Kimkim Trip Reviews

We are so pleased to have used this service when booking our trip. Ingrid and the team delivered an excellent program that perfectly suited our travel plans. It was a seamless process and took all of the guesswork out of the holiday. Very reasonable pricing as well. Thanks so much for all your help
And support.

Ingrid was very helpful fight throughout the trip with additional requests we had. The planning and ticketing went like clockwork and was thus very easy to complete the journey. No problems were encounted.

Agnes was excellent at helping me plan my trip to Rwanda. She was helpful in answering my questions regarding which country to see the gorillas and provided several itinerary and pricing options. She even flew in from Uganda to meet me at the airport!
Jean Claude was my driver/guide. he was lovely and excellent company. All activities were well organised. Accomodation was all very nice... Villa Gorilla was awesome!!!! and the best food of the trip! Amazing staff and great location.
The gorilla trek was amazing!!! I still can't believe that I did it! Very well organised and guides and traders were great. Get a Porter!!! I didn't think it was going to be neccessary as my backpack was not heavy but they were super helpful and you are providing work for someone who might instead be poaching.
The chimpanzee tracking was fun but physically challenging. Much harder than the gorillas. Really steep hills and we had to move quite quickly to keep up with them. Definitely get a porter for this one.
Really people in rwanda are so friendly and welcoming, I cannot wait to go back another time.
A wonderful trip, thank you so much for organising such a great experience !

Hello,
Our trip to Iceland was amazing! So well planned by Preeti and team. Everything on the itinerary was detailed and worked really well. The timing of drives and sightseeing was perfect. Also, the pre-booked tours were very interesting and provided us with an experience that we would have otherwise not had.
We were also very happy with the accommodation and included breakfasts which really saved us time each morning. Only Hotel Hilda in Reykjavík was a very tiny room. However, the location of the hotel was very convenient. We found driving in Iceland quite easy- even with many tourists on the roads.
Overall, we had good weather- particularly in the important places where clear skies was a benefit to most enjoy the scenery. We even saw the Northern Lights in Höfn which was such a bonus for us.
Thank you so much for organising this amazing trip for us. I have already recommended KimKim to some friends and family members and would definitely use your booking team again.
Thank you again
Ann & Thor Morris

It was the most delightful and impressive experience from the moment I made first contact with the company to the moment I was dropped off at Kathmandu airport after the trekking trip, and every step in between worked out exactly as planned. All questions and concerns were quickly and fully addressed; attention to details was second to none.

My guide Phurba and porter Lakpa were the best I could have asked for. Not only were they excellent at what they were supposed to do, they were such fun and laid back guys, and worked so naturally to match my level of physical fitness. By only the end of the first day trekking, we had all become trekking buddies!

The trek itself had some lovely moments, and a few great views of the mountain range, but nothing extraordinary. Much of the trail is comprised of pesky loose rocks (terrible on the knee and ankle joints) and almost the entire trail is full of animal droppings. (think bad smells) Next time I'd like to try the higher elevation treks.

At first we weren't so sure of how the trip would go, our guide Ang Gelu was very quiet and his english not great and Tira (not sure if that's how you spell it) our porter, was tiny and couldn't speak English at all... and wrong impressions is how we started the trip. Ang Gelu was just outstanding, well organized, had enormous knowledge over the mountains, the paths, what was safe and what was not. How to properly acclimatize. He was always on time, always ready for help and just amazing all around. Tira was so strong, always had a smile on his face and also did a incredible job carrying our stuff. The experience was very challenging, it is for most people, but they were our cheerleaders, friends and caretakers during the 17 days. We would repeat it again in a second. Nepal has a way of challenging everyone, and there is nothing better than feeling like someone is always watching your back when you are most seriously challenged physically and mentally. Thank you for such an unforgettable experience

It was a wonderful experience and I would recommend KimKim to anyone planning to visit Morocco. My driver, Redoune, was fantastic and got me safely through the interary without any problems whatsoever. Brahim did a great job advising me on what to do with the time I had.

Cristi was amazing...very knowledgeable and helpful and just good company.
I loved the time I spent over at the Black Sea...hotel wasn't the best. My room was near the lobbly and the elevator so it was kind of noisy.
Bucharest is an amazing city. I enjoyed all my time spent there.
The Equus Silvania was great. Food, people, lodging and horses were all great. Didn't get to ride as much as I thought I would though.
Guesthouse Daniela was not the best. Food, and Lodging were not good.
Boat ride on the Danube and Bigar falls were fantastic
Hike up to Poenari Fortress was great!
I loved the city of Brasov.
Overall...a great and memorable experience.

