Kimkim Trip Reviews

We are so happy with the trip that Marina help plan for us. It was a 2 week tour of Spain which was curated for our family of four - where we wanted to see great architecture and museums, eat great food and learn about the amazing and varied culture throughout Spain.

Highlights included our guides in San Sebastián - Diego and Toledo - Javi. Both were extremely personable, passionate about their city, and were great with our two boys.

Accommodation were excellent - always in the heart of the city allowing for walking everywhere. In particular, Hotel Palacio in Granada offered the most stunning view of the Alhambra.

Mariana was extremely attentive, making changes on the fly as needed. In particular when accommodations were not appropriate in Bilboa (non adjoining rooms), she was able to switch us to a different hotel within minutes.

Overall an amazing experience!

Tricia was absolutely incredible! From the beginning, Tricia listened to and checked off everything I asked for making my Norwegian bucket list adventure come true! She was amazing in helping us with flight changes due to SAS being on strike, was able to extend our car rental and get us last minute accommodations because of the strike. My dream vacation would not have happened if it weren't for her. Thank you for the most memorable, awesome, amazing, dream vacation of a lifetime!!!!

Our trip to England was absolutely phenomenal. From the beginning of planning the trip to the moment we got home everything was fun & easy. Stephen was fully accessible at all times when it came to planning the perfect trip. He went back & forth with me several times planning & making changes to make sure we were able to have the exact kind of trip we were wanting. All of our tour guides were very informative and interactive! While we were in England anytime we needed to contact one of the KimKim members we received feedback from them instantly. Any issues we had were quickly corrected and fixed. I only have the best things to report on Stephen, William and the entire KimKim team who helped plan this once in a lifetime trip to England for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee! Thanks again for everything guys! Will definitely be using KimKim again in my future travels.

Hotel Reviews

Trebovir Hotel

Kensington, London

Rooms extremelyyyy small. At least one tube stop away from any sight seeing for tourists. And they lock the outside doors at a certain time, which is great for safety, but when you’re out enjoying the night life in London it makes it difficult to get back to your room. The breakfast was included & very filling, and the staff was always nice.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hampton by Hilton Bath City

Bath

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Graduate Cambridge

Cambridge

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Cambridge by the flow of the Cam river

Cambridge

This was without a doubt in our top two favorite things we did on this trip (The first being seeing the Queen & Royal Family during the Trooping of the Colour celebrating the Jubilee!) Punting down the canals of Cambridge was so peaceful & relaxing. Beautiful scenery & lovely punting guide who made for great conversation! Take a bottle of champagne or two & some plastic cups with you ahead of time to enjoy during the tour!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Literary tour of Bath

Bath

This was a wonderful way to walk around & see all of Bath! The most BEAUTIFUL town, probably my favorite one of the entire trip. This tour gives you all the Jane Austen deets, as well as lots of sights for Bridgerton fans (which I am!). However, it doesn’t give as much background on the Roman Baths and Romans in general if that is something you’re looking for. Our tour guide Dianne was SO informative on all of the Jane Austen time period information. She was a lovely guide and we had a wonderful time with her.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Hampton Court Palace - private tour.

London

Tour guide was very informative & interactive. The tour actually turned out to be more of an architectural tour which we weren’t aware of ahead of time. We were expecting more of a historical tour specifically about the Tudors (Henry VIII). I told our tour guide this and she was very well informed on this part of history about Hampton Court Palace as well so it wasn’t really an issue, we were still able to get the experience we were wanting. I’d be specific and clear about what your tour guide will be including in the tour before booking.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

High tea at the Savoy Hotel

London

We went to the Savoy for high tea after the Trooping of the Colours celebrating the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. It was the perfect place for tea after such a fun & celebratory day! Beautiful setting & lovely live music. The food was delicious & the staff was very welcoming and friendly.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

