Kimkim Trip Reviews

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!

We had such a great experience with our trip and Robert did an amazing job of organizing everything. Valenka at sixteen lakes hotel at Plitvice national park was an outstanding host and prepared an amazing breakfast and made us feel so welcome - she was fantastic. We will definitely use Kimkim again for our travel needs: thank you!

Edson and Liz were my local specialists. They both offered great advice and help during my trip to Peru.

Marsa was fantastic and had great suggestions for us to maximize our time in Croatia. She really gave us personalized service and went the extra mile for us when we had an unfortunate situation . I highly recommend her for those planning to visit Croatia

Ingrid was wonderful. I'm so grateful for her expertise and excellent communication. Because of Ingrid, I'll definitely return to KimKim for future trip planning.

We planned this for a couple of generations of family, us (in our 40s) and our parents (ranging from 70 to 80). This overall was a great trip which allowed us to combine everyone's interest and also cater to some of the activities we wanted to do on certain days. At every hotel, the breakfasts were fantastic!

Most memorable - the first night restaurant. Although a tiny bit of a walk to get there (for our parents), it was beautiful, food delicious, and gorgeous view of the Acropolis. Pi Athens our hotel, although initially we were skeptical, the service and the rooms were great.

In Santorini - everything worked out wonderfully. Everyone really enjoyed the hotel we stayed (Fileria Suites). I really didn't miss the fact that we didn't have the views because we could go right across the street and enjoy them. Service was perfect.

In Archanes, the city was quaint, very quiet and didn't feel it was built for tourists yet. We had an extremely difficult time in finding the Kalimera Hotel and I had to call the hotel for them to meet us at a church (which was steps away from the entrance). We loved this hotel in its history, beauty, and service (again impeccable)... however, since we had seniors with us, we would have preferred to stay at a typical hotel without so many steps in the actual room. Although I know in Greece we did end up walking up and down quite a few staircases and uphills.... if we could have had the option in our hotel to do without we would have paid extra. Our parents did fine, but this would have been a good option for us to know about. Archanes, as much as we liked it, I know my parents would have loved to had a little touristy area to shop. So maybe a few more options of where to stay since we only had the one tour here and it sounds like we could have stayed in Heraklion, more built for tourists.

Chania - hands down this was the favorite of everyone in terms of the rooms, location, and also the elevator! Loved Chania in general - happy to walk around and explore on our own. The local tour was fantastic - loved the lunch, Raki making, cheese making, and bread making stops. Definite highlights.

Some pointers for our transfer from Chania to the ferry and to Athens. Our driver picked us up around 8:30 and we arrived at the ferry port around 9:30 or so - no problem. We thought we would be boarding the ferry immediately, but the ferry that was docked was for 10:00 PM or so. We found out that they ferry didn't arrive until 11:30 with a departure of 12:00 AM. So we ended up going to a cafe across the way and waited for a couple of hours. This was probably the low point of the trip as we were not expecting this wait. We would have rather waited in the hotel lobby a bit longer or at least know of the wait.

The overnight ferry ride was awesome - wish it could have been longer! But our transfer to Athens and our final day tour with Inside Athens was fantastic with Giannis as our tour guide.

Pick up to the airport worked everyone was able to depart on time!

I was impressed with the transport arrangements between and at destinations. People were there on time and were excellent drivers and this was arranged beautifully. The road to the Caribbean coast was not good and it was disappointing to see the lack of ongoing construction for what is an essential highway servicing the plantations and the North South link. This does no credit to the country and the government.

The Tortoguero experience was also excellent. Great hotel and a very good guide. The poor little village has a lot to learn if it wants to attract tourists and to get them to spend money rather than just walk through. There is so much competition in the world now for destinations that governments, local authorities and towns need to at the very least get on board or not bother and retain their own lifestyle.

The Caribbean coast would have been good for two days- five was too long especially at that time of year when the rainy season is starting. I am fit and active but not into dope, reggae, cheap food and surfing which seemed to be what was on offer. The hotel staff were a little surly ( one waitress was nice) . Despite being one of the few guests staying I was put into a dark downstairs room with no view of the sea ( there were balcony rooms which would have made the stay so much better) and the TV did not work. Very two star and was a low point in Costa Rica which coloured my overall impression of the country.

Avenal was a great area and I enjoyed the short time there. San Jose is clearly a city making a go of it in a period of transition. The Holiday In staff also need to go on a hospitality course. Just a few smiles would be good. The person selling tours in the lobby doesn't know how to smile. Facilities good and great location.