Thank you all,
Sandy

Overall the planning and booking of the trip was great. I really appreciated how fast the trip came together since I started planning this trip about a week in advance of the start date.

That said, I wish there had been faster communication. It seemed to take about a day to get a response. I sense that if I had been able to jump on a call at some point we could have locked down the tour much more quickly.

We had such a short time in Nepal - only 5 days - but a wonderful experience thanks to Sudershan's expert planning. He was very patient as we emailed back and forth trying to decide what kind of trip suited us and always replied very promptly. It was a very stress free experience as we were met at the airport by Sudarshan, our guide Sanu and driver Amrit, and were whisked off to the first night of our 3 day Balthali Trek. All 3 nights accommodation were very comfortable with excellent food and service - but the highlight was Namu Buddha Resort! A series of cottages spread out through a lovely garden - we had a large 2 story house just for 2 of us - and superb vegetarian food all grown on the property. The walk to the nearby Tibetan monastry was well within our capabilities and the monastry was spectacular. We were very well looked after by Sanu, who gauged our level of fitness and adjusted walking times accordingly, and answered our many questions about Nepalese lifestyle and customs. We were also very appreciative of Amrit's superb driving skills on very challenging roads. Both Sanu and Amrit were charming, helpful and considerate and we highly recommend their company - Blue Sheep - to travelers wishing to gain an insight into Nepalese culture. Sudarshan met us on our return to Kathmandu and was very helpful with advice for our brief visit to that very vibrant city.

Our driver Thasim was exceptional - made an effort to accommodate our requests and suggested other activities we may have been interested in. Went over and above any expectations we could have possibly wished for.
So many great experiences during our trip!

Our trip was mix of cosmopolitan Tokyo and tranquil, green Japanese countryside along the Kumano Kodo trail. Our itinerary started and ended in Tokyo, with its skyscrapers, nightlife, busy streets and great food. In between we took Shinkansen to the southern part of Japan, where time slowed down: Breathtakingly beautiful vistas, forests, rice and tea fields, traditional Japanese inns, fantastic food and relaxing natural hotspring spa’s. Most important: hospitable & very kind people. Truly an unforgettable trip.

Our 7-day trip in Japan was amazing. Thanks for Mirka for putting together a flawless trip. The contrasts between modern and ancient Japan made this an unforgettable trip. Too many highlights to easily summarize: Great hike along the Kumano Kodo trail, amazing food, fabulous onsens (hot springs), great Japanese hospitality and high energy Tokyo neighborhoods all made this trip.

Day 1: Evening arrival in Tokyo (Mitsui Garden Hotel), followed by a quick hunt for late night food that led us to a cool little bar that served clams and beers. The trip plan in a handy small format, and other documents that we received were useful, and we ended up referring to the info throughout the trip.

Day 2: Very early morning departure by bullet train towards the Kii peninsula via Osaka, zipping by Mt Fuji. Great way to see Japan while enjoying a nice breakfast and reading up on the trip ahead. Arrived at the Kumano Kodo trailhead around 2pm after a bus ride from Kii Tanabe station. About 2 hours of hiking on steep trails to the first overnight, which was just off the main trail in the valley in the small town of Kurisugawa. We were the only guests in the Ryokan, and got very well taken care of by the old innkeeper.

Day 3: Great day of hiking through forests with occasional sweeping views of the valley. About 4 hours of hiking. Met about 20 other hikers (mainly from Canada and Australia, only 1 Japanese). Arrived in the pretty town of Chikatsuyu around 2pm, and visited the Oku Japan office there. Great to chat with Oku staff Noriko and Satoe about how interest in the Kumano Kodo is reviving the local economy. We stayed in Minshuku Chikatsuyu, which is run by a young innkeeper who cooks amazing food. Onsen was pretty good (but the best Onsen was yet to come the next day).

Day 4: Rainy day, so we decided to take the shortest hiking option. First section by bus, which seemed to make many loops before dropping us at the trail. Hiked through beautiful hills and villages while rain was on and off, and then arrived at Kumano Hongu Taisha, one of the main shrines along the Kumano Kodo. We were early for the 2.30pm bus, but still ended up missing it, so we walked the final 4km along the road to Yunomine Onsen (which actually ended being a nice walk, glad we did it!). The small town of Yunomine was one of the highlights of our trip, with a river and hotspring that gets tapped to fuel the various Onsens. We stayed in Azumaya Ryokan, an old inn with lots of character and a great indoor / outdoor Onsen. Food served in our room was very good.

