much enjoyed the Cloud Forest (hanging bridges hike) and had an amazing 6:30 AM visit to the Cafe Colibri hummingbird feeders where we were 6 inches away from dozens and dozens of amazing birds. We stayed in Los Pinos which was a perfect way to keep all the generations rested and comfortable. On the way to Manuel Antonio, we went kayaking at Kayak Jaco, and again, they did a terrific job with our young kids. We had a great paddle to a tiny private beach where everybody went swimming and ate the fruit they'd brought along. We spotted monkeys along the way and they cut open green coconuts for the curious kids at the end. In Manuel Antonio, we had a wonderful guide, Luis, who did an incredible job spotting tiny creatures I could never, ever have seen on my own - like a mother bat carrying her baby about 30 meters up a huge tree, blending right in with the bark. We saw plenty of monkeys, lizards, bats, sloths, crabs, birds, and lots of insects. We spent the last few days hanging around the beach and enjoying the Costa Verde hotel - it was absolutely gorgeous, nestled into the jungle with ocean views. The howler monkeys did wake us up quite early but it was more than worth it to get outside at 5:30 AM and see the whole troop passing just a few feet by our porch. We also spotted lots of white-faced capuchins, two agoutis, dozens of bats, many kinds of birds, several large iguanas, geckos, and more.

Generally we ate breakfast at our hotels (Red Frog's was incredibly good), handled lunch ourselves via supers and went to local sodas for dinner. The food was tasty (still not tired of rice and beans). We did one "fancy" meal at a resort restaurant and while it was delicious, we found the resort vibe uncomfortable and preferred the smaller spots.

Hotel Reviews

Red Frog Hostel

La Fortuna

Red Frog was amazing. The owners are lovely people, the rooms were spacious and comfortable, and the open-air living/dining/kitchen areas was an unexpected bonus. Their food was the best of our trip. They were nice to our kids (3 and 8) let us pet their cute dogs. What more could you want? The air conditioner didn't really work but we found we didn't need it; the fans were enough.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Los Pinos - Cabañas & Jardines

Monteverde Costa Rica

Beautiful cabins. They have everything you could want inside and porches too. The pines are lovely. We visited the herb garden and saw lots of animals. No complaints whatsoever, and it was a lot easier to manage young kids in a place like this where you knew they wouldn't bother anyone if they were noisy.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Costa Verde

Manuel Antonio

By far the fanciest place we've ever stayed. It's absolutely stunning with meticulously maintained and lighted pathways through the jungle - we saw staff working on them multiple times a day. The rooms are large and have everything you would need and our large porch overlooking the jungle & ocean with a hammock and lounge chairs was as good as it gets. I can't think of a single problem; it was a joy just to hang out here and watch all the monkeys and birds. The food maybe wasn't the best, but it was tasty and good enough for sure. It veered closer to resort territory than I'm used to and I definitely felt "catered to" - I do speak Spanish but folks here tended to reply in English, and there were a lot of menu items clearly for tourists. That's not necessarily a bad thing but it's not my comfort zone and I felt it was a little harder to connect with people.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Private Canopy Tour

Arenal/La Fortuna

These guys were absolutely fantastic. They were super sweet with our 3yo and 8yo (who had to ride with a guide each), showed us some great birds and animals, and were generally just great folks to chat with and learn from. We could have kept going all day. Everybody LOVED ziplining.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Chocolate Tour

Costa Rica

This tour was even better than I had hoped. It was perfectly paced which was really helpful with young kids. We got to look at the cacao trees and learn about them a bit, taste some cacao fruit pulp, and then follow the cacao beans through the fermentation, drying, roasting, threshing, and grinding process. We (well, the kids especially) were able to participate in several of these steps and we all got to eat plenty of fresh chocolate with various toppings at the end. The perfect mix of education, participation and enjoyment.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Bat Tour in The Bat Jungle

Monteverde

Nobody has ever been more passionate about bats and it was contagious. Great tour, tons of info. It was too slow paced for our kids (and maybe even too slow paced for the adults, to be perfectly honest) but I can't fault him for enthusiasm and I certainly learned a lot. Seeing the bats was pretty fun, although I was really hoping to use the advertised device that lets you listen to bat ultrasonic communication in an audible frequency and it wasn't available.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Sea Kayak or Outrigger Tour in Playa Agujas

