Kimkim Trip Reviews

My husband, daughter (18) and I have just returned from a week in Nepal, a trip organized by HIMALAYAN TRAILS (HT) - trekking in the Annapurna Valley, visiting Pokhara and Kathmandu. A long held dream has been fulfilled and exceeded by our well-conceived and finely executed trip. From our planner, Reshma, and our guide Rissi to our porters, drivers and the staff in our accommodations, the level of expertise and professionalism were outstanding. Reshma’s depth of experience and her responsiveness provided us with a stimulating itinerary – from the duration of our treks, to the quality of the lodges (mostly Downey and Ker). The organization was impeccable but most importantly our days were filled with beauty, joy, surprises and comfort. In organizing our adventure, Reshma quickly grasped the type of experience we sought and we, in turn trusted her to make the right decisions. Rissi has a ton of experience. He is kind and extremely responsible. Every lodge was in a spectacular setting with charm, comfort and healthy, delicious and filling meals. When we hit a challenge at the end of our trip, Reshma, Raj and others from HT went well beyond the call of duty. Our last day in Kathmandu began with a medical issue (nothing to do with the trip): our friends were on site immediately, found us excellent care and supported us throughout the day as we dealt with the aftermath. It is a pleasure to recommend HT. If you choose them, you will be richly rewarded.

We had a wonderful trip to Morocco thanks to Brahim, our local specialist. This was our first time using KimKim. He was very responsive to questions and tailored a trip that focused on our interests. The trip was extremely well-organized from start to finish. We landed in Casablanca, spent the first night in Rabat, then traveled to Fes, and finally Marrakesh. Our driver, tour guides, and accommodations in the Riads were all organized by Brahim. All we needed to book on our own was our flights.

Everyone involved, from our driver to the local tour guides knew exactly where to be and when to be there. Our driver, Yahya, was the most important part of our trip. He was available 24/7 and attentive to our needs. He was friendly, knowledgeable, punctual, and always made sure that we were safe. He also served as a translator from Arabic-to-English and French-to-English. Having a good driver in Morocco is invaluable!

Thanks again to Brahim, Yahya, and the KimKim team for making this the best vacation we've had so far!

We had a wonderful trip to Greece and loved every minute of it. The kimkim team, Tasos and the team at Travel12 were all very helpful and professional. The accommodations were lovely and the guides on the tour were extremely knowledgeable and so personable. We could not have asked for a better vacation and will certainly use kimkim again for future travel! Thank you all for helping us make some beautiful memories!

We were looking around for private tours that would tailor to our preferences for China and found Kimkim on the internet.
Our initial consultant was very attentive to all the communication and was happy to many small changes to the itinerary to suit our needs and budget. The process was smooth and saved us a lot.of time planning our own accommodation, ticket and transportation bookings etc...
The only issue we had was that we had a flight scheduled from Xian to Shanghai in which we had advised to have our seats booked sitting towards the front with window seat if possible. This was noted by the consultant but upon turning up to the airport with our private tour guide, we had found out that not only we didn't have our seats by the window, my husband and I were also seated in different rows which annoyingly we couldn't even change at the airport (was told they didn't have any available, despite the fact that we were one of the first to check in based on our tickets).
The private tour guides that we had in Beijing, Xian and Shanghai/Suzhou were all good and knowledgeable, with our tour guides Tom and Jessica for Beijing and Xian were standouts. We'd highly recommend private tours so you can skip most queues and have your own private vehicle to travel in. It was also super flexible and us being sick for the first couple of days, our tour guide and driver were more than happy to move things around for us.
The highlights for us were definitely the Great Wall of China, and since we arrived early in the morning as per your guides recommendation, there were barely a sight of tourists on the section we visited, so it was quite a nice experience as we got the wall to ourselves for almost half an hour. Another great highlight was the Terra Cotta warriors which were just surreal when we got there. Our tour guide had so much knowledge and she just knew almost everything about the history when we asked her questions!! We'd highly recommend Kimkim even though we had a small hiccup (which they apologised and did make up later on)! The private tours have many benefits and one of it also includes the great local food that our tour guides did not hesitate to recommend us, which often in big tours you don't really get.

Mads, his team and especially our guide and porter could not be faulted when it can to looking after us. A dream trip

My husband and I went to Colombia in February - Bogota, Medellin and the Coffee region. Kimkim helped us tremendously planning our trip. The hotels were great, the guides (Hector in Bogota, Santiago in Medellin and Milton in the Coffee Region) were fantastic - knowledgable, kind and always on time. We really wouldn't have gotten an understanding of the country, its people, its struggles and future without our guides. Our only hiccup was one guide didn't show to take us on cyclovia in Bogota. We were able to borrow bikes from the hotel (not super comfortable, but functional) and manage ourselves. Kimkim refunded that portion and apologized. We enjoyed very much the tours of both Bogota and Medellin - but the most beautiful area was the coffee region and the Cocora Valley. Los Nevados was very interesting too. I will definitely use Kimkim again - and think I'll get better at deciding how much to do on my own and how much to let them handle.

The goal of our trip was to visit the area of Albania where my grandparents lived before emigrating to the US and become acquainted with Albanian culture and history. Alban,our guide , was extremely knowledgeable and we accomplished everything we set out to do and more.
Hopefully we will return to Albania someday -it is a beautiful country and the people are wonderful!

Our trip to Phu Nar was incredible. Our guide Dawa and porter Malan were impressive. They worked so hard to ensure our safety and comfort every step of the way. At times our trek was very challenging and physically tough due to the track conditions. The level of difficultly was high but the scenery and cultural experience was exhilarating. Our interactions with village locals, drivers, tour guide and Erin our tour organizer was perfect. No complaints and highly recommend KimKim

Our Ecuador adventure was amazing due to the excellent support from Linda and Kimkim. Linda helped us pull together a diverse itinerary for the relatively short amount of time we had in a country we knew nothing about. She was very responsive to emails and patient with our questions and worked within our parameters that kept changing. We loved all the accommodations recommended by Linda, in particular the Inti Sisa Art Guesthouse in Guamote and Hosteria Mandala at the coast in Puerto Lopez - both so amazing and gorgeous, and each supporting important social and environmental projects in their communities which was important to us. And in our price range! We appreciated Linda’s recommendation to have a driver/guide traveling from Quito to Banos, and enjoyed a full day with Annibal V learning about Ecuador, and seeing the sites. A more expensive transportation option, but but well worth it and balanced off with the super inexpensive (and more adventurous!) buses we took at other points in our travel. Another highlight was our day trip to Isla de la Plata with Machalilla Tours - again recommended by Linda and we felt confident in the quality and safety of their equipment, services and guides. Thanks Linda for helping to create such a memorable trip for three Canadian gals, we would not hesitate to highly recommend your services to others.

I traveled to Colombia solo and returned home to Seattle with incredible memories, thanks to the KimKim team. My guides were attentive, informative and very punctual. They ensured that I had a great time - I got to tweak the itinerary to best suit my interests. So I was off learning salsa one afternoon and traipsing through the streets of Cartagena the next. I got to see the incredible variety of birds that Colombia is famous for - from the Andean cock of the rock and the wax-eared parrot in Jardin to the birds endemic to Santa Marta. Yuliana was very good about making last-minute changes to my itinerary. My local guides in Jardin, Diego and Paula were a young, enthusiastic pair that shared my passion for birding. Erik Ramirez knew the birds of Santa Marta as well as he knew the people. I have pictures to prove it! The members of the Colombian Project were proactive and responded quickly anytime I had questions.
I wish I could have visited Tayrona National Park - but if I finish everything in one trip I wouldn't have anything left for the next time, right?
Thanks again for a memorable trip. My friends are visiting Colombia and you are guiding them too! I hope they have an incredible time too!
Vimla

I liked working with KimKim because I always felt in control of our trip. I liked being able to add experiences which allowed us to make the trip personal. We could make decisions along the way and not have a tour guide telling us to get on the bus.
Our first tour guide in Tokyo (name?) was wonderful. She interacted with the children and they learned so much. She took the time with them and let them set the pace somewhat, making adjustments to places and time easily if needed.
The second tour guide in Kyoto was very nice but seemed more intent on getting us through everything rather than creating an experience.
The experiences such as tea ceremony and ninja lessons, and cooking lessons were wonderful. One of the highlights of the trip.
Our only complaint was the time schedule in Hakone. We were unable to fully enjoy the area due to the bus schedule. We didn't realize how far away from the train station was the hotel. We figured we would drop off our overnight bags and then explore. But we were 25 minutes out of town. However, the inn was wonderful and the children had a great time playing in the room and attached hot spring bath.
The support team was wonderful in helping along the way with questions and suggestions.

I loved that my grandchildren were immersed in the culture and loving every minute. My grandson even asked if he could live in Japan ! We bowed at every torii gate, prayed at every shrine, admired the cherry blossoms, and became pros at public transportation.
Thanks for a wonderful trip.

We traveled a lot and It was our first time to try a self guided tour. It’s an amazing experience since we have our time and choices to maneuver which places we like and explore. It’s an adventure that time is not pressured but it’s laid out for you to venture. As long as your provided SIM card is activated then everything is easy. Our best unforgettable adventure is the hike to Mt Tarawera by kaitiaki adventure which was arranged by Kimkim and the thermal spa . Breakfast was substantial and accommodations are acceptable. Valentin our tour organizer, was quick to respond and understand our interest and so we are happy and contented with our NZ adventure. I highly recommend Kimkim but make sure to have more time in NZ rather than just one week . I’ll definitely come back in the near future with more time. Kia Ora ! We are happy camper, thank you very much.

