Kimkim Trip Reviews

We highly recommend Emanuela. We had a wonderful experience in Iceland. Hotels, itinerary and food recommendations were amazing. Would definitely book with her again.

My family and I just completed a three week tour of Italy , with stays in Lake Como, Milan, Florence, Rome, Amalfi Coast, and Taormina Sicily.
Jessica Proietti , at Story Walking Tours, worked closely with me to make sure the hotels, tours, activities restaurants met and exceeded our expectations.
While we were Italy she was in contact with us each step of the way making certain that each event went off as planned and she accommodated slight changes we made o the fly.
I am a seasoned traveler, and I would rate the activities she planned for us, the hotels and restaurants she selected and the services provide by Jessica a 10 on a scale of 10.
I am very pleased that we used Story Walking Tors and will recommend Jessica and her agency to all my friends who intend to travel to Italy in the future.

Hotel Reviews

Hotel de Russie

Rome

My favorite hotel in Rome

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

The Place Firenze

Florence

Very pleasant small hotel

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Grand Hotel Bristol Resort & Spa, by R Collection Hotels

Rapallo

Loved the hotel - sorry we didn't stay longer

Grand Hotel et de Milan

Milan

Hotel is old and tired.

Authenticity & Character

Hotel is old and tired - needs to be torn down and rebuilt

Location

Staff

Staff very helpful

Cleanliness & Comfort

Villa d'Este

Como

My favorite Hotel - Its Magical

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

VOI Grand Hotel Mazzarò Sea Palace

Taormina

This hotel was a big surprise- It was perfect

Authenticity & Character

Wonderful Veranda - Great dinners with a piano player - Magical!

Location

Has it's own private beach and located new the gondola make going to town very convenient

Staff

Couldn't be friendlier or more attentive.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Rooms were perfect!!

Hotel Lorelei Londres

Sorrento

Very pleasant hotel in good location

Activity Reviews

Sicilian Street Food

Palermo

Guide was very good - tried hard- but touring in Palermo is not very interesting

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Guided Visit to the Gentile Company Factory

Italy

An interesting tour of the silk factory

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Limoncello Tour & Tasting

Italy

Great fun - Chef was terrific

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Private Evening Rome Walking Tour

Rome

Good tour of some of the highlights. Guide was terrific

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

NA

Market tour and Cooking Lesson with a chef

Italy

A truly outstanding experience that my entire family will always remember. The best cooking class we have ever taken.

Quality of Experience

Food

Unbelievable experience

Transport

Florence Art Tour: Uffizi & Accademia

Florence

A wonderful tour of the exceptional art

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Como Food Tour

Italy

Great time

Cannolo Cooking Class

Taormina

Making Cannoli- lots of fun

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Private Boat Trip along the Taormina Coast

Taormina

Lot's of fun - Swimming off of the Boat was great- Ending up ma t a restaurant a real treat Great Day

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Pisa: full ticket entrance and private guided tour

Italy

Loved the tour and vising the surround structures near the tower

Quality of Experience

Great tour but day was very hot

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Genoa Market & Old Shops Food Tour

Italy

Pleasant guide - but nothing special about the food.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Private boat tour: Pearls of Lake Como

Italy

Had a great time

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Full Day Tour: Positano, Amalfi & Ravello

Italy

Milan In A Nutshell

Milan

Very enjoyable and informative tour

The Grandeur Of Como: Villa Olmo and Brunate Funicular

Italy

Enjoyed the tour

We loved this trip. Our favorite stop was Douro Valley and Porto. The Quinta in Douro was amazing so beautiful and homey. Only issue was our map tried to take us up the backroad into the vineyard which was very scary on the small single lane, rocky road. The suggestions in the guidebook were great and made it very easy to check off the main tourist attractions in all of the smaller towns where we only had a night to visit.

Tiago was also great and answered all my questions and handled my covid anxiety before the trip very well! When the airline lost our baggage he even tried to help track it down for us and checked in with us multiple times during our trip. Overall a great experience.

Eleni is amazing!!! We will defintly use her on our next rtip. The whole team is great. Great follow up. I have already recommended them to several friends

I tried planning our trip to Costa Rica on my own but then someone told me about kim kim.com and what a fantastic tip that was! Brittany did an incredible job listening to what I was hoping for in this trip and then planning every detail to make it worry-free and even better than I'd dreamed! She organized all of our transportation and the service was impeccable with courteous, friendly and informative drivers who were always on time. Although I changed my mind a time or two prior to the trip on timing or excursion ideas, Brittany was very responsive and accommodating making it such a pleasure to work with her. And the excursions were so much fun! We absolutely loved our trip to Costa Rica and I'll never plan another big trip without KimKim. The pricing was fair and so worth every penny for peace of mind and the most well-executed vacation we've ever had. Thank you Brittany for your incredible expertise. We made memories to last a lifetime!

Activity Review

Shuttle Transfer with Rafting on the Sarapiqui River En Route

Costa Rica

This might be the BEST excursion of all during our trip to Costa Rica! Gabriel was so much fun and so skilled at whitewater rafting that we immensely enjoyed our exciting, thrilling trip down the river and none of us fell out of the raft! John was our driver from the hotel to the meeting place on the river as well as taking us to our hotel after the whitewater rafting. He shared with us so much history and insights about Costa Rica that made it interesting and informative plus he was also friendly and fun.

Quality of Experience

Food

The pineapple and watermelon on our fruit stop on the river tasted delicious! And the Costa Rican lunch after the rafting was so good - we loved it!

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Our trip was absolutely fantastic! IT was 2 weeks and we did so much. There were a few activities that had to change and we received communication way ahead of time. This is the second time I have used Kimkim Travel for trips and I will continue to use them. I was so please with how Lucy stayed in touch and responded quickly. This trip was only my youngest son and myself. We will be taking the entire family back after such a wonderful time we had. We WILL be contacting Lucy through KimKim.com again! We had a very detailed itinerary with rest days and were able to move things around if needed.

I loved the people in South Africa. I felt at home everywhere we went. I have way too many wonderful pictures, so picking one for this is NOT easy.

We had a wonderful 3-generation trip. The Rainforest Chocolate Tour in La Fortuna was really well done - engaging, informative, and not too slow or too fast. They were terrific with our kids (3 and 8), giving opportunities to participate, and everybody had a great time. We went ziplining with Vista Arenal and they were also really fantastic with the kids, who had to ride with guides due to their size. We all could have kept going all day (even the 3yo) and really enjoyed spotting toucans, sloths, and all kinds of ants. We visited Kalambu Hot Springs on our own and it was a lovely spot. It wasn't nearly as chaotic as some water parks we've seen elsewhere - the small kids' area was manageable, not overwhelming - and it was actually quite enjoyable to be in the hot springs during a rainy season downpour. We hiked the Arenal 1968 trail and it was beautiful, although we were aware we were missing many rainforest critters due to being unaccustomed to spotting them. During this time we stayed at the Red Frog. They had truly excellent food and coffee (probably the best of our whole trip) and the hosts were lovely warm people with adorable puppies. The rooms were great and the open-air living/dining/kitchen was an unexpectedly useful and comfortable home base. I would especially recommend Red Frog to families traveling together. In Monteverde we very much enjoyed the Cloud Forest (hanging bridges hike) and had an amazing 6:30 AM visit to the Cafe Colibri hummingbird feeders where we were 6 inches away from dozens and dozens of amazing birds. We stayed in Los Pinos which was a perfect way to keep all the generations rested and comfortable. On the way to Manuel Antonio, we went kayaking at Kayak Jaco, and again, they did a terrific job with our young kids. We had a great paddle to a tiny private beach where everybody went swimming and ate the fruit they'd brought along. We spotted monkeys along the way and they cut open green coconuts for the curious kids at the end. In Manuel Antonio, we had a wonderful guide, Luis, who did an incredible job spotting tiny creatures I could never, ever have seen on my own - like a mother bat carrying her baby about 30 meters up a huge tree, blending right in with the bark. We saw plenty of monkeys, lizards, bats, sloths, crabs, birds, and lots of insects. We spent the last few days hanging around the beach and enjoying the Costa Verde hotel - it was absolutely gorgeous, nestled into the jungle with ocean views. The howler monkeys did wake us up quite early but it was more than worth it to get outside at 5:30 AM and see the whole troop passing just a few feet by our porch. We also spotted lots of white-faced capuchins, two agoutis, dozens of bats, many kinds of birds, several large iguanas, geckos, and more.

Generally we ate breakfast at our hotels (Red Frog's was incredibly good), handled lunch ourselves via supers and went to local sodas for dinner. The food was tasty (still not tired of rice and beans). We did one "fancy" meal at a resort restaurant and while it was delicious, we found the resort vibe uncomfortable and preferred the smaller spots.

