Kimkim Trip Reviews

Where do I start? I stumbled upon Kimkim while researching a trip to Jordan. With nothing to lose I entered my wish list for the journey and thought no more about it, except that maybe it would be too expensive.
What a surprise. I was contacted by Carmen Sholten at in2jordan who helped me refine my wish list into something more practical for the time available. My questions were not treated as too silly, no request for added extras too difficult and I felt like I was the only client going to Jordan that week.
With on exception, from the time our driver, Hasan, met us at the airport until we left every bit of the trip was as I had hoped. The hotels were great, Wadi Rum and Petra hadn't changed much in 20+ years and are still stunning. Our guides were knowledgeable and informed us in different ways. And glueing the whole trip together was Hasan who drove us from place to place, stopping on request for breaks, photo opportunities and all the while telling us about his country. Fantastic guy.
The exception? The weather. It is not controlled by Kimkim or in2jordan so the rainy desert tour was a new experience.
Great trip. Fantastic service by everyone involved. Thank you.

I used kimkim as part of a group of friends and family, I wasn’t the primary planner, but prior to the trip I loved the kimkim website with ability to have an online group conversation about the trip. We could ask questions about accommodations, weather, tipping customs, payments, etc. I thought it was a great communication tool. Once in Morocco, it was great to have a wide variety of amazing and varied accommodations and experiences-the more modern city of Rabat, the ancient Roman ruins of Volubilis, the medina in Fes and the glamping in the Sahara among others. It was nice to have one driver for the whole trip and I enjoyed learning about the local history and culture through our prearranged tour guides in the different cities we visited. Hi

Sangita was so great from the start. She promptly and patiently answered all questions and concerns when we were coming up with the itinerary. Together with Bipin and Rabin, they gave us a memorable trip that introduced us to how wonderful Nepal is. We hope we'll have the chance to return.

We had a great tour with our guide, Rodrigo, and our driver, Oscar. The two had a great rapport and were both very friendly. Our favorite sight was the Rainbow Valley (which was not on the original itinerary, and we only ended up going because the Taito Geyser Field was closed), because Rodrigo took us on some paths that most tourists don't go on, and we had the whole place to ourselves. Additionally, Rodrigo has studied geology in university, so he was very knowledgeable on the rock formations and other geologic details we saw throughout the whole trip.

Our trip was Amazing! Simon was so responsive, both before AND during our trip. I've traveled a lot but never used a travel agent before and what a difference it makes! Thanks to Simon, KimKim, and the So Provence! So Alps! team, we enjoyed sights and experiences we would not have planned ourselves. All of our guides were very knowledgeable and experienced. We had a great trip.

In response to your request:
As to my Rami, He was great and I recommend him without reservation. As to Wadi Rum, worth it and am glad that i went. Petra, Town Seasons Hotel, a great place, one that you want to keep. the Jerash trip was really a delight. The only down side, my guide in Petra, Gul. He knew his history but I had been under the impression that he would be with me for 3 hours: he was not. After 2 hours and 15 minutes he told me I could find my way, and he left. Not what I expected.
I did the Jordan Museum on my last day, took a taxi. You should tell visitors not to miss the exhibition 1001 Inventions, currently there. It is a not miss.
Marilee Jantzer White

I have never used a travel agency to plan a vacation before, so initially, I was a little nervous. However, it turned out to be a fantastic experience from the beginning to the end. Edwin helped me plan my trip and was very responsive and flexible. He was easy to communicate with friendly and professional. While the booking and planning part when well, I still wasn't sure how it would be when I got there. Waiting for me at the airport was my pickup and local guide, Dario. Dario was extremely professional, friendly, knowledgeable, and you can tell that he loves his job as a guide. I felt at ease with him at all times and wasn't afraid to ask if I needed anything. All the transfers happened very smoothly, and I have no idea how I would have planned such activities alone or how I would have gotten to any of the places I did. Getting to Yacuma EcoLodge was a little complicated, so having someone to take care of each step was so helpful. It allowed me to relax and be on vacation! I stayed for a week at Yacuma EcoLodge and experienced a lot of great activities in the rainforest. My one comment is that if you want to see a lot of animals, Yacuma EcoLodge might not be the place to stay. However, if you are interested in just being in the rainforest, plants, nature, you will love it. I enjoyed every second of the experience despite not seeing a lot of animals. After spending a week at Yacuma Ecolodge, I transferred to Galapagos islands, where I met other guides - Enrique and several others that assisted me and made sure that everything went smoothly. In Santa Cruz, I also had several planned activities, including snorkeling (which I was I had more time planned for) in which I saw sea lions, sea turtles, and all sorts of fish. In Isabela, my guide Pablo was great. He was very entertaining, professional, and very interesting to talk to. I did many exciting activities there as well. Everything went smoothly from start to finish, and I am 100% sure I did more and saw more than I ever could have seen had I planned the trip myself. Each day someone from the operations department would call me to check in and see how my day went and if I had any problems or concerns. There was one night, I had a bit of an issue at one of the hotels. They were very responsive and took my concerns very seriously. To sum up, EcoAndes was a very organized and professional company. My brother and I are thinking about a trip to Peru in December, and I will be using EcoAndes for future travel planning in all the countries that they serve.