London Cab Tour of London

London

One of our favorite tours of the entire trip. Our tour guide was phenomenal and very informative! It was so fun to zip around London in the black cab and see the main hotspot sites as well as other ones we wouldn’t have otherwise known about. Such fun & definitely recommend!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Simply Windsor Castle - Afternoon Tour with transport

London

Loved loved LOVEDDDD this trip!!! Anyone who goes make sure you get a map and the audio recording guide. Make SURE to go inside the chapel in the Windsor grounds too. One of my favorite parts of the entire tour, so many historically famous Kings & Queens burial sites are in the cathedral.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Tower of London Early Access Tour with Beefeater

London

We went on this tour after the black cab tour so we weren’t able to really get to have the time in the tower that we would have liked. We were somewhat rushed but we did get in to see the Crown Jewels. I’m not sure what the “early access” means for this tour because our entrance time for the tour was 4pm and the tower closed at 5pm. We were unable to do the true beefeater tour. I’d recommend to other travelers if you want to visit the Tower of London and truly get the full experience go at the beginning of the day so you have all the time you want in the Tower to see everything. There’s so much history & interesting facts to learn about while there!

Quality of Experience

A better entrance time to get to have the full experience

Transport

The trip was overall great. I would of liked if Olman was able to be reached on weekends in case of an emergency. I feel that KimKim needs to make sure people that they work with in other countries are available to their clients all the time if they are traveling within their country. Tour excursions should be booked as weather permitted. As thunderstorms in their winter are most likely in the afternoon, morning excursions would be more appropriate. I loved everywhere we went and our lodging was really good. My favorite areas were the rainforest and cloud forest as the beautiful tropical lushness of the country is simply gorgeous. A must is to zip line in Monteverde and white water rafting in La Fortuna/Arenal. I added the chocolate tour which included coffee and sugarcane. It was hands on and a great learning experience. I look forward to returning to Costa Rica soon.

Hi, we had a great trip. Cant say enough about the landscapes astonishing beauty .
The super jeep and iceberg tour was perfect, we also had great weather for both. Our 2 guides were so friendly and knowledgeable. Not very good at remembering names lol. Jeep tour we had a woman guide, blonde , used initials I think for a nick name, Ice berg tour was a dark haired younger tatooed guy, both excellent.
We did all what you had on our to do list , also the options and as well as a few other things, we hiked one day over 16 K. Oh we did skip the sculpture walk in Reykjavic.
All the places we visited were memorable. One place not on our list was the Lava museum, we stopped there as it was raining that day. We really enjoyed it and have recommended it to others.
Sorry for being so long to reply, we have been so busy. Thank you Jenny for everything, and also to your team for caring for us as well when we had a few issues . We have recommended KIMKIM to others as well!!

Activity Reviews

Blue Lagoon

Iceland

we were there in the evening, I think best for us to relax before turning in. However we would have enjoyed staying in the water longer , but the lagoon was closing, however this was our choice to go later to relax. Highly recommend the experience , just seemed as we and others had the same question. where are the towels. lol

Quality of Experience

all of it

Guides, Drivers and Staff

courteous, helpful

Transport

We stayed at the Northern Light inn. Transport to the lagoon was included, but not to return at the closing time of the lagoon. we walked, but it was quite cool and it was light rain

Explore Fjallsárlón Glacier Lagoon by Boat

Iceland

Great to sail close to the icebergs. The zodiac was able to get closer to the glacier face and we were able to see a section of ice break off. It was awesome to hear the sounds of breaking ice , like thunder. The guide was very informative and was able to get us all to ask questions

Quality of Experience

Catching an iceberg calf off the glacier

Guides, Drivers and Staff

friendly, informative, went closer to the glacier as he expected to see ice break away form the face, and we did see and capture this on video

Transport

safety first, but also a little on the adventurous side

We used kimkim to help us plan our honeymoon to Italy (Rome, Venice, Amalfi Coast). The entire process from start to finish was so easy for us - all thanks to Valeria! We had an initial consultation with her to discuss what we were hoping for out of the trip and the trip itinerary she created did not disappoint. We spent 12 magical days in Italy and every part of the trip was seamless. It felt like our trip was dummy proof, haha -- because it was so well organized. Our travel leader based on Rome, Daniela, was so amazing - we were able to ask her any questions we had through Whatsapp while we were on our trip, which was so helpful. It was a wonderful honeymoon and we would 100% book through kimkim again in the future!