We had two tours- one with Eon and one with Lisa- and both were wonderful! Eon took us to the wine country- 3 wineries and lunch- and Lisa took us on a scenic tour of the peninsula- Cape Point, Boulders Beach- and lunch at Two Oceans. We cannot say enough about them- both guides were so knowledgeable, fun, interesting, attentive, sweet- we were so very impressed! Would definitely recommend both to our family and friends.

Yasantha did a great job and managed to tailor an amazing trip based on "Trails of an Ancient Kingdom" that perfectly fitted our desires. We decided to extend the 10-day programme, and modifying the itinerary, adding extra days of hiking, planning accommodation and connecting us with local trekkers and guides was always done instantly. Communication before our trip was excellent and ran very smoothly, all the questions that we had were answered which gave us the impression to be taken care of in a very personal way that you usually can't expect while using a booking platform. In the country itself we got in contact with awesome local guides, all the staff of Eco Team Sri Lanka works in an outstanding way, well trained, so kind and helpful and with a stunning experience and awareness of the nature (Knuckles Manigala trekking, Eshan and his team for the Belihuloya trek through the jungle, Adam's Peak and Russell and all the people at the Udawalawe Big Game Camp). Thanks to our driver Sanjaya who took us safely to all the exceptional places that this country has to offer.

Using Kim Kim was pretty easy. Dan set us up with things in line with what we were looking for. Our local guides were good, but I’m glad I spoke the local language as some of the English skills were rough.

Well what great organisation! Many congratulations Carmelo. We had a fab holiday thank you all very much.
Taxi was waiting at the airport, all the Hotels and B&B's were simply first class, the hosts were so friendly and so helpful, and the local guides were all excellent. We learnt so much from all of them.
The whole holiday was a joy and all places were memorable for their own reasons.
Katia was a particuarly instructive guide at Casale de Romana, her knowledge and manner was lovely.
It would be good for future customers to give more guidance about driving in to Ortigia. There is public car parking and a grid reference for this would have been helpful. As it was we had to ask locals to help us about how and where to park the car, due to the traffic zone car parking.
We will certainly use your services again and recommend you to others.

Kind Regards

Julia and Paul Vincent

Wonderful experience, Tamara and Mohammad pampered us with a perfect professional service, everything running smoothly and even more.
The guides were very professional, careful and deeply in love with their country, which makes the real difference between a good service and a wondefrul experience.

First time we used KimKim. Brahim was great and very responsive. All of our accommodations were excellent. Our driver Mohammad was great and made the time go by quickly.

A few things though for travellers to Marrakech. Be prepared people there are looking to take money from you. For us it started with the Global Currency Exchange in the airport. They insisted we need a prepaid credit card despite my many protests they would not relent as they said they had already done the transaction. The woman kept telling me over and over that I needed one and it was better than cash. Rip off. They charged me $30 Us to issue a $100 Us equivalent card and then most vendors there refused to accept it. Do not go to that currency exchange. It is the second one you see coming out of arrivals. In the Riad a random person showed up as we were off loading our bags from the baggage cart guy. He lifted two bags out of the cart. He then insisted I had to pay him $10 US for his services. In Tangier it was even worse as people followed you everywhere and were very aggressive.

Last thing do not go into a @Berner Home” for a visit unless you are planning to buy a carpet. This was one part of our trip I found very annoying. We were told we were going to see how the Barbers live. Instead it was a carpet warehouse and they pressure you like crazy to buy. And they are relentless and then get mad at you if you do not buy. I auggest in any excursions know exactly what you are getting into. Again we had the same experience in the so called “Spice Market” and Rose Water stop which which are both just high pressured tourist traps. Same thing again in Tangier’s.

All in all the country is beautiful and the people friendly and I get it that people are trying to live by selling but your operators need to be more honest. They get kick backs on all of this stuff and I feel I wasted a lot of my vacation time being pressured to buy stuff I had not interest in.

Randall was just awesome!! He created a wounder full trip for me. I been never to Cosa Rica before but I know what I like and how I like to travel. I just gave him the Information About what I was Looking for, and he planned a perfect trip for me. I had his number and I could contact him while traveling when I had any Questions. I will book again with KimKim and if I go back to Cosa Rica I will book again with Rendall. My trip was About 10 Days Long and I saw so many sides of Costa Rica (Volcano, Rainforest, Cloud Forrest, Beaches, Nightwalks, Mountains, Rivers and lots of animals).

If you never been there just give Randall Information what you are looking for and your Budget, and he will create you an individual Trip whit everything in what you love. I got exactly what I was Looking for and I can recommend Kimkim and specially Rendall to everybody. Thank you again for the awesome Trip!!!

Caro

Visited Jordan for 8 days with my mom & a friend. LENA was our coordinator. She was very patient with my requests, offered suggestions and was very communicative.The arrangements for our hotels were outstanding, all in the heart of town, allowing us to roam freely.Our driver was Safwat for majority of the trip.He was kind, helpful and very safe in his driving. We had a fantastic time with no stress.Thank you Lena for the superb arrangements.