Day 5: After another great early morning Onsen session we took the 8.40am bus to Shingu. Visited the temple and strolled through town. Had a great lunch next to the station before boarding train to Nagoya. Great ocean views again from the train. Changed to the super fast Nozomi bullet train in Nagoya for final stretch to Tokyo. The Gate hotel in Asakusa was great. Amazing views from 13th floor lobby. Had dinner in nearby Shabu Shabu restaurant on 4th floor of a highrise.

Day 6: Early morning breakfast with great views on Tokyo Skytree, then off to Tokyo National Museum on foot. Really enjoyed strolling through Tokyo and see families on bicycles going about their life. At noon met with our friend Ryo at the Senso Ji Gate and started an epic exploration of Tokyo neighborhoods. Dinner at a hotpot restaurant with more friends and finally a late night drink in Hoppy Street near our hotel.

Day 7: Early morning shopping spree for presents for the kids, and then a cooking class with CookJPN. Great to see a Japanese apartment from the inside will cooking local dishes. After some final shopping off to the airport. Goodbye Japan, see you again very soon!!!

We were on a trip to Patagonia and toured around Argentina and undertook a number of experiences. All of these were incredible and while there were some things that slightly detracted from the experience we were very pleased overall with the experience.

We happened to arrive at a time when a strike was scheduled which meant one of our days had to be moved around. This meant we stayed a day longer in El Calafate and had to find something to entertain us whilst we were there, which we managed no problem due to my interest in wildlife and the presence of a nature reserve at the edge of the town.

The strike also had a knock on effect that meant our transfer from the hotel to the bus station the next day didn't turn up and we had to very quickly jump in a taxi and head across to the bus station and similarly when we returned to El Calafate a transfer with a different company also didn't show up which meant a walk in the dark back to the hotel with no map.

We also had an issue with some cash machines which after an internet search turned out to be due to some Argentinian banks not working with European issued credit/bank cards. We found that HSBC and Santander were able to work fine and actually charged less overall for the withdrawals.

Activity 1: Canoeing on Lake Mascardi with Kawen Adventure Company.
Guides Julian and Rodrigo turned up on time and spoke good English. They talked us through the area, the wildlife and the plan for the day. After a morning of canoeing the weather ahead looked pretty bad and we made the decision to stop for lunch. We had lunch on the shore overlooking Lake Mascardi. Lunch wasn't just some sandwiches and a bottle of water. A full table was set up with a whole range of different food, pastries, salad and of course Argentinian wine. After lunch we carried on back to the start before heading back to Bariloche.

Activity 2: Horse Riding at Estancia Frugua
Another great day, however there wasn't a bi-lingual guide and my Spanish is pretty poor. We were due to go out in the morning and afternoon but for some reason we only went out in the morning. I suspect there was a reason for this but as we don't speak enough Spanish to hold a full conversation we were left in the dark a bit. We managed to communicate through most of it though. The food here was also incredible.

Activity 3: Mini Trekking Perito Moreno Glacier
Great day again. Good guides, spoke good English and a great experience overall. The trip out to the glacier was great and it just got better and better throughout the day. An experience not to be missed. Whisky on the glacier was pretty cool too.

Activity 4: Hiking in El Chalten
The hiking in El Chalten was incredible. We were fortunate that the weather turned to the good the day we arrived and stayed good for our entire stay but it is an incredible place and a must for anyone who likes the outdoors. The hikes we did were far from challenging and took in some amazing scenery. A couple of steep sections but nothing anyone who is relatively fit couldn't take on.

Activity 5: Valdes Peninsula and Whale Watching.
Again an experience not to be missed. After touring around during the morning and early afternoon seeing various wildlife, (guanaco, burrowing owls, mara, elephant seals, penguins and sea lions) we then got the chance to go whale watching and we were so close to the whales it was incredible.

Hotels
Design Suites Bariloche - Very nice hotel and restaurant. Great views across the mountains and very friendly staff.

Hainen Hotel - Nice place but obviously not meant to be overly luxurious. It was great, served our purpose and the staff were friendly and accommodating when issues occurred.

Lunajuim - Really nice hotel, very friendly staff who really made us feel welcome.

Hotel Peron - Nice hotel, although clearly a lot busier than others we had stayed in so breakfast was a lot louder. Good views across the bay. Staff spoke less English, but we managed to check in.

Hotel NH Florida - Nice hotel and polite staff. Breakfast was incredibly busy with people finding it hard to find somewhere to sit and staff seemed to be struggling to keep up with providing enough cups and glasses etc.