Costa Rica

We had a great paddle (about half an hour or so each way) to a beautiful empty beach with a little waterfall. The guides were warm, friendly guys who brought fruit to snack on and were kind to the kids. Great experience.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Sloth Observation Night Tour

Arenal/La Fortuna

It was a beautiful nighttime walk. The guide found us sloths, lizards, frogs, birds, and many insects, and there was some tasty fruit at the end. We got the sense that maybe he was a little tired of this night-time job, or maybe just tired of tourists, and I don't blame him for either, but the mood was a bit muted.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Our 12 day trip to Croatia was amazing! Sarah was so patient with my many questions and a few requests to make changes to suit our travel style. All of the airbnb's she chose were in excellent locations and quite comfortable. The guides, drivers, and excursions we did were all perfect. Croatia far exceeded our expectations and we will definitely return!

Activity Reviews

Green & Blue Caves of Vis Island

Hvar

The day trip was outstanding. The boat captain came to our airbnb apartment and picked us up. He had an excellent knowledge of the area. We discussed his plan and had an outstanding day. He provided a cooler with ice and drinks and we brought snacks. We couldn't visit the blue cave due to the 3+ hour wait to get in so instead he added extra swimming stops to the most gorgeous locations. He took us to a restaurant on a secluded island and it was the best steak I've ever had. Our teen girls loved the entire day!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Boat is quite nice!

Plitvice Lakes National Park

Split

The most beautiful place I've ever seen! Our teen girls had many instagram photo opps which they loved. The scenery is breathtaking and worth every minute of the 3 hour drive it took to get there and back from Split. Words and photos don't do it justice!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Rafting the Cetina River

Croatia

SO MUCH FUN! Well worth it! Our guide was so funny and patient. We flipped the boat twice but he ensured we were okay and the rest of the group picked up our sunscreen and water bottles :) We had a blast and I'd do it again. The rapids are just strong enough to make it fun and the scenery is gorgeous. Our teens loved it!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Driver drove REALLY fast. Much to fast for my comfort on the windy roads

Everything was planned well and met our expectations. Great support while we were in Portugal. Would highly recommend.

Hotel Reviews

Be Poet Baixa Hotel

Lisbon

Wonderful staff.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

The Noble House

Evora

Beautiful hotel

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Porto Charming Hotel

Porto

Wonderful staff.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Carvi Beach Hotel

Lagos

Amazing restaurant.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Day Excursion to Douro Valley: Wine Tasting & River Cruise

Porto

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Privately Guided Visit of Porto

Porto

It was fine.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Foodie Experience in Porto

Porto

Good time. Knowledgeable tour guide.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Day Excursion to Viana do Castelo

Porto

Awesome time.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Private Transfer {{start_location}} to {{end_location}} via Coimbra

Portugal

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Guided Visit of Historic Coimbra

Portugal

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Get to Know Lisbon with a Local

Lisbon

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Fado Dinner Experience

Lisbon

Quality of Experience

Food

Private Day Excursion: Sintra, Cascais & Estoril

Spain

Amazing day.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Privately Guided Visit of Évora

Portugal

Not a great time.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Catamaran Trip to Benagil Caves

Portugal

So beautiful.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

From experience planning family vacations to different countries comes with the usual stresses - much about the destination is unknown, weather, activites, places of interest, hotels! Typically, Costco Travel is our first choice. Norway is a destination that is not served by Costco, which led me to KimKim. The name was weird to take it seriously initially. However, recommendations from the New York Times, BBC, The National Geographic, etc. sealed the deal.

The KimKim portal is very easy to use and has a lot of features that makes exploring and research easy. The chat, call, and collaboration features make it easy for all family members to be view, contribute and be informed about the planning.

Christina, our travel planner was top notch. She was experienced, patient and was ever willing to adjust and refine the trip plan, which we developed over 2 months. She was readily available for phone calls during US daytime, and made recommendations based on our preferences. She planned the entire trip for us, start to finish, and added relevant activities through the entire vacation. Most importantly, she responded very fast and thoroughly, explaining exactly what our different options were throughout our trip. KimKim and Christina made this vacation planning easy and were key to making this as stress free as possible. Based on this experience, I have no doubts that I will be using KimKim for all our future family vacations.

Why Norway? It's not a popular destination like Italy or France! After our visit to Switzerland in 2016, we started researching if there were any countries that matched it's beauty. Started reading about the fjords and the pictures seemed to indicate that Norway would be gorgeous. Subsequent trips to Italy, London, Scottland and Ireland seemed to confirm my family's bias towards Switzerland. We felt that no place could be more beautiful than Switzerland. How wrong were we? Every single part of Norway was absolutely breathtaking, and our entire family was in awe the entire time.

