Kimkim Trip Reviews

Nikola was our trip planner for our honeymoon in Croatia and he was super helpful, easy to communicate with, and there for us for every step of the trip planning process and the actual trip itself. Nikola took into considerations our requests for types of tours we wanted to have, hotel accommodations, and even made dinner reservations for us. He answered all of our questions and provided a very detailed itenirary with contact details for all of our guides. We loved how customized the whole trip felt, it was a perfect mix of sightseeing and relaxing time. We especially loved our tour guides Grgo for our "local way of life" tour in Hvar, Ivana for our walking tour of Dubrovnik, Nermina our guide at Plitvice national park, Petra for our horseback riding experience in Plitvice, and Olga for our food tour in Split. All of our guides were extremely knowledgeable and friendly and made our honeymoon trip so memorable.

Hotel Review

Esplanade Zagreb Hotel

Zagreb

Very nice 5 star hotel in the historic part of Zagreb with very friendly and accommodating staff.

Authenticity & Character

Very historic hotel with a lot of old world charm but modern ammenities

Location

In the heart of the historic capital

Staff

Very friendly

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Review

Private Walking Tour of Plitvice Lakes National Park

Croatia

Nermina was our guide and she was very knowledgeable and gave us a chance to see the park at our own pace while pointing out very interesting details that we otherwise would not have known. She was also very accommodating to take pictures for us.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

When I started planning our trip to Greece, I initially reached out to several travel planning organizations, filling out their interest questionnaire. Eleni was the only who responded with an initial itinerary that reflected my answers. From there, the planning process went very smoothly. We went through several versions, until we came up with the perfect trip for my husband and I. Throughout our two weeks in Greece, Eleni immediately responded to any questions, concerns or changes we needed help with. Her suggestions for activities and restaurants were spot on. We spent the majority of our time touring the archaeological sites in the Peloponnese and Athens. We toured Olympia, Delphi and Nafplio with guides that were archaeologists; they made the ruins come to life. We had two fabulous guided hikes with Fotis and Elani. And the entire trip was made stress free by our fabulous driver, Andreas. He was always where we needed him and provided comfort after a long day. Eleni had reserved very nice accommodations through out the stay and all of our transfers went off without a hitch. This trip was everything I had hoped for and more.

Hotel Review

Elafivolia Suites Arachova

Distomo-Arachova-Antikyra

This was a lovely hotel just outside of Arachova. We had a huge, modern room with an amazing view. The manager, Leonard, and his staff went out of their way to make us feel welcomed and comfortable.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Review

Lousios Gorge Hiking

Greece

Amazing hike to see ancient monasteries and the Lousios Gorge. Fotis, our experienced guide, led us through the trail, while explaining the flora and history of the area. He also brought along a picnic lunch that included his own olives and oil. It was one of the highlights of the trip.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Hakim was very helpful identifying and booking the perfect itinerary for a once in a lifetime vacation for my son and I.
Our itinerary was everything we hoped it would be! Hakim took the time to create exactly what we were looking for - a mix of culture, history, and food. Hakim stayed in touch with us during our trip to make sure everything went smoothly.. Our itinerary was easy to follow, the hotels were in great locations with thoughtful and friendly staff. Thank you, Hakim...you made out dream trip a reality!

Now I must turn my attention to a review of our guide , Abdillah Aitbahman, (Abdul) our driver and guide, who ultimately made our trip seemingly the best it could have been. We traveled between seven main destinations for nine days, and throughout the whole time Abdul was the utmost patient, kind, helpful and personable, as well as of course being a proficient and professional driver, who speaks fluent English. All along the way pointing out and explaining countless sights and traditions that we saw as we drove, so many things we wouldn't have really seen or learned if Abdul wasn't so knowledgeable.
When in cities such as Fes and Chefchaouen where we needed a tour guide licensed for the medinas, he was ahead of connecting us with guides that were very informed, reliable and spoke English in addition to being highly personable and kind. Abdul wasn't just kind, highly knowledgeable on local history and traditions, he was particularly inviting and even shared music popular to locals, which is exactly what I would hope for in a more than ideal guide. We also got a whole reel of photos after the trip that he took of us along the way, which is just a bonus. We felt the need to make the point that we didn't just feel like we were being driven around by a driver, we felt like we were taking a road trip with a Moroccan friend.
He had the uncanny ability to anticipate our needs and plan accordingly.

