Kimkim Trip Reviews

Greece May 2022

Overall, the logistics were coordinated well (airport transit, ferry, flight,, tour pick-up).
Local guide for Acropolis tour was very good
Santorini Discovery tour + wine tasting was very good
Sailboat tour in Santorini was very good.

I was expecting a bit more information. The initial itinerary indicated: "... driver .... will deliver our small but useful welcome pack, including our insider's guidebook for the places you will be visiting" . This information was not received. However, I had done research on my own for activity options.

Everything was excellent. Our travel agent, Valentine, provided service above expectations (Trip My France/Objectif France).
Jeremie with Authentica gave a great tour of Burgundy countryside.
Lyon Food Tours/Lyon Original Tours was fun and informative. Our guide was lovely.
We were unable to use the full day bike rental due to rain and did not get reimbursed, which is disappointing, but the only part of the trip that wasn't perfect.
All transfers where excellent: AJR Annecy, Michael from Passport Bourgogne was excellent, Nussi Taxi, Limo 013.
Happy with our accommodations at Spendid Hotel Annecy, Les Remparts Hotel Et Demeures Historiques, Globe Et Cecil Hotel. They were all within walking distance to many sites, which we requested.
We would use again, we will and have recommended to friends.

This was our first time leaving the country since the pandemic and we were very nervous about travel restrictions. There were a number of things that did not go as planned with flight cancelations and delays that affected our vacation. All things out of Kim Kim's control. Michael sprung into action and made adjustments to extend our vacation, reorganized our activities and contacted the hotels and vendors. His help was priceless. Michael worked to ensure we had a wonderful, stress-free, dream vacation.

Cartagena is a vibrate city with beautiful art and delicious foods. Having the guide and driver made getting around easy and gave us insights into the city that we would not have known.

Picturing ourselves at Punta Faro in our Bungalow or on the private beach sipping a margarita is now our mental escape. I cannot describe how relaxing this experience was, I can still hear the waves, feel the sun, and smell the sea salt water.

Upon finding great online reviews about KimKim, we decided to go with them for our family trip to Spain. From the first contact to the last interaction, everything went smoothly.

We got excellent advise when planning our trip (it was our first time in Spain so this was important). Raquel -our local specialist- is very knowledgeable and, after making sure she understood our interests, she helped us design the perfect itinerary: Malaga, Granada, Sevilla and Madrid (including visits to Ronda, Setenil and Valencia) in 11 days.

The hotels were all very unique and -as per our request- historic or representative of the Spanish culture. They were all perfectly located in the historic centre, so we could easily walk to all the interesting places, and stay late for shows or drinks and walk back to the hotel easily. The service was excellent and the buffet breakfasts were superb.

Raquel also assisted us in choosing the right tours and activities to keep all the family happy and booking everything for us. We had the perfect mix of cultural, gastronomic and fun activities.

Raquel was also very diligent in making sure everything was properly booked (hotel, drivers, guides, tickets, etc.) and that each evening we had the relevant information/tickets for the next day.

The drivers were always very polite and helpful, and on time every single time. The tour guides were very knowledgeable and friendly. We could ask them all sorts of questions and they made each visit extremely interesting and informative. Bea -our tour guide in Seville- helped us have one of the best days during the trip. Federico was a wealth of knowledge when visiting La Alhambra, Tino was the best guide we could have had in El Prado museum, and Jaume in Valencia was a delight to spend the day with, just to name some, but all were fantastic.

I would definitely recommend planning and booking your next trip with KimKim. They took all the hassle and the stress of planning and travelling from us, we feel we made the most of our time in Spain, and we felt treated like royalty all the time.

Can’t wait until the next trip!

Our trip to Scotland in April 2022 was certainly very well organized. The people scheduled to pick us up from the airport, along with the guides and chauffeurs were timely in their pick up and drop off each day we were there. Our guide Keith was very knowledgeable and prompt and dressed each day in a kilt which added to the flair of the trip!
The walking tour guide in the cities of Edinburg (Jenny) and our city guide in Glasgow ( Caron) were both excellent. We especially liked our guide Ruari in Aviemore who was patient, polite and extremely knowledgeable about the wild life of Scotland.
Inverness is hands down the prettiest place to see. You will not want to miss that city!

