Kimkim Trip Reviews

We went to Greece for 10 days (Athens, Naxos, and Santorini) and it was simply amazing! Tasos and team made everything so easy and really did a great job with the itinerary. 10/10 would recommend and everything went so smoothly. Anytime we had questions, concerns, or asked for recommendations, Tasos and team responded very quickly. A must have on the bucket list of places to visit!

Hotel Review

18 Grapes Hotel Naxos

Naxos

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Private Cape Sounion Driving tour

Greece

Cooking Class in Naxos Villages

Naxos

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Enjoy Athens by Bike!

Athens

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

We had a 5 day excursion with Robi and it exceeded our expectations! Robi showed us some of the best parts of his beautiful country! The biking routes he selected were fun and safe routes along the coast and through beautiful forests! He listened to what we wanted and made it happen. He choose amazing locations for us to stay and ended the trip with one of the most beautiful boat rides I have ever been on!! I would highly recommend him for your next Croatia adventure trip!!! ❤️⚓️🍷🚴

Hotel Reviews

Grand Villa Argentina

Dubrovnik

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Ostrea

Mali Ston

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Korcula

Korčula

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Dubrovnik - Departure day

Croatia

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Dubrovnik and Elaphiti islands - Lopud and Koločep private boat trip

Croatia

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Cycling Mljet island and National Park

Croatia

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Cycling On Pelješac Penisula and swiming in small bays ( Sup)

Ston

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Cycling on Korčula island with options

Korčula

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Arrival in Split and transport to Korčula

Croatia

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

So much effort and attention to detail went into the creation of a perfect trip for us and our boys! Each guide was unique and all were knowledgeable, engaging, and talented. Thanks to Angel, Guido, and Johan for sharing their knowledge and passion with us!

My son and I had an amazing outdoor experience; we hope to return to Peru in the future to do more hiking!

Our entire trip that was planned through Old Town was incredible. Chris was helpful with the logistics and ensuring our trip was easy to navigate. Our driver, Ivan, and our guide, Jossua, were both incredible and engaging. We already miss them !We loved the hot springs we spent the night at, and the lagoon hike outside of Zunil. Thank you to entire team who made our trip memorable and easy.

Our trip planner, Jesus through Peruvian Soul, was amazing! We had to change the itinerary several times in order to accommodate the things we wanted to see and the time we had. Jesus made it work for us! He communicated with us the whole time during trip planning, and kept up with us and the tour guides throughout our trip tó make sure everything was what we expected and more! We had a lovely stay at Tambopata Research Center and learned so much about the Amazon! Our tour guides, G and Johann were also some of the best tour guides I’ve ever had! They were both native Peruvians who were both passionate and very knowledgeable about their country! They answered all of our questions, and both were so good with our 14-year-old boys. G went way out his way to help me get my phone back from leaving it at Machu Picchu!! And Johann enjoyed his first sandboarding trip with us!! His sweet mother made us homemade chocolates to celebrate!

All of our hotels were very nice, clean and beautiful!! We loved the charming character of the hotels we stayed at in Cusco! The food was amazing, and we got up graded to private tours of the Palcoyo Rainbow Mountain range and Machu Picchu!

Jesús also surprised us with an upgrade to a beautiful hotel in Paracas right on the beach! For our last night in Peru, I was able to walk along the beach at sunset with wild flamingos feeding inThe waters.

I left a piece of my heart in Peru and will come back to visit it someday! ❤️❤️ Thank you to Jesus, G and Johann for make these memories possible!

We did a friends trip to Portugal with 14ppl. We had an amazing time. Everyone in our group thoroughly enjoyed it. Tiago was the best from planning our trip to making sure we had smooth and enjoyable experience in Portugal. He made sure on daily basis how our trip was going and if there were any adjustments even needed while we were there. There were some hiccups due to Mother Nature but Tiago informed us and help us plan alternate to our itinerary. Our driver Luis who was there majority of our trip was amazing and knowledgeable of the country. Dioego who gave us a day tour of Lisbon was very knowledgeable and helped us along the way with buying pastry and communicating with the locals. Can not stress enough how much we enjoyed our trip because we decided to use Kim Kim to plan our trip. I would recommend to anyone and will use their services in future.