Thank you for connecting us with such a friend, and specifically thanks to Abdul for making our journey through Morocco the most relaxed, informative, interesting and awesome it could have been!

All we might have done differently would be to stay for more than nine days in order to see a couple more cities such as Essaouira, possibly Tangier and tours into smaller villages. But the trip was made the best because of our driver, guide and friend Abdul. We wish to make sure that Kimkim, the local agency and potential Morocco visitors to know what a difference Abdul made being such a great driver, guide, friend and just a great guy.

Robi is very passionate about Croatia and very knowledgable of the areas we visited. His sense of humour was appreciated daily. He was also very flexible in changing our itinerary any time to meet our requests.

Hotel Reviews

Hotel Marul

Split

Staff here were very friendly and accommodating - going the extra steps to help and make us welcome.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Beds were a bit hard.

Hotel Marko Polo

Korčula

The hotel had lots of amenities, but it is a large hotel and with that comes less personal service. Hotel had been closed for 2 years due to pandemic, and were slow on getting ready for customers again.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

A/C was not working

https://www.facebook.com/VillaRadicSton/

Ston

Lovely small boutique hotel with very personalized service. Beds were the best we had on our trip!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Scalini palace

Dubrovnik

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Tri sestrice

Hvar

Apartments were a great set up, each room had separate entrance. All had balconies with fabulous view. The owner has invested a lot of effort into his gardens and creating menus based on seasonal crops. However, we found the dinner to be a little disappointing, given our high expectations.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Pasike

Trogir

Amazing breakfast - best we had on our trip. A large variety of fresh fruit to go along with made to order eggs.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Beds were a little hard and small.

Activity Reviews

Split - Arrival & Sightseeing.

Split

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Explore Split.

Split

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Cycling Brač.

Croatia

Took the ferry from Split and cycled the island. Great stop at the olive oil mill, with lunch and a lesson on olive oil production.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Cycling Korčula.

Korčula

Took ferry to the island and cycled from there. Lots of climbing, but beautiful vistas.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Explore Korčula.

Korčula

Beautiful vistas and great cycling.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Cycling Pelješac penisula - Ston.

Croatia

Beautiful cycling along a quiet road following the ocean. A favorite ride for all our group.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Dubrovnik, explore the Old town.

Dubrovnik

Island hopped along the way as we arrived by boat. Great way to travel to Dubrovnik. The fortress is amazing and we were thankful to be there early in the tourist season.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Cavtat and Sokol/Falcon tower.

Dubrovnik

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Hvar. With bikes.

Hvar

Nice quiet roads for cycling. Beautiful town square and promenade. Lots of excellent restaurant choices.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Explore Hvar by cycling.

Hvar

Challenging cycling with lots of elevation, but amazing views at the top.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Hvar to Trogir last day.

Hvar

Long day of travel, but it's a necessity to see all we were able to.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Well, our trip to Greece this 2022 spring was excellent. We visited Athens and the islands Naxos, Milos, Santorini and Crete. We worked extensively with Dimitris and Tatialena to schedule a trip that reflected our interests. They had many suggestions and responded positively to our numerous travel and sightseeing requests. The ferry scheduling and local flight arrangements went off without a hitch. Dimitris kept in touch both before and during our trip via emails, which was much appreciated.

We had a few bumps in the planning, not the least being the pandemic caused us to reschedule twice and incur a larger fee once we finally committed to a date. We started planning in Nov, 2019 and finally made the trip in May, 2022. We also happened to schedule day tours during the Greek May Day holiday of May 1 and May 2 when most sightseeing opportunities and museums were shut down. This caused us to do some last-minute rescheduling.

We would recommend planning your trip with Kimkim. I would encourage the client to become an active partner in the trip planning to get the most out of their trip. Read up on your area of interest so you don't miss out on important / interesting sites, festivals, holidays, etc. We would also suggest giving yourself sufficient lead time (six months) in order to tailor the trip to your expectations.

First let me just say that this trip was great. There's no other way to put it, and our guides Muhammad, Muhammad, Mamoud and Mustafa were all amazing.

Muhammad 1 who took us through the temples in Aswan and Luxor was very animated and knew the history backwards and forwards. We really felt like we truly knew Egyptian history by the time he was done with us, and his passion for it made it more fun.

Mamoud whipped us through the airports like a champ weaving us in and out and making sure we were all set on our flights. I don't know that we would have gotten where we need to go without him to be honest! And the fact that he was a local helped us get through security checkpoints faster. He was also a smiling face when we got off the first plane super late in the evening, so he really helped set the tone for the trip and did an awesome job.