Our hotels were all bed and breakfast places that were well sought out, very comfortable and in upscale neighborhoods. We did have one hiccup upon arrival in our hotel in Edinburgh. The check-in clerk told us we had to pay for the hotel before handing us our keys. A quick phone call to the travel agency and our dilemma was handled expeditiously.

If I had one complaint, it would be that our schedule was a little too hectic. We packed in way too many tours, sightseeing, and buzzing around to get to as many places as possible. I did feel we were just driving around too much get from point A to point B . We never got to linger in any one city long enough to absorb the culture, local cuisine, shopping , arts & crafts and street performers.

Maybe, if you plan a trip like ours take at least 1 day in each city to sit at a small cafe with a coffee. Stroll down the cobble streets, take in the sights and sounds and just talk to the local people. Scotland is extremely scenic and picturesque!

Overall we were extremely pleased with our travel arrangements and would highly recommend you using this agency for your future trip to Scotland.

Hotel Review

Hapimag Resort Edinburgh

Edinburgh

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Review

Private Walking Tour of Edinburgh with a Top Local Guide

Edinburgh

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

we were very happy with how smoothly everything went. fair amount of moving us from place to place and all went perfectly . hotels were great and in wonderful locations. thanks to everyone involved

From start to finish, Mieke and Sebastian were amazing. They helped us shape our itinerary, provided the travel passes and all the local insight we needed for a great family holiday. I would highly recommend Mieke and Sebastian to anyone thinking of travelling in The Netherlands.

We starting planning this trip in 2019, then Covid. It was a long wait but worth it, we had an amazing time. All of our guides and drivers were incredible. Our personal concierge, Alessia did a great job of answering all of our questions and giving us itinerary updates and reminders each evening. I can't think of a tour or activity that wasn't exceptional.

Traveling abroad, whether alone or with family, requires significant planning and preparation, consuming valuable time reading travel guides and research, with the hope of making the best use of precious time off from the daily grind. This planning becomes even more challenging when you are visiting a country for the first time, and strictly basing an itinerary on the recommendations of others and a list of the most famous landmarks to visit, without the local experience and knowledge. For our recent (and first) trip to Greece with the family, we chose to use KimKim (local agent - Somewhere We Know) to relieve us of the burden (and gamble) of planning ourselves. This was our first experience with KimKim, and my family and I are so thankful we did.
Throughout the planning of our trip, Amalia (our fantastic local agent - Somewhere we Know) was extremely responsive answering any and all questions (we had many) ahead of our visit to Greece. We had ten days available, and Amalia did an amazing job developing an itinerary based on our criteria exposing us to everything Greece has to offer with stays in Athens, Nafplio and Santorini. The detailed itinerary shared prior to our trip was invaluable, and we referenced it many times throughout our vacation. We started our trip in Athens, where we met our driver Thanasis who would be our transport between activities while staying in Athens and Nafplio. Thanasis offered us a warm welcome to Greece, and each ride with him was an educational driving tour of the area. Thanasis is a real pro, not only in his effortless navigation of the labyrinthian streets of Athens but sharing his knowledge and answering our questions along the way.
Our stay in Athens felt like a ‘home away from home’ at The Foundry Suites. From the attentive staff to the delicious (and fresh) baskets of food delivered to our door each morning, we were very pleased with the accommodations and the overall experience. The Foundry Suites is perfectly located and a great starting point each day in walking distance of everything Athens has to offer. The rooftop garden patio offers a beautiful view of the city, and a great spot to view the sunrise or the brightly lit Acropolis at night. We stayed in Greece for 4 days (one night returning from Nafplio and before heading to Santorini). On day 2 we had a private tour of the Acropolis Museum and Acropolis. Our guide, Xenia, was excellent and the tour was well planned and satisfyingly educational. Xenia was engaging and offered thorough explanations of key exhibits during our time at the museum. Xenia then led us up the hill to the Acropolis, suggesting spots for family pictures along the way. Many thanks to Xenia and highly recommend her as a guide for this tour.
The evening of day 2 we took a food tour of Athens starting with an olive oil tasting at Malotira. We received a quick primer on olive oil production in Greece, and the pride of those who produce it locally. Our guide selected a great variety of restaurants to sample the local fare. There is no personal description I can share that will do justice to the food in Athens, try all of it, often and anywhere you can get it. It’s all delicious. Many thanks to our guide.
From Athens we headed to Nafplio with our driver Thanasis. During our ride from Athens to Nafplio, Thanasis shared details on notable landmarks and made an unexpected stop at the man-made Corinth Canal, a truly breathtaking site to see. Nafplio is a gorgeous and quaint seaside town, and a great reprieve from the big city pace for a couple of days. Our stay at the Castellano Hotel & Suites exceeded all expectations with very spacious accommodations, located in the heart of the central square and great staff. We took two separate tours while in Nafplio, and were extremely lucky to have Vivi as our guide. We visited the Palamidi Fortress a very short ride from our hotel our first day, and a 30-40 minute ride to Epidavros on the second day in the region. Vivi gave exceptional tours of both locations, and we were very thankful to have both sites to ourselves due to overcast skies and light rain. We appreciate Vivi’s level of detail in the history shared, her patience with our two boys and obvious pride she takes in her tours.
On day 5 we traveled back to Athens for a ‘free’ day before flying to Santorini. The Athens airport is very accessible and a short ride from the downtown area. We experienced no issues on the (very short) flight to Santorini. The classic pictures of white-washed houses on the cliffs of the island did nothing to prepare us for the overwhelming beauty of Santorini, and the breathtaking views in every direction. Our stay at Abelonas Retreat in Imerovigli was fantastic, set north from the very busy center of Fira and high above the sea below. Once again, the location was perfect, allowing us to walk down to shopping and restaurants in Fira or staying ‘local’ in the quieter setting of Imerovigli and having the best meals of our stay only minutes from our hotel at Anogi (so good we ate there twice for dinner!). The couple that operate Anogia are amazing, and welcome you as if you are part of the family. While on Santorini, we took an afternoon to sunset tour with Panos and Sophia of Baikas Travel starting at the peak of the island at the Monastery in Pyrgos and ending in the gorgeous village of Oia. Panos offered great details at each stop along the way, and both Panos and Sophia were extremely helpful. With stops at the Red and Black beaches, the Monastery in Pyrgos and Oia we truly got an immersive experience to see the entire island.
Last, but by no means least, we took a day time Caldera Classic cruise along the coast of Santorini and nearby islands. We could not have asked for a better experience, and Captain Elias and crew were gracious hosts. This particular cruise is partially private, and there was only one other couple along with our family on the boat. Captain Elias made frequent stops at key points of interest around the island, and shared the history of the birth of Santorini. The crew made an amazing lunch, and we anchored in a cove to enjoy the views, the weather and the food. We were very grateful for this experience.
Prior to our departure, we had a free day on Day 9 where we took our COVID tests to return to the States (at the Central Clinic of Santorini in Fira, which took 10 minutes and very easy), take in more of the local cuisine, shop and enjoy the views. Amalia’s perfect planning gave our family an amazing, ‘once in a lifetime’ experience. Our driver Thanasis, and tour guides Xenia and Vivian made this an unforgettable memory our family will reminisce forever. Baikas Travel and Caldera allowed us to fully experience the unique island of Santorini. Many thanks again to Amalia at Somewhere we Know, and we cannot recommend using this service enough to plan your next travel experience.

Fabulous 5 days trip in Croatia, Dubrovnik - Split - Hvar - Ston and Peljesac peninsula, planned at perfection by Robi!
We were amazed by the scenery, the food and wines, and above all by the people, their smiles, hospitality and love of their country.
We built in Croatia great memories that will never fade, huge thank you to Robi and all the fantastic people we met!!