Our family (including 16- and 13-year-olds) traveled to Costa Rica for 15 days. The trip was amazing!! Charlotte and Serendipity Tours did a wonderful job arranging all the details and we could not have asked for more. Charlotte was very collaborative in planning the trip and made sure that all details were covered; this made our trip completely seamless We really enjoyed all of the hotels and tours she arranged for us, especially those in Turrialba, Puerto Viejo de Talamanca, and Manuel Antonio.

We really appreciated that many of the hotels and tours were smaller companies--they provided amazing service and we were grateful for the careful attention and thoughtfulness that the personnel infused into our experience. Aguas Claras in Puerto Viejo and Arenas Del Mar in Manuel Antonio might be the best hotels we have ever stayed in!

Highlights of the trip included: 1) canyoning in Turrialba with Cesar and Sergio from Natural Paradise
2) whitewater rafting on the Pacuare River (courtesy of Exploradores Outdoor and our amazing guide Roberto "Taltu")
3) zip lining at the Vista Arenal Adventure Park in Arenal/La Fortuna
4) horseback riding around the Arenal volcano region with Go Adventures)
5) a guided tour of Manuel Antonio National Park with an incredibly knowledgeable guide from Edgar New Concept

I have already recommended Kim Kim, Serendipidity Tours, and Charlotte to two friends who are interested in visiting Costa Rica and will definitely use Kim Kim for visits to other countries in the future.

Thank you again,

Aude

My wife and I took our two children (aged 11) for a month-long trip to Peru. Fortunately, I stopped trying to do things on my own and called kimkim who connected me to Jesus Martel. I told Jesus this was meant to be a trip of a lifetime for our kids and spent a lot of time planning with Jesus. In the end, this trip really exceeded our expectations! We wanted a good balance of archeological sites and fun activities. Jesus made great suggestions. Quite simply, we couldn't have planned such a great trip on our own. We always felt safe and had great guides who were very knowledgeable and always willing to accommodate our needs and preferences. We liked all of the hotels and I felt we got excellent value for money. Jesus was very professional and always checking in with us. Everything was taken care of; Jesus helped us with restaurant recommendations and reservations, internal air travel, he even arranged for me to see a tailor and I had a couple beautiful suits made. Working with local guides helped us feel connected to Peru and local people. We learned so much on this trip, but we also enjoyed our time together as a family; everything happened so seamlessly. We will definitely use kimkim again. My thanks to Jesus and all of our guides. I've traveled quite a bit in my life, but this was the best trip ever.

We had a wonderful time on our trip. The rental car worked out well and the hotels were all good with great locations (the Palacio de Burgos Hotel was especially nice--amazing breakfast!) We really enjoyed our private guided tours in Burgos and San Sebastian and the Picos de Europa hike was beautiful. Marina was responsive whenever we reached out to her. There was an issue with our flight from San Sebastian to Barcelona that was a bit stressful, but although we had to buy a last minute ticket, we were reimbursed almost immediately. We enjoyed our trip very much and would definitely travel with KimKim again and we will recommend them to our friends.

They say that there are always two trips you take “the trip that you plan and the trip that you take”.
This certainly was the case for our trip to Norway. Plans were initially made in 2020 with KimKim. However, as happened to so many people, our trip was postponed for two years due to Covid. The long awaited trip finally took place this year. KimKim did a great job in making all of our reservations for us in Oslo, Flamm, Bergen and on our Hurtigruten cruise ending in Kirkenes, Norway. All of the accommodations were superb. The layover in Flamm was one of my favorite parts of the entire trip - with I would have stayed there longer. The folks at the Skandic in Kirkenes were most helpful when we were detained there due to the SAS Airways pilots strike. Linda (from KimKim) recommended staying there until we were able to get a flight home, which we were able to thanks to a tourist company in Kirkenes, who provided transportation and recommendations of a flight home via Helsinki. We could not have managed the stress of our situation without all of the kind people we met. Thank you, Linda, for your support during those trying times.

