Kimkim Trip Reviews

While our trip to Corsica was fantastic and the 4-day walk we did amazing - the whole experience was let down by the poor communication of logistics once we were on the ground.

1. Most egregious was the omission of details about where we would be staying each night along the 4 day hike!!! We didn't even know the names of the accommodation (much less contact details) and had to ask the initial luggage porter where he was dropping our bags the first night. For the following nights we had to ask our accommodation hosts each morning to phone around the next night's town to find out who was expecting us! Luckily one of our party spoke fluent french, or otherwise this could have been a complete disaster...

(On a bright note all of the accommodation was very good and clean. And the hosts were superb - helpful, friendly, welcoming).

2. The route and topographic maps supplied were very poor quality photocopies. They made navigating very difficult. I strongly suggest either including proper trekking maps in the price of the trip or charge a small surplus to do so!

3. The route description booklet could/should be improved with additional photographs & details - especially for key landmarks and tricky intersections. Also I'm not convinced the distance estimates were accurate... Our own GPS devices reported that each day was longer than stated. For example the first day was supposed to be 11-12km but was in fact +15km.

While none of these issues ended up ruining the trip, they certainly made it more challenging for no good reason. Fortunately the beautiful countryside, delicious food and wine, and wonderful people we met along the way are what we will remember from our time walking across Corsica!

When the weather is great and everything goes smoothly it’s easy to say the trip was great. The true test of a company is when there are problems and in this case Aspiring has really shown top marks. My 9 year old daughter became severely ill and Aldo, Mayli and Katie immediately reacted with not just practical assistance but the emotional support we required to care for our baby. They provided a doctor at our hotel at a critical point and provided excellent assistance to find treatment and navigate the Peruvian health care system and travel insurance process. The fact that despite all the issues we have faced in the last 48 hours we cannot speak highly enough of the guides and company should speak volumes. We have been treated like family and as a frequent world traveler this company gets it and knows how and when to support both the newby world traveler and the salty veteran. If you are on the fence with a provider look no farther, these are the folks to trust. I should mention before the illness we had a wonderful trip and are so disappointed we could not take the next stage to the Amazon. Aspiring has earned a life long advocate.

My trip was amazing and your entire staff was right on point and made my wife and i feel like we were part of your family. First rate see you guys soon

Thanks again

Our trip was AMAZING!!! UNFORGETTABLE! We told our Kimkim rep what we wanted to do and see and they took care of the rest....no issues whatsoever!!! Everything was soooooo well coordinated!! Thanks KIM KIM!!

The trip was amazing. Isabel did a wonderful job of planning the trip and Christian, our tour guide was unbelievable. He took us everywhere on the itinerary and even included extra stops along the way that he thought would interest us. He was very knowledgeable and we had a fantastic time on the trip. We would definitely recommend that anyone traveling to the Quito area use KimKim and request Christian as your tour guide!

We had a fantastic time in Albania! The sights and beaches were terrific. Kakome bay was spectacular, Gjirokaster was extremely interesting and notably, getting an opportunity to drink Turkish coffee and Raki with the proprietor from the Zekate house was a real highlight for us.

A special mention for our guide Franko. He exceeded expectations. He provided expert knowledge of all of the places we visited and structured each day to meet our needs: sights, coffee stops, and dining. He was also a wealth of knowledge about Albania, its interesting history, and answered all of our questions! He is also a funny guy and very easy to be around which was perfect for our adventure in Albania.

Also to note, Xheni was very accommodating when planning our adventure and did a great job including everything we were looking to experience!

On our last day in Albania, we were thinking about when we would be able to come back and see other parts of the country - with Franko, of course!

Thank you for all of your help with organizing a memorable and special holiday for us!

Take care,

David and Jim

Preeti listened to our desires for our Iceland trip and developed an itinerary that was perfect. We skipped a few things to cut down on the driving time and increased our outdoor time.

First of all, my apologies for this delayed response. Nothing to do with our pleasure about the Greece trip. It was delightful in all respects. I am delayed in communicating because there were just a great many chores to complete on our return to Connecticut and Rhode Island.
I have just completed annotating the photos from Greece and so many great memories surfaced. I feel really fortunate to have chosen your team for this planning. Without exception the accommodations could not have been better. Each was different and each had a charm all its own. Beginning with the Acropolis view from our room in Athens to the center of town situation and fine staff in Nafplion to the gracious and helpful staff (and amazing breakfast choices) and beautiful location in Naxos and ending with our superb cave house on Santorini. Fantastic, all of them.
The individual guides in each location were great, perfect English speakers, interesting personalities, extremely knowledgeable about local culture and history - I could go on and on. Our driver/guide/historian on the drive from Athens to Delphi was truly memorable. I would like to give each one a special commendation! And as to the actual planning of the trip, PERFECT. My granddaughter, Piper, is a very engaging and active 12 year old and loved all the water activities - swimming at the olive grove on the way to Delphi, sea kayaking while in Nafplion, SCUBA in Naxos (this is what Piper really loved), catamaran in Santorini! I loved all the ancient history and those tour people were terrific. Can't say enough positive about the whole experience. Thank you.
Rogene Gillmor and Piper Cameron

We recently returned from a wonderful holiday with the kimkim team exploring by road from Dubrovnik to Tirana, traveling through Montenegro, Kosovo, and Albania.

Our time with Ed and Ardi was very special. We came on board late in the piece after Ed and our traveling companion Lynette had created a well thought out itinerary having John and myself feeling like privileged children free of all responsibility. Together they chose excellent hotels and the way Ed and Ardi pampered us with special stopovers, luggage handling, smooth check-ins, finding the right roads and car parks, getting us "there" on time had us feeling absolutely secure and safe. How could we ever have managed such a relaxing holiday without such tailored service? At no time did we worry about anything at all even though we were in countries that we knew little about and with language barriers. With Ardi's charm and language skills, we were free of worries at border crossings or barriers between ourselves and the lovely people we encountered.
If we were to try to describe the stunning landscapes of Montenegro and Albania we would run dry of superlatives. The topography of these countries is simply breathtaking. The thrill of discovering real medieval history in towns like Dubrovnik, Cetinje, Kotor, Gjakova, and Prizren was an exceptional experience. The tragic political history of the Balkans although so recently experienced feels by now to be part of history, what we did appreciate was to have local guides arranged for us who were able to deliver information on important matters, bringing a gravity to our experience of a real lived environment that appears on the surface to be a postcard photographer's dream but has by contrast layers of history both recent and ancient that should never be forgotten. In Tirana, they managed to find us delicious food experiences and despite drama on the streets, we felt very happy and privileged to be there among such charming people. Altogether we could not have asked for a more relaxing travel experience while enjoying all the benefits and stimulation of countries more commonly known as intrepid travel destinations.

Excellent. Thanks.

Overall we had a good trip. The private guides were all amazing! At times things felt a bit disjointed but our trip coordinator Ieva made herself available via WhatsApp so we could coordinate.

Terrofic all around. Christos helped put a great itinerary together: It was dense and ambitious but never hurried. Precisely what we like.

The welcome dinner with great Akropolis views, great guides for mytholoy tour and kayaking...a truly outstanding experience.

Was our second Kimkim experience, after Nepal: Another winner.

Randall was fantastic from start to finish, his local knowledge and suggestions for tours and activities resulted in a fun filled 6 day itinerary as part of our family holiday to Costa Rica. The hotels, transfers and tours all went smoothly and communication throughout the booking process was clear and very easy.
Thank you Randall! We had a fantastic time and would recommend your services and KimKim to anyone looking to book a holiday to beautiful Costa Rica. Pura Vida!

Although the trip was enjoyable overall -- and Ingrid was fabulous -- there are several areas in which improvements could be made. First, I would provide more detailed traveler information. Such as for arrival at Oslo airport, include instructions for how to pay for and get on the Airport express train. Detailed instructions are important for first-time visitors. Then, upon arrival at the Central Train Station in Oslo, include instructions such as "look for exit marked "[fill in name of street]" and then look for the green hotel with Egon restaurant at street level. That would have made it easier for us to locate the hotel. And for arrival in Bergen, include instructions such as "do not take the pedestrian street to get to your hotel because of the cobblestones; instead, take the following walking route (and fill in the details with street names, directions, etc.)." In terms of guides, Stig (in Oslo) was good but not great. He was just not personable enough, and he did not seem to be enjoying showing off his city. On the other hand, Ingrid's walking tour of Bergen was the highlight of our trip. She was animated and her enthusiasm was palpable. She was, in short, fabulous. And Ingrid was very, very helpful in arranging for room changes in our hotels in both Oslo and Bergen. I know the hot weather was not anyone's fault, but when I expressed concern months ago about whether there was air conditioning in the hotels that were booked for us in Oslo and Bergen, you should have given us hotel options (such as the Opus hotel right next door in Bergen) that did have air conditioning. The lack of air conditioning in all of our Norway hotels detracted significantly from our enjoyment of the trip.

I took my 12 years old daughter to her Bat Mitzvah wish trip.. I was worried it’s just the two of us and couldn’t really find an organized tour that was right for us. We wanted to start in Milan and end it in Amalfi Coast in two full weeks. Carmelo was super helpful from day one.. I started clueless about where and how I’m going to tour Italy and I left the States confident with a fabulous, detailed trip plan! He helped me through step by step. If it’s to get private transportation when it’s more needed or to get the right train ticket from city to city!!! He booked me private tours in Venice and Rome which were so important since we would have had to wait the crazy long lines for hours in the hot water!! I must say that everything he booked for me was top quality! In between our trip we had a few changes and Carmelo was there to assist me. On the weekend when he was out of the office Alexandra was in touch with me and was great help!
To summarize this experience, I’m so grateful I chose Kimkim to assist with this once in a lifetime tour of great Italy!!!

We had a most memorable trip. From our conversations via message with Edwin, who answered all my queries, to Karla who met us at the airport and then guided us through her Galapagos. Her passion and knowledge for the Islands was evident and she was patient in explaining all the different flora and fauna. She was so accommodating with me when we had to do the 3x 3 hour boat trips as I can get sea sick and also helped out a complete stranger who was really sick on one of the trips. We enjoyed having our own free time and Karla’s suggestions for dinner.
I was great to have someone who spoke Spanish and knew the ways to get tickets, where o go and the best places to sit.
The different activities were good but I would suggest offering to be able to bike ride the wetlands on Isabela Island so that the wall of tears could be reached as well. Also just something a bit different as we enjoy bike riding. Or maybe offer it as something that could be done on the free afternoon.
Taking into account where we were, I felt the first stay on San Cristobel was just adequate. Santa Cruz’s Hotel was lovely but Isabela Island hostel was very basic. Our room was next to a generator that constantly went off. The ‘taxi driver’ was the son of the hotelier. He was not friendly, drove like he was on a car rally and totally did not understand his clients.
That was really the only down side to an otherwise memorable trip to the Galapagos!! Thanks kimkim

Ps- other that me losing my necklace that will hopefully be at one of the hotels!!
Raeanne and Colin McLean

We trekked from Corte to Evisa over 4 days in July so the weather this year was hot- often in the mid 30's. It was usually a moderate walk with some hard areas so the beautiful cold swimming holes found in the streams were a very welcome site a couple of times a day and made all the difference to our hike. Without them the weather would have been far to hot to enjoy.
The distances covered were good for each day- although they were futher than indicated and so oftern excluding stop imte took longer to cover. The beeer at the end of each day at the hotels went down well and fast!
Each hotel had its own charm and we very much enjoyed them.

It was a great pleasure working with Daiana. She replied to all my questions throughout the planning phase and helped me customize my trip. I will give her a wave on top of the 5 star rating.

Atacama:
1) Our private guides Alejandra, Frank, and Javier (driving us) to the Moon and Mars Valley and the Rainbow Valley were absolutely fantastic. They had the passion and experience to match that of ours. They took pleasure answering our questions or even look up the internet to do so.
2) The group tour guides for the Cejar Lagoon and Tatio Geysers were great too but were not of the same quality as those on our private trips. They were friendly an responsive though. Although not too knowledgeable about the geology and scientific facts that they were explaining.
3) Star grazing was out of the world, I wish we could do more.
4) Location of the Hotel, friendliness of staff, proximity to major restaurants an town center was great.

Easter Island:
1) Stunning group tours at Easter Island. Great organization, improvisation when it started raining to add two trips into one helped us see everything planned.
2) Durande (might be butchering his name), our tour guide was a native Rapa Nui with the great depth and breadth of knowledge that impressed us.
3) Private tour to watch sunset at Tahai need not be a guided tour. All we needed is a vehicle to go to the spot. The tour guide was friendly and did his job, but there were not much to guide.
4) Location of the Hotel was too far from the town center. I would recommend giving us a choice even that makes a price difference. One option should be near town center or near beach the other option could be the one where we stayed.

Overall a 5 Star experience. Appreciate Daiana's willingness to help, good organization of the tours, and reasonably priced for the value we got.

Will highly recomment Kimkim and Say Hueque and will use them for our next trip to South America.

Best regards,
Soumava Adhya
[email protected]

10 days, 9 nights in Iceland... trip of a lifetime. Caroline was so in tune with what we wanted to see and she made sure to include all the right places to view puffins, (we saw thousands), as well as magnificent scenery and all the suggestions for spectacular sights. The ease of hotel check in, car rental and all the ferry schedules and tickets were perfect. Each hotel offered a great breakfast to start our day, for the many km's we drove and walked. Grimsey Island the best for the unbelievable amount of puffins and how close we could actually get to take photos. Each different city or town we stayed in, seemed to be better than the last, each offering something different and unique. Food choices were vast, delicious and prices very comparable to Canada. This vacation by far exceeded our expectations. Thanks again Caroline,(so glad we got to meet you as well).

Jackie/Barb

Chio was very responsive and accommodating. This was our first time to Colombia so it was great to obtain his guidance and recommendations. All of our booked guides were professional, knowledgeable and fun! Our favorite parts of the trip included the cooking class in Cartagena, the hike in Tayrona and our glamping stay in Minca. I would definitely recommend booking with Chio and KimKim if its your first time to Colombia. Having the accommodations and transportation booked for you in advance was a must! It added a lot of ease to the trip. Can't wait to go back!