Kimkim Trip Reviews

Every aspect of this trip was amazing, being picked up after every plane, ferry etc was awesome! Every person we interacted with was great and super accommodating. I even forgot some clothing in Mykonos and the ladies at Portes Mykonos sent it to the hotel in Athens so I could get it when we got back there. It was great being able to use the Greek SIM card in my phone it helped out tremendously. Overall it was a great experience and I would do it again in a minute!!

This is the first time I’ve booked a trip with KimKim and it wont be the last. The trip planning was so easy and having KimKim plan all the details took the stress away. Harris helped me decide on the islands we would visit and was readily available whenever I had a question. Our trip was ten days and we visited Athens, Santorini, Naxos, Paros.

I really can’t say enough good things about the Aegean Gem hotel in Kamari, Santorini. It’s such a wonderful hotel - great owner, new hotel close to the beach, nice rooms, and amenities. Initially I was disappointed to see we weren’t staying Fira but after being there on the tour and seeing the crowds, I was happy to be on the other side of the island in a more relaxed atmosphere. The bus system seemed quite efficient in Kamari so it was very easy to travel to Fira or Oia for dinner or sightseeing. I hope to return in the future. Kostas was our guide on the Santorini Highlight tour and he was great, very friendly and knowledgeable ! I would recommend this tour if you’re in Santorini.

In Naxos we did a cooking class with the family at Basiliko Tavern and I would highly recommend this. Anna was our cooking host and she was wonderful. She took us through her family estate, we picked fresh veggies to use in our dish and she took us on a small walk around the area.

Our hotels in Santorini (Aegean Gem), and Naxos (Cyano Suites), were unforgettable. Great locations and hospitality at both. We stayed at Porto Naousa in Paros and it had a great location, and lovely patio.

I have no complaints about the trip, I would however check the transfer times for ferries as I did feel we arrived very early to wait in the street for ferry departure - even our drivers at two ports questioned why the pickups were so early. However, I do understand why some first time travellers might like to get there early.

Thanks again to Harris for organizing a wonderful trip for my mother’s 60th birthday. We hope to be back again someday. Thank you for everything, Harris and the Travel12 Team!

The trip to Colombia was planned out very well. Laura Joy was available to address any concerns or answer any questions. She was helpful and flexible. She worked together with us to plan the trip that we wanted. Will use kimkim again in the future.

It was an incredible trip and Harris & KimKim made it so easy to enjoy our vacation. We ran into a few small problems during our trip and they were always quick to respond and find a solution that would work for both us and the people we were meeting. I absolutely intend to book my next trip through them as well once I decide where I’m going!

From start to finish my tour organised by Chhewang was seamless and for me effortless. I was very well looked after by my guide Keshab and can’t thank him enough. The responsible trek team communicated everything clearly and consistently where I never felt a worry or not looked after. The trek itself was created and catered specifically to my wishes and the time I had available. I loved every experience, and was lucky to observe many cultural customs as it was the time of the festival.

Hi Erin and the KimKim Team!

Erin you did it again!! Top marks for another incredible trip to Manang.

Your professionalism, friendliness, organistion, attention to detail and providing us with THE best
guides, Raj and Rabin, made for an unforgettable trip. The journey left a profound impression on each of us and will forever stand as a superb adventure in a beautiful country with wonderfully open hearted people.

Dhan'yavāda from us all!

Dear KimKim
Our driver Nishantha was very helpful, polite, punctual and always provided a clean car each morning. He opened the door for me and was forthcoming with helpful information during our trip.
Our favourite part of our time in Sri Lanka were the safari camps. Mahoora safari camps were excellent. Our first camp in Wilpattu was exceptional. Our naturalist/guide was so interesting and informative. Everything about the camp was exceptional. The food, service, facilities, vehicles and safari's were wonderful. Our second safari camp in Udawalawe was wonderful also. We didn't particularly like the dogs in the park but apart from that the experience was fabulous. We didn't have a naturalist there like in Wilpattu but the guide/operational manager was most helpful. The food was beautiful and the staff were just wonderful. We just loved our experience in both safari camps. I will certainly recommend them to our friends. Our accommodation during our stay was good. Unfortunately my husband got Salmonella while staying in Cassandra Cultural resort which was most unfortunate. He ate some meat at dinner which he feels resulted in his illness. He was unwell for at least four days which made his holiday less enjoyable. Unfortunately he was not well enough to go to the Tooth Temple and cultural show or travel on the train as per our itinerary. He was too weak and when not travelling spent the rest of his time in our hotel bedroom. Our last hotel in Colombo was a bit disappointing as they did not serve alcohol in either the hotel or restaurant. I wish we had know this prior to booking this accommodation. We like to spend our evenings over dinner with a nice bottle of wine. Therefore we had to find a restaurant in Colombo in the pouring rain where we could relax over dinner. I should have checked the miles/kilometres we would be travelling before finalising our itinerary as I felt we did too many miles. We probably should have gone to Yala safari camp and Udawalawe which were closer together rather than all the way up to Wilpattu. We loved our hotel in Kandy, I could have stayed there longer. I should have stayed at a nicer place in Nuwara Eilya. We went to dinner at The Grand Hotel which was a beautiful establishment. The villa we stayed in was nice but small and I much preferred The Grand Hotel. Anyway, these are things I have learned during our visit to Sri Lanka that will assist me when booking future holidays. Regards Julie Stretton