Christos and his team were excellent. Prompt communication, thoughtful and knowledgeable trip planning. Great relationships with hotels, tour guides and transfer companies made this trip a once in a lifetime holiday. Couldn't recommend them enough! Just book.

This is our first trip internationally after Covid and we didn't know what to expect with all the changes.. Despite the stress of having to supply additional documents due to some restrictions; we will gladly do it all over again. if i may be honest, I initially found Tatiana to be less responsive. It took her a while to respond to my queries about the upcoming trip. But once we were in Argentina, everything was smooth. Our trips were all amazing. The hotels we stayed in were all clean and close to the towns. The drivers were always on time.. And punctuality is a big deal for us. We enjoyed Argentina so much.. Surprisingly, the walking tour in Buenos Aires was very informative and i highly recommend doing that. The tango show was one of the highlights of our trip. Please don't leave Argentina without watching the tango dinner show.. It was the best. If we come back, we want to see the rest of the country. 10 days isn't enough but it was one of our best vacations ever. And Tatiana, i will contact you again for another South American tour. :)
Thanks for a spectacularly planned tour for us. Shout out to our tour guides, Gabriel in Tierra del Fuego and Ismael in El Calafate. Both were very personable and good-looking too. Lol..

Hotel Review

Calafate Parque Hotel

El Calafate

This is like a boutique hotel close to the main town area. Very clean and staff are very helpful. It is close to the main town area and yet it is located in a quiet street away from the bustle of the main street. It is within walking distance from everything. I recommend staying in this hotel. If there is one thing that needs improvement--the food served in their onsite restaurant isn't the greatest. The wait staff are good . The food itself is sub par.

Tips for future travelers

Just eat outside for lunch and dinner. Breakfast is good enough.

Authenticity & Character

loved the plank wood floors..it gave character to the place

Location

the seclusion of the area and yet being so close to town

Staff

very friendly and attentive

Cleanliness & Comfort

liked the room set up and the lobby with their modern functionality

Activity Review

Buenos Aires Walking Tour - Dinner Tango Show

Buenos Aires

We weren't expecting to enjoy the show so much. First of all, the food was great! Service was fantastic. But the skills and talent of the show performers were amazing. Really, really enjoyed the show.

Quality of Experience

the performers were the best.

Food

i want to go back to ushuaia for the crabs

Guides, Drivers and Staff

some of the drivers didn't speak english which was hard to communicate but they were punctual and that's what counts.

Transport

same as above. hard to communicate

Despite we planned to do this trip very late (less than 1 month before the departure), everything was done perfectly: all bookings made in 1 week And targeting exactly what we expected (hotels and activities). The hotels were very comfortable and in a ideal place in each city. We really loved all the activities : excellent guides with a lot of experience, good advices and sense of humor. The only activity we liked less was the barrier reef boat trip because the weather was quite bad but also because it was a “mass “ activity (more than 100 people in the boat). Our best memories will be the biking in Sydney, the magnificent blue mountains, we did by ourselves a walking day starting in Bondy beach and it was great !, in Cairns, we visited the beautiful tropical gardens, and finally in Melbourne, we loved the arcades walk with the guide (despite the rain) and the trip to Philip Island (it was so fantastic to see penguins and wallabies in their natural environment!). Australia was full of surprises even for people like us who live in an exotic country (Thailand) : seeing cacatoès, ibis, perrots and giant bats in the middle of a big city is really unusual ! We loved this mix of nature and modernity.

Hotel Review

PARKROYAL Darling Harbour

Sydney

good location close to Darling harbor and only 30 minutes walking to the Sydney opera. Comfort and very good breakfast.