Muhammad 2 spoke English about as good as Rob and I and really helped us to learn about the culture more. He was awesome, funny and down to earth, and we really feel like we made a friend in him. He also knew a lot of history and was our guide for one of my most favorite experiences ever on a trip to date, camping in the White Desert. Ask him about the UFO's we saw there... :D

Mustafa was also super! He drove through the Black and White Desert sand like the pro that he is, and while it was very exhilarating (I may or may not have screamed a couple times lol) I somehow felt very safe with him. He was calm, nice and could sing and play instruments well too, which he did for us while camping!! Loved it so much. He was also a really great cook! I prob gained 10 lbs from his food alone. Lol

Overall, the great great memories made on this trip will stick with us for a lifetime. Seeing all the ancient sites and temples, flying in a hot air balloon over Egypt (What!!??), riding camels around the pyramids, camping in the White Desert (absolute fave!!), cruising down the Nile and meeting some of the greatest people ever was worth every penny spent! 10/10 trip.

Activity Review

Hurghada

Hurghada

I loved that this was a little different than what we had been doing and was a change of scenery. Somehow sticking your toes in the Red Sea is just a cool experience everyone needs to have. Also, it helped that the resort we stayed at was absolutely amazing.

Quality of Experience

Everything, except the heat in a few of the cities during the afternoon. Lol But it wasn't unbearable.

Food

Loved the variety of food we had throughout the trip. Some of the more authentic Egyptian dishes were very tasty to me, and I'm a picky eater. If anything, I could say we were fed too much!! Haha

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Let's just say I made it out alive and that's saying something when it comes to Egypt driving!! Haha The guides and staff were all so pleasant and friendly as well.

Transport

We got where we needed to get on time and usually made it with time to spare! All of our drivers were very good and I only squealed a couple times!! Haha

Bruno was great to work with. Starting with our rough ideas, he plotted out a wonderful 6-day tour of Istria. He was very patient with my many queries and modifications. I highly recommend him for any tour to Croatia.

Hotel Review

Hotel Spirito Santo Palazzo Storico.

Rovinj

The staff were incredibly friendly and helpful. Hats off to Tanya and Mauro!

Tips for future travelers

One drawback is the great variety of steps—often unexpected—of different height, width, material, type (spiral, regular). In short, if you have mobility issues, your might be unhappy.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Review

Visit National Park Brijuni

Croatia

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Fantastic trip! Othman did a great job responding quickly and working with us to create the perfect trip that allowed us to enjoy every moment.

Activity Reviews

Crystal Blue Ice Cave

Iceland

Gorgeous place! Photos don’t do it justice. Just don’t go if you get carsick. The monster truck ride is wild! The whole trip was a little over 3 hours

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

The car was a bit older than all the others at the lot

Crystal Blue Ice Cave

Iceland

Gorgeous place! Photos don’t do it justice. Just don’t go if you get carsick. The monster truck ride is wild! The whole trip was a little over 3 hours

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

The car was a bit older than all the others at the lot but it did not detract from the experience

We had a great time and enjoyed all the planned activities! it was a bummer about the train strike and missing Inca trail but kimkim was able to pivot and help rework travel plans quickly. Would book with them again :)

Hotel Review

Tierra Viva Cusco San Blas

Cusco

Loud street noise, we had to change rooms for the second night. Second room had a leaky toilet and the room smelled slightly of sewage.

Tips for future travelers

Splurge for a nicer spot in Cusco. Tierra viva hotels are usually perfect- clean and basic. We stayed in them almost our entire trip. However, would not recommend this one

Authenticity & Character

Basic

Location

No transportation car would drop us off directly in front of the hotel. Had to hike up a huge hill of stairs with suitcases etc. Other than that, is a short walk to main square

Staff

Nice people

Cleanliness & Comfort

See above review

Activity Review

Sacred Valley Tour

Peru

I was disappointed in the “llama sanctuary” I wanted to interact more with the llamas and alpacas. The experience at the “llama sanctuary” is basically just walking past corrals of llamas (you can feed them though, which is fun)

Quality of Experience

Food

Buffet style so lots of choices. However, I would prefer to order my meal instead of doing a buffet

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Edwin

Transport

Kimkim saved us because inly 5-6 days before our sudden departure to Norway they managed to make our 7 days beautiful and not too stressful like we asked. Tom Christer was very kind and helpful. He responded fast on our questions and requests.