Thank you to Erin and Julia for planning a spectacular trip. The process was so smooth and problem free that we never had to reach out to the kimkim team once for help. Every time we went to our new destination, the drivers were always ready to pick us up, the hotels knew we were coming and the guides were ready to pick us up at the designated time without fail.

I'm so glad I stumbled upon kimkim via a random google search after our trip with another vendor fell through (they had a strict travel period). We could only do a specific date range and I loved that Erin was able to customize a trip just for us based on those dates with the requests I made. It couldn't be more personal which made this whole planning experience stress free. I would highly recommend using their service!

My experience at KimKim began with Chris Gewinner's support and advice, he was always super attentive and helped us create the best plan according to our wishes and expectations. The trip was amazing. Everyone at Oldtown Oldfitters was super available to help and give us details on the itinerary. The highlight for us was Diego, who was our guide in Pacaya and Altitlan, he was an amazing guide, super into what he was doing, willing to help and explain every detail, always with a smile on his face. He really made the difference on our trip, we are happy to say we made a friend! The tours were also great, every place we went was breathtaking. Guatemala is indeed an unforgettable country with beautiful landscapes and a rich and beautiful culture.

The only downside for us was the lack of details we were given regarding our two day trip to Semuc Champey, we knew it was going to be a long drive but no one told us we would need to stay 22hours in a bus. Plus, the agency that drove us back from Semuc to Antigua was super disorganized. The bus driver stop in the middle of the road to change buses and that took us 40 minutes, everyone (aprox 30 people) had to hop down the bus, in a heat of 30C degrees, wait for the bus drivers to change the luggage from a bus to the other. That took us 40 minutes and no one explained the reason why that was happening. Plus, when we got to Antigua, the bus driver dropped us off in a random place at 9PM, we had no battery on our phones after the 13h drive, we had to carry our luggage and walk in circles until after 30 minutes when we finally found our hotel.

I told Oldtown about my disappointment with the trip and also told them this was the only bad thing that happened. Despite that, I super reccommend KimKim and Oldtown but I think more details should be given in the plan.

Our local specialists Brahim and Hakim were wonderful. We planned our trip very quickly through kimkim and it was seamless. We valued their insight and knowledge of Morocco and recommendations on what was best to do on our short trip. The trip plan was detailed and we had all the vouchers and documents we needed way before departure. Great professional service provided by Orion Trek.

The two guided tours arranged for us in Marrakech and Fes were fantastic. Our guides were very friendly and their eye for detail and knowledge of the places we visited was very impressive. We were asked what we wanted to see by our guide in Marrakech, and we visited the secret garden and Bahia Palace. These were really a highlight! Having a guide is definitely the best way to discover the medinas. You really need someone who knows the streets and history to get the best from your time there. We would have been lost without our guides.
We were blown away by the accommodations selected for us. The Riad's were all beautiful and in great locations so it was super easy to explore the cities after our tours. The staff were all very welcoming and enabled us to feel comfortable. They informed us where to take a taxi and gave us maps and personal recommendations of restaurants. We are both vegetarian and we enjoyed the breakfast provided at each Riad. We wouldn't have found such amazing Riads without the help of a local specialist.