Authenticity & Character

Unfortunately the hotel is stuck between a road bridge and a massive hotel so the view is really bad

Location

Close to public transportation and Sydney places to visit

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Review

Full Day Blue Mountains Deluxe Day

Sydney

Very difficult to choose the best activity: blue mountains is finally our choice because of the stop to the farm so we could see koala, wallaby and kangaroo very close and then the fantastic views and water falls! It was a perfect day

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

All places we visited were wonderful. Our highlight was the dessert stay and visiting Petra as well as floating in the Dead Sea.

Hotel Reviews

Toledo Hotel

Amman

The first room I was offered had a small double bed and we changed the room to a twin bed. Hotel was nice but bathroom looked a bit tired and need of modernisation.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Clean fridge and bath room. Some mould on bathroom tiles and hairs in fridge. However the room was nice.

Marina Plaza Tala Bay

Aqaba

The first room we were offered was very dirty and we changed to another room. Hotel looks very tired especially the rooms and bathroom and need of refurbishment. The restaurant, food and pool area are very nice. Also the location of the hotel.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Clean rooms and bathroom

Holiday Inn Dead Sea Resort

Sweimah

Excellent hotel lovely clean room and excellent buffet and pool area.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Petra Corner Hotel

Wadi Musa

Bathroom looked tired. Room was nice

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Aladdin Camp

Wadi Rum, Aqaba

Excellent stay. Lovely tent and great location. Staff was very friendly and helpful. Delicious dinner and nicely prepared breakfast. Highly recommend a stay here.

Authenticity & Character

The campsite with the fire place and traditional cooked dinner was very nice

Location

While setting of the camp was very nice as well as our tent with nice views of the dessert

Staff

Excellent customer service, very friendly staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Review

Amman/ Madaba/ Mount Nebo/ Little Petra/ Petra (269 KM)

Jordan

Quality of Experience

Excellent holiday

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Our tour guides was really good. Ahmed was an excellent driver/tour guide. Very knowledgeable, professional, friendly, helpful, caring, always polite and he made our trip an memorable experience. I would highly recommend him as a driver. Ahmed looked after us well. Also Refreshment drinks were filled up every day and he is very knowledgeable about Jordan culture. It was a real pleasure traveling with him and made it a special experience. He also bought us a present and birthday cake which was very kind of him and touching.

Transport

Nice car and we had such a wonderful driver called Ahmed who looked after us well. I would highly recommend him again. He is a very kind and professional person, helpful, caring, friendly and looked after us during the whole trip. Refreshment drinks were filled up every day and he is very knowledgeable about Jordan culture. It was a real pleasure traveling with him and made it a special experience.

Honestly, I cannot imagine exploring Morocco without WanderLust Voyages which we found through KimKim. Our own private guide with a comfy van outfitted with wifi picked us up in Fez and took us everywhere on our itinerary over the next 10 days. Without a personal guide and driver, there is no way we would have seen as much. Leading up to the trip, we had to change our dates and plans over and over again due to COVID and work and Megan just rolled with it. We even ended up having an extra two days and Megan was able to extend our trip easily without changing the budget. We stayed in gorgeous Riads, which are boutique hotels with spas and authentic Moroccan decor. Each one was special and perfectly located inside the old Medina areas with excellent service, luxurious rooms, wifi, and truly phenomenal meals. I would never have known which one to pick without Megan making the selections. On our own, we probably would have used frequent flyer miles in generic hotels in tourist areas. The activities to which we were directed weren't the tourist traps many of the tours take you to. They were genuinely memorable lifetime experiences. In several cities, Megan arranged for highly knowledgeable guides to explain the history and interesting stories about the places we visited. We could ask all our questions and veer off the scheduled route when something curious arose. The whole trip was like a treasure box with each day full of unique delightful surprises.

