Kimkim Trip Reviews

Marina helped us create a memorable journey through Croatia starting at Split, to Hvar then up to Zadar by car, to Plitvice Lakes, onward through Istria to Rovinj and Pula.
The apartments Marina booked for us were just right for our trip, within walking distances of what we wanted to see and perfect for the way we travel, with a kitchen to prepare snacks and meals. Our landlords were all very nice. We recommend them all to other travelers.
The ferry rides and the car rental worked perfectly. We got to see much more of the non-touristy areas when we were driving north and even detour to a winery we wanted to visit.
Marina stayed in contact with us all along the way making sure we were happy. We even met her in her home town of Tragir, spent some time getting to know each other. It gave us a chance to thank her personally for all the work she did. She brought gifts for us as well! We felt like we made a long time friend.

I had a great experience working with Joel in planning my month-long wine and food-focused road trip in France. I started in Bordeaux and went through all of the major wine regions in France (except for the Loire and Alsace) ending with an epic visit in Champagne and a few days in Paris. He planned the route, selected fantastic hotels and Chambre d'Hotes for me to stay. And in each location, he arranged wine excursions and food tours that were perfect for my interests.

At one point we had difficulty with one of the tours. I notified Joel right away and he was able to get things squared away for us quickly and easily.

Throughout this process (we refined the trip plan about 8 times), Joel was helpful and friendly. When we were in Beaujolais, he even came out to meet my sister and I. It was fantastic to put the face with the name and it felt like I was meeting a friend.

I will definitely work with KimKim again!

Christos arranged a wonderful itinerary for our family of four, to Athens, Mykonos, Naxos and Santorini. The accommodations were modern and hospitable, not sure we could have found them on our own! We had several terrific excursions, including a Greek history/mythology tour in Athens with Athens Insiders, a visit to a Mykonian farm with a traditional dinner afterward, a bike tour of Naxos' beautiful coastline (local guide Reno is fantastic!), and a boat tour of the caldera/volcano region in Santorini. Only caveat I would add is to be specific in your requests to the agency - e.g., hotel walkable to beach or town, etc. The Travel12 team was extraordinarily professional and responsive to all of our needs, particularly when issues cropped up with delayed planes etc as happens with travel. Much appreciation! We recommend Christos and the team without reservation.

We asked for a custom trip with some out of the box requests but Kimkim delivered! They helped set up the perfect trip for us with accommodations meeting to exceeding expectations. All the tours went smoothly and when there were the tiniest of hiccups, they were there to help and answer questions. They also helped informed us when tours were altered. I enjoyed our hike in hopes to see an arctic fox with Stephanie, scooting around the westman islands, zodiaking through the icebergs, exploring the lava cave, investigating an ice cave, and all the little non-touristy spots. Overall kimkim’s service was superb and greatly aided in the smooth, once-in-a-lifetime trip. Thank you!

We were very pleased with the service we received from Kimkim and their travel partner AndAdventure. Our questions and requests were answered promptly and professionally.
I would highly recommend Kimkim to anyone looking for a travel adventure.

This trip was incredibly good. Our specialist, Miha Ganter, listened to what we wanted to do and made the itinerary fit our desires. Plus he checked up on us on a regular basis. Our trip combined hiking for both of us with fly fishing for my husband. The fly fishing trips were wonderful, according to my husband, with good guides and beautiful rivers. Miha had arranged the days so I could take some simple hikes on my own during those days - plus there was a spa! All in all, the itinerary from Miha took us to some incredibly beautiful places. We had no idea so much beauty, and such varied beauty, could be located in such a small country!
All the accommodations were good. Two stand out. First, Vila Park at Lake Bohinj. The proprietor talks to all her guests and finds out what they want to do. She was especially helpful to us as she knew exactly how long each hike would take (we were a little slower than the 'average' time). Most importantly, she made the very welcome suggestion that we take the bus to Lake Bled instead of driving. The bus stop was right next to her B&B, and we had a relaxed and enjoyable day without the hassle of traffic. The second place I want to mention was one of the highlights of my life of traveling -- Hotel Dobra Villa in Bovec. The place was lovely, the grounds were lovely, but the personal expertise and talents of the staff were just amazing. The person in charge made everything look beautiful. Not only did he run the B&B flawlessly, but he was the person who designed the gardens. The chef was amazing! Two of the best meals of our lives were there. I am so grateful to Miha for sending us there.
I also took advantage of the suggestions Miha made for activities. Two that stand out are the Flower Power Walk at Bovec and the stupendously exciting and beautiful rafting adventure with SocaSplash. There were so many rafting companies in Bovec and I would never have been able to figure out which one fit our desires without Miha's advice.
Driving the car was not a problem, but it did take us quite a bit longer than the estimated time. Sometimes roads were closed; sometimes we just missed turns. Our GPS card did not work as it was supposed to, but in talking to Miha we are the only people who have ever experienced difficulties. I think that the problems were caused by our phone which evidently didn't sync quite correctly.
We found driving in Piran to be very stressful. Miha had thought we could park for an hour or so in front of the hotel - which turned out not to be the case. The hotel wanted us to move immediately as they said the police absolutely loved giving parking tickets to tourists. We would recommend driving to the public parking garage and parking the car, then having the hotel shuttle come and pick you up. Piran itself was lovely! I had asked Miha to give us guidance for another hiking trip for our last day, which he did. However, it turned out his original plan was best -- we just sat under an umbrella and watched the people play in the ocean while eating ice cream. It was great.

I DO NOT give reviews for business or services as a general rule. I DO NOT like to use tour planners or groups for my trips all over the world. I DO, HOWEVER, HIGHLY RECOMMEND KIMKIM. They have provided a service tailored to individual interest with trip planning at an affordable price for our trip to Marrakesh. Morocco.

Sharon, my trip advisor, was very attentive and very helpful in not only dealing with my changing plans but adding to my interest in our trip to Morocco, in particular, Marrakesh. I originally was going for a 5 day trip. I changed it at least 3 times and ended up with a 4 day trip only to Marrakesh. Sharon helped me at every turn and even added a cooking class to our schedule at the last minute.

Richard, our personal driver and guide in Marrakesh was on time, had a smile, and had something interesting to say and add to the days tour. He above all was flexible with our schedule allowing us time to explore more interesting places or people. He is also the best driver I have ever seen. Driving in Marrakesh is beyond crazy-- he was in complete control.

Kalib and his wife conducted our cooking class. It was not at some business address, rather it was at their house in the middle of Marrakesh. They opened their house to us, took us to the local market to buy the food we were going to cook that night. We also met several of their family members as well. We were there for several hours and the food was delicious. The Moroccan spices and cooking style was easy to follow and extremely interesting. This was a truly unique experience to meet and be with a local family at their house, in a local neighborhood and see their lifestyle.

Kimkim found and provided a really unique experience for my time in Marrakech. I will never forget it. Thank You.

Jorg was not our specialist. It was a woman Joanna, who was excellent.
The biking was fantastic. My only complaint is that the bike itself was too big for me, and it made it difficult to get on and off.. My understanding is that you only have 2 sizes for an E bike, but it actually felt a little dangerous. Generally , the bike trips I've been on before not only want your height, but your actual inseam (groin to ankle) to get the appropriate bike. It may have also helped it the saddle bag could have been on the side instead of the back, which just made it harder to get my leg over. I had to keep my water bottle in the saddle bag, as it would have made it even harder for me to get on and off if it was kept in the clips.

However, I still totally enjoyed the trip. The routes were great. / The hotels excellent/ the beeches beautiful. and the food delicious.

We had a great trip to Norway and wholeheartedly recommend KimKim. Everything was taken care of for us perfectly. We had so much fun. Truly, it was the trip of a lifetime, and having everything planned and booked for us made the experience so easy and stress-free. We loved it and recommend the service so much. Ingrid was a delight to work with, and so responsive. Thank you!

Such an incredible trip. Peru is a beautiful country in its landscapes and it’s culture. The whole vacation was amazing. Sacred Valley, Aguas Callientes, Cusco, and Lima, every part was unique and thoroughly enjoyable. Machu Picchu was obviously the highlight of the trip. Hiking to the Sun Gate was a little rough but absolutely breathtaking, totally worth it. Sacred Valley was probably our favorite part. The salt mines, moray terraces, Ollantantaytambo fortress, and of course the Pachamanca dinner was delicious. Kimkim made it possible to fully enjoy that with as little stress as possible. Our guides were amazing, Julio in Sacred Valley, Freddy in Cusco, and Cynthia in Lima. So friendly and knowledgeable. They made sure we were comfortable, happy, and well fed during our entire stay. The hotels were also great, very welcoming to go back to after a long day of sightseeing. Would definitely return to Peru and definitely recommend kimkim.