Hotel Reviews

Scandic Byporten

Oslo

Very clean and comfortable and perfect location by railroad and center city. Surprisingly very quiet.

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Snowhotel Kirkenes

Excellent food and lovely accommodations in one of their cabins.

Authenticity & Character

Staff were very personable

Location

Not convenient to the town of Kirkenes without a taxi

Staff

Delightful little private cabin

Cleanliness & Comfort

MS Nordnorge

Tromsø

Very small but pleasant accommodations.

Staff

Very helpful to our needs

Fretheim Hotel

Flåm

Small room but very clean with nice view of garden. Delicious buffet breakfast and very helpful staff.

Location

Staff

Grand Hotel Terminus

Bergen

Old historic hotel, convenient to train station and pleasant walk to center city.

Location

Staff

Activity Reviews

Explore Kirkenes and Depart Norway

Kirkenes

Information should have been made available about upcoming SAS pilot strike so that we could have started to make plans before leaving the ship. Apparently the staff was aware of this but we did not know until leaving the ship in Kirkenes, which had no other way to leave, other than SAS Airways which we needed to take us to Oslo for our flight home. There is no travel agent in this town and we had to glean information from anyone else who would know. This was very stressful. TV service in our room did not provide any information which would have been a great way to notify passengers of potential problem.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Embark Hurtigruten

Norway

Quality of Experience

Programs or entertainment in evenings, tour guides when time available in ports.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

We loved our Peru trip! From start to finish, Kristy went above and beyond in helping us plan it and in helping us resolve any issues that came up. Kristy was readily available and quick to help. She helped us resolve easily a couple hotel reservation issues that came up and in even helping us find a lost tablet that our kids left in a hotel. We loved all our guides and stops along the way but we were particularly impressed with our guide Maycol at Lake Titicaca. It was our daughter’s birthday while we were there and he went above and beyond in planning a birthday party for her, getting a cake, and giving her a personal gift that required personal time and effort from him. Peru is a beautiful country with wonderful people and kimkim helped us see it all!

Sonia and Barbera were amazing and made my trip with my wife for our anniversary wonderful. Very responsive and always willing to help. We are so thankful for them and their services for us.

We had the most amazing trip in Greece! Rebecca Skevakis was our travel specialist and she could not have set up a more seamless or thoughtful trip for us. We are a family of four, two teenage kids (daughter 16 and son 14) from Boulder, Colorado. We have traveled a lot and typically arrange our own itinerary. For Greece, since we only had ten days and I wanted to make the most of our time there, I used KimKim and Rebecca to assist with all the details. As the title of the review said....perfection start to finish.

We spent two nights in Athens to start the trip. We had a free day to get acclimated to the time change and explore a bit on our own. The hotel, Coco Mat Athens, was fantastically located near the Acropolis with views. Walkable to everything we wanted to see. We had a tour of the Acropolis with our tour guide, Angela, who was so knowledgeable and took us to some areas of the Plaka that we would never have seen. We then transferred by plane to Chania, Crete. Another fantastic hotel, Chania Flair Boutique. Again, perfect location with beach access in the City. We went to Balos Beach, did an olive oil farm and press and cooking class. Had dinner at the most beautiful farm to table restaurant, and had time to explore the harbor district and spend some good quality time just relaxing at the beach. After three days on Chania, we went to Santorini and stayed just outside of Fira. We had the most unbelievable view of the caldera and the quintessential view of the white cliffside accomodations in Santorini. We were able to go cliff jumping in Atouni Bay, spent at day at a beach club at Theros Beach and did a sunset catamaran cruise of the island. All beyond perfect. We did one final transfer back to Athens but instead of it being a night of just wandering, we scheduled a food and wine tour of the Psyri neighborhood, and our guide, Theo, took us to places we would never have found on our own. Theo was fantastic and given that we had a 100 degree day, tailored our time to accommodate the oppressive heat.