Hotel Reviews

Hotel Costa Verde

Manuel Antonio

By far the fanciest place we've ever stayed. It's absolutely stunning with meticulously maintained and lighted pathways through the jungle - we saw staff working on them multiple times a day. The rooms are large and have everything you would need and our large porch overlooking the jungle & ocean with a hammock and lounge chairs was as good as it gets. I can't think of a single problem; it was a joy just to hang out here and watch all the monkeys and birds. The food maybe wasn't the best, but it was tasty and good enough for sure. It veered closer to resort territory than I'm used to and I definitely felt "catered to" - I do speak Spanish but folks here tended to reply in English, and there were a lot of menu items clearly for tourists. That's not necessarily a bad thing but it's not my comfort zone and I felt it was a little harder to connect with people.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Los Pinos - Cabañas & Jardines

Monteverde Costa Rica

Beautiful cabins. They have everything you could want inside and porches too. The pines are lovely. We visited the herb garden and saw lots of animals. No complaints whatsoever, and it was a lot easier to manage young kids in a place like this where you knew they wouldn't bother anyone if they were noisy.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Red Frog Hostel

La Fortuna

Red Frog was amazing. The owners are lovely people, the rooms were spacious and comfortable, and the open-air living/dining/kitchen areas was an unexpected bonus. Their food was the best of our trip. They were nice to our kids (3 and 8) let us pet their cute dogs. What more could you want? The air conditioner didn't really work but we found we didn't need it; the fans were enough.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Sloth Observation Night Tour

Arenal/La Fortuna

It was a beautiful nighttime walk. The guide found us sloths, lizards, frogs, birds, and many insects, and there was some tasty fruit at the end. We got the sense that maybe he was a little tired of this night-time job, or maybe just tired of tourists, and I don't blame him for either, but the mood was a bit muted.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Sea Kayak or Outrigger Tour in Playa Agujas

Costa Rica

We had a great paddle (about half an hour or so each way) to a beautiful empty beach with a little waterfall. The guides were warm, friendly guys who brought fruit to snack on and were kind to the kids. Great experience.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Bat Tour in The Bat Jungle

Monteverde

Nobody has ever been more passionate about bats and it was contagious. Great tour, tons of info. It was too slow paced for our kids (and maybe even too slow paced for the adults, to be perfectly honest) but I can't fault him for enthusiasm and I certainly learned a lot. Seeing the bats was pretty fun, although I was really hoping to use the advertised device that lets you listen to bat ultrasonic communication in an audible frequency and it wasn't available.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Chocolate Tour

Costa Rica

This tour was even better than I had hoped. It was perfectly paced which was really helpful with young kids. We got to look at the cacao trees and learn about them a bit, taste some cacao fruit pulp, and then follow the cacao beans through the fermentation, drying, roasting, threshing, and grinding process. We (well, the kids especially) were able to participate in several of these steps and we all got to eat plenty of fresh chocolate with various toppings at the end. The perfect mix of education, participation and enjoyment.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Private Canopy Tour

Arenal/La Fortuna

These guys were absolutely fantastic. They were super sweet with our 3yo and 8yo (who had to ride with a guide each), showed us some great birds and animals, and were generally just great folks to chat with and learn from. We could have kept going all day. Everybody LOVED ziplining.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Our 12 day trip to Croatia was amazing! Sarah was so patient with my many questions and a few requests to make changes to suit our travel style. All of the airbnb's she chose were in excellent locations and quite comfortable. The guides, drivers, and excursions we did were all perfect. Croatia far exceeded our expectations and we will definitely return!

Activity Reviews

Rafting the Cetina River

Croatia

SO MUCH FUN! Well worth it! Our guide was so funny and patient. We flipped the boat twice but he ensured we were okay and the rest of the group picked up our sunscreen and water bottles :) We had a blast and I'd do it again. The rapids are just strong enough to make it fun and the scenery is gorgeous. Our teens loved it!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Driver drove REALLY fast. Much to fast for my comfort on the windy roads

Plitvice Lakes National Park

Split

The most beautiful place I've ever seen! Our teen girls had many instagram photo opps which they loved. The scenery is breathtaking and worth every minute of the 3 hour drive it took to get there and back from Split. Words and photos don't do it justice!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Green & Blue Caves of Vis Island

Hvar

The day trip was outstanding. The boat captain came to our airbnb apartment and picked us up. He had an excellent knowledge of the area. We discussed his plan and had an outstanding day. He provided a cooler with ice and drinks and we brought snacks. We couldn't visit the blue cave due to the 3+ hour wait to get in so instead he added extra swimming stops to the most gorgeous locations. He took us to a restaurant on a secluded island and it was the best steak I've ever had. Our teen girls loved the entire day!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Boat is quite nice!

