Kimkim Trip Reviews

First of all, Sophie Bonaque did an amazing job setting up our trip. In designing the trip, she answering all of our questions and made the necessary and appropriate changes to our itinerary to set up the trip exactly the way we wanted.

The trip itself was fantastic! All the arrangements she made worked out perfectly. All the tours were great and all the tour guides and drivers met us at the right place and time.

I’ll give some feedback on the hotels. The hotel in Paris (Hotel Le Basile) was only 3 stars but we liked it very much. It was a very charming hotel and the proprietor (or manager) was very helpful. It was also in a very good location. The breakfast was excellent and they also had a person to cook an omelette if you wanted it. We would definitely recommend it and think of it as a high 3 stars. As we say in the US, “it punches above its weight”!

The hotel in Marseille (Hotel Maison Montgrand ) was okay, but 3 stars is a reasonable rating. No real complaints. It was just that the service was a bit impersonal, the room was on the small side and the location was just okay. The breakfast was very good but as expected. Again, no complaints but we want to give you good feedback.

The Palais Saleya in Nice was by far our favorite! What a great hotel! The room was large and very comfortable. The location was fantastic. They don’t have their own kitchen to serve breakfast so breakfast was brought to our room every morning on trays. It was a great breakfast: fresh yogurt, fresh breads, crepes, orange juice, etc. We very highly recommend this hotel.

Finally, just to mention again, all the tour guides were great.

We loved Nice and Paris! Marseille was fine, but two days was just the right amount of time.

Overall it was a great vacation. Again, Sophie did a great job on all the arrangements.

Ha was great ! She responded fast and put together a greet trip for Thailand! We had tour guides and just drivers on our trip ! Everyone was on time and everything went as planned we had no issues , the hotels were great especially cape panwa was amazing !! The best one tour guide we had was in Chiang Mai he really went above and beyond and made the elephant day so great ! I would def book a trip with Kim Kim again!

When I was planning a trip to Norway for a mid-March Nordic ski race, my family (with two teen kids) knew we wanted to see more than the area between Rena and Lillehammer but didn't know anything about Norway or where to begin. I completely trusted the local knowledge of Vilde and Ingrid to make a recommendation for what more we should see in the time we had and without a car. The trip completely exceeded my expectations!

Several friends joined in after they heard the trip plan. We had excellent easy travel and a lot of fun. Ingrid chose super hotels and made reservations or provided directions for train and bus travel that was simple and perfect with many highlights. Stig was our excellent local guide in Oslo who told us about music, local culture, and a little history as we walked along the Akserselva River, urban art district, the fortress, and metropolitan downtown on a rainy day. The train to Flam was a magic ride the next day with blue skies and views of mountains, frozen waterfalls, plus beautiful towns, homes and farms going from snow up high down to the Naeroyfjord arm of the Sognefjord. We had a full moon that night at our both historic and modern hotel in Auerland and enjoyed a cruise on the electric Future of the Fjords sightseeing vessel. Ingrid was flexible to help us decide where to go at this point and four friends decided to ski an extra day in Geilo while my family continued on to Bergen. We were impressed by the completely different look and culture of Bergen. Our local guide David helped us know so much more about where to go and interpreted what we saw in his beautiful city as well as gave us a feel for how Norwegians live. We had so much fun with David that we went over our time more than an hour. Geilo was our last place to explore with downhill resorts on two sides of the city and lots of Nordic trails. On a sunny but windy day, we caught the ski bus, rented average quality downhill ski equipment, and bought a ski pass that worked at both Slaatta and Vestlia. Our friends enjoyed the ski tracks there for Nordic skiing.

Overall, the best things about Norway were the scenery, the breakfasts so do opt into breakfast at the hotel, interesting history and the happy people. Ingrid was our best find since she reserved the best places to go and stay and gave us detailed directions on how to get around. Her directions were so good there were only a couple occasions I messaged her with questions and she helped right away. Ingrid also was able to reschedule a hotel stay for two friends who left a bag on the train from Lillehammer and were able to retrieve it in lost and found in the morning just before our flight home. I would not have changed anything about what Ingrid planned for us except maybe staying more days! We enjoyed a "God Tur" and I am grateful.

From the moment I emailed Kimkim to our departure from Phonm Pehn , it was perfection! I've previously been a travel agent and would highly recommend Kimkim Travel & Ms Thuy. We asked for a biking/beach adventure through Cambodia with 4-5 star accommodation, Ms Thuy nailed the entire itinerary. She sent the route we should ride/drive with suggestions of accommodation. The accommodation was outstanding! The transfers were seamless which makes life so much easier. Our guide from Siem Reap down to Phonm Pehn was awesome, his English was great which helped us greatly in every aspect of travel. We were able to adjust our itinerary during the days as it was much hotter than we anticipated. We loved our four nights in Siem Reