Kimkim Trip Reviews

My guide was Mr. Marco Herrera. Good English and excellent guide. Very helpful and adaptive to changes.

Overall the trip was perfect. It was my first time in Ecuador, but Mr. Marco and the people from kimkim.com helped in giving many options to explore. From lagoons to national reserve parks and forest, all was arranged perfectly.
People at the hotels were very nice and polite.

I would definitely recommend this to anyone and I, most definitely, would arrange future trips with them again.
5/5

Firstly we would like to thank Jeff for such wonderful communication throughout the planning, all the information we received before we began the trip and all the info in our packet on arrival. Everything worked like clockwork( except running for the wrong bullet train) because of the attention to fine details such as every ticket for transport, cards for each check-in and particularly the pocket wifi.
We had two guides, one in Tokyo and one in Kyoto . Ms Junko Dogauchi was helpful and we enjoyed our day which helped us with the subway,but it was difficult to understand her English. Ms Fukiko Teramachi was excellent with good English and conversation. We had a different kind of day at her village as well as a couple of tourist spots. She was also helpful with places to eat.
The most memorable experience was at Yamanochaya in Hakone. It was a lot of fun with such pleasant staff. Mikoto Aoki as our attending staff was wonderful. She helped us with our 'little' Japanese and we helped her with her English. We managed to use theHakone free pass on both days which made it simple to travel around. We really liked Kyoto and enjoyed doing our own thing there. Did some shopping in the markets which was reasonable as most things in the department stores etc too expensive for us.
On our last day in Tokyo we got to see the Cherry Blossoms in full bloom. It was beautiful weather and one street was closed with groups partying and the Rugby players interacting with the public. Very different.
Hotels were great, usually good location but we did not like the hotel in Takayama the Hotel Associa Takayama Resort. It was huge and definitely catered for big tourist groups. At any one time there were up to 10 buses. Consequently we could not get into the buffet restaurant. We used the shuttle bus for one dinner but when it started to snow we decided to stay in. The breakfast was chaotic in the restaurant with so many people. We would have preferred to stay in a smaller hotel.

I recently wrapped up an amazing trip to Greece that Kimkim out together for me. Harris and his team took care of every detail with precision and care. Travelling by myself, it was especially meaningful to feel so taken care of and looked after. The team checked in after each excursion to ensure my satisfaction, handled cancellations due to bad weather, and ensured that my trip went effortlessly. The hotels, the excursions, the transfers; all exceeded my expectations! I will definitely be using Kimkim again and will recommend them whole heartedly to any of my travelling friends. Thank you!

We had an amazing time. Warner was the perfect guide: knowledgable, easygoing, fun, funny, flexible, everything! We all missed him so much when he dropped us off in Dublin, like we had left one of our family members! Our favorite place was Adare Manor, along with the falconry and archery there. But all of the planned activities were great fun, including the ghost tour in Kildare, the bike tour in Kilkenny, etc. We will be back on day to explore the north of Ireland!

We, a family of four (two adults and two kids, one boy 8 yrs and one girl 11 yrs) had one full week of dream vacation in Greece , thanks to Tasos and his team’s dedicated arrangement! Yes, This is a dream trip that we print out those photos and frame, rather than just post them on social media; a dream trip that turns us into artists, spending hours to record those moments by drawing; a dream trip that could serve as fodder for party conversations for year from now on……..For this, we would like to give a big shout out to Tasos and his team, for helping us develop the most suitable itinerary for our family; for booking most amazing accommodations at each destination; for offering best options/services on means of transportations; for providing 24/7 real-time support and overseeing all details to ensure the perfectness at each stage of the trip.

1) Itinerary
The trip itinerary that Tasos put together for us embraces two types of experiences: immersing ourselves into the world of Greek Mythology and ancient history; living like a local through mountain hiking and farm visiting.

We had spent two days in Athens, visited Sounio (a breathtaking scenery of the Temple of Poseidon at sunset), Temple of Zeus as well as Acropolis through a Mythology tour, Plaka (eating and shopping), Roman Agora (seeing the Tower of the Winds), the Parliament Hill (watching the Changing of the Guard ceremony). Then we drove to Kalabaka, where we had a marvelous mountain hiking with our fantastic tour guide Kris from Meteora Thrones; he took us into the routes where ordinary tourists may not be aware of (thus we could see unique views); we also visited four of the six UNSECO monasteries. The next day we drove south to Delphi Archaeological site (another UNSECO heritage site), where the ancient Greeks considered as the central of the world. Through a private guided tour, we soon understood how those ancient ruins were originally constructed following a holy-path as the Sanctuary of Apollo and the significance of the site of the ancient Oracle in Greece. On the sixth day of this trip, we drove towards the Peloponnese through the impressive suspension bridge of Rio, visited another two UNSECO sites. It was a spring windy day, we thought we saw the best part of the “rich in gold” Mycenaean civilization centre at the Mycenae archaeological sites through the signature Lion Gate and the beautiful “Mask of Agamemnon” (although it is a replica and the real one in National Archeological Museum ); we were also lucky enough to perform in the Ancient Theatre of Epidaurus, where we enjoyed the astonishing acoustics designed by ancient Greeks 2,400 years ago. Then the next day we had an amazing full day with Stavroula's Grecopaths team. We went to an ancient theater performing mimes and dramas with local elementary students; We visited a local farm, getting to know Greek wine, olive trees, orange trees, lemon trees as well as many types of herbs; We had a delicious lunch and pleasant afternoon tea with the farm owner’s family; we also visited a small Greek pyramid (a hidden gem of Nafplio, many visitors may not know of) in the afternoon. With the excellent guide of Stavroula’s team, we were experiencing the real Greeks for one full day, which became the highlight of our one-week Greece trip.

2) Accommodations
The hotels and B&B Tasos booked for us at four destinations are amazing.

The NLH Fix at Athens has the best location you could have (close to everything); the room is spacious and service is fantastica. The Five-stared Grande Meteora Hotel has one of the best locations in the town, we could see the soaring monoliths from our rooms’ balconies and its sublime beauty cannot be conveyed in words or pictures. The Ippoliti Hotel in Nafpolio, sets in a lovely old pink mansion and is located close to the port, restaurants and cafes.

But our favorite is the Ganimede Hotel in Galaxidi, where we stayed in a family suite with two beds in the upper level and one main beds in the lower level. It locates at a very quiet street and nicely decorated. It offered us a wonderful night resting and “the best breakfast in the world”. We really hope we could be able to stay there longer.

3) Transportation
One convenient service Tasos offered is the airport pickup by our friendly driver Lampros, who gave us the warmest welcome and best introduction service to Athens. While in Athens, we walked to all interested sites as all of them are not far away from each other. The rest five days, Tasos helped us rent a car so we drove every destination with freedom and flexibilities. It is a great way to experience Greece by driving yourselves, the views are stunning and the roads (outside of Athens) are very clean and quiet (Maybe March is the low season?)

4) 24/7 Support and 360 Services
Tasos and his team offered us a local cell phone for communication – all destinations are uploaded into google map and linked to the itinerary; which saved us time and efforts so we could focus on experiencing everything in Greece.
During the trip, we could reach him and his team any time by all types of means. For example, we had an emergency on the way from Nafplio to Athens as we would like to see the Corinth Canal but not sure where we could get the best view. So we called Tasos to let him know our problem. Within less than one minute, he sent us the google map location of Corinth Canal and told us which bridge has the pedestrian cross (so its easier to take pictures).
In the same time, Maria from Tasos’ team also reached us regularly to check if everything is on track. When we asked her to recommend some restaurants along the Plaka while we were wondering there, she sent a list of restaurants within five minutes, each of them are highly rated and great choice for travelers. On the day we were going to leave Athens, Maria also called to check if we need the change the vehicle pick-up place from downtown Athens to the airport as Lampros told her that we were a little bit nervous about driving in the crowded downtown Athens. Although we did not take that offer in order to save time, we appreciate their attentiveness and considerations.

All those services helped us create the peace of mind thus we could enjoy every moment while at Greece. By the end, as my kids said, this is an amazing trip which makes them want to visit Greece again and again!

Great trip overall. Chris was very responsive and easy to work with and has been supportive of working with me to address the few issues that did come up on the trip.

The ease of planning this trip through kimkim was one of the notable highlights of our honeymoon! Harris, our local specialist, suggested some great things for us to do that we wouldn't have been able to coordinate if we were planning the trip on our own, and he was very quick to accommodate any requests we had. Stepping off each plane or ferry to find someone with my name ready to take care of our transfers really eased a lot of the logistics of traveling. You always know that the sights & foods, and people you meet on a vacation will be highlights, but with Harris and the team at Travel 12, the actual details were also a highlight of the trip - who knew?!?

The match with the local organisation was excellent. The local organisation turned out to be very flexible.
A porter who turned ill was quickly replaced and there was a great anticipation on changing wheather conditions.
Our guide was really amazing in her organisation and motivation on the group, the clients as well as the porters.
Great work!