We started our vacation in Bergen, a cute and beautiful, tourist-filled city with amazing food. Christina arranged a 3-hour walking tour with John, who was very pleasant, patient and extremely helpful. He extended the tour to accomodate a brief visit to the musuem, a short coffee break and a visit to the electronics store to buy adapters. John gave us many insights about Bergen and its history that we would have missed if we were on our own.

The ferry ride to Gudvangen via the Sognefjord was absolutely breathtaking. My teenager sons were intially reluctant to ride in a ferry for 5 1/2 hours! By the end of the ride, the family didn't realize how time went by.

Gudvangen: Gudvangen was an amazing place to visit. It almost felt like it was out of a movie. As soon as we got there, we realized we were surrounded by a circular wall of waterfalls, with a singular opening to the Sognefjord. My sons especially loved this place since they got to zipline off a mountain and then subsequently got on mountain bikes and biked down the Nordic mountains. They both said that it was the best experience of their lives. Also make sure you check out the Flam Railway, branded as one of the most beautiful railways in the world. Christina was kind enough to include a visit to the viking village based on my son's request.

Stryn: Stryn was the highlight of our trip. We had a wonderful view of a river flowing to Lake Lovatnet from our hotel room and we even rode on the steepest cable car in the world in Loen!

Christana added a break from activities in Geiranger that the family appreciated. It was easy going and the family had to opportunity to go kayaking in the fjords.

The hotels were all clean and upscale, though the rooms were small by American standards.

Thank you, Christina, and KimKim for helping us make this a memorable vacation. Norway is now our family's favorite place, edging out Switzerland :).

Hotel Reviews

Zander K Hotel

Bergen

Very good lobby, and great/modern rooms, located in central Bergen so you're a walking distance from most attractions and restaurants.

Authenticity & Character

Good lobby

Location

Very close to the port

Staff

They were nice

Cleanliness & Comfort

Nice and modern rooms

Hotell Utsikten

Geiranger

Was a historic hotel and therefore the kids thought it was dated. The garden view was so-so. The fjord view was great, but with the sun up past midnight, the room was hot. The restaurant was upscale, and the staff were friendly and helpful.

Authenticity & Character

Historic

Location

Great view of the fjord

Staff

Friendly, accommodating and helpful.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Gudvangen Fjordtell

Gudvangen

Easily the best hotel in our trip. We had a 2-bedroom cottage that was clean, modern and had amazing views.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Nestled between the mountains - our room's door opened to the view of waterfalls in the mountains!

Staff

Very friendly and helpful.

Cleanliness & Comfort

The rooms were updated and very clean.

Stryn Hotell

Stryn, Sogn og Fjordane

Very modern hotel with beautiful rooms. Balconies overlooking the river was awesome.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Scandic Voss

Voss

Conveniently located near the station and modern. Single room for the family was cramped - especially the second bed!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Conveniently located overlooking the lake and mountains

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Bergen Walking Tour With a Local Guide

Bergen

John was very pleasant, patient and extremely helpful. He extended the tour to accommodate a brief visit to the musuem, a short coffee break and a visit to the electronics store to buy adapters. John gave us many insights about Bergen and its history that we would have missed if we were on our own.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Round Trip on the Flåm Railway: Flåm - Myrdal

Norway

We have had our share of scenic train rides in Switzerland and didn't have much expectations from this ride. Boy, how wrong were we! Breathtaking scenery! The Flam train ride is a must when visiting Norway.

Quality of Experience

Transport

Geirangerfjord Sightseeing Boat Cruise & Independent Fjord Farm Hike

Geiranger

It rained the day of our trip. We had seen much of the fjords when we took the ferry to get to Geiranger. Therefore, this seemed a little redundant, though I understand why people take this ride. We chose to exclude the Fjord Farm Hike because of the rain.

Quality of Experience

Transport

We visited Costa Rica the last week of June for a family Vacation. We had a great time. Yuliana and her company were wonderful to work with and helped us and were very responsive even during the trip when we had some questions regarding schedule and travel.

Even before we started, they were GREAT to work with and helped customize the exact vacation we wanted and made changes to hotels/resorts that we wanted.

Great experience all around and I look forward to using Kimkim again for future travel planning