Overall, I can't rave enough about Rebecca, GrecianLux, KimKim. Her attention to detail, from really listening to what my family wanted out of the trip, to the accommodations that she arranged, to the tours, to the transfers each step of the trip....every detail went off without a hitch. For example, we had one day when we were to take a boat tour to a beach but the wind was up and the harbor shut down, so she arranged for alternate transportation (her husband, Michael drove us! Michael was also amazing and so knowledgeable!) We could still go to the beach and then added on a dinner at the best restaurant. She also arranged for transportation and a reservation at a beach club in Santorini on a day when my kids rejected a six mile hike (walking uphill, even with views, was not appealing to teenagers !). The app that we used was also incredibly user friendly. It had all of our trip information organized by day and also important documents. We had the opportunity to meet Rebecca and she and her family were just so warm and welcoming in person.

If you are planning a trip to Greece, I am happy to provide the highest recommendation for Rebecca and KimKim. Perfect trip with memories that will last a lifetime.

Hotel Reviews

Electra Metropolis

Athens

High end tourist hotel in the heart of the city. Was our last night in Athens and for our trip and having such a fancy accommodating space was great. Fantastic views of the Acropolis and easy walking to the Psyris neighborhood.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Aesthesis Boutique Villas Fira

Fira

Fantastic location with plenty of space. Heated plungepool. Epic views of the caldera. Cave like space which was unique and fascinating. Breakfast was provided every morning and delivered to the villa.

Authenticity & Character

As mentioned, the cave like space was so unique to us, and typical for Santorini. Loved it!

Location

Easy to walk to Fira and get to other areas of the island.

Staff

Concierge met us at the villa and the cleaning team was great. Very attentive.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Daily cleaning service was so appreciated and very well done!

Chania Flair Deluxe Boutique hotel

Chania

Beautiful boutique hotel! Fantastic location with beach access, roof deck with small pool, and easy walking district to the more touristy area of the Chania harbor. Staff was very accomodating and breakfast was incredible. Every detail was very well thought out.

Authenticity & Character

The hotel felt brand new, very well appointed. We had adjoining rooms in a suite with our children and that worked out perfectly.

Location

Beach access and walkable to the town center.

Staff

So friendly and accomodating.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Perfect.

Coco-Mat Athens BC

Athens

Great location, lovely room, great service. Rooftop pool that was fantastic given the heat in Athens. Epic breakfast included every morning. Highly recommend.

Authenticity & Character

eco-friendly, pool, rooms were well appointed.

Location

Walkable to Acropolis, Plaka, and other city center areas.

Staff

Courteous and helpful.

Cleanliness & Comfort

very clean, AC worked well and we were very happy.

Activity Reviews

Santorini - Free Morning & Santorini Catamaran Gold Sunset Cruise (Small group cruise)

Santorini

Beautiful experience on a catamaran! Well organized and not too crowded on the boat. We got to see the island from the water and experience sunset out in the ocean. Highly recommend!

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Chania - Dive into magnificent Balos Beach with a private boat (Fishing boat)

Greece

We didn't actually get to take a boat to Balos Beach because the ocean was too high and the Harbor Master closed the marina. However, our travel specialist Rebecca arranged for a driver to take us to and from the same beach which was so thoughtful. The wind was high that day but that kept the crowds down and we were able to be comfortable behind some of the big rocks on the beach. We then were able to go for dinner at a local farm to table restaurant near Balos. Again, Rebecca took care of the cost of the meal because we had paid for dinner on the boat trip that got cancelled. Really, she went over and above and we had the best alternate experience!

Quality of Experience

Balos Beach was incredibly beautiful! Just like what you think of when you think of Greece.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Michael was our guide and driver and just fantastic. Super knowledgeable and personable and funny.

Transport

Chania - ''The Cretan Treasures'' Food and Wine Tour

Greece

Unbelievable experience! We were picked up by Yannis who was our tour guide for the day. He was funny, engaged with our children, and also very knowledgeable about everything related to our tour, Greece and Crete. We toured an olive oil refinery and farm, and then took a cooking class at a private farm in the Kissamos district. So beautiful and away from tourists. We cooked stuffed tomatoes and peppers and stuffed grape leaves. And we were served a traditional Cretan meal with different types of cheeses, honey, Greek salad, roasted vegetables, roasted goat, and dessert of yogurt and different types of local honey. One of the best experiences of our trip. We highly recommend.

Quality of Experience

See above.

Food

See above in general review.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

The guide was just super and we really liked that he engaged with our teenagers.

Transport

Athens - Acropolis at Sunset & Plaka neighborhood | Private tour with an archaeologist/guide

Athens

Great tour with Angela. She was very knowledgeable and provided us with lots of interesting facts while we walked. She also showed us really cool secrets spots in the Plaka that were not filled with other tourists!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Athens - Athens Food Tour

Athens

Theo was so knowledgeable and took us to places we would never have seen without a guide. The day was also 100 degrees so he was very thoughtful about keeping us in the shade and taking us to places for cool drinks and desserts. My family loved the graffiti/public art component of the tour. Was such a great way to storytell for Athens.

Quality of Experience

We saw parts of Athens that we would have never seen if we had not had a guide.

Food

Good mix of modern and traditional....Six Dogs was a hidden gem and the taverna was also fantastic!

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Theo was terrific. Fun, accommodating, knowledgeable. Highly recommend him!

Transport

Walkable from our hotel

KimKim.com made planning my trip to Costa Rica easy. The service was excellent. I received messages from Brittany and Ryan every step of the way. If I had a question, they had an answer for me within the day. In addition, the ability to select locations, activities, and hotels ala carte made planning more personal. Activities were a combination of group and individual choices. Hotel selections included three- to five-star aminities.

Thank you so much, Kimkim.com, for helping me create a wonderful trip!!!

As a whole, what you all planned was good. I am not pleased that you all forgot to pick us up at a train station. It was hot and we paid too much for this level of unprofessionalism. This issue is compounded by the steep pricing.

Liz Karen from Andean Travel experience prepared my itinerary after a brief back and forth while Paul Zegarra served as my POC while in Peru for 16 days. Liz's recommendations were perfect for my solo trip that involved numerous activities, excursions, lodging locations, airports, domestic flights, pick ups/drop offs, etc. The lengthly itinerary was executed flawlessly without incident. Accommodations were great. No doubt this feat required a great deal of "behind the scenes" coordination and communication before and during my journey. Regardless of the time of day, Paul was available via WhatsApp and answered all questions I had regarding the itinerary. He provided the assurances needed to eliminate the usual worry. Everything flowed flawlessly including 3 - day excursions from or in Cusco, a 5 day trek to Machu Picchu on the Salkantay Trail, and a river cruise on the Amazon and into the rain forrest. Peru and the trip exceeded expectations. Easy to recommend the kimkim platform and Andean Travel Experience.

Our family had a very good time in Greece. Our trip was very well planned and we enjoyed very much all the planned excursions.

Hotel Reviews

NLH Monastiraki

Athens

Argo Boutique Hotel

Naxos

The George Hotel

Mykonos

The Editor Hotel Athens

Athens

Activity Review

Welcome to Athens

Athens

Trip was absolutely amazing!!! Emanuela helped me every step of the way. It was perfectly planned and exactly what we asked for. Everything went so smoothly. Best trip we've ever had. I will use the services for all my future trips!

I absolutely loved it! We saw many wonderful places and the detailed planning especially regarding transportation was impressively done. Everyone I communicated with was very helpful esp Tricia and Hild earlier on as this has been a trip long in making.
Trolltunga and Lofoten were our favorites!

Activity Review

Midnight Kayaking in Svolvær

Norway

We missed the experience because we were not notified to meet at 930 instead of 10pm. Disappointing.

Firstly about KimKim (and I guess by definition about Olman) - whilst in hindsight I probably COULD have organised most of the things on this trip myself - having Olman do it (and super efficiently as well it has to be said) certainly took all the hassle away, and gave me a very useful security blanket (which was called upon and deployed successfully) - so you pay more - you get more - the choice is yours.

Olman was patient with me as I changed my mind on what I thought I wanted to do and the price I was willing to pay. No rush in getting us to pay our final bill which was appreciated.........

Mixed feelings about Costa Rica have to say.

Darned expensive for family of 5 from the UK right now - exchange rate not helping for sure. We also forgot (coming from the UK) that sales tax is levied - but never included in menus or on price tickets - it always hits you as a surprise when you pay the final bill. So whenever you consider a meal out - factor in 13% sales tax, plus service charge and so on...

Not surprisingly I guess, given the reliance on the tourist dollar, Costa Rica charges you for EVERYTHING…Wonderful scenery - if you can afford to pay for the view!

Every National Park charges entry of $16 / person / per day - no family rates, no multi-day, multi-location passes (missing a trick here for us families for sure). Every wonderful waterfall you read about is fully “monetised“ (on private land always so unsurprisingly again) but $20 each for a walk to a albeit fantastic waterfall gets pretty expensive. I KNOW our wealth as tourists is substantial in comparison but when you’ve saved for eons doesn’t mean that you have loads of options to do all the things available to you. I know that tourism is CR’s lifeblood in many ways but it does make you appreciate some of the fantastic sites, and holiday possibilities closer to home. How many waterfalls are charged for in the UK for example?

Having said all that there were plenty of memorable experiences:
- Monteverde / St Helena area - chilled vibe
- a night tour in a private reserve with a great guide spotting stick insects, frogs, tarantula, toucan etc. that was pretty special (via Reserva Curi Chanca in Monteverde)
- boat tour around jungle canals with monkeys and iguana in Toruguero
- Zip lining above the forest canopy was pretty exciting with last section over a k in length - again near Monteverde (via https://selvatura.com/).
- Hotel Plaza Yara near Manuel Antonio - lovely chilled hotel
- Hiked up to the top of an old volcano - Cerro Chato on the Arenal area - really challenging up a dry stream bed conscious all the time that a storm would make it an altogether different challenge! It is apparently illegal to do this trip (so less said about this great experience the better possibly....)

Trips I was less enamoured with were
- canyoning near La Fortuna - via https://www.puretrek.com/ - they rushed us through - pretty much tied us the ropes, lowered us down, ushered us the next drop and were keen to see us through and gone. No element of the slightest danger for sure - but hey - at least let us play the rope ourselves if we choose to do some rappelling eh??
- hot springs, again in La Fortuna - at https://ecotermalesfortuna.cr/ - one pool "hot" - others pretty tepid - all very plush but misses the natural feel you'd have in Iceland for example. Meal was good though!
- Manuel Antonio National Park - crowded, not allowed to take any food in (for understandable reasons) - but then have grotty cafe with overflowing bins and wasps, no access to furthest beaches - very underwhelming for me personally
- Diving off the Catalina Islands - shit viz - but them's the breaks when you go diving

We went in the rainy season - so that meant the afternoon storms when they happened were biblical - and very impressive in their own right! Having said that - quite a few days where we had no rain and it certainly didn't spoil the trip. It pays not to be out on anything less than a really good road if you have a hire car in these conditions.

We’ve paid quite a bit for good hotels and for me personally it’s meant a certain lack of real interaction with other travellers - kids have loved the comfort though!