We didn't have time to go to Marrakech because we chose Fez, the desert, and Tangier--- I would not recommend missing either the desert or Tangier. We took an hour-long ride on a dromedary ("one hump camel") in the dunes at sunset which was silent and sacred. After the meal in our tent, the local teenagers taught us how to play Berber drums. In Tangier, we looked across the Straights of Gibralter to Spain. If you are a foodie and fan of irreverent Beatnick history, definitely watch the Anthony Bourdain special on Tangier before you go. Learning the thousands of years of history of this international zone really rocked my worldview-- crazy to compare a place that holds onto 200,000 years of history in its current context with Los Angeles which has managed to erase anything before the last 200. Actually, if you are coming from Spain, I highly recommend the ferry across the Straights as your starting point. We spent one night near Meknes in a winery/spa/boutique hotel that was phenomenal! I only wish we had booked two nights. We were thinking it was just a stopover during a long drive, but it was worth a longer stay to truly enjoy the classical herb garden, 750 hectares of vineyards, winery, spa, pools, and food--- very decadent.

Nevertheless-- everyone said, "What! You're not going to Marrakech!?" next time...

Our local guide and driver was Ibrahim-- request him!! Kamal was our expert in Fez-- request him too!

Megan is great. She planned and replanned the trip keeping everything within budget so there was no stress or surprises, and check up on us through Ibrahim all along the way.

If you want something special or different-- Megan can guide you. Stay as long as you can.

Loved it!

Hotel Review

Riad El Amine Fès

Fes

This place is a total shock to the uninitiated. It is located in the old Medina and, if you arrive as we did, your van pulls into this overcrowded dirt parking lot next to a public park, packs of stray dogs, and a cluster of what seem like dingy ancient 4 story plaster buildings with no windows and with graffiti proclaiming "Never Fall in Love" scrawled on a wall. Some people were playing cards and smoking in a pharmacy of one building. Our guide took us walking with our bags among winding passageways to a fancy door that we decided must be the door to the TARDIS because the inside was definitely bigger than the outside! It opened into the gorgeous courtyard and elegant rooms with intricate mosaics covering the walls. Inside, everything was immaculate and luxurious. The staff was always present and helpful. The meals were delicious-- and always more food than we could possibly eat. The swimming pool was beautiful but freezing. One night a band came in to entertain everyone with traditional music. Our room was great-- one thing, though, if you are used to a king-sized bed with your spouse that is made up for two people to be under one cover, you will be surprised. A king-sized bed here is two twins pushed together-- easily remedied, though. The Riad served as a great jumping off point to explore Fez!

Tips for future travelers

Somewhat difficult to walk to things from the hotel. Plan to drive or order a ride.

Authenticity & Character

Gorgeous mosaics

Location

Close to the Medina

Staff

Very accomodating and helpful

Cleanliness & Comfort

We were there during the end (I hope) of the pandemic and felt completely safe.

Activity Review

Tour Fes with a Private Guide

Fes

Kamal was a great guide! Not even bread crumbs would save you in the 9,400 streets of the old Medina and having someone along who knows the history and stories makes it so meaningful. He also steered us to a delicious and beautiful spot for lunch-- we would never have known it was there without him. The local craft places were a little bit touristy-- and priced for tourists-- but, hey, we were tourists! The textiles, ceramics, silver, rugs, and leather were fun to see because they were being made the old way right in front of you. We could peek into but not enter the mosques, but what we could see was beautiful. I am so glad that UNESCO is investing in saving this piece of history.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

We had the trip of a lifetime with the help of William and Stephen. They tailored the trip to the things we liked and took out all the stress of planning the trip. We particularly liked all of our tours, the wildlife tour, riding bikes in Callander, and the tour of islands in Oban. All of our guides were knowledgeable and kind. There was not one activity we did not love, and the team checked in to make sure things were going smoothly. The accommodations were also amazing. Our favorites were the Dunstane Houses and Hotel du Vin. We miss Scotland already and are already thinking about when we can come back- and we know we will use KimKim again!