Our party of 4 adults from Thailand were in Nepal for our first time for 4 nights and we all had a safe and wonderful time thanks to kimkim and the team. As the organizer, it wasn't easy to choose a local tour company because there are so many to screen, but I was very happy to have chosen kimkim and this team. Pre-trip, the entire coordination process such as emails back and forth, queries, payment etc was very smooth. I love kimkim's email communication system which basically makes life so much easier than going through regular email chains. Also appreciated the fast response times to queries and for this we have to thank our point man, Chhewang, who met us several times during the trip. Our local guide Gyaljan and trek captain Sonam were both excellent as well, very knowledgeable and highly flexible to accommodate our needs (and we were at times very demanding!) which is exactly what we were looking for in a customized tour. We chose accommodation (btw the Mariott Kathmandu is the best at the moment) but transport, restaurants etc which were pre-arranged were all very good quality. The historical sites in the capital are not to be missed, and we also loved the Chandragiri cable car. However, the highlight of the trip was no doubt our 14km trek (easy one for Nepal) to Nagarkot - the weather was perfect and the views of the Himalayan ranges simply amazing. 5 days and 4 nights was too short. We'd love to go back and if we do, we'll use kimkim and team again.

Hakim & Brahim pieced together our trip based on our desired cities and worked it perfectly around the flights we already had booked. Each place we visited was as compelling and engrossing as the next. On the night we arrived, we met at the Riad and it was the most beautiful room I think I've ever stayed in. It had blue marble walls and a shower fir for a king. That evening we ate at a restaurant called Nomad, which had an open upstairs sitting area with really cool views of the city. Starting in Marrakech our wonderful guide Hussain led us around the city taking us deep into the cities medina, showing us the beautiful Bahia Palace as well as taking us to the secret gardens. Hussain ended the tour with us at Koutoubia Mosque.

From Marrakech we caught a long train to Fes, it was super easy with no changes and we met some interesting people to share our journey with. In Fes, we caught a taxi to our Riad where we were greeted gracefully with tea and biscuits. The Riad was spectacular and the staff were kind and accommodating. The following morning we started our tour in which the guide took us up to the top of the medina before leading us down to the deepest part at the river basin. Without him we would've been hopeless, the narrow windy streets held many traders and secrets that we would've missed without him. It was unbelievable, I loved it. He led us back up and took us to a cafe for food. In the evening we ate at Cafe Clock which shared some excellent views and delicious food.

From Fes, we caught a bus to Chefchaouen which was full of beautiful views. And then we got to Chefchaouen. I couldn't quite get my head around it at first, it was magnificent. The city is built in the mountains and boasts beautiful blue painted buildings all over the city. We accidentally missed our Riad on the way up through the Medina and found ourselves looking down over the city, not many views quite like it. We met some lovely locals in the evening and found some interesting tourists too! The Riad was super cute too and did a delicious breakfast.

On the final day, our private driver took us to Tangier. The views we had been met with on the way into Chefchaouen, were just as good (perhaps better) on the way out. We passed through Zinat and Tetouan on the way and passed some stunning lakes. On arrival in Tangier, you could immediately tell there was more of European influence on the city with it being so much closer. The sight of the sea was very welcomed for it was the first time we'd seen it while in Morocco. We found our way around the Medina quite easily with it not being too big and found some great places to eat.

My first experience of Morocco has left me desperate for more. A combination of the pure friendliness of the local people, the iconic scenery and superb hospitality has made this my favorite trip. The organization from Hakim & Brahim was so pinpoint that there was never any time for concern, the trip only ever allowed me to enjoy myself. Thank you!

My husband and I did the 8-day Imperial cities Private tour with our amazing tour guide/ driver/ security officer all-in-one extraordinaire- Ismail. He has thought of everything we could possibly want and need and nothing was ever too much trouble for him. There was such genuine care and concern for our comfort and well-being as travellers and we felt extremely well looked after. We would recommend having Ismail as a guide for anyone wanting to explore the region as new or return travellers.

Our tour guides in Fes (Kamal) and Marrakesh (Mohammed) were very knowledgeable but more importantly engaging which made the day trips enjoyable. And we loved the unique experience is each Riad and Dar we stayed in. We loved our cooking class in La Sultana and it finished off what was un unforgettable stay in Morocco. The desert sand was a lovely surprise at the end. Thanks Ismail! We will definitely return!

Adriana was very resourceful and helping us plan our memorable trip to Costa Rica. The logistics was amazing we were picked up at our hotel at the specific times and dropped off as well.

The planning from Adriana was amazing. Everything was planned to the dot.