Activity Reviews

Wine Estate Visit in the Douro Valley

Portugal

Beautiful property with magnificent view of the Douro valley

Quality of Experience

Guided Tour of Lisbon

Lisbon

Dioego was very knowledgeable and a great tour guide. Because of the heat we were little tired of walking but the tour guide made sure we took breaks and went on slower pace when needed.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Rabelo Boat Tour

Portugal

Boat tour was nice with amazing views of the region

Quality of Experience

Port Wine Tasting Tour

Porto

Person giving a tour was very knowledgeable and interesting

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Explore Porto (Half-Day Guided Walking Tour)

Porto

Beautiful city and our guide was really good

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Luis an amazing driver

Chris was amazing and planned an unforgettable trip of a lifetime. Thank you!

This was my first experience ever using a travel agent or having any kind of help planning a trip. I didn't even know where to begin when planning a short trip to the Galapagos, and Mathias took my wishes into account and created the perfect trip. He was also very helpful when we had to postpone the trip due to a family emergency. The trip itinerary was just about perfect, full of wildlife growing as we wished. Our favorite day by far was visiting Espanola, which surprised me because I assumed visiting the giant tortoises would be my favorite (and that was still amazing, obviously, and I loved it, but Espanola just blew us away). But I think that's the beauty of using local experts --they know what to suggest and what you might enjoy even more than you. All of our guides were amazing (Sol, Martin, Ulf, and Camilo). We had Martin two days in a row, which we loved, as he was so enthusiastic and knowledgeable. The Galapagos Sharksky boat and crew were also fantastic, and we were lucky to also have them two days in a row. The liaisons we had were so friendly and informative as well (Liz and Jorge). The hotels were perfect for us and it was so nice having the little things like transportation and snorkeling gear taken care of for us. Overall, it was such an amazing vacation and I'm so grateful for the experience!

Hotel Reviews

Posada del Mar

Santa Cruz

The bed was huge and comfortable, the staff was friendly, and it was a wonderful location off the main road but so close to everything. The WiFi was terrible, which was only an issue because we had a family situation come up that we needed to deal with, but everything else about the hotel was amazing. Thank you for a great stay!

Location

Good restaurants next door! Easy to walk around, closer to the center of town, safe.

Staff

The staff were so friendly and accommodating!

Cleanliness & Comfort

Casa Blanca

Puerto Baquerizo Moreno

Authenticity & Character

Location

I'm

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Snorkel at Kicker Rock (Leon Dormido)

Galapagos Islands

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Excursion to an uninhabited island

Galapagos Islands

We went hiking on Bartolome and snorkeling at Pinnacle Rock, and both experiences were amazing. It was such a contrast to the other islands we had visited. The diversity of the Galapagos is just stunning. The hike up the 365 steps is actually really well designed, so it's doable for people of many fitness levels. Our guide stopped a lot to talk about the geography, geology, etc, which gave us a chance to catch our breath. The stairs are wide and safe. The timing on everything was really great.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Visit to the Charles Darwin Research Station

Puerto Ayora

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Highlands of Santa Cruz Island

Galapagos Islands

I couldn't believe how close the tortoises are (stay back 6 feet, but sometimes that's tricky!), nor could I believe how many there were. The cloud forest atmosphere was a nice change from the beaches and sunny skies on the other parts of the island. Having a super knowledgeable guide also made the experience perfect--we even had a stranger asking him questions, she she said we were lucky to have him as our guide! We knew Ulf was the best already, but that helped confirm it. We had great discussions and he answered all of our crazy questions. Also, the bike riding ended up being way more fun than I expected, even though it was raining and I got super muddy. It was so nice that the bus followed us, so my boyfriend was able to stop when he didn't feel like continuing but I was able to keep going.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Day-Trip to Española Island

Galapagos Islands

This was our favorite activity. I had no idea I would enjoy seeing the albatrosses as much as I did--the mating ritual was fascinating. The blue-footed boobies were amazing as well, and so close I couldn't believe it. We also saw a Galapagos hawk and its nest. We saw a baby sea lion so young the placenta was still next to the mom. Marine iguanas everywhere, swimming and basking on lava rocks. Sweeping views of the ocean and the unusual landscape. The whole day was just magical.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Martin, our guide, and the boat crew on the Sharksky were beyond amazing.