Hotel Review

The Roseate

Edinburgh

The place to stay in Edinburgh. An old house that was updated but kept the integrity of the house. You feel transported.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Slightly farther from town center for those that can not walk long distances

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Review

Electric Mountain Bike Hire in Callander

Callander

Incredible views you can take in at your own pace. Very little energy expenditure with E-bikes but a large reward with epic views as you ride through the woods.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Great trip, beautiful scenery with lots to do. Very affordable especially if you use cash.
All the activities were very good and well planned. If getting a rental car get specific instructions on where to return it to and watch out for the return fees.
Most people are very friendly and like to help.
Please don't use the Hotel Los Lagos Spa & Resort although gorgeous grounds the spa was closed, room service was unavailable and the front desk staff acted like you were doing them a favor by staying there.
We drove from San Jose to Liberia which is an adventure in itself. Not for the faint of heart but was fun for us. A working GPS is mandatory and driving more than a few miles at night is not recommended unless using the highway. We had to reschedule one of our activities to the morning since it was a 3 hour drive at night.

Hotel Reviews

Hotel Los Lagos Spa & Resort

La Fortuna

Looks like a 5 star resort but behaves like a Motel 6. Rude front desk staff, no spa, room service not available.

Tips for future travelers

Go some where else

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Location and grounds

Hotel Bosque del Mar

Playa Hermosa

Great Hotel, good location. Beach activities by the locals right on the beach so can book an activity as soon as you step onto the beach(10 yards)

Tips for future travelers

Watch out for the Howler monkeys. They are entertaining.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Catamaran Sailing Excursion & Snorkeling

Costa Rica

Party Boat with great staff.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Zip Lining - Hanging Bridges & Aerial Tram

Arenal/La Fortuna

Scary and fun at the same time

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

KimKim is the service I needed and didn't even know it!

We were super impressed from start to finish with the KimKim format and the complete ease of booking with the help of Bea. I used to work as a travel agent and like to plan our trips with a lot of detail and thought...but frankly I just don't have the time to do all the necessary research on a new destination every time anymore. KimKim exactly fit the niche that I needed.

Bea was great to work with - super responsive and helpful as we planned this last minute trip to Portugal.

Portugal was amazing! We're so glad we went and are already talking about going back. Highlights were the walking food tour in Lisbon (which sadly my husband missed due to jetlag but he feels like he was there because I haven't stopped talking about it) and the entire stay in the Douro valley. Porto has some really charming elements, but we found it to be overwhelmingly flooded with tourists that this relatively new tourist destination hasn't figured out how to envelope yet. One day there is plenty. We did an e-bike tour there which we would not recommend. The guide was perfectly nice, but conceptually a bike tour in Porto just doesn't make sense. We were biking on crowded sidewalks and through narrow streets where it felt rude and/or unsafe to be biking.

Hotel Reviews

Casual Belle Epoque Lisboa

Lisbon

Location couldn't be better - hotel was clean and had a great breakfast. Room was pretty small, but you expect that in Europe.

Tips for future travelers

There are two "secret" elevators nearby that locals use to avoid the hills. We found them towards the end of our stay - both are a left turn as you leave the hotel.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Quinta de la Rosa

Pinhão

Stunning hotel! We would be very happy to stay there again. Our room was very recently refinished (it smelled like they had finished that morning) and had a couple of odd quirks. Namely the front door was abnormally short such that my husband had to duck to come in. And despite the room being HUGE, the bathroom didn't have a door on it which we found uncomfortable. Views were incredible, breakfasts were great.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Add a door to the bathroom

chic&basic Gravity

Porto

Great location, friendly staff, very clean, good breakfast. Almost too trendy...looks like it was designed to be instagrammed. A small thing, but they could use sheer curtains on the windows, it was either blackout or be fully exposed to the courtyard and guests on the other side of it.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Lisbon Foodie Experience

Lisbon

Amazing! Loved it! Highlight of my trip (I say "my" because my husband missed it due to jetlag). I learned so much, the guide Daniela was superb, and it was the perfect way to spend four hours in Lisbon.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Group Excursion to Sintra, Cascais & Estoril

Lisbon

So, the destinations were lovely. But our "guide" Rui on this was really pretty terrible. This was originally meant to be a small group tour and we really wish it had been. Rui was our private "guide" but he was really more like a driver. He didn't have anything to tell us about about the sights even we asked him really easy questions. As soon he picked us up he started to try to sell us on booking a walking tour with him in Lisbon and using him to book stuff for Douro where we were going next. Since he didn't have anything useful to say about the sights he was more like an awkward third wheel that we wanted to ditch. We overheard some of the stuff other guides were telling their guests and really felt like we missed out.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

He was a fine driver.