Everything was planned well and met our expectations. Great support while we were in Portugal. Would highly recommend.

Hotel Reviews

Carvi Beach Hotel

Lagos

Amazing restaurant.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Porto Charming Hotel

Porto

Wonderful staff.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

The Noble House

Evora

Beautiful hotel

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Be Poet Baixa Hotel

Lisbon

Wonderful staff.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Catamaran Boat to Benagil Caves

Portugal

So beautiful.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Évora Through the Ages: Guided Walk

Portugal

Not a great time.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Private Day Excursion: Sintra, Cascais & Estoril

Portugal

Amazing day.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

The Soul of Lisbon: Fado Dinner Experience

Portugal

Quality of Experience

Food

Get to Know Lisbon with a Local

Lisbon

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Historic Coimbra Highlights: University, Chapel, & Old Town

Portugal

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Private Transfer {{start_location}} to {{end_location}} via Coimbra

Portugal

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Viana do Castelo: A Coastal Gem of Northern Portugal

Portugal

Awesome time.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Foodie Experience in Porto

Porto

Good time. Knowledgeable tour guide.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Private Guided Visit of Porto

Porto

It was fine.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Day Excursion to Douro Valley: Wine Tasting & River Cruise

Porto

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

From experience planning family vacations to different countries comes with the usual stresses - much about the destination is unknown, weather, activites, places of interest, hotels! Typically, Costco Travel is our first choice. Norway is a destination that is not served by Costco, which led me to KimKim. The name was weird to take it seriously initially. However, recommendations from the New York Times, BBC, The National Geographic, etc. sealed the deal.

The KimKim portal is very easy to use and has a lot of features that makes exploring and research easy. The chat, call, and collaboration features make it easy for all family members to be view, contribute and be informed about the planning.

Christina, our travel planner was top notch. She was experienced, patient and was ever willing to adjust and refine the trip plan, which we developed over 2 months. She was readily available for phone calls during US daytime, and made recommendations based on our preferences. She planned the entire trip for us, start to finish, and added relevant activities through the entire vacation. Most importantly, she responded very fast and thoroughly, explaining exactly what our different options were throughout our trip. KimKim and Christina made this vacation planning easy and were key to making this as stress free as possible. Based on this experience, I have no doubts that I will be using KimKim for all our future family vacations.

Why Norway? It's not a popular destination like Italy or France! After our visit to Switzerland in 2016, we started researching if there were any countries that matched it's beauty. Started reading about the fjords and the pictures seemed to indicate that Norway would be gorgeous. Subsequent trips to Italy, London, Scottland and Ireland seemed to confirm my family's bias towards Switzerland. We felt that no place could be more beautiful than Switzerland. How wrong were we? Every single part of Norway was absolutely breathtaking, and our entire family was in awe the entire time.

We started our vacation in Bergen, a cute and beautiful, tourist-filled city with amazing food. Christina arranged a 3-hour walking tour with John, who was very pleasant, patient and extremely helpful. He extended the tour to accomodate a brief visit to the musuem, a short coffee break and a visit to the electronics store to buy adapters. John gave us many insights about Bergen and its history that we would have missed if we were on our own.

The ferry ride to Gudvangen via the Sognefjord was absolutely breathtaking. My teenager sons were intially reluctant to ride in a ferry for 5 1/2 hours! By the end of the ride, the family didn't realize how time went by.

Gudvangen: Gudvangen was an amazing place to visit. It almost felt like it was out of a movie. As soon as we got there, we realized we were surrounded by a circular wall of waterfalls, with a singular opening to the Sognefjord. My sons especially loved this place since they got to zipline off a mountain and then subsequently got on mountain bikes and biked down the Nordic mountains. They both said that it was the best experience of their lives. Also make sure you check out the Flam Railway, branded as one of the most beautiful railways in the world. Christina was kind enough to include a visit to the viking village based on my son's request.

Stryn: Stryn was the highlight of our trip. We had a wonderful view of a river flowing to Lake Lovatnet from our hotel room and we even rode on the steepest cable car in the world in Loen!

Christana added a break from activities in Geiranger that the family appreciated. It was easy going and the family had to opportunity to go kayaking in the fjords.

The hotels were all clean and upscale, though the rooms were small by American standards.

Thank you, Christina, and KimKim for helping us make this a memorable vacation. Norway is now our family's favorite place, edging out Switzerland :).

Hotel Reviews

Scandic Voss

Voss

Conveniently located near the station and modern. Single room for the family was cramped - especially the second bed!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Conveniently located overlooking the lake and mountains

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Stryn Hotell

Stryn, Sogn og Fjordane

Very modern hotel with beautiful rooms. Balconies overlooking the river was awesome.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Gudvangen Fjordtell

Gudvangen

Easily the best hotel in our trip. We had a 2-bedroom cottage that was clean, modern and had amazing views.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Nestled between the mountains - our room's door opened to the view of waterfalls in the mountains!

Staff

Very friendly and helpful.

Cleanliness & Comfort

The rooms were updated and very clean.

Hotell Utsikten

Geiranger

Was a historic hotel and therefore the kids thought it was dated. The garden view was so-so. The fjord view was great, but with the sun up past midnight, the room was hot. The restaurant was upscale, and the staff were friendly and helpful.

Authenticity & Character

Historic

Location

Great view of the fjord

Staff

Friendly, accommodating and helpful.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Zander K Hotel

Bergen

Very good lobby, and great/modern rooms, located in central Bergen so you're a walking distance from most attractions and restaurants.

Authenticity & Character

Good lobby

Location

Very close to the port

Staff

They were nice

Cleanliness & Comfort

Nice and modern rooms

Activity Reviews

Geirangerfjord Sightseeing Boat Cruise & Independent Fjord Farm Hike

Geiranger

It rained the day of our trip. We had seen much of the fjords when we took the ferry to get to Geiranger. Therefore, this seemed a little redundant, though I understand why people take this ride. We chose to exclude the Fjord Farm Hike because of the rain.

Quality of Experience

Transport

Round Trip on the Flåm Railway: Flåm - Myrdal

Norway

We have had our share of scenic train rides in Switzerland and didn't have much expectations from this ride. Boy, how wrong were we! Breathtaking scenery! The Flam train ride is a must when visiting Norway.

Quality of Experience

Transport

Bergen Walking Tour With a Local Guide

Bergen

John was very pleasant, patient and extremely helpful. He extended the tour to accommodate a brief visit to the musuem, a short coffee break and a visit to the electronics store to buy adapters. John gave us many insights about Bergen and its history that we would have missed if we were on our own.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

We visited Costa Rica the last week of June for a family Vacation. We had a great time. Yuliana and her company were wonderful to work with and helped us and were very responsive even during the trip when we had some questions regarding schedule and travel.

Even before we started, they were GREAT to work with and helped customize the exact vacation we wanted and made changes to hotels/resorts that we wanted.

Great experience all around and I look forward to using Kimkim again for future travel planning

Using KimKim for our summer trip to Greece was quick, simple and we had an outstanding time. Rebecca figured out how to fit in all our desired activities: hiking, islands, mythology and she recommended and reserved some fantastic restaurants. We highly recommend Rebecca and will use her again for our next trip to Greece.

Wonderful experience planning and during the trip. Advisor was really responsive and accommodating! Loved the Bri Bri, cocoa and waterfall trip!! Breathless! The hotels were amazing! Xandari resort 9n outskirts of San Jose and Cariblue in Puerto Viejo, Caribbean side...really cool! Amazing food, places and people...and awesome animal experience at Jaguar Rescue Center!

Trolltunga was spectacular.
I liked the variation in accommodations, from the Trolltunga Hotel, to a more modern "chain" at the Scandic Voss, to the family-run Dragsvik Fjordhotel; the combination of experiences at each was a nice variation, although each were unique.
I endorse each of the experiences we had, and thought that driving through Norway was fairly simple.
Overall, great job, Julia and team.

Hotel Reviews

Clarion Hotel Bergen Airport Terminal

Bergen

very nice that we were offered connecting rooms. Clean, with nice restaurant downstairs and great breakfast.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Dragsvik Fjordhotell

Balestrand

wonderful staff; this is clearly a labor of love for this family. It was comfortable, quaint, but with all the services you'd want.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Scandic Voss

Voss

great for our family of five as we could stay in one room. Modern, clean, and wonderful staff.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Trolltunga Hotel

Odda

great views; a little far from town but not a big deal as we were driving.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Zander K Hotel

Bergen

Modern and well appointed. Best for those who travel by train as it's right at the station. Close enough to downtown to make walking easy.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Finnafjord Safari by RIB

Balestrand

guide was great; clearly knowledgeable. Appropriate length. Liked the storytelling.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Mountain Bike - Voss Forest

Voss

great staff/guide. Wonderful forest trails. A little demanding for little children or those who don't bike much. Our guide was great with varying the experience and I think they could tailor to those who prefer less off-road biking

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Family Rafting

Voss

this is a very basic float - not much white water. I thought the swimming was a nice break from the usual trip. Nice staff.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Sean was absolutely amazing. Very knowledgeable in the history of Ireland, up to date politically, very acquainted with Ireland and areas we were interested in, and very flexible in our day to day schedule. Which made touring the island very pleasurable. Because of his experience and knowledge as a native Irishman, he was able to show us sites and places we would not normally see or visit in a large tour group and was familiar w/ areas to avoid crowds (i.e., Cliffs of Mohr). Sean was also able to provide services such as shopping, local entertainment, dining, etc. that again I felt was above and beyond what he was contracted for. In summary, Sean became a good friend that we hope to see in the future if he visits the US or we visit Ireland, again.

We are so incredibly grateful to Linda for planning us an AMAZING 18 day itinerary through Norway.
She really gave us incredible diversity along our travels- allowing us to see the country from so many points of view!
We came home with so many memories we will cherish forever- and it was so thoughtful how Linda checked in with us along our journey.
Since we went North to South through the country, I thought I would share my favourite stops along the way:
- Honningsvag and Nordkapp: being that North was something we will never forget. Being at Nordkapp on the summer solstice Instantly became a core memory. The midnight sun and the driving were epic!! We would have loved another night here. Our hotel in Honningsvag had a beautiful rooftop terrace.
- The Sami culture park in Karasjok is worth a visit we loved to learn about the culture and driving here we saw SOO many reindeer! We also got to feed some at the nature park right beside our hotel. Be aware that the park is closed on Sundays if you travel there over a weekend. The restaurant there beside the Scandic hotel was one of our favourites of the entire trip!
- Tromso was a lively incredible city with amazing views everywhere you look. The cable car for the midnight sun is a must. We spent quite a bit of time up there. The views were beautiful. Our hotel- Clarion the Edge had the most comfortable bed of the entire trip and I slept so well here.
- Fjaerland: this was HANDS DOWN our absolute FAVOURITE part of our trip! This small village should be visited by anyone going to Norway. Kayaking in the fjord, the floating sauna, the glacier museum and having lunch in front of the glacier left us speechless. We were in love with every minute of being here. 2 nights was the perfect amount of time to see the village and do some activities. A MUST visit for anyone. Fjaerland Fjorstove hotel had the most amazing and friendly staff, the food was great and better yet- learning about the village from the locals was so fantastic.
- Vaerlandet: The next top stop for us on our journey- we enjoyed the island life thoroughly and the hotel was INCREDIBLE. Vaerlandet Havhotell- Elin was Incredible. She was SO nice and accommodating, even letting us do a load of laundry during our visit! The view from our terrace allowed us to fully enjoy sunsets, the breakfast delivered right to your door was great and climbing Alden mountain with a private boat transfer was also a core memory from our trip!
-Flam Railway: an incredible trip not to miss up the mountain with so much beautiful scenery and waterfalls!
-Oslo: We really enjoyed the city vibe of Oslo. There were so many great shops and restaurants here, but we truly wouldn’t have enjoyed Oslo as much if we didn’t have a guided walking tour with our guide STIG! He was AMAZING! Such a cool, laid back guy, who loved being off the beaten path and really made us fall in love with his city. The stories and history he shared made our visit to Oslo so special. Thanks Stig!!!
The opera house is the ideal place to watch the sunset each night and the vintage shops were my favourite!

Thank you Linda and Kimkim for an incredible trip we will never forget. We really felt like we could reach out to Linda for anything- having the best support along our travels. Once again, we are so grateful for you!
We have been telling everyone we know about the incredible service and look forward to using it again in the future!