Other small notes -
There were a few costs that we hadn't budgeted for nothing major but may be worth making clear to people in future -
Park Entrance Fee for Canoeing (300 pesos each)
Park Entrance Fee for Mini-Trekking (600 pesos each)
Park Entrance Fee for Glacier Boat Tour (600 pesos each)
Park Entrance Fee for Whale Watching (520 pesos each)
City Tax in Bariloche (approximately 300 pesos)

Total of approximately 4,340 pesos. All of the above also needed to be in cash. Once we'd resolved the withdrawals issue it wasn't a problem. Also worth noting that the fees are much reduced for residents of Argentina.

It is worth noting that while there were a few issues we had the telephone number of our local specialist who managed to resolve the issues as they occurred and generally put our minds at rest when we were concerned.

Overall this experience was incredible and one not to be missed.

I really appreciated the tips on what to do in Ljubljana (bike trip and a food tour).
Miha was very nice and responsive when I contacted him to plan a four-day trip to Slovenia on short notice. He helped me decide where to stay and how to allot the four days and set up a guide for two of the days.
Our guide, Bostjan, was incredibly nice, interesting and helpful. It was so nice not to have to worry about driving places and how to get there. I loved seeing Piran but would have liked more time there and more information about the town and its history. I also loved the winery he took us to, which was a great experience and very different. The region was particularly beautiful. In general, again, I would have liked more information on our surroundings.
It may have been due to the fact that we didn't plan our trip too far in advance so I'm not necessarily faulting Miha, but I didn't know the details of what we were going to be doing on the two days with the guide and would have liked an opportunity to decide after a more in depth conversation about the alternatives. I had to call the guide a day before we were leaving for Prague to ask about it and discuss some possibilities since I hadn't heard from anyone.
I also really loved our hiking experience with Bostjan. He did a great job of figuring out what would be both interesting, scenic and manageable for me with some knee problems and not being as adept a hiker as my husband. He was an expert driver on the windy mountain roads and planned a really wonderful hike.
Things I didn't find so interesting: walk through a bird sanctuary, since it wasn't particularly culturally interesting and birds had already flown south, and spending time in Lake Bled. Again, I'm not necessarily faulting the tour company for spending time in Bled since I had heard a great deal about it and it is a pretty famous site. It certainly was pretty and we had some great meals in local restaurants, and also went to the nearby gorge. However, it's very crowded and touristy and I think I would have preferred knowing a bit more about that aspect of it through talking with the tour company, and maybe spending time in a home stay overnight in the countryside instead or something like that. My favorite part of visiting Lake Bled was actually taking a different route back from the gorge and walking through the forest and two local villages back to Lake Bled. We were not able to rent bicycles there because the only places that were open didn't have any small enough for me, but it turned out to be fine to walk.

Trip to the Almalfi Coast was amazing! Carmelo was super helpful in planning and tailoring the trips to our needs. The agency was also very quick to respond during our stay in Italy and was very accommodating in helping us work out some last minute changes to our trip. It was truly an unforgettable experience in a beautiful place!

Planning a trip with an in-country advisor just makes sense. Ingrid Thornes, our trip consultant for a two week trip in Norway, met and exceeded our expectations. Being from Bergen, she was able to give good first-hand advice and proved more reliable than a guide book.

We outlined our preferences for types of hotels, modes of transport, and places we wanted to include on our visit. Ingrid evaluated our ideas, made suggestions and then delivered an itinerary that we collaborated on for weeks. That required a lot of patience from her!

Honestly, this trip met ALL of our expectations because Ingrid took the time to listen and help us make good choices. All tickets were emailed, all connections made, paving the way for a knockout time in Norway. Well done KimKim. We will book another amazing excursion with your u again.

Linda and Peter Fenton, Massachusetts USA

Had an amazing time on our short, self-guided bike trip through Tuscany. The area is beautiful, especially the stretch from the outskirts of Florence to Radda in Chianti. Lots of wineries with consistently good wine. Everything was well coordinated in terms of bike delivery, luggage transport, and hotel booking. Had some initial difficulty with the bikes and with navigation but everything went smoothly afterwards.

Its has been amazing 12 days trip with Mihiret being a tour guide and organized by Marco.

Ethiopia is not an easy country when it comes to street and people photography. However every visit to a location was organized with much knowledge, expertise and love., and as a result I got thousands of great photos.

Mihiret speaks local languages, knows, traditions, all do's and what is also very important - dont's.

Highly recommended!

The trip was amazing. Can’t describe how good it was. We had the most fantastic guide (Oyu) and driver (Banzar) and really got immersed into the Mongolian culture. Amazing place with so much scenery, lots of driving but you need to be prepared for that going to Mongolia anyway. Everyone was so kind and wanted to do what they could to help us and make our trip special. Passed some others on trips but ours was quite private so didn’t have much communication.
Kimkim was very organised and we knew what to expect and everything ran very smoothly.