The trip went extremely well with no problems at all, just as planned. Thanks Hakim. A job well done.
My favourite places were Essaouira for its relaxed and groovy lifestyle, out there on the Atlantic coast. There was none of the harrassing of tourists by vendors that has become so intrusive in Marrakesh. Its a very walkable compact medina and I dint get lost. Greta map provided by the hotel. And my other favourite was Chefchouen. Every where you looked was fascinating, like Venice. Every turn was another photo opportunity. So pretty with the blue walls and the handcrafts displayed against them and no harrassment by vendors. Just delightful.
I especially appreciated the female tour guides as there is a conspicuous lack of presence of women in Morocco so these younger , highly educated women were such a delight to meet. Fatima in Fes and Bushra in Meknes. They were professional, kind and so interesting. They are the ambassadors for women in Morocco.
Thank you again, Sue and Ari.

My wife and I booked an 8 day luxury trek around the Everest Area in Nepal with Erin. The travel platform for communication with Erin via KimKim was really easy to use and worked without issues. I found Erin super responsive and exceeded our expectations.

The lodges they utilized were awesome. The Beyul was one of the highlights for my wife and I. The owner is super personable and the dining was great. Another fantastic lodge was the Everest View Lodge in Mende. This lodge is really great.

Erin found our guide, Mindu. He was a super friendly guide and always shared his life as a sherpa and answered our many questions about the area and about the local customs and religion. The porter was also really a nice fellow and our gear was always were it needed to be and in good condition.

At the conclusion of the trip we met with Erin and enjoyed that experience as well. The hotel in Kathmandu was perfect.

Overall I would not hesitate to use KimKim and Erin for a trek in Nepal. I know we will book another trip with them.

O wow... an adventure that far exceeded our expectations! Erin was amazing in our pre-travel planning. I must have asked a million questions that were always answered thoroughly ..I gained such confidence in the team before we had even landed in Kathmandu. All the transfers from pillar to post were punctual, the drivers were super polite, the Kathmandu guides were great ... we were so spoilt! Our trek with Serala as our guide was fantastic. We were very proud to have one of the few woman guides to lead our way..and our porter Ram was so shy but he eventually joined in our laughs and jokes. Nepal has left a tender spot in our hearts, and I know it's because our time there was so well supported by KimKim's entire team.. Thank you and Namaste

Hamid, our driver, was absolutely the best! He drove us for eight days and throughout that time made certain we had fun! Hamid also arranged for us to meet local guides and local people. His driving was excellent! Megan arranged our overnights and generally speaking each was attractive, provided excellent service and were ready to greet us when we arrived. We stayed in established roads from Fes to Merzouga to Beni Mellal. Megan also arranged for our full day tour of Fes where Khafla designed a perfect day for us. When the inevitable glitch happened, the Kimkim team were available, attentive and responsive. Our visit to the desert, our overnight stay, our visit with the nomads and our excellent guide Mohammed fully met our expectations.

We had a fabulous trip to Greece from start to finish. Everything went incredibly smoothly, in fact I didn't have to get in touch with Tasos or KimKim/ Travel 12 once the entire trip. All our hotels, guides, tours and drivers were wonderful! I wish I knew how to spell all of their names but they were all so much fun as well as knowledgeable and kind. We also enjoyed all the hotels very much. Sweet Home in Athens was in a great location and had a wonderful breakfast and super comfortable beds. We LOVED the welcome dinner at the Zillers rooftop restaurant which had amazing views of the Acropolis. The Adriani Hotel on Naxos was beautiful and also a good location within walking distance of the port and St. George's beach. We really enjoyed the food and culture tour of the island as well as the medieval hike and our driver both days (Yannis?) was awesome! Naxos is beautiful and less "touristic" than Santorini although the Volcano View Hotel is simply stunning. The views of the caldera are mesmerizing and my only regret was that we didn't spend most of the last day sitting in lounge chairs simply enjoying the view. We did enjoy the insider's food and wine tour and Anna was wonderful but I had expected/hoped to see more of the island on the tour. The sunset catamaran cruise in the caldera was fantastic with great food and people. Tasos had arranged for a birthday cake for my dad who turned 80 that day. It was unforgettable! The only small glitch was that my mom who had hip surgery a few months ago had lots of stairs to climb at the hotels on the islands which did not have elevators. But overall it was worth it and I think her strength improved with all the activity! I would enthusiastically recommend Tasos and KimKim/Travel 12 and hope that we have the opportunity to work with them again for future trips!! Thank you Tasos and team for putting together a trip that was absolutely incredible!!

A very well thought out trip working around 2 Rugby world cup matches which inevitably constrained the itinerary to a degree. The information provided before and during the trip was excellent and where we had guides they were very good, it was nice to be met at the airport and talked through using the train system and to set up our japan rail pass. We became confident in using the transport systems much more quickly than we would have left to our own devices.
Hotel choices were well judged with great locations and were a better standard than I expected for the cost of the tour. We took up a couple of suggestions that we wouldn't normally have gone for and were glad that we did - the evening guided food and drink tour in Osaka was particularly memorable.
We started with a few days in Tokyo then travelled down to Hiroshima and over to Miyajima Island - that was a highlight despite the iconic Tori gate being covered in scaffolding. We then got the train back up to Kyoto where we were based for 4 nights, as well as visiting numerous sites here we also did day trips to Nara - must visit, loved the deer and Himeji castle where we were shown round by a volunteer guide - these were available at numerous sites and very knowledgeable.
The station hotel in Kyoto was probably our favourite in Japan - great rooms, facilities and location and good restaurant recommendations by the concierge.
Next we went back to Tokyo for 3 days and met up with some friends for a couple of days watching England beat Argentina, visiting the robot restaurant and going on a bar/restaurant crawl, we also really enjoyed the team labs borderless digital art gallery.
From Tokyo we did a loop through the mountains first to Kanazawa, we then stopped at the world heritage site village of Shirakiwa-go in the mountains on the way to Takayama. We stayed for 2 nights in a ryokan in Takayama to coincide with the autumn festival - a lovely town and great experience. From here we got the bus to Matsumoto where we visited the castle and art museum.
Our last stop on the trip was Yokohama - very near Tokyo but quite a different feel with a very interesting waterfront. Unfortunately the England v France match was cancelled as Typhoon hagibis passed through on the saturday - it was eerie spending a day in the hotel with everything shut down.
The weather was beautiful the next morning and we managed to get tickets to watch Japan beat Scotland - a memorable last night in Japan before our flight home next morning.

Hello Kim Kim
The trip in itself was unusual to the places where general visitors go to .that said the trip schedule was excellent in its execution. From arriving at Beijing Four days of non stop activity with our Guide Tom. to the Bullet Train to Zibo ( I have to compliment the Chinese railway , a pleasure to ride on a fantastic train in total comfort ) Meeting Chris who was the most enlightened guide that my Grandson has met .
Then to Qingdao where we met Eden , I personally had an excellent time with him as he is a teacher and we spoke about the way he could get his students to understand English better .
Then to Shenyang , all of the train trips and Internal flights were great.
Wherever we went we met the most courteous children , good for the future .
The places we visited for my grandson were the best he had ever seen ( thankyou for that ).
The hotels were pretty ok , The Shangri la was TOP SHOP. Food was interesting but we entered into the spirit and eat a lot of what was on offer.
Kim Kim Thank you for a well organised Holiday with excellent representatives at each city to meet us .
Paul Baker

For me, the most memorable part of our sensational trip was the train ride to Myrdal & then down to Flam. We have seen many things, but the scenery and its dramatic changes on the way up and back down. We loved the golden trees of Autumn. For George, it was the trip through the fjords.
Every part of our trip exceeded our expectations in every way. The Thon Opera Hotel was great and so well located. Stig was an excellent guide and great guy, in Aurland, the innkeeper had no rooms & said we could stay in our own cottage right on the fjord which was great-there is that word again! Bergen was charming & we had a full day of sunshine with our guide. He was OK but had not gotten the certification training and just wasn’t as knowledgeable as Stig. He did a good job, but Stig was extraordinary.

My husband and I can’t say enough great things about our experience with Your Trip to Spain and working with our local expert Patricia to plan our recent adventure. From start to finish and at every turn along the way, Patricia was the ultimate professional always making herself available throughout our travels and helping create one of the most memorable and enjoyable trips we’ve ever experienced. We are grateful for her expertise and knowledge. And, of course, we look forward to working with her again.

Nepal was the second part of our holiday abroad, and it was fantastic. We enjoyed our hotel choices, especially Dwarika in Kathmandu. The helicopter ride to Mount Everest was epic! The views were incredible. Thank you Erin for planning such a memorable adventure.

First I want to thank Adele in South Africa ( she works at Duma Explorer that provided the safari services) who helped me plan every step of the way in this safari. She was excellent and her first draft of an itinerary was very close to the final version. Since this was a solo photographic safari, I was concerned that my specific needs might be difficult to accommodate. It did not take long to realize that Adele was on target and did a great job is meeting my needs.

My journey started off a bit rocky. I was met at the airport in Arusha by a person from Duma Explorer, but not the one I expected. Apparently, my guide, who I knew to be highly qualified for my trip, had a car accident and, although unharmed, was unable to make the safari. The man who met me at the airport assured me that he was well qualified and that we would have a wonderful trip together. This sort of a surprise certainly causes apprehension and some anxiety. The next morning, my new guide took me to meet Wilson, my planned guide. While Wilson was unable to lead my trip, after meeting him, I felt reassured that everything would be fine. Read on for my review of my safari.

My guide, Chaduu, was fantastic. He knew the wildlife very well, not just the names, in some cases the Latin genus and species as well as their behavioral characteristics. This would be pretty meaningless if we didn't find animals. Chaduu knew the favorite haunts of many animals (mammals, reptiles and birds) so we saw, identified, and photographed a great number. He was also helpful in answering my questions about animal behavior. Finding wildlife is also a matter of luck and I have to admit that we were very lucky. This was a solo photographic safari. Chaduu and I were together for many hours a day for 17 days in a safari vehicle together. We never seemed to run out of discussion topics, and discussed a wide range of subjects. He was very careful to obey park rules of the road and "parking locations". In addition, photography requires patience, hoping and waiting to see some interesting behavior. We spent a great deal of time waiting and as a result got some amazing photos and observing some incredible behavior. He never complained and seemed always eager to experience seeing animal behavior, knowing that patience is necessary. Chaduu was excellent in helping to position us for the best angle for a photo and responding to every request to move even a few feet in on direction or another. His assurances on day one were completely accurate and I was happy to have Chaduu as my guide.

I was also interested in tribal cultures and people. I was not disappointed. We engaged Hadzabe bushmen and Datoga metal workers and women. Each tribe lives in their ancient ways and the people were fully authentic and friendly. Duma provide a local expert who spoke the native languages. He was very helpful in the success of meeting, engaging and photographing these tribal people.

Granted this was a solo safari. Chaduu and I could pretty much do what we wanted without having to consider the needs of others. That fact in itself made this photo expedition worthwhile and greatly contributed to our success. We were a terrific team, working together every step of the way. Chaduu was always a professional.

Overall, my experience in preparing for this trip as well as the trip itself, met or exceeded my expectations. Good job and thanks so much for your help along the way.

Laura was a pleasure to work with! Every detail of our trip was planned to our liking and she was very responsive to any changes we wanted to make or questions we had. During our travels, when minor issues arose she (or her coworkers) was readily available to sort it out. She suggested places I would not have known to go for instance beyond guatape, we loved our overnight in San Carlos. I would unhesitatingly recommend Laura for your next trip to Colombia.
Thank you, Laura!

We would like to thank Olman for the amazing 11 day trip he planned for us with such short notice. Costa Rica has been on our list of places to visit but we only booked the flights 4 weeks before travelling. I was apprehensive about Travelling in October as it is meant to be the rainy season. Olman explained the weather is normally sunny in the morning clouding over in the afternoon. We seemed to be lucky as we only had 1 evening when we had a real downpour, which was quite an adventure. The 5 hotels we stayed in were all different but each lovely. Pick ups and transportation excellent all on time and went without a hitch. We got to see so much wild life. Our favourites were the sloths and a turtle laying her eggs. The white water rafting down the Pacuare River and zipline tour in La Fortuna were so exciting and fun through beautiful scenery. Thanks again Olman and Kim Kim for planning a stress free amazing holiday