We both had an amazing experiences in Costa Rica. From the hike to Arenal Volcano, to the waterfall, hanging bridges, cooking class to the sea kayaking and snorkeling in Manuel Antonio beach.

We would like to thank for all the planning and logistics from Adriana.

Our 3 week self-drive trip through Nicaragua organised by Lucia at the local tour company Vapues through kimkim was excellent and exceeded our expectations. The initial discussions with Lucia about our interests and pace of travel were quickly understood and an appropriate itenery with realistic travel expectations proposed, negotiated, agreed, and most importantly delivered.
Despite our late arrival in Managua, the Vapues staff were there to assist with the 4WD booking and get us off to a quick start. The tours around Leon to Isla Juan Venado, Cerro Negro, and Volcan Telica were brilliantly guided by Alex and of sufficient length to appreciate the places and give us enough free time in Leon to walk around, and climb the cathedral at sunset.
Self-drive to Somoto allowed us the freedom to experience what we wanted to see en route at our pace. If you like rum, Flor de Cana is well worth the trip as are the boiling mud pools. The Cayon de Somoto 6 hr hike was one of the highlights and Noel was a splendid accompanyment for the adventure guiding us through the safe way to jump 12m into the river. The full tour of the canyon is recommended to see the full range of ecosystems including the roosting micro-bats. The surprise 50th birthday celebrations laid on by Vapues and Canyon de Somoto tours were delightful.
Next stop the cloud forest highlands around Jinotega where the varied birdlife, coffee plantations, and different climate were a surprise. The accommodation (Aguas de Arenal and La Bastilla) was very good, relaxing, and attentive with the few number of tourists making it to this area. In self-driving make sure you get detailed instructions as both are remote and not well signposted! An excellent bird watching tour from La Bastilla taken by a top guide seeing some rare specimens including the three-wattled bellbird, toucans, and numerous hummingbirds was not to be missed. The long day trip to the rainbow waterfall in Penas Blancas was slightly disappointing, but the scenery exquisite. Local side trips around Jinotega to the zip-line, lake, and local black pottery are worth the effort.
Granada next is a gorgeous town with more tourists than anywhere else, although still small in number. Fine churches, museum, cafes and nightlife. We stayed at El Respiro slightly out of town, which is luxurious with fine views over Volcan Mombacho and awoken to the sound of howler monkeys. Trips to Volcans Mombacho and Masaya are strongly recommended, particularly the sunset viewing of Masaya with the lava lake a highlight of the trip. Both guides Tiger and Rene added significantly to the experience. If self-driving get clear instructions of meeting places: if stuck the locals are lovely, approachable, and very keen to assist in any way. Additional sunset kayaking trip with William from Inuit Kayaks was excellent and his ability to spot wildlife deserves respect.
Next stop Lago de Apoyo, lovely spot and worth the trip. Birdlife was spectacular at all times of day. Scuba-diving in a crater lake is not the most spectacular in the world, but seeing endemic fish, and fumeroles bubbling underwater is unforgetable.
Ometepe was very different scenery with the twin volcanoes shrouded by cloud and the associated cloud forest. The climb of Maderas was VERY tough 7km each way with an average gradient of 1:5 on rocky muddy paths makes for an 8 hour, physical if rewarding experience, glimpsing views through the atmospheric cloud. Morning birdwatching kayak trip from Playa de Mangoes guided by Alan was brilliant just leisurely drifting through flocks of water birds, Cayman, and turtles. The brief rain showers refreshed and offered a different perspective. The half day walk to Ramon waterfalls is less physical, better views through the forest and the chance to see white faced capuchins as well as howler monkeys. Also spotted paca along the way. Waterfall would be more spectacular in the west, as would the walk in, but the water was refreshing to plunge and feel the force of the tumbling waters.
Next trip from Ometepe to El Castillo was a highlight of organisation by Lucia at Vapues. 4WD dropped on the mainland, transferred smoothly by 4WD to Colon on the SW corner of Lake Nicaragua ( the last 15km very rutted) the location of the 'port' is not really known to the locals! The private boat whisked us 50km to San Carlos via an observation of nesting migratory birds on a small island in the middle of the lake: pink spoonbills, wood storks, osprey...a real unexpected highlight. Then up the Rio San Juan to El Castillo. This trip would be nigh impossible to organise and very grateful to Lucia. The jungle in the Indio Maiz is again very different to the rest of Nicaragua. The walking through the post-cyclonic regenerating area around Rio Bartola is well worth it to see the poison-dart frogs and serenity of the jungle. Our guide Sayla was excellent with plenty insights into Nicaraguan life as well as deep knowledge of the jungle. The experience was compounded with a full-day kayak excursion travelling 20km from El Castillo into jungle less affected by the hurricane 3 years ago. The open nature of the jungle and the spotting skills of Harlem and Orlando were exemplary with the highlights being the spider monkeys and 3m crocodile where we were recently kayaking😁. The night Caymen tour with Sayla was another highlight with red eyes staring back from all points along the banks. Other night creatures added to the enjoyable, educational, and relaxing experience.
During the trip Lucia was always available to give updates to necessary changes in itinerary (such as cancellation of the white-water rafting trip due to lack of water). Any changes were quickly resolved with optional tours offered. The only slight criticism would be the lack of specific detail in some of the activity instructions and expectations for tours. This has got something to do with our independent nature of travelling and my pedantic characteristics, but more detail would have reduced some anxiety along the way. If a simple tour it would have been significantly easier.
Lucia as the sole point of contact throughout the 8 month duration from initial request to completion was appreciated. I would strongly recommend Vapues tours, even mentioning the name 'Vapues' when on the road opened doors in surprisingly places. All the guides, drivers, and contacts we met along the way were professional. The tours perfectly suited our description of what we wanted so definitely 5/5 for an exceptionally memorable trip.

Overall we had an amazing trip to Patagonia. Laura and Julia were extremely responsive when we needed their assistance throughout the trip. We usually plan our trips and navigate countries on our own, so this was a new experience for us. Not having to think about anything...and just being picked up at the airport and hotels was great. Our experiences with the various guides and drivers and most hotels were all positive.

Such a beautiful part of the world!

The only reason I can’t give 5 stars to the overall experience is because we didn’t receive our final itinerary until 24 hours before we flew to Argentina (2-3 days before our Patagonia trip started), and when we did we realized some of our accommodations had been changed. We booed over 6 months in advance, so the reservations should have been secured.

The first hotel wasn’t great, the second hotel had amazing staff, but still didn’t feel like the quality of hotel we paid for. Laura and Julia made sure the next two hotels were much better. Indigo in Puerto Natales was our favorite.

We also weren’t picked up from for our airport transfer in Punta Arenas, but we just grabbed a cab and they are going to provide us a refund.

The biggest disappointment of the trip was our penguin island excursion being cancelled, but that was due to weather and out of anyone’s control.

Overall it was a very good experience and we would consider using Dittmar and Kimkim again. My advice to other travelers is to make sure to ask for your detailed itinerary a month or two in advance. Read it very carefully and call out any inconsistencies. And be prepared for things to change based on the extremely unpredictable weather in the region.

Laura and the rest of the KimKim staff were incredible and easy to work with throughout the planning phase of our trip and the trip itself. They were flexible in planning as we wanted to spend less time in the large cities and more time in the countryside. Salento was the major highlight for our trip and our guide, Christian, was a pleasure to spend two days with. We highly recommend the Cocora Valley and the surrounding towns including Filandia. Our guide, Carlos, in Medellin was efficient and friendly in showing us the highlights as we only spent one afternoon there. While in Colombia, we were able to communicate with Laura and her colleagues through WhatsApp to make some last second changes to our itinerary. We highly recommend KimKim and will absolutely be using them for future travels.

Overall the trip was fantastic and covered a lot of ground. With that said, there was way to much driving each day. There seemed to be a lot of activities that we were not able to do because we were consistently behind schedule. It didn't appear that the travel times took into effect that we were in a tour bus and were restricted by the laws in Morocco.

The Riad's were great. Perfect locations with all the necessary conveniences.

Mohammed was a great driver, but I kept wanting him to be more. With all the time in the tour bus, I felt like it was a great opportunity for the driver to provide some additional information about the landscape, attractions or Morocco in general. Mohammed was fantastic as a driver! I feel the expansion of the driver to be more informative helps the company as a whole, not a reflection on the actual driver.

Easy to plan and communicate with our travel specialist- he was quick to respond and organized an itinerary suited to our preferences. Would book through KimKim again!

We loved Isabella and Alexjandra as well as our driver. They worked hard to insure that we had a good experience.