A note that our room in Oslo was so small, that we could hardly open our luggages. And we requested a comfort trip.

Other than that the itinerary and accommodation were perfect for us. Thanks so much Tom and Kimkim!!

Hotel Reviews

Thon Hotel Terminus

Oslo

Great Staff, great location, but the room was too small for 2 women with luggages.

Location

Vangsgaarden Gjestgiveri

Aurland

Nice little hotel with nice breakfast and amazing view.

Moxy

Bergen

Cool hotel with modern vibe. Very clean room with amazing view of Bergen.

Activity Review

Fjordsafari

Norway

It was freezing but it was sooo fun!!!!

Chris, we are so very grateful to you for all your excellent support and expertise helping us plan our "Greek Odyssey" trip. We were amazed by your superb customer service, especially your recommendations to help us experience some lesser traveled areas of Greece such as Meteora and the Zagori villages, with lovely lodging, transportation arrangements and countless other measures you took on our behalf. We highly regard your work ethic, prompt responses to questions and attention to detail, and highly recommend your services to other adventurous travelers. We thank you profoundly, Chris. Carol & Ray

The tours, guides, chefs and places were beyond amazing!

Our driver, Said, was amazing. He was knowledgeable and took the time to stop at interesting places as well as inform us about local custom and culture. He was funny, articulate and able to give us an wonderful perspective on his country. Our travels through the mountains, deserts, olive and palm groves was memorable. Riding dromedaries in the Sahara and staying in the luxury tent camp was another highlight. The staff at the riads and hotels were accommodating and helpful. We enjoyed this trip immensely.

Hotel Review

Kasbah Mohayut

Merzouga

Amazing Kasbah. The best accommodation we had on our journey. Staff were friendly, helpful and generally created a welcoming atmosphere for guests. The food was delicious and plentiful. Highly recommend this hotel

Authenticity & Character

Beautiful decor. Amazing, large room.

Location

Right on the edge of the Sahara.

Staff

Friendly, helpful.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Review

Transfer from Chefchaouen to Fes via Meknes

Morocco

We did not get to see Meknes. At the last moment, we received a message from our tour coordinator Meagan that Meknes was closed for restoration. I'm sure this could have been known days ahead of time. The Moroccan authorities didn't decide to close Meknes one day and begin restoration the next.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

The services provided by Hakim were very professional in all interactions we had with him. We always felt that he was attentive to our requests and he designed our trip just as we requested. We were pleased with the selection of hotels and the guides provided for our trip. We enjoyed the guides in each city we visited (each guide was a 10!) but we were most pleased to have a female guide in Mekenes. As the parent of 3 daughters we always enjoy seeing how women in other countries live.
Our driver, Mohammad was fabulous. He was attentive to our needs and was prompt and courteous. We especially appreciated that he spoke English--he was a great source of information and we enjoyed hearing about life in Morocco from a local.
I would highly recommend Kimkim, Hakim and his team to anyone wanting to visit Morocco. We were delighted by the country and hope to return sometime.

Hotel Review

Riad El Yacout

Fès

This was a lovely riad and the service there was very good. We enjoyed the location and the ease of coming and going from the riad. The meals we had at this riad were among the best we had on our entire trip. The staff was courteous and attentive to our needs.

Authenticity & Character

The decor and the historical feel of the place

Location

Easy access to our car when arriving and departing

Staff

Very good dining service

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Review

Day Trip to Meknes & the Roman Ruins of Volubilis

Fes

Our guide at Volubilis was so informative and gave us such a good historical perspective of the site and the settlements of Morocco

Quality of Experience

The ruins were very interesting and unique

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Our guide was very well informed and gave us good insight into the lives of those settled in the town.

Transport

Our tour guide and chauffeur, Hicham, was fantastic. He was patient, organized, charming and quick to laugh. His love and knowledge of Morocco was evident. Highly recommend him. The other local guides were also quite good.

Tricia was attentive to our requests and needs. We had a lovely trip from
Bergen to Oslo. Particularly liked the uniqueness and locations of the places we stayed in. Tricia was also very responsive to any needs we had during my the trip and provided good suggestions or plans for every day in out tour.

An incredibly intimate and special tour of Morocco that took us into small towns and to the shared tables of several local families. We selected luxury level and requested stylish hotels and jammed packed days. Each guide, our driver for the week, and everyone in between were top notch. So grateful to have discovered KimKim who connected me to Abdullah in Morocco!