If I'm being honest - I was skeptical at first. I'm typically the traveler who likes to book all my own hotels, excursions and transportation. However, I came across Kimkim online as I was planning my trip to Costa Rica and decided to send an initial message. I was partnered with Randall, who ended up playing a key role in making my trip to Costa Rica unforgettable! He was very patient and flexible as I customized the 9-day itinerary, with multiple iterations, and gave many recommendations for activities and places to see during my stay. We didn't have any hiccups during our stay and all drivers arrived on time. When we first arrived at the airport, our driver even provided us with a folder of our itinerary and all vouches required for the trip. The organization was impeccable! In addition, the activities were awesome and my mom and I had a blast! Some activities included: volcano hike, hot springs, hanging bridges, waterfall hike, ziplining, butterfly garden, guided hike through Manuel Antonio park + more. I highly recommend Randall to help you plan your trip if you are thinking of going to Costa Rica and want to experience as much as possible. I definitely plan on using the Kimkim service again. Thanks Randall!

From the very first conversation to the last day there Ingrid was there to make sure we had the time of our lives in Norway for 18 days. With no detail left out and the time taken to make sure we had everything throughout our trip. She answered our questions as needed was invaluable. Meeting a local with knowledge of the area makes the difference in planning a trip. Would highly recommend this service to anyone who needs assistance in traveling and would love to have a full time travel planner! Worth every cent!

We had a truly memorable experience in Nepal. The services rendered from the start was prompt and impeccable. Thank you everyone especially Naresh, Kunga and Erin!

Overall we had a great trip to Costa Rica.
Our first 4 days of reservations were done by KIMKIM - Lily( Kim Kim guide).

Although I made it clear when booking the trip that we had 5 people we had to explain and wait extra because they needed to arrange an extra bed. The extra cost wasn't the issue it was that we had to explain and go through the same process at each hotel. Our driver Dhanuka was amazing,safe and adjusted our trip to our needs and requests. The van was new, very comfortable. I feel I could of planned a trip myself for a lower cost but it was nice to have everything taken care of. Overall it was a great trip. We love sri lanka and will definitely be back.

It was a very planned trip and the transfers were seamless. The kayaking guides Carlos and Polina were outstanding, affable and provided great service and kept us safe. Well done team!

Jess did a great job adapting to our requests and providing great suggestions. We made some changes on the fly and Jess was able to roll with it and make our trip a delight. Jess even booked us restaurant reservation and was always available.
A couple of comments and suggestions.
The city tour in Bogata really works better if you start by going up to Monsarrat then venturing into the city.
A ceviche tour in Cartagena, which we heard about from other travelers at our hotel, sounds great and we suggest you folks add it to your options.
Medellin tour to Guatapa was great .
The rum tasting was a highlight, Abraham is a great guide to the world of rum. All of our guides, while all very different were great, informative and adaptable, not going from a script.
The transportation options were good, we never waited for a driver.
We handled most of our own hotel options, we liked both the Bastion in Cartagena and the Charlee in Medillin and would recommend both hotels.

Thank you Jess we had a great time.

Best Brian and Terri

We would like to thank Randall for his fantastic planning of our trip to Costa Rica. Everything went like clockwork from the transfers to and from the airport to the transfers between areas visited and the fantastic accommodation selected for us. All trips booked (which were many) were fantastic and showed how diverse Costa Rica is as a travel destination. The Ticos are warm, friendly and welcoming people and all went out of their way to make our holiday great.
I will have no hesitation in recommending your company and paticularly Randall for any persons planning a trip to Costa Rica.

The only suggestion I would make is on checking out in Manual Antonio we had to be out of our hotel at 11am and our transfer was at 2.00pm normally this would not be a problem but with the heat and humidity it would have been nice to have a later checkout or earlier transfer (we however did not see this a a negative in any way and did not reflect at all on our enjoyment of this holiday) it is merely a suggestion.

Thank you and Pura Vida

Morag and Brett

Wonderful trip to Mexico visiting Mexico City, Puebla and Oaxaca. Perfectly organised by Jorge who arranged a fantastic itinerary based around Mexican gastronomy. Lovely hotels, excellent guides and everything worked very smoothly. Highly recommend Jorge to plan a memorable holiday in Mexico!

Tough, upexpected weather overall. Guide was great and knowledgeable, and accommodating. Had a good memorable trip as such.

Another great trip with Kim Kim. Accommodations were great, trail instructions accuracy, food amazing.
Well organized.

Max arranged an excellent trip for us.
We were met as per our itinerary and the boat, hotels and tours were all first class.
I have no hesitation in recommending KimKim and Max to anyone.
We will be using their services again.
Thank you.