Our trip to Italy and Greece was amazing! The local tour guide, Bartholomew, really made Pompeii and Mt. Vesevius come to life. His knowledge and expertise of the area and the ancient history were fantastic. Dino, our guide in Rome, was also exceptional, he found so many unique and interesting places throughout Rome that made the experience delightful. He knew all the great places to go and how to avoid the crowds. Dionysus, was our guide in Athens and out to the Sanctuary of Artemis, which was a spectacular place to visit, was incredibly knowledgeable and toured us around with a wonderful ability to engage with history. Effie, our guide to Delphi, was also amazing and told such great stories about the Oracle's cunning ways. Outside of our tour guides the places we stayed and recommendations from Veronica were truly fabulous and we loved all the amazing places we were able to see and go to while seeing Italy and Greece.

perfect trip...exceptional attention to detail. looking forward to future collaborations.

Overall a wonderful trip. I think as a group we were very satisfied with the service provided by Erin and her team. They were easy to contact and made sure that we had everything we needed like rides to and from the airport, information on the trek, and even helped make possible a helicopter trip to Kathmandu which we all really enjoyed.

Some of the highlights of the trip include the helicopter ride to Kathmandu, Kalapattar, EBC in the snow, visiting the Tengbooche monastery, and staying in Namche.

I want to give a special shout out to Tendu our guide. He was incredible and really helped make the trip memorable. Tendu was very knowledgeable about the area and we could point to pretty much any peak and he could name it and give the height. He was extremely attentive to us and it felt like he was genuinely concerned about our safety and well being. The whole time we felt very safe with him and felt like we were in good hands. He was extremely friendly, always positive and happy, and we all got to know him very well on the trip. The assistant guide Passang and the two porters were also wonderful and we were very happy with the service and experience they provided to us. Never have I seen a stronger group of young men than the porters.

The only real thing I think could have better was clarity about what was included during our stay at Hotel Manaslu. I think we were charged for breakfast a few times when I think it should have been included. Other than that I do not have much to complain about.

Overall a wonderful trip and I am very satisfied with both the experience and the service provided. Emphasis on how amazing Tendu and his team were. I plan on returning to the Khumbu sometime in the future, with Tendu hopefully as my guide.

We had a great time in Wales and the English countryside! Thank you to our local specialist, Daniel, who provided five-star service! (Excellent communication, useful advice, super responsive and paid attention to our trip details). We had an unexpected missed flight connection, and he jumped in to adjust our itinerary. We were truly in the hands of a professional! The local tours he confirmed were inspiring and personalized to my family. The guides adapted to what we liked and adjusted the timing to best suit us. Excellent fun in Wales and down to Stonehenge for history and mystery. Noted: Every guide or driver was on time, courteous, and accommodating. Thank you!

The planning portion with Edmondo and Valentina were great and a huge relief. They worked very hard and efficiently to answer my questions and address my needs. It was nice to have the trains all booked ahead of time. We weren't too excited about our hotel choices, we felt as though they weren't really 4 stars, and the hotel in Florence was out of the way.

During the actual trip, we hit a few snags and we think it may be a miscommunication between KimKim and the tour groups chosen.
In Rome, we went to our meeting spot for the Skip the Line Colosseum, Palatine Hill, and Roman Forum tour at the designated time (15 minutes prior) as directed on the final itinerary. When we arrived there at Romaround, the desk worker told us that we needed to be there 30 minutes earlier and pushed us to the next tour that was 2 hours later. After killing time, we came back and another couple experienced the same issue. When they asked to be put on an earlier tour, their request was granted...meanwhile, my husband and I sat there with no offer of jumping into that tour. After I spoke to the desk worker, he said at first that we couldn't move up, yet another worker was able to make it happen.
For our Vatican Tour the following day, we experienced the same issue. We were given a choice of 10am or 11:30am, the only requirement being that we show up to the tour agency a half hour early. My husband and I showed up an HOUR early for the 11:30am tour and we were immediately told we had to go on the 12:30pm tour because other people had walked in earlier and took our spots. We feel that an easy solution could be put in place at this particular agency; simply hold the spot for visitors who went through a planning agency (like KimKim), tell walk-ins that there are possible spots available but they need to wait, and if they don't show up, then give those spots to walk-ins.
Giving walk-ins priority over people who made weeks in advance was upsetting. This was also frustrating because we knew we were in a time crunch with a later activity.

Again, I greatly appreciate the time my specialists put into my trip, tailoring it to what we wanted. The timing and level of expertise was above and beyond what I expected. However, I was greatly disappointed in the tour agencies chosen in Rome (Florence and Venice tour agencies were awesome) -- hopefully there are other Rome tour guides you can consult with.

Our trip sailing the islands of Dalmatia was awesome! Veselka took care to respond to all of our requests on details. The master stroke was Dubravko--the owner of the 43 foot sailboat that we made home for 5 nights. He treated us as family. We loved hearing the stories and history of Vis, Brac and Hvar. He continuously showed us the places to see "off the beaten path" as well as letting us see the well-known places. Loved Stari Grad--they were having an evening of traditional dance and song for Hvar. He made sure we had front row seats. We had a great time on the water and onshore. I can't imagine a better captain. We really loved everything about the experience.

Steve and his team took such great care of us throughout the trip! Our two guides, Pich and Dy, were wonderful as they helped navigate us around Phnom Penh and Siem Reap. Not only did they show us the sites but they were helpful in recommending places to visit as well. The itinerary crafted by Steve was well thought out and was very accommodating to my family since we could only walk a few miles per day. I highly recommend using this agency for any future Cambodia travels!

Sam was fantastic. His communication was superb, he listened to our requests well and provided excellent experiences coordinated by reliable, on-time, friendly, competent and helpful drivers and guides. He made us reservations at restaurants with unbelievable vistas - we couldn't believe our views in Granada and in Ronda - once-in-a-lifetime dining! Our guide in Seville was our favorite - Delia was kind, helpful, friendly, engaging and professional. The bike ride she took us on was fabulous and tapas and Flamenco was delicious and captivating. The bull fight was an unforgettable experience and visiting the Bull farm on the same day was perfect timing. We loved all the towns we saw and enjoyed being in cities as well as the country side. Overall an EXCELLENT trip and we will be recommending KimKim to our friends as well as using this service again ourselves. FIVE STARS!!!

It was a fantastic trip for our family. Greece was beautiful and the people we met were all so wonderful. All transfers were smooth except the ferries. The assigned seats on our tickets didn't work and we got bumped to a different ferry, which was confusing, but all in all we made it to Santorini and Crete. The guides, and I wish i could remember all of their names, were so all wonderful. Especially for our tour in Athens (Maria??), Delphi (Kristoff??), Akrotiri, Heraklion (George) and Vamos (George??). I'm so bad with names, sorry. The accommodations were great, especially in Santorini and Athens. The lodging in Chania... I personally wouldn't recommend, but my husband liked it. :)

As for Harris and the Travel 12 Team - fantastic job as well. Harris was always so quick to respond and really understood the importance of good food and lodging that my husband described. He truly listened and was very helpful. And that "Welcome to Greece" dinner at Manh Manh was simply INCREDIBLE!!! We only wished we could have gotten back to that restaurant.

Thank you again for everything
Stacey Bland

This was an amazing trip. Our itinerary was great with enough time to really get a feel for each place. Our lodgings were great, and all were located close to all major attractions. We spent time in Dubrovnik, Hvar, Split, Zadar, Plitvice Lakes, and Zagreb. All were great. Our personalized tours in Split with Nives and in Zagreb with Vlatka were fantastic and really informative. Our lodging in Hvar was especially great. Our host, Mila, was so welcoming. She invited us in to her kitchen with her and her friends and we shared wine and food and wonderful conversation. Our wine and dinner tour in Hvar was great with a great dinner in an abandoned village above Hvar town, Malo Grablje. What a neat experience strolling through the ruins up to restaurant with great service and great scenery. Though crowded, the national parks we visited (Krka and Plitvice) were beautiful, and I highly recommend them. Veselka planned our trip wonderfully. She was responsive to our questions and concerns. She personally met at us the ferry port in Split to take us to our lodging. There was one minor glitch in trip requiring us to rush to cabs to get to a ferry. Veselka responded rapidly and resolved the issue. When we arrived at our ferry destination three hours later our greeter presented us with an envelop of cash to reimburse our cab fare. I could not have asked for a better vacation and a better planner than Veselka. I highly recommend her and her company. Anyone uncertain about visiting Croatia should get over it. It is a beautiful country with wonderful people, incredible history, great roads, and great food!