Get to know Porto by E-bike

Porto

Our guide was nice and the bikes were in good condition, but we would not recommend this excursion. Porto is not at all a cycling city. We were riding bikes on crowded sidewalks and through narrow streets where it felt alternately super rude and super unsafe to be biking. Our guide mentioned that we were a small group (seven of us) and I literally cannot imagine having any more of us do that at once. Avid cyclists will be mortified and anxious cyclists will panic. Stick to walking tours.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Get to Know Lisbon with a Local

Lisbon

This was a good tour of the city and our guide was very knowledgeable and personable. Through no fault of her own though she followed the SPECTACULAR guide I had had for the food tour, who is a hard act to follow and had already shared a lot of the same information. At this point we had already walked some of these spots as well, albeit with less context. I would recommend doing this tour before the food tour to help set overall context for Lisbon.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Fado Dinner Experience

Lisbon

This vastly exceeded our expectations. I really expected this to be a tourist trap dinner and a show type deal - and I mean yes, mostly there were tourists there, but the quality of the performances and the food were very high. And a few locals even came in later on! Definitely recommend.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Wine Cellar Guided Visit with Lunch

Douro Valley

We loved everything about Quinta de la Rosa - I would just recommend leaving out the lunch portion of this or adding some expectation setting. It was a huge (delicious) lunch that ended up being the same thing as I had ordered for my dinner at their restaurant the night before. It was huge and lengthy and ended up taking a huge chunk of the day when I think we would have preferred a light salad and to move on to another tasting instead.

Quality of Experience

Food

Food was amazing, just a bummer that it was the same dish I had the night before without knowing.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

We had a very positive experience booking our trip with KimKim (thanks, Megan), and our trip was great too. We had originally booked our trip for March 2020… and ended up cancelling shortly before we were due to leave because of Covid. Fast forward two years, we emailed KimKim/Megan and she still had all our details and was able to rebook our original planned trip for the same price.

Everything about our trip turned out just as planned and worked out really well. Our driver, Aziz, was great - driving us all over Morocco in his Mercedes van (with WiFi!), doing so safely while also sharing his knowledge about our surroundings. We even had the pleasure of having tea with his family in Erg Chebbi, which was very nice.

Our tour included extensive time with dedicated guides in both Fez and Marrakech - and they were great, showing us around the key sites and the inner mazes of the medinas, providing in depth knowledge of the history and architecture of these places.

The riads where we stayed we’re all nice - centrally located and architectural marvels , especially the ones in Rabat and Fez. The desert camp was a great experience, from the camel ride out across the dunes to having a campfire and Berber songs under the stars.

The above is just about the service provided/arranged by KimKim, Megan, and their local agent, Wanderlust Travel. But Morocco itself was stunning. We’ve traveled extensively, and I’d say Morocco is tops, both for it’s amazing landscapes as well as the incredible experience of going through the medinas.

Patricia did a fabulous job of matching our itinerary to our interests. YTTSP gave us a local phone, preloaded with information we needed in case of questions. Only a few minor isssues occurred, and Patricia called right away to discuss the question and the solution. Her customer service is outstanding, and was very much appreciated on our first visit to Spain.

We spent 8 days touring 4 cities, and had incredible guides for all the important places we wanted to tour. Laura, who handled our tour of the Sagrada Familia and Guell Park in Barcelona, was a particular standout. Federico toured us through the Alhambra and Generalife Gardens in Granada with an incredible amount of background information and details drawn from poetry and letters written by the occupants and visitors of the time. Patricia handled all of our transportation, including flights, trains and drivers. Instructions were always clear and very straightforward. The hotels chosen for us were also standouts.

I highly recommend Patricia and YTTSP for a relaxing and rewarding vacation!