Love, Natalie & Tyler

Hotel Reviews

Amerikalinjen

Oslo

The rooms here are BEAUTIFUL! The additional touches of robes, slippers, the tech of the digital lights, music syncing, etc made it feel very luxurious. I would absolutely stay here again in Oslo. The breakfast was hands down the best of our trip, with eggs Benedict, omelettes, etc. the location also could not have been any better so close to the train station and we enjoyed hearing live music in the square in front of the hotel most nights!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Værlandet Havhotell

Hamna

This hotel is an absolute GEM! Our terrace allowed us to enjoy the sunset fully each night, we loved the breakfast delivered to our door each morning and most importantly- ELIN was SOO nice and accommodating, even letting us do a load of laundry! We were SO grateful to stay here.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Elin you rock! Thank you for your kindness and generosity!

Cleanliness & Comfort

Fjærland Fjordstove Hotell & Restaurant

Fjærland

This was hands down my favourite village we visited on our trip. The staff at this hotel are incredible. The terrace and the room we stayed in had AMAZING views of the fjord and glacier. We would absolutely come back to Norway just to visit here again. We loved the story time about the village before dinner and appreciated the local cuisine!

Authenticity & Character

Loved the old world charm like a bed and breakfast

Location

You will not beat these views!

Staff

SO friendly and we enjoyed hearing about the village from them!

Cleanliness & Comfort

Bergen Børs Hotel

Bergen

The hotel was super nice, the staff was great here- and being that we couldn’t make breakfast either time we stayed here they prepared us a breakfast box and it was delicious. The restaurant is booked super far in advance but luckily the location is great in the centre of town so there are many great restaurant choices around, and even a grocery store right across the street.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Each time we stayed here the staff brought a kettle to my room for me which I appreciated SO much!

Cleanliness & Comfort

Clarion Hotel the Edge

Tromsø

This hotel had the most comfortable beds and I slept the best here of any hotel on our trip! The breakfast was great and the staff were very friendly. It’s also so close to a lot of great restaurants and shops!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

The View Hotel

Nordkapp

The rooms were really nice, the anytime drink machine was great (the choco milk here was my favourite) and the rooftop terrace is stunning!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Incredible views! Living up to its name!

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Scandic Karasjok

Karasjok

Loved the Sauna, the staff were so nice and helpful, and the restaurant next door was our favourite of our whole trip!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Close to everything- including the reindeer at the nature park! We could see them from our window

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Scandic Alta

Alta

This hotel had the most elaborate breakfast spread of any hotel on our trip! We loved the fresh food options, we slept well here and they even allowed us to do laundry for free! Would highly recommend this hotel- service, location and amenities were great!

Authenticity & Character

Location

In the Center of the city amenities

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Floating Sauna

Norway

WOW this experience was amazing. You just cannot beat the peace you feel from feeling relaxed in there and seeing the gorgeous views. Omg the glass was so clean my pictures turned out amazing from here! We jumped into the fjord to cool down- and it was COLD! The water was 8 degrees haha but it felt fantastic. This is a MUST DO activity!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Kayak in Fjærlandsfjord

Norway

This experience was one of the highlights of our entire 18-day trip. Our guide was incredible, and we enjoyed hearing about the village during our time together. It almost feels surreal on the water- everywhere you look you feel like you are in a postcard or painting. When we turned around to go back- the moment of seeing the glacier and the view change was so beautiful. Thank you for such a lovely experience- we will cherish that forever!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Our guide (I’m so sorry I forget your name!) was incredible and told us such cool history and information about the village!

Transport

We walked 2 minutes from our hotel to get there! :)

Oslo City Walk with a Local

Oslo

STIG!!! He was THE BEST! We truly enjoyed our walking tour with Stig so much- it was one of the highlights of our trip. He is such a cool, laid back person with a love for his city that was infectious. We thoroughly enjoyed learning about the history, the great tips on bars, restaurants and shops and just the company of this amazing human. We truly would not have discovered so many of the places Stig took us if it weren’t for our tour. Thank you Stig for your time, your company, your love for what you do and for making us fall in Love with Oslo! Xo

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

I wish we had more time to spend in Jordan - it is a wonderful country full of amazing people and sites to visit. Our guide Ali, and driver, were both wonderful and made it possible for us to visit Petra and Wadi Rum easily and enjoy every minute of the short time we had.