All in all Costa Rica was interesting. I stayed there about 5 days too long and while others have raved about the wild life, some huge conservation efforts are required to make it as good as Nepal, India, Borneo, Africa and the South Pacific, all places I have travelled. I got the feeling the country ( not Randall and the Kim Kim team) over promises and under delivers and I am not making making enthusiastic recommendations to others to travel there.

Good luck.

Our trip and experience in Greece was fantastic. We have Tasos and his team to thank, the itinerary was planned to suit our interests. The communication during the planning phase and while we were on our trip was exceptional. We were able to contact Travel 12 anytime, we had been provided with a sim, and there was always someone on the end of the phone to help. In one instance we were not able to locate a restaurant we were to go to and were helped to find it. The guides during our visit were informative and as our trips were in small groups or private you were able to learn more and had opportunity to have conversations. Our accommodation was lovely in all places and suited our budget and needs. We visited Athens and three islands which were very different and went to Tinos which was suggested by Tasos, this was a good choice as it was so different from
Santorini and Mykonos. The scenery was stunning and history, gave us adifferent view of the islands. I thank Tasos and his team for a wonderful trip and would recommend to anyone planning a trip to Greece you will love it.

Aspiring Adventures (Katy, Steve) did a great job ahead of the trip making sure they knew us and providing 2 itineraries with equipment lists. We were all well prepared. Guide Alex met us the first day introduced himself. You could tell how proud his was of his country (same with Angela), Cusco and the Inca legacy. Right from the start Alex (and Angela) couldn't do enough for us. Whether it was ensuring dietary restrictions were met or getting waiters attend for beer. Note: Angela wasn't on the Inca Trail with us, so most of my comments are on Alex. From my wife, Angela was excellent.

Inca Trail
- Aspiring Adventure equipment was excellent. One member of team rented sleeping bag and thermal rest. That equipment was first rate. Especially liked the built in pump on the mattress.
- Porters were very professional and looked good in matching "uniforms". First night out Alex had all the porters, chef & server, and clients introduce themselves.
- Meals especially the soups (and cake on last day) were great. Lots of variety of food. Went away from table full every time. Servers, chef, water porter & Alex did an excellent job. Alex always making sure everyone was happy.
- Everyone liked the after lunch siesta.
- Alex keep us informed on what we were seeing, why we were leaving a location at a specific time, and what to expect. He answered every question we asked. Let us set the pace of the hike. Almost always bring up the rear but appearing in time to explain something, make sure we were Ok or didn't miss something.
- Inca trail is wonderfully maintained. No litter.
- Sun Gate on Day-4 on Inca Trail was everything I wanted it to be.

Non-Inca Trail
- Angela was excellent accommodating Devina & Susan every wish. Giving them more or less time as they wanted. . Great explanations & tried really hard with dietary. Very proud of her country.
- small issue - itinerary activity was changed. "Farm to Table" was cancelled. The replacement activity turned out to be great. Devina and Susan just would have liked to know about it ahead of time.
- "rustic hotel" in the Amazon was wonderful.
- food was excellent, and Angela was very attentive.
- Driver was excellent & always help Susan with mobility issues in and out of the vehicle. Helping with luggage.

This trip and the organizing lived up to expectations. Amanda was in touch on a daily basis to ensure that all was in order and or to make last minute changes/additions to the itinerary to ensure that we derived the maximum enjoyment from our holiday experience. The other very special touch was Akrem (our personal driver) who drove us for the entire journey. His stories and attention to the littlest detail was extra special and he really made the experience all the more enjoyable.....wonderful company and now a friend. The only suggestions I would offer is to be crystal clear of your preference for accommodations. Amanda is not a mind reader so be very clear if you want or need upgrades. It’s better to pay a little extra for these comforts rather than need to make the change mid trip. Also the dinner with a “Jordanian family” was quite an experience. This should have been explained a bit better as we thought we were going to a sit down dinner as we would come to know it....actually this was the home of a Bedouin family, sitting on rugs, eating with hands etc. Niah our host was wonderful, but my wife almost wore a dress to dinner which would have been quite uncomfortable. Given that the custom is for the men (and Western guests) to eat in one room while the women and children in another. Nonetheless this was genuinely a great experience and shouldn’t be missed.
We had limited time (8days) and wanted to see as much of Jordan as we could. The Itinerary was quite comprehensive ensuring we hit all the high spots but also allowed plenty of beach downtime as well. NOTE: you’ll appreciate a pool because it can get very hot!. The highlight though was our “Lawrence of Arabia” experience in the Wadi Rum.....absolutely breathtaking and stunning.
I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend this Kim KimTours and look forward to our return.
Shukraan jazilaan!!