We had a great trip! We are home and reflecting on it all. We did a ton in Paris, and it worked out great. We wanted to get out in the countryside, so we did not want to spend too much time in the city, but we fit in The Catacombs, The Louvre, The Eiffel Tower, St. Chappelle, and the outside of Notre Dame in a day and a half. We missed the boat tour down the Seine, but that is okay because our hotel was just across the river and our hotel was very centrally located so we could fit a lot in. I would have skipped the guide at St. Chappelle, but we learned some things we would not have otherwise. Our first stop outside of Paris was to Annecy. It is a beautiful city, but our accommodations were not warm and welcoming and hard to find. We stayed for three nights and were there during Bastille day, so it was very crowded. We made a day trip to watch the tour do France and researched the best place to see it, which was a 1.5-hour drive in our rental car to Marie St. Etienne. It was a highlight as we got to see the caravan come by, and we knew two riders from our hometown. Next, we went to Chamonix in our rental car and took the cable car to the top of Mont Blanc. We loved this! Ideally, we would have liked to have spent a night in Chamonix but drove back to Annecy. We shopped and ate in Annecy and got an hour on the lake in a pedal boat. It would have worked best for us to spend two nights and go to Chamonix for the third. It was very HOT and crowded in Annecy. Next, we drove to Moustiers St. Marie and loved our accommodations and the town! The B and B was fantastic, and the proprietors were fabulous! We ate in town each night and shopped. We rented pedal boats on the Verdon Gorges and ate at a restaurant along the way. It was a great town, and we loved spending time there. We were SO glad you could extend our stay another night in Moustiers. Then we drove to St. Remy. We loved the Illuminare light show in St. Remy, and the bike rental was fun. We are glad we only stayed two nights as the forest was closed due to fires, so we were mostly doing town things except for the canoeing down the Sorgue river, which we HIGHLY recommend; it was a highlight! We liked St. Remy but loved our hotel, and Chantal, the owner, was truly fantastic. We appreciate the wine and cheese that Joel arranged for us and loved the pool and atmosphere. The accommodations in St. Remy and Moustiers were top notch though, but we are glad we stayed only two nights in St.Remy after all. Next, we took the train back to Paris. We had a very hard time finding the rental car return and the correct train station in Avignon as we went to the RTV instead of TGV. Our stay back in Paris at the airport was very nice and made our next day of airplane travel much easier. We had a full and wonderful trip and could not have fit so much in without the help of skilled travel agents. All of our friends remarked on what an incredible itinerary we had!

Hotel Reviews

Hôtel Le Mas Saint-Joseph 3*

Saint-Rémy-de-Provence

The hotel was the best part of St. Remy and Chantal was delightful. The pool and grounds were immaculate. The hotel is a gem!

Authenticity & Character

Room were fabulous and air conditioned. Pool is fantastic. The hotel is very nicely appointed.

Location

It was an 8 minute walk to town

Staff

Chantal is truly magnificent!

Cleanliness & Comfort

Immaculate and comfortable.

La Bastide Du Paradou 2

Moustiers-Sainte-Marie

Loved this place! Lovely rooms. Beautiful garden and comfortable to stay. The proprietors were fantastic! Breakfast was lovely.

Authenticity & Character

Gorgeous grounds

Location

We walked to town each day up a winding path and went for runs each morning

Staff

Could not have been nice and more accomodating

Cleanliness & Comfort

Lovely all around

Citadines Saint-Germain-des-Prés

Paris

Very central and easy to find.

Authenticity & Character

We might have liked something smaller and quainter

Location

perfectly located

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Beds were comfortable. Free coffee.

Le Royal 4 Apartment

Annecy

We were in a very hot and hard to find air B and B. Something happened and there was a change that left us all baffled. We were there during Bastille day and we spent 3 nights in a swelteringly hot room that none of us got much sleep in. It took us an hour to find it and get into it with all of the codes and awkward directions. There were no instructions on how to operate anything. No coffee.

Authenticity & Character

it was way too hot. Not a single fan. Ran out of hot water and no coffee or instructions.

Location

It was walking distance to town.

Cleanliness & Comfort

It was clean but NOT and a nice apartment, but it was not outfitted for guests. Fans would be helpful!