Our experience with kimkim has once again been nothing but the best. The ability to customize an itinerary to my specific desires is the best part of this service. Once we told Fabio what our interests are and the type of vacation we wanted to experience, Fabio gave us excellent choices and suggestions.

Since we are very into experiencing culture through food, we set up a food tour in Sorrento. Now, this food tour was not like ones we have experience before- where you go to local restaurants and sample traditional foods. This food tour started on a cheese farm, traveled to a family owned pizza shop where we made our own pizzas, and ended on a lemon farm! It was one of my most memorable days. We learned so much, about the way of the people and how it shaped the food/culture. I highly recommend this tour for those who really want to explore an authentic side of Italy.

Another favorite day was the trip to Ischia to experience a day at the hot springs. We choose to go to the water park Negombo. This park was most breathtaking- the natural beauty of the island was kept intact, well manicured, and the pools were all full of different features. I would recommend a day here to anyone looking to unwind.

We really enjoyed our hiking guide from our Path of Gods hike. It really is a wonderful experience to get to know the history from a local. He was very informative and able to open our eyes to things we would have never known about along that hike.

We loved each hotel that Fabio picked for us. It was only until we stayed at each hotel and experienced the city highlights that we could fully appreciate the optimal locations picked out for us! Thank you for that. Our favorite hotel was Hotel Corallo- the costal views were unbeatable.

Every driver was very punctual, professional, and friendly. A very special thank you to the driver who picked us up on May 13 from the Naples train station to our hotel, (we apologize, we cannot remember their name), they were with Ms. Deborah and while we were reviewing our itinerary details for future drop off/pick ups and excursions, he was very attentative to details and helped point out small tips for us.

It was great having a personal concierge in Italy, having Mrs. Daniela help us through any details that we were unsure of was very reassuring. Her availability and ability to help us at any time was greatly appreciated.

We cannot wait to plan another trip with kimkim! We don’t know where and we don’t know when, but we do know that it will be amazing.

Hotel Reviews

Hotel Corallo

Sorrento

Staff were very friendly and helpful The hotel was very clean, the costal views were unbeatable Even the breakfast buffet was really good, lots of options and very tasty

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

47 Boutique Hotel

Rome

Great location to experience so much in Rome, the location makes a lot of highlights walkable. The rooms are very modern and the inside garden/patio is adorable.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Lemon Grove- Mozzarella Farm in Sorrento area

Italy

I loved every part of this food tour. The hosts were so charming, so genuine, and fun to be around. Learning about the cheese farm was most enjoyable, and of course eating the best cheese I have ever had was an amazing experience.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Pasta Making Class in Rome ( group tour)

Rome

Our chef that walked us through how to make traditional pasta was great! Talking about food and tips/tricks in the kitchen was a great experience. She was very patient and helpful. Of course, the best part of this is eating the food that you made!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

I did the 3 day tour of Uyuni. Milenka was a great travel agent and arranged everything so there was nothing I needed to do but enjoy my trip. Lucio was a great guide. My only suggestion, is to consider booking “luxury” accommodations over basic. The hotels were chilly and only one of the two hotels had hot water…so basic has a different meaning in Bolivia. That said, both were clean, and comfortable aside from being cold! The night bus was surprisingly nice and everyone I interacted with from start to finish was friendly and helpful. It goes without saying that the scenery was spectacular and the wildlife and ecology of Bolivia were breathtaking.

Robi was exceptional. Robi is a local guide who has been professionally dedicated to guiding in Croatia for many years. It is usual to get someone this knowledgable in everything about a country who is the 'cycling' guide. His attitude was also one of being extremely flexible, and checking in with us on anything we wanted to modify, right up to 'in the moment' changes. He did an excellent job of ensuring the three sets of tandem bikes we had in our group were well secured in his bike trailer. Thank-you Robi.
In terms of Croatia, as people who have cycled in 20++ countries over the last several decades, Croatia is a 'jewel' in terms of the scenery, the food, the 'old' towns themselves, and the people of Croatia. Far exceeded our expectations.
We also found the functionality of the Kimkim application easy to manoeuvre within, and when we had to reach out directly to Kimkim regarding COVID, the people were 'client first' oriented; which was a great relief (our trip was delayed twice as it was originally scheduled for the time when COVID -19 was declared a pandemic- early spring 2019).
In gratitude,
Mike & Jacquie