Kimkim Trip Reviews

Highlights:
Fantastic walking food tour on Naxos
Great hotel in Santorini, 5 min walk to the black sand beaches
Informative walking tour in Athens
Kimkim hooked us up with a great personal driver in Athens!

Low points:
First hotel in Athens was just ok, but it had a great view
Probably should have flown to Santorini rather than take a 5 hour ferry. With getting there early to avoid rush hour, it ends up being a 7 hour trip with a 5am wakeup. Worth the extra $

Exceptional Service: When all of the ferries for the next day were going to be cancelled, which would have meant missing our international flight, kimkim and Harris were very proactive. They reached out to us to make sure we got on the last ferry that day and found us a fantastic hotel outside Athens.

This is the third time we have used Kimkim to plan a trip and it was, as usual, extremely helpful. We wouldn’t have had such an interesting and easy time of it without their assistance. The local agency, Iceland Offbeat, arranged for a rental car, provided us with route information and booked all our hotels/guest houses. They also gave us good recommendations for things to do/see and some places to eat. They booked some specific activities that we requested such as a glacier hike, whale watching, and horse back riding and we were impressed with the quality of the outfits they booked us with. In addition, we also made a reservation for the Viking Sushi Adventure that goes out of Stykkisholmur, which we really enjoyed. We loved being on our own schedule, traveling independently.

We had two weeks to drive the entire ring road around the coast and I can’t imagine doing it in less time although some people do. The roads are narrow and windy and the scenery is spectacular so you have to take your time. Also, we were on dirt roads at times that had a lot of potholes. If you rent a car be sure to get something with good suspension and tires. They originally reserved an economy car for us but we upgraded to an SUV with 4x4 and all season tires and we were glad of it - the extra expense was worth it. The wi-fi coverage throughout the country is amazing. We had one of those wi-fi gizmos that plug into the car and were able to follow the google map directions they provided quite easily. Although, I do recommend that you also purchase a full road map of Iceland so you can cross check names and numbers of the roads - the signage is sometimes confusing.

The only glitches we ran into were because we had a couple of changes in our itinerary during the planning process. Two of the guest houses that were originally reserved didn’t provide breakfast so the reservations were changed for us. We got a revised itinerary with the new locations and vouchers, however, the changes didn’t get made in the google map directions so one night we drove up to the wrong place. Fortunately, the correct guest house was only a few km away and we were alert to that problem for the future and didn’t make that mistake again. Also, at one place, there was some confusion about payment but they were able to phone the contact number on the voucher and it got worked out fairly quickly.

All in all, we had a fantastic trip to a unique and amazing country thanks to the kimkim team.

David was very attentive to our requests and needs from the start. We wanted a hut experience in the Dolomites and he suggested a beautiful trip. We had a wonderful accommodation at Hotel Pider in Wengen, and then two days hiking to and back from Rufugio Fanes. The hikes had a lot of variety in addition to the beauty that is the Dolomites. The food was delicious and the hosts were welcoming in both places. We had several questions for David before the trip, which he answered promptly and graciously. We found his service very professional yet friendly.

I can't speak highly enough of my 9 day Spanish experience. From the drivers, the hotel service and Rocio, who made time to check in how my trip was going.

My tour guide Delia in Sevilla was great company and her knowledge was fantastic. She really made me feel welcomed. I can't recommend her enough. Kudos to La Azotea on Calle Zaragoza, some great tapas!

Both Madrid and Barcelona were great urban escapes. My tour guide Sandra in Barcelona was an absolute joy. She was quite taken back by young I was compared to her usual tourists but this worked in my favour as I was taken off the beaten track! Like Delia, I can't recommend her enough.

Overall, the tour was top notch. Special thanks to James who really crafted a great itinerary. His correspondence was of the highest order. Cheers for taking the pressure of planning off my shoulders!

We recently visited Slovenia to celebrate our 10 year anniversary. We wanted a trip that was active but one that would also highlight the history and beauty of Slovenia. Katja helped to plan an adventure that exceeded all of our expectations. Every last detail was well thought out; we were able to explore the immense beauty of the country by foot, bike, and boat almost completely independently with the preset arrangements of gps directions and luggage transfers. After big days of adventure we were able to rest comfortably at night in wonderful accommodations. We would recommend Slotrips to everyone. We certainly fell in love with sLOVEnia and hope to work with Katja again in the future to plan an adventure for our whole family!

It was an absolute pleasure working with Mathias:

1. He listened carefully to our special areas of interest (birding photography) and designed a fantastic itinerary for us.
2. The accommodation and guides that he set up for us exceeded our expectations.
3. His personal input and support when we needed urgent medical assistance was invaluable.
4. He was always available and responsive throughout the whole 4 week trip

In Mindo, Mathias set us up with Edison from http://www.swordbilledexpeditions.com/about-us/ . Ed’s bird knowledge was remarkable, his photographic skills superb, he was able to get us into unusual and remote locations, he introduced us to fascinating people and was just a wonderful person to spend time with. We stayed at the Septimo Paraiso and the Bellavista Cloudforest Lodge, both of which were stunning

My research showed very mixed feedback between Cuyabeno and Yasuni, and so based on Mathias’s recommendation we did both – and in hindsight he was completely correct. They are very different, unique and special in their own distinct ways. In Cuyabeno we stayed at the Nicki Lodge for 5 nights and I loved it. We met a couple of travelers who had had bad experiences at some of the other local lodges, but the service and friendliness from our staff was fantastic. The lodge is more casual and low key but I felt closer to the environment and with the narrower rivers the forest seemed to be more intimate. We had a young guide called Jefferson who was from Quito - he had fallen in love with the natural environment and was passionate about sharing it with us. Through his share dedication we managed to see a young family of endangered otters, the beautiful fresh water dolphins, birds, insects, caiman, spiders and flora (as well as lots of very muddy walks – well worth the effort). The lovely lodge chef cooked up tasty local meals shared at one long table which allowed us to meet backpackers through to seasoned international travelers.

Sacha Lodge, on the other hand, was truly spectacular and upmarket. Mathias organized a “master” ornithologist for us (a local Kichwe called Osca) who managed to help us identify 130 bird species in 3 days (including a great sighting of a juvenile Harpy Eagle), over and above the 5 monkey species, stick insects, frogs, parrots at the clay lick, and quiet moments in the canoe simply enjoying the environment.

There is no way we could have put together a trip like this without the local knowledge, experience and expertise of Mathias and his team. Mathias provided us with a level of service, professionalism and personal input that I have never experienced before. Kudos to him and his team.

I have nothing but praise for Tasos and his team of local travel specialists who made our 30th anniversary trip to Greece a trip of a lifetime. It's not easy to put into words how incredible the trip was for us -- we have come home with fond memories of EVERY experience we had and we wish we could more easily reconnect with our guides and the locals we met during our visit. I am not exaggerating in saying every detail was taken care of for us with punctual transfers, delightful hotels, and fantastic activity choices.

I found Tasos via the Kimkim website because I honestly didn't know where to begin in the planning process. He had high reviews so I felt he was someone I could trust -- and he didn't disappoint. You pay a premium to use Kimkim, but our experience has been that we received a premium product. I told Tasos we like to travel using guides because we don't take international trips that often and have limited time. He knew we only had 10 days to "experience" Greece -- and I wanted it to include a few islands, authentic experiences, personal guides, lots of culinary experiences, and history. Via a few email exchanges, Tasos designed a PERFECT trip to make us completely fall in love with Greece.

We spent only 24 hours in Athens, which was just enough time to take in old city Athens and see the acropolis. Our hotel, Zillers Boutique Hotel, was conveniently located -- we could see the parthenon out our window and we were close enough to walk anywhere in old city, including to see the changing of the guard at the parliament building. Our two Athens guides were wonderful. With Panos of "Athens Insiders," we toured the fish, meat, produce, spice, and olive markets. We tasted MANY delicious local specialities along the way, including a gazillion olives, raki, lamb patties, gourmet gyros, Greek coffee (once was enough), and delicious Greek pastries. It was a wonderful introduction for us. We toured the acropolis in the late afternoon/evening with Dimitri who shared his extensive knowledge of the site's extensive history.

Early the next morning we were off to an early flight to Naxos, an island I wanted to visit because of a friend's recommendation. It's a laid back island with a low population. We were lucky to get there. Thankfully, Travel12 booked a flight for us -- the ferries were not running because of high winds. We stayed outside of Naxos Town at the Iria Beach Art Hotel. While the hotel is artfully decorated and comfortable, what made it truly wonderful was its staff -- and the kittens and turtle in the garden! The staff couldn't have been sweeter. What made Naxos MOST special was Katerina of Vioma Naxos, who spent a half day with us showing us "her" Naxos. Born and raised on the island, Katarina specializes in gastronomy and cooking tours, padded with lots of extra interesting information. With her driver, Alex, she took us through the Venetian Castle, introduced us to Naxos Citron, introduced us to Nicoletta, the delightful owner of Eggares Olive Museum, drove us all the way up to the quaint village of Apiranthos where we shared a tray of local cheeses and rose at a local Taverna, and finally to dinner at her parent's house in a tiny village of 35 or so people. It was an incredibly special day -- something we'll never forget. I've already experimented with the recipes she sent me via email.

Next on the itinerary were two and a half action-packed days on Santorini, made more interesting by my husband's crippling fear of heights -- and seven cruise ships invading the island at the same time. Needless to say, we had to make a few adaptations to avoid the crowds and to avoid certain site lines (ok, MOST site lines) -- not easy when you're staying on a cliff face! Another Tasos, a wonderful member of the Argyros travel group, was our driver for the better part of our visit. Highlights of our Santorini visit included the wonderful staff at PetitPalace Hotel (especially Victoria), a fabulous anniversary dinner in Fira at a gourmet restaurant called Mylos that was arranged by Travel12, a hike that was supposed to be along the caldera from Fira to Oia that had to be severely modified, (our hiking guide, George, did a wonderful job of finding areas to explore without the cliff site lines), dinner at Penelope's in Pyrgos (one of our BEST dinners of the entire trip), a visit to both black sand beaches and the red sand beach, a wine tasting at Estate Argyros, a visit to the village of Messa Gonia (where Santorini Tasos' grandfather lived before the 1956 earthquake) and the BEST of all, a visit to the Anydro Cherry Tomato Farm where we helped cook and eat a feast of local food with sisters Anna and Irena. There wasn't much we didn't see on Santorini!

Crete was the third and final island we visited and it was my favorite. In fact, if we're lucky enough to return to Greece, I will visit a couple other islands AND Crete. We spent two nights in Archanes and two nights in Chania (a 2-hour drive between the two locations). We truly fell in love with Archanes, a small picturesque village in Heraklion. We stayed at the Kalimera Archanes Village in a small house managed by Lefteris, one of the nicest humans we've ever met while traveling. I'm sure Lefteris befriends everyone who visits his village and everyone says the same thing, but he sure made us feel special. He personally drove us up to the top of Mount Juktas, walked us around the village showing us sites including its Minoan palace ruins and a building occupied by German officers during WWII. He also introduced us to George, proprietor of Bakaliko, a restaurant in the village square, who greatly added to our enjoyment with his knowledge of local wine, olive oil, and Cretan cuisine. A highlight of our Archanes visit was a trip to the Koronekis Olive Farm where we learned more about olive oil than we ever thought possible. George, the son-in-law of the proprietor, was a fantastic educator. In addition to what we purchased on vacation, I will be ordering more products from them in the future.

On our way out of Heraklion, we visited the Minoan Palace of Knossos and the Heraklion Archeological Museum -- two must sees if you're visiting that area of Crete. Every survey book of art history includes images of the palace and museum, including the bull fresco, the snake woman, and the octopus urns. We felt very fortunate to have Lena as our guide.

Chania was a beautiful place to end our visit -- a seaside village with lots of Venetian architecture, a slight Ottoman feel, an interesting maritime museum, and amazing restaurants -- all along the waterfront. Our hotel, the Ambassadors Residence, was AMAZING. A truly beautiful boutique hotel. We stayed in the Wood Room which was on the second floor and overlooked the harbor. Angie could not have been sweeter in welcoming us and securing our dinner reservations. We highly recommend Glossitses for a waterfront dinner. Our tour in Chania was to the Botanical Park and Gardens where we were treated to a cooking class (making briam, tzatziki, a Greek salad, and stuffed grape leaves) and a walking tour of the beautiful grounds of the garden. Learning the history of the park (formerly olive and orange groves before a devastating fire in the early 2000's) and seeing what the family has made from the ruins was very impressive.

Ibrahim did a great job for my wife and I, booking tours with Egypt Promotion. Zain, a manager, gave us a local sim to borrow and checked in with us each evening to ensure everything was to our expectations. The guides and drivers were exemplary - special thanks to our Egyptologist guide Ahmed who was amazing, Mohamed and driver Said.
Experiencing the pyramids and temples were obvious highlights - we had a good amount of time to explore these grand structures with so much detail and history. These sites were less crowded than we expected which contributed to how much we enjoyed exploring and taking photos. Scuba diving in Hurghada on the Red Sea was a great experience and we swam with dolphins. Alexandria was bustling and full of things to see and do.

Every phase of our trip was excellent. Starting with our excursion to Mycenae and Nafplio where we had both a driver and guides who were very personable and informative, to our hike and food tour on Naxos where our guides were outstanding, to our Cape Sounio and Athens Riviera sunset tour where our driver was terrific, we had an absolutely fabulous time. The only small glitch was that our dates for touring Mycenae and the Acropolis were switched from the original itinerary ( Mycenae was to be Day 3 and Acropolis Day 2)to the dates in the welcome booklet (Mycenae Day 2 and Acropolis Day3). We had the opportunity to interact with real artisans of Greece and witness their skills as well as interact with the true people of Greece and experience their warmth.

Carmen was very easy to communicate with.
She tailor made our package and accommodated our requests organising an itenary that we wanted.
Would recommend Carmen to others and would definitely use KimKim again.

Jordan was lovely, the locals and other people we met were very friendly and interesting to talk to.

Petra and Wadi Rum in particular are two places not to be missed.

My wife and I are so pleased we decided to hire Kimkim to plan our first trip to Norway. We had a limited time (6-7 days) and felt they did a wonderful job giving us the best itinerary for our interests/time constraints. The accommodations they selected were convenient and comfortable, the detailed itineraries they provided were extremely helpful (including maps, wayfinding info, etc.), and the guides they hired were professional and informative. If we had planned things ourselves we probably wouldn't have experienced the most special part of our trip, staying in Aurland for a few nights and taking a cruise of the Aurlandsfjord & Nærøyfjord.
Thank you for taking logistics off our plate, allowing us to enjoy your beautiful country free of stress or worry!

Andre was quick to respond and always accommodating. The hotels he chose were excellent, as were his suggestions for our day trips. We totally appreciated not having huge drives to make. His planning was superb!!! We can’t thank him enough for such an amazing experience!!!!!

Experience Morrocco did indeed make our trip a great experience. We could not have been any more satisfied. Every single aspect of the trip was perfect. Our guide, Ahmed, Had more than 20 years off experience and knew the country and its people very well. Both Ahmed and our driver, Abdul, looked over us 100% of the time and made us feel at home. We really did not miss anything. We saw it all.
The trip plan was also perfect and the special things we did were ones we will remember the most-the Hammam and the Moroccan cooking class. Everything they did was done well. Communication was great and we had the ability to plan a custom trip with their help.
Morrocco is a beautiful country with much to see and do, but, without good planning and helpful people on the ground it would be difficult. Experience Morrocco made a wonderful trip possible.

Kimkim was the company with the best reviews I found in internet when I was planning my trip to Morocco by myself and being an older lady I really needed to make sure that I was in the beast hands.
Best decision ever! They put me in contact with the agent in Morocco, Abdellah, who immediately started to put together an itinerary that also included the hotels and a personal driver who took me around Morocco in the most comfortable newer SUV. He also picked me up and dropped off the airport,. They found the guides when needed, I never felt lost, confused or uncomfortable.
Abdellah was on top of all the details before during and after my trip, he was always in contact with my driver and I day and night to make sure that everything was running smoothly.
If ever go back to Morocco undoubtedly I’ll contact Abdellah and definitely I will use Kimkim for my next trip wherever that might be.
Rosalba Henninger

Balestrand was wonderful, probably the highlight of our trip, especially the Fjord boat trip there and from. The hotel was also quite special

Flam was also wonderful as well, as was the train ride.

Given the objectives (truly scenic, awe-inspiring nature), I felt like we could have been guided differently.

The others were fine and reasonable for the price paid, but I have some feedback for the rest of the trip

1. Initially we had a day in Bergen set aside, which I changed and I was glad we did because Bergen while more enjoyable than your typical European city wasn't why we were in Norway

2. Tromso we knew was a risk given the low probability of seeing the Northern Lights, but I wish we had given a more thorough pros/cons discussion of going. We didn't see the lights, it was raining (none of which can be predicted), but I feel like we wasted a day a few thousand dollars on that decision. I would have rather spent another day in a city like Balestrand or Flam

Besides that, the packing guidance was less helpful as we were told to pack thermal underwear, jackets and clothing that took up a lot of room in the suitcase, and we ended up not needing because the Tromso bus was warm (where you spend the majority of the time on the tour) and they have thermal jackets, so I wish we were guided to pack differently.

The water bottle was unnecessary as well, more of a nice to have.

3. I wish there was more detail about the transportation (e.g., length of trip, where to sit on the train, boat, etc)

4. I wish we had more choices about the hotels. Balestrand and Flam hotels were very nice, but the Bergen hotel was not great and the Tromso hotel was terrible and dirty

5. I wish I had more flexibility to change the room bookings. I ended up needing an extra room, and it proved impossible to do through KimKim

Tomi planned an amazing trip. Everyone we met from the Bed and breakfast hosts to the water taxi driver seemed invested in us having a good time and things going smoothly. They showed us fun things to do in the area and answered all our questions. Communication with tomi and Ivana was prompt throughout and it was overall a wonderful experience. The views on hvar, korcula, and the bike to ston were simply incredible. I would work with tomi again!

I chanced upon kimkim while looking for tours in Morocco. They connected me to Abdellah and I have not regretted booking the tour with him. He was very receptive and open about our requirements and planned the tour in such a way that we were able to cover a lot of places in Morocco in 9 days. He was also prompt in replying to queries that we had during the trip and went out of his way to make it comfortable for us. Karim our driver/guide was most courteous, helpful and professional. It is thanks to Hassan our guide that I was able to summit Mt. Toubkal. All in all it was a successful trip with wonderful memories.

Overall the trip was great. While Tasos did a great job of planning everything and having ready to go, the communication was not great. There was times when we would ask a question and not hear back for days or weeks. Also a few more details for the plan tours would be nice.

I discovered Kimkim online and got in contact for a little bit of advice to start with and was so impressed with Harris, our Kimkim contact, that we ended up booking our trip through him. His advice really helped me shape the itinerary, and he had lots of great suggestions for hotels, day trips and more.
We decided to book our hotels directly, but used Kimkim to arrange all our transportation between the islands of Mykonos, Naxos and Santorini, transfers to hotels and a few excursions. Everything went very smoothly and we were contacted by Harris & the Kimkim team throughout our trip to check we were happy with everything.
We absolutely loved our time in the Greek Islands and had a wonderful holiday. Having the help and support of Kimkim was excellent.

The holiday was very enjoyable as we visited all the major art galleries that we wanted to. It was a pleasure to be picked up by car and not have to worry about finding taxis. A special mention should be made of Blacklane Chauffer as the vehicles were top quality and the driver Antonio very obliging. We enjoyed the small family Loretta hotel in Bruges as the hostess and staff were very friendly. On the other hand the small hotel in Brussels, the Café Pacific, was not very welcoming, the facilities in the room were a little lacking, and the small bar area, although advertised as a champagne and cocktail bar, was not open in the evening. Some people returning from the evening meal and wanting a nightcap would be quite disappointed.
The highlight for us was visiting the Rubenshuis and the Rocox museum in Antwerp, although the Musee des Beaux Artes in Brussels came a close second.