Activity Reviews

Canoeing on the River Sorgue

France

This was a great trip. It was a very hot day so this was perfect!!! The guides were great!

Quality of Experience

It was very fun and well done. Guides were great.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

we had our own car

Welcome to Saint Rémy de Provence

Saint-Rémy-de-Provence

We loved the biking and the illuminare. I did not see any lavender in St. Remy. I would have liked to have ridden bikes through the area and seen the lavender fields. St. Remy was a bit fancy for us. We loved the canoeing down the Sorgue River!

Quality of Experience

Canoeing on the Sorgue and illuninare light show

Guides, Drivers and Staff

We had our own car

Eiffel Tower Summit Ticket

Paris

So much more magnificent then we imagined!

Quality of Experience

we walked to it

Sainte Chapelle and Notre-Dame

Paris

Loved this church. Not sure if we needed the guide.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Nice man but it was hard to stay focused on the info. Just seeing it all was enough

Skip the line visit of the Louvre with audioguide (tickets only)

Paris

Had to pinch myself that I was actually at the Louvre. Lines were not bad at all.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

We have always wanted to go to Greece, and we thought - what better time than our honeymoon? Irene, our travel specialist, was beyond amazing. She was so kind, professional, and prompt. She discussed our interests and budget with us, and chose places we would never have even thought of ourselves. Our trip included Athens, Mykonos, Naxos, and Santorini. Throughout the entire experience, Irene was there every step of the way to answer any questions, and give us some recommendations. I wonder if she rests, it seemed like she was available 24/7!! The itinerary she produced was so well organized (including time changes!), that we had piece of mind and got to enjoy ourselves every second of it. There was not a SINGLE DETAIL she left out. The experience was phenomenal. We WILL be coming back to Greece and we WILL be requesting Irene again!

Great Planning, Horrible Execution

KimKim was a wonderful service to use. However the Switzerland extension they used to execute the planned activities was poor and obviously over priced.

Won’t be using again.

Fantastic trip to the south coast of Iceland. Andres made great suggestions for self guided portions-we explored the Rekjanes lighthouse are and hiked to see the Geldindalur volcano.
Our waterfall tour in thorsmork with Peter as our private guide in a superjeep was one of the most incredible experiences of my life. We also hiked in landmannalaugar with Einar traveling via superjeep. Both guides made the tour fun and we experienced lovely views/sites, both were knowledgeable about the area. Both tours were private and both guides were excellent.
Peter was particularly good about setting us up for fun family photos.
We traveled to westman Islands and went on a great rib boat tour-which I highly recommend. Again, Andrés gave great suggestions on what to see and where to eat.
Andres was flexible and responded immediately to my concerns when we were in iceland.
Kimkim was a great way to have the advantage of a local’s advice, fully customizable and small group tours. My family (including two teenagers) had a fantastic trip.
We will be using kimkim for our next great adventure!

Activity Review

Volcanoes & Waterfalls- Private guided day tour in the highlands.

Iceland

Who knew there were so many stunning waterfalls to see? If you aren’t afraid to do light to moderate hiking this fantastic tour is a must do. We hiked to the top of a mountain for stunning views, went into caves to see waterfalls, climbed rocks, crossed streams in a super jeep. I can’t praise the experience enough. Peter was adaptable, waited when needed hiking, paid attention to our safety, was knowledgeable about the area and took many family photos-and made the trip fun.

Quality of Experience

I experienced the landscape rather than just looked at it.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Peter made it fun and adjusted to our skill/adventureness level.

Transport

The superjeep was fun, and the river crossings an adventure.

Halldor and Preeti really got to know my husband and I, to understand our goals and preferences. It was an amazing experience in Iceland and I wouldn’t change a thing.

Recently traveled to Guatemala with 10 other family members ranging in age from 8y.o to 67y.o. Having a great team of people that responded quickly to all communication and 2 tour guides by our side for all our adventures was hugely positive! We completed a custom 10 day tour and made great memories! Crista and David were very knowledgeable and personable- we totally recommend them.

We had the best trip to Thailand! It couldn’t have been better. Martin planned a trip for our family that was perfectly suited to us and the ages and interests of our 3 kids. It allowed us to experience so many different areas and aspects of Thailand. We toured markets by tuk tuk, temples by boat, had an incredible experience with elephants and heaps of fun in a cooking class. We did a night tour in the jungle and stayed in a unbelievable raft hotel in the middle of an beautiful lake. Everything was made easy and the whole trip went smoothly. All of the tours we had planned and all of our transfers happened seamlessly. I couldn’t recommend Martin and Kim Kim and all of the tour operators we encountered highly enough.

Thank you Leslie and Ximena🙏🏻 Our Mexico City and Playa Del Carmen trip was so enjoyable and carefree thanks to all your planning for us. Every transfer, tour and reservation went according to plan and my daughter and I felt completely safe and taken care of💞

I cannot recall how I became aware of KimKim but I am thrilled beyond belief that I used this company. Both Meree and Sonia helped me plan a 2&1/2 week vacation to Norway. My husband and I started in Oslo and traveled as far north to Geiranger in the Geiranger Fjord and Alesund. We traveled via train, ferry, bus and a one night stay on the famous Hurtigruten. The itinerary was a nice pace and gave us plenty of time in each destination. The tickets and scheduling we all done for us. And best of all, we had local travel planners sending us to places where they like to visit, spend time and take their personal visitors. I will most certainly use KimKim in the future. Thank you Meree and Sonia!

Hotel Review

Hotel Union

Geiranger

This is an amazing hotel and spa located next to the UNESCO heritage museum for Geiranger Fjord. Right outside this hotel is a rushing river and several waterfalls so imagine having your windows open and being lulled to sleep by the sound of rushing water. So soothing and peaceful. And the lobby, bar and restaurant are elegant and serve delicious food. My only regret is that I did not have more time to spend here, both to enjoy this beautiful hotel and its location but to also have time to do some exploring and hiking of the surrounding area.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Close to the harbor but not right in the middle and it sits up higher above the fjord so the view is stunning

Staff

Very polite, helpful and kind

Cleanliness & Comfort

Plush bathrobes and large, comfortable room

Activity Reviews

Day trip to Fjærland

Norway

This was a ferry trip first and then a bus with the ultimate destination a National Park with one of the many icebergs in the country. We also visited a museum along the way that helped educate on icebergs and climate change. We also experienced yet another beautiful fjord. The views just never cease to amaze.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Flåm - Ferry to Balestrand

Balestrand

I highly recommend traveling by Ferry as much as possible. The scenery is breathtaking. I felt like I was on a movie set. Train travel may be faster but because of the mountains, there are a lot of tunnels. A ferry lets one see the country side along the fjords. And many of the ferries offer commentary over the speaker. There is plenty of room upon boarding the ferry to store your luggage before finding a seat. And there are small concessions available for purchase on board.

Fjord Safari by RIB

Flåm

This is an excellent way to see a Fjord up close and personal in a small group and learn about the history and lore from the local guide. A lot of fun and offers excellent photo opportunities.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Our guide is very knowledgeable about the area and has a lot of fun facts

Despite a very short notice we managed to organise our tour to Scotland in the best conditions. Rachel has been very helpful and professional. Thank you!

Hotel Reviews

Cameron House

Alexandria

Wonderful location but a little artificial.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Fonab Castle

Pitlochry

Good hotel but the service at the breakfast was disfunctional and not very professional.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel du Vin & Bistro Glasgow

Glasgow

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Kingsmills Hotel

Inverness

Very nice restaurant and food

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Dream Variations

Edinburgh

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

The owner is very kind

Cleanliness & Comfort

Marmalade Hotel

Portree

Staff rude and not respectful of the clients.

Authenticity & Character

Impersonal. It could be in any city in the world. Skye deserves better.

Location

Staff

Service is rude and absolutely non professional. I have been called after 10 PM when sleeping for asking me what time I wanted to have breakfast. Staff is not trained and disfunctional.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Beadnell Towers

Chathill

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Loch Ness Freedom Cruise

Scotland

Sheep Dog Demonstration

Inverness

Very interesting for kids and adults

Visit Scone Palace

Scotland

The Potter Trail Private Tour

Edinburgh

Edinburgh Castle Entry

Edinburgh

Alnwick Castle

Alnwick

Portree Boat Trip

Scotland

Amazing

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Sightseeing Hop On, Hop Off Bus Tour

Edinburgh

Finding kimkim was a godsend for planning a first time trip to Greece with my husband for our anniversary in only a month’s time!! We were connected to Chris our local Greek specialist and could not be happier with him and his agency as well as their partners, that helped to curate our experience. Everyone we interacted with was lovely. Our private transfers and guides were all punctual, knowledgeable, and laid back. They all seem to like their jobs and take pride in them and that’s very important for us and enhanced the experience. Notably we really enjoyed the company of one of our private drivers Yannis who spent an extended amount of time with us and was so genuine and really personalized our experience, Natalia our guide for our Acropolis and food tour who was so accommodating, and Isabella who led our hiking tour in Naxos who was so easy going. Everyone felt like a friend!

Chris chose excellent accommodations within our budget and with the characteristics we were looking for and even the staff working at the hotels were so kind and hospitable. We hit a few roadblocks during the trip but Chris handled everything timely and the setbacks did not take away from our overall experience, we had an excellent time.

I was skeptical about using Kimkim at first but so glad I did. It truly is made for the in-between travelers who want help planning a trip and don’t want to be in a fixed group schedule but also don’t want to risk or take the time to handle everything independently. It was nice to have a mix of private guided experiences as well as free independent time and on OUR schedule when it worked for us! We also liked that we chose the exact places we wanted to visit in Greece and got to see places we didn’t think of! Often packaged tours miss hidden gems and give you too little time in places. In 13 days we were able to visit Athens, Delphi, Arachova (quick stopover), Galaxidi, Kalabaka (town closest to Meteora), and Nafplio, as well as the islands of Naxos and Santorini. While of course we could have spent more time in certain places, we felt we had a good pace with each place with the assistance of Chris’ expertise. And once again, the “expertise” part was so important. You don’t want someone who will simply say “yes” to everything you ask, you also want someone to guide you to keep your trip pace realistic and really help you make the most of your time! We really valued Chris on this!

Using KimKim was everything we didn’t know we needed. I will highly consider using this service in the future!

Hotel Reviews

Lagos Mare

Naxos

Very nice hotel that made you feel like you were on an island getaway! Nice staff, great breakfast in the morning. It’s nice that it’s in a quiet area, but it is a little farther from Agios Prokopios ( the closest beach town) than I would have preferred due to the lack of sidewalks on the route from the hotel to there. It is only about a 10 min walk but can feel longer since you have to be cautious about your walk until you get into the beach town with all the shops and restaurants. But in general, not much sidewalks on this side of the island in this area at least, so that isn’t going to change much! Perhaps if we stayed slightly more central the hotel would have been noisier so who knows! Great hotel and service otherwise, just not the best location-wise.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Makris Beach Hotel

Kamari

Loved this hotel in the heart of Kamari - the calmer side of Santorini!! We had a room with a jacuzzi and sea view and it was an excellent way to end our first time in Greece! Great staff, great breakfast, excellent location in Kamari steps away from shops and dining and the black rock beach. Bus stop was also not far if you want to go to Thira, Oia, etc. I would absolutely stay in this hotel again if going to Santorini. Oia and Thira may be the more picturesque side of the island but with that come much higher prices and big crowds. It was fine to visit these towns but we LOVED that we were home based in Kamari - so much more laid back and affordable!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Dellas Boutique Hotel

Meteora, Kalambaka

We loved the hospitality at this hotel and the nice room with a balcony view of Meteora. Breakfast was very good as well! This hotel is equidistant between both towns closest to the Meteora monastery trails so great to stay in if you’re wanting to see both towns and have flexibility with sightseeing. Walking distance to town and shops.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Ganimede Hotel

Galaxidi

This was the most charming hotel on our trip to Greece! Very unexpected amazing hotel in a small town. We had a suite and it was so lovely, spacious, and maintained original architecture of the mansion while having a few renovations for modern comforts. And an excellent breakfast in the morning!! Truly one of a kind with all house made delights!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Philippos Hotel Athens

Athens

Excellent location is the biggest advantage here! It’s located on a quiet street so you get a great sleep but it’s just steps away from the Acropolis museum, shopping, and restaurants! We had a micro room with terrace that had a view of the Acropolis and we loved the view and the bed was comfortable enough for us. Keep in mind “micro” does mean micro so it was a little tight to move around considering 4 pieces of luggage but nothing that ruined our experience. Main downside was our shower was so shallow and would flood the floor every time we showered so we learned to put towels prior to showering to soak up the water. There is daily housekeeping so this was cleaned everyday but mostly it’s really just a big inconvenience safety and comfort wise, not sure who decided on the architecture here but this definitely could be improved with a future remodel. Not sure if the other room types had this shower issue, maybe only this one. Otherwise no other complaints. Breakfast was great and the hotel staff were very nice.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Hiking the ‘ring’ in Central Naxos

Naxos

Highly recommend this experience! If you like to hike or get off the beaten path, this excursion is for you! The beaches in Naxos are great but why not explore the center with some of the neighboring towns? Our local guide Isabella was such a pleasure to have as company! She felt like a friend showing us her favorite trail and tiny villages with some history as we trekked through. We saw only a handful of people doing the trails so it was nice and felt very private. We appreciated having a guide because I think we might have gotten lost attempting this on our own! We loved that the trip ended in the town of Halki, a charming little town where we had a light snack and and did a little local shopping.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Free time in Nafplio

Greece

Nafplio was one of my favorite places! Vibrant port side city with great food and beautiful streets in the old town. Very romantic! Our driver Thomas was very knowledgeable and helped pace our day trip here from Athens. We spent about an hour exploring the Palamidi fortress (must do!) and then about 2-2.5 hrs exploring the town with enough time to shop and eat lunch. Probably could have stayed another hour if time permitted but overall it was enough time to get a taste of Nafplio!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Divine Delphi and Galaxidi Private Excursion

Greece

The archaeological site and museum of Delphi are truly a divine experience! I actually loved Delphi more than the Acropolis! Our guide was excellent and very knowledgeable and able to answer our questions. He paced the tour very well. Staying one night in the nearby town of Galaxidi was a good decision with the help of our local expert Chris. It was a very nice port side town and helped the visit to Delphi not feel rushed. Worth the stay! The food in Galaxidi was also excellent. Tiny town but big flavors! Our driver Yannis was the best!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Acropolis & Flavors Combo Tour

Athens

We loved our guide Natalia! She was so knowledgeable, paced the tour well, and knew where to STAND while we moved around the Acropolis. There were several guided tours happening while we were there and whether by coincidence or not, she didn’t have us dying directly under the sun when possible like the other groups! She also knew the best angles for pictures! The flavors part of the tour truly made the experience. We visited places me and my husband would have just walked right past that didn’t look as inviting as the other touristic restaurants if it was just us. This is why you need a local expert to show you around and help you sample really great food!! There’s an abundance of great food in Greece overall but it truly would have been a shame if we missed the places Natalia took us to! It was truly a memorable experience.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Our family of four had a wonderful trip to Croatia thanks to the thorough and excellent planning and support of Nikola. From our first correspondence through to the last day of our trip, Nikola was responsive, helpful, and really customized our trip to be an amazing experience for us. He had great ideas, gave excellent advice, and really shaped a trip that let us experience the country in unique ways.

We especially enjoyed our guided walk through Plitvice National Park, our tour of Hvar with Grgo, and our sea kayaking tour with Boris. All of our guides were so knowledgeable and we also really appreciated that Nikola partnered with family-owned companies working to provide different perspectives and experiences to their clients.

Every one of our transfers and guided experiences was smooth - on time, well-organized, and professional. And our accommodations were amazing. As a family with 2 kids, when we initially started looking for accommodations in Croatia on our own, we were running into a lot of challenges because most accommodations labeled “family suites” were really only designed to sleep 3 people. It would have been very difficult and time-consuming for me to locate on my own the excellent hotels that Nikola found. Locations were great, hosts were friendly and helpful with advice, breakfasts were wonderful. Finally, in the places where Nikola suggested a certain location for our family (such as Trogir over Split or Starigrad over Hvar town), they were 100% the right recommendation for what we were looking for.

It is hard to pick our favorite places in Croatia - we were glad we visited each place we did, But some of the ones that stand out are Plitvice, Trogir, Stari Grad (on Hvar island) and Korcula.

Thank you to Nikola for planning such a memorable and wonderful trip for us,