My husband and I fulfilled a bucket list wish by booking a month long trip through Morocco with KimKim. It was a month filled with marvels, adventures, and meeting many hospitable, welcoming, kind, and generous people of Morocco. It exceeded all our expectations. The local agency that KimKim contracts with is Morocco Off the Beaten Track. Yassine (from MOBT), Louis (from MOBT, and I laid out the initial plan and went back and forth perfecting it until we were all satisfied. Their advice and guidance were critical to the outcome. Then, the hero of our story, Hassan picked up the baton. He executed the plan which included selecting and booking accommodations, driving us throughout the country, tour-guiding from the driver seat, and advising us on everything we needed to know while we were there. We visited Casablanca, Rabat, Tangier, Chefchaouen, Fez, Sefrou, Merzouga, Ouarzazate, Ait Ben Haddou, Marrakech, and Essaouira. There were highlights in each of these places, but I will limit this to our absolute favorites: meeting wonderful people in every town, the beautiful blue medina of Chefchaouen, experiencing a Hamman, the artisan capital of the world and oldest medina in the world (Fez), visiting with Hassan in his home town of Sefrou, the camel ride to luxury camping in the Sahara, the "camping" itself, ATVing (they call the ATVs "buggies") in the Sahara, the tours of Atlas Studios in Ouarzazate and of Ait Ben Haddou where so many movies and tv shows have been filmed, and a balloon ride with our entire family who joined us in Marrakech for the final week. Hassan was with us every step of the way, ensuring smooth traveling, wonderful restaurants, and a truly unique and authentic Moroccan experience. I caution any westerner against driving in Morocco. Between crazy drivers, different norms, masses of helmetless groups on scooters and bikes, and pedestrians crossing streets unexpectedly, it is really critical to have an experienced, professional driver. Hassan was truly the best and made our trip magical. Thank you, Hassan!

Fantastic Trip! Overall we really enjoyed our experience. The hotels were all very good (especially the one in Rovinj), the transportation between each location was pretty seamless. The tour guides were all generally very good. Our local specialist, Anna-Maria, had good advice about how to maximize our time and was always available and responsive (including on weekend nights) when we needed her during our trip. I would recommend using this service to my family and friends!

Valentine helped us a wonderful trip to France. She made suggestions for itineraries, tours, hotels--everything. She was responsive and communicative. Kimkim made traveling stress free.

Hotel Reviews

Le Square Louvois 4*

Paris

Well located near the Opera and Place Vendome, this was a very nice hotel.

Authenticity & Character

Modern and chic

Location

Right near a metro stop and easy walk to many wonderful shopping sight seeing areas

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Rooms are quite small for the price

Mas Valentine

Saint-Rémy de Provence

This hotel is a winner. Beautiful, charming and run by Mariann-who is the best part of the hotel. She is a treasure. We'd go back in an instant.

Authenticity & Character

Just beautiful. Pool is an oasis. Rooms are charming.

Location

Not right in the town but five minute drive away.

Staff

Mariann is a treasure. She was so nice and helpful--all the guests loved her

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Villa Victoria

Nice

This place was lovely. The outdoor garden was so fantastic and a highlight. The staff was so friendly and helpful. We would go back in a second.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Not close to the older part of Nice. We did a lot of walking to get to our hotel

Staff

Mariann was amazing

Cleanliness & Comfort

InterContinental Marseille - Hotel Dieu

Marseille

Nice hotel but larger and more commercial feeling. If you want big and modern inside this hotel is great, but if you are looking for charm, I'd look elsewhere.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

A Taste of Avignon

Avignon

This was a good tour because we only had the morning to spend in Avignon and Simon was a great tour guide for the area, using food as a starting point for his stories.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

N/A

Stroll in the Alpilles and visit of the Carrières de Lumières by electric bike

France

Absolutely great way to see this area of France. I'd recommend this to everyone.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Art, Architecture & Wine: A Provencal Journey at Chateau la Coste

Aix-en-Provence

Interesting but it was blazing hot, really too hot to be outside, and it's a lot of walking. Beautiful grounds, but not as interesting as I would have thought

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Cruise in the Calanques - Max 12 people on board

France

Great trip! 3 hours and you see things you couldn't see otherwise. We were helped by great weather-but this is a wonderful way to see Les Callanques

Quality of Experience

H

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport