Kimkim Trip Reviews

My daughter and I really enjoyed our trip. The connections were seamless and always on time. The best part of the trip were our guides. They were all well informed, interesting, and just plain fun to hang out with. I would highly recommend Kim-kim.
Matthew

I d just like to thank Lemon and the team from kimkim for a such a well organised tour of China ! My three guides Jerry, Candy and Danny treated me very well and spoke clear English fluently. My first guide Jerry, showed me the highlights of Beijing, the Great Wall, Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City, a rickshaw ride and visit to a local family and the summer palace. The second guide Candy, she was very experienced and knowledgeable about her tour in Xian, Terracotta Warriors, Museum, old pergoda , calligraphy class andMuslim quarter. My third guide Danny in Guilin, he took me to Reed Flute Cave, Elephant trunk hill , the Li River and moon hill. My guides were brilliant hosts and they all enhanced my China experience. The accommodation recommended and booked by Lemon was exceptional I can not recommend them all highly enough
Once again thankyou
Gary Crettenden

Preeti took the info we gave her on what we wanted to do and see and designed a great vacation for my family I will recommend her to all my friends that want to experience the wonderful place called Iceland

Overall, the expectation for this experience was met, however I expected more service from the concierge and better coordination between the planner and concierge for each location I got a concierge.

The concept of having a digital travel agent was very appealing especially since the planning is performed by people locally and helps for my busy schedule. I felt during the planning process I got the service I expected. However, I felt that I was not attended too as much as I thought I would when I actually traveled. I felt a little alone out there which is why I used your services.

On the days I had off, I was not offered any advice or suggestions. When it came to the activities that was planned, it felt like the concierge was just checking off a box on a list then moving on to the next thing. I felt things could be more personable, like visiting a family or friend who makes sure everything is okay and offer up some local information to create a better experience.

Chris did a great job putting together a memorable trip around Iceland, encouraging us to explore some of the more remote areas. We had all kinds of weather from sleet and snow and wind to warm sun. No problem at Lake Myvatn with bugs, probably because it was a bit cool. Good marsh bird watching there and at Djupivogur. Loved Seydisfjordur and the newly renovated guesthouse, Vio Lonio. Appreciated being pointed to the various little museum: Sheep Farming Museum in Holmavik, Herring Museum in Siglufjordur, Heritage Museum in Isafjordur and others. The Kia he rented for us handled the mildly terrifying, narrow dirt roads up and down the fjords beautifully. Other memorable hotels were the Vogafjos Farm House at Lake Myvatn, Guesthouse Skalafell outside Skaftafell Park., and Helgugata Guesthouse in Borgarnes. Less memorable were the Fosshotel in Patreksfjordur (costly and less unique) and the Arnastapi Cottages (beautiful location, but be sure to ask for a guesthouse or hotel room with an unobstructed view of the ocean. Also, no good place for dinner). The Sea Monster Museum was pretty lame, but some might like it. Waterfalls were all spectacular and we even saw some crazy kayakers go over one as part of a film shoot.) I'd also recommend the Insight Guide, Explore Iceland as an adjunct to Chris' suggestions. Thanks for everything!

This was a fantastic experience and tour … absolutely gorgeous scenery … and very few tourists to compete with. Ed's Drive Albania put together a custom itinerary through 4 countries. Our guide - Ardi - was absolutely fantastic … at the end of the trip we consider him our friend and have invited him to visit us in Florida. Ardi was always making sure we were being taken care of and even modified the itinerary at our request. A very high service level.

We agree with the write-ups that traveling in the Balkan region is safe - we never felt uncomfortable or unsafe … although it did help to have Ardi who spoke all the languages needed and knew the roads very well. We stayed at 2 guest houses which really personalized the experience … and off-roaded for a couple of days in the mountains which was one of the highlights of the adventure. We have a ton of pictures and very fond memories of our Balkan experience.

I would absolutely use Drive Albania again.

We loved our trip to North Peru that we organised through Phima Voyages. Martina was wonderful as we made our plans and bookings. She kept us really well informed and provided lots of good advice and local information.
The airport transfers and hotel bookings were very well organised.
Our tours were wonderful. It was great to get away from the main areas for international tourism and explore a bit more of Peru. A highlight for us was the ruins at Keulap, but we enjoyed our experiences too. Our guide was friendly, well informed and helpful. Our driver was very professional and we always felt safe, including on some of the winding dirt roads.
While we were there we experienced a magnitude 8 earthquake. The Phima team were great at making us feel safe (which we were!) and keeping us informed about potential changes due to rockfalls on the roads.
I really recommend Phima to anyone looking for a personalised travel experience in the Chachapoyas area.

We thoroughly enjoyed our trip to the Bolivian Altiplano. Milenka was very good at planning the trip for our group of six . She was available for help and tips before and during the trip . It was very easy to work with her. The hotels she picked were comfortable and in great locations . We especially enjoyed the Hacienda Cayara in Potosi ( it was like going back in time) and the Palacio de Sal. Her guides were all very nice and knowledgeable. I want to especially commend the two drivers we had from Carolina del Norte Tours , Roger and Martin. They were very safe and professional ( and helped me improve my Spanish ). Bolivia is safe and an incredible beautiful country (the Salar and the Eduardo Avaroa Reserve are among the most memorable places I have ever seen) and its people are very friendly . Speaking some Spanish helped us meet some locals who were eager to talk to us : a miner or the people in the salteña shop or at the markets, and especially Nieves who gave us the plantation tour at Munaipata Coffee.

What rating do you give a tour when the guides – literally – saved your life? We arrived in Bhutan and began acclimatizing to the higher altitudes. Part of this process included hiking to Tiger’s nest (which was utterly amazing) and we hiked from Cheila Pass to Kila Goemba (a monastery). In regard to altitude, we were hiking at altitudes as high as 3,988 meters. While I did experience some issues, I got through both hikes, relatively, unscathed. In case one wonders, I was taking medicine to help me acclimatize. On day four we began our trek in earnest.

On this initial hike of our trek, we were scheduled to gain, roughly, 770 meters. About 4 miles into a 13 & ½ mile hike I began to experience difficulties, my legs felt extremely heavy and I was having a hard time catching my breath. I sat down on a rock and promptly passed out, the first of ten times. Two of the guides (after administering oxygen a number of times) put me between their shoulders and took me back down to where we started the hike (lower elevation and that was the first place a helicopter could land). When we reached where we started our hike, the tour company had arranged for us to be met by army personnel, including a medic, who administered an IV drop. I was air lifted out and taken to the hospital in Bhutan.

At the hospital, the medical staff treated me for severe dehydration, my kidneys were not functioning properly. I spent two nights, three days in the hospital and the tour company insured that someone was in the hospital with me the entire time, insuring that I understood what was being asked, checking on the care that I was given (chasing down medical staff when they thought I needed attention), bringing food and blankets.

Amazing group of individuals, whose sole concern was for my safety and comfort – if they hadn’t acted the way that they did, it is NOT hyperbole to say that I may not be here today. I cannot say enough good things about them. If you are planning on hiking in Bhutan, I would strongly recommend using them.

I thought overall this was a well planned trip. Every day was different and it felt that there were different themes. We didn't drive long between locations. What made it so successful is that we had a framework and a structure, but allowed us the flexibility to change our plans during the course of the day. Weather is Ireland is always unpredictable. We had a challenging start but the weather came through nicely at the tail end of our trip.

On the first day, driving up to Galway made sense because it was accessible and it was an easy way to get started with some light tourist walking through the streets and getting a flavor of Irish culture. We especially enjoyed watching the finals of the premier league championship in a packed local pub which resembled a mosh pit. The noise and enthusiasm was electrifying.

I enjoyed Doolin, especially the pubs where the locals attended listening to music. I highly recommend Sheedy's B&B. We enjoyed hiking the cliffs of Mohr from Doolin to the tourist center as it was private and less people. Getting a taxi to take us back to Doolin was easy and convenient vs. taking a bus back into town. I think starting from the Tourist center is a mistake as there are too many people.

The Dingle penisula was my favorite part of the trip. Enjoyed the B&B and appreciated majestic views of the mountains in the backdrop along the coastline. Great walking trails. We just barely missed getting the boat over to Blassket Island but enoyed the museum had some nice walks in the AM along the coastline. We loved the Falconary and that was truly was an unique and unforgettable experience. The pub and music nightlife was great too.

Touring Skellig Michael was another highlight of the trip and we were fortunate for a very nice sunny day. Memorable. A must!

Heading up to Limerick the next day and seeing the castles and walking the trails was a good day to "strecth the legs". Nightlife was great too.

Ending our trip in Dublin was a good way to slow it down a bit. We enjoyed the museums at Trinity college, GPO (must), public gardens, as well as the Jamenson and Guinesse. Although it is a touristy thing to do, taking the "hop on and hop off" bus tour is a good way to get around to see the city. The early am drive from Dublin to Shannon airport was easy and not too taxing.

Ed and Ardi were unfailingly polite and available to help us with every request.

I enjoy planning and booking trips on my own, however for this last minute vacation I felt pressured. We would be meeting family in Europe then travelling on together for just 5 full days in Norway. The itinerary (Norway in a Nutshell based) involved several connections by train and ferry at the beginning of tourist season, and I was worried that by the time I did my research the tickets we wanted would be unavailable. So I decided to let kimkim expert Andre handle everything. Good move; no worries and everything went smoothly. Andre sent a detailed plan that included the tickets for the Norway in a Nutshell trains/ferries; information for the hotel bookings for two nights in Oslo, two in Balestrand and two in Bergen; directions and options for transportation from the airport to the hotel in Oslo, and how to get to the airport in Bergen. He tailored activites and sight-seeing according to our interests and offered hotel options to fit our preferences. The communication was excellent, and Andre had great suggestions and lots of patience with my many questions as the plans were tweaked. We enjoyed the Bergen and Flam trains and the ferry to the glaciers in Fjaerland, and a highlight was the quiet time we spent in Balestrand. Jon at the Midtnes Hotel was a very thoughful and accomodating host (picking us up unexpectedly at the dock, and offering earlier breakfast times around our ferry trips) and our room had million dollar views. I would highly recommend Andre and kimkim.

We absolutely loved Norway. It is a beautiful country with wonderful people. Everyone was so friendly and helpful. Our boat tour through the fjords was gorgeous. We especially enjoyed the Flåm train ride and our trip to Lofoten Islands. A guide named Boyd, from Aktiv took us on a very nice kayaking tour. He was very informative about the people, the culture, and the history of the area.

Planning the trip with Ingrid was a dream! She had excellent suggestions, was thorough in her planning and left us very detailed instructions. She even gave us maps so that we would have a general idea where we needed to go. I have given all of my friends the recommendations on booking travel through kim kim. We had a wonderful experience and every hotel and activity met or exceeded our expectations.

Our only obstacles were generally in the area of language. While everyone spoke English, we really had a tough time reading the signs or following directions that were written in Norwegian. This posed most challenging while driving. Some how we made it through the trip with just a parking ticket!

We had an extraordinary trip to Greece, in large part because of the excellent guidance we received from Nicky. We found that our vacation very much matched our sensibilities in terms of our destinations, accommodations, and the activities that were planned for us. The pre-trip planning process went very smoothly and communication was prompt and very helpful.

Despite a few glitches that were quickly remedied, the logistics of drivers and ferries was handled smoothly. I’m pretty sure the process without KimKim/Travel21 would’ve been substantially more difficult. Instead we were able to focus on enjoying the beauty of Greece.

Highlights of our trip included touring and hiking the beautiful and unspoiled island of Tinos. Our stay at the lovely Onar hotel was very pleasant and the breakfast was phenomenal.

Our visit to Naxos was also very pleasant and we enjoyed the archeology museum in the castle, as well as touring the beautiful interior part of the island.

Everybody’s heard of Santorini, and it’s a truly unique place, but also teaming with tourists and assaulted by day-trippers from cruise ships. Based on what we’ve learned from the locals, I’d say that cruise ships are ruining things for just about everyone - better to go with a plan that helps the local economy and gives you the best experience.

Our accommodations at Santorini were perfect - a small boutique hotel away from the maddening crowds. We could easily walk down to the local village and were lucky to experience a “name-day” celebration at the church, which featured excellent music and dancing. An eBike tour was fantastic - highly recommended.

Our trip was bookended by visits to the Acropolis and the National Archeology Museum in Athens- both highly recommended.

Thanks again to Nicky!

Xheni was incredibly patient! I changed my plans several times and she was always flexible and understanding. We had a really great time in North Macedonia and really appreciate all the excellent input from Xheni. Thanks for everything.

In planning my trip to Greece, Vasilis was very attentive. He adjusted my itinerary many times to meet our needs. Our anniversary dinner he planned at Point A was outstanding. However, our travel documents were not received until May 9th for a May 13th departure. I feel that was cutting it close just in case there were any issues. As a whole, the trip was outstanding. Lampros, the driver in Athens, was excellent. Our tour guides in Santorini, Gustos and Paris, were fabulous. Costos and Tasos from Travel 12 were very helpful while we were in Greece. Vasilis checked in with us , as well. When we had an issue with our phone charger it was taken care of immediately. Our Catamaran tour in Santorini was cancelled at the last minute. We, however, were not notified of this cancellation until I called Travel 12 when no one came to pick us up. Tasos gave us a driver for 4 hours to take us to the beaches where we would have gone with the tour to compensate for the missed tour. Tasos made it right. Travel 12 was at our disposal before, during and after our trip. I would definitely use them and KimKim again.

Loved the desert area ouzazate and the drives from place to place - remarkable scenery and land scape. Everywhere we went was lovely, medinas, especially in Fes so interesting. Guide great, cooking class, great.. Chefchouen, fascinating. Ifrane, hotel beautiful, otherwise a bit disappointing but certainly different to the rest of what we saw. Enjoyed Tangiers and Essouria, lovely seaside places. Great guide in Essouria and Ouzazate. Loved the Yves St Laurent Gardens in Marrakech. Guide here Ok, didn't really do much, showed us the souks in the medina but took us to places where we expected to buy things. There was no pressure and I know they all have to do a bit of this but not to the extent that I thought he did.

This trip was a blast. Except for a problem with a late driver picking us up at a ferry dock, the whole trip was very smooth! The accommodations were very nice and the excursions were terrific. We felt we got a great introduction to Greece and the islands we visited. I especially enjoyed the local tours of the bell maker, cheese makers, distillery, winery, and tannery. --and of course all the ruins we visited. Our guides were wonderful, knowledgeable, and really went out of their way to make our tours exceptional. The thing I'll miss most is the food! Greek yogurt will never taste the same...

I would highly recommend Tasos and the entire Kimkim /Travel 12 team to everyone. Everyone we dealt with was very professional. Tasos put us with drivers that took us places we didn't even know existed. Every tour was right on point. The tours of ancient Athens, Meteora, Delphi and Messinia were incredible. Mykonos was fantastic and Santorini was wonderful. In Athens of course you must see the Acropolis. The meal arranged by Tasos was unbelievable. Meteroa is like something from another world, the beauty is breathtaking. Visiting the Oracle of Delphi is an experience you must have . Messinia is a treasure we didn't know about, thankfully Tasos and his team did. It is a very ancient city still under excavation, We had a tour with one of the people excavating the ancient city and found an ancient coin which we turned into the museum. Included with the tour of Messinia we met the last bell maker in the region as well as the last leather tanner. Once again our driver provided a few little side trips that were fantastic. The ferry ride to Mykonos was pretty cool. Mykonos is an incredible place. We needed this time in Mykonos to catch our breath. Delos is a sacred island in mythology with many ancient ruins but honestly by this point we were pretty tired so I don't thing we could really appreciate the magic of the island. On to Santorini. The island is a beautiful place and the catamaran tour Tasos set up was truly one of the highlights of the trip. Do not skip the catamaran trip! All of our transfers were right on time. Our driver in Athens was incredible. We feel like we made some friend. I will use Kimkim from now on when making vacation plans. My Mother-in-law, Wife and I just spent 2 weeks in Greece and I have nothing to complain about. Think about that! Thank you Tasos and your team, you truly provided the trip of a lifetime.

The trip was amazing. All except 1 individual were on-time for pickups and twice when he was involved our ride was late. Every other interaction was smooth as silk. It was a wonderful balance of guided tours and free time to roam on our own. I enjoyed that most of our tours weren't the traditional touristy thing. The accommodations were nice at each place and the staff was friendly and very helpful at each location. I have recommended Kimkim several times since returning from our adventure and will continue to do so.

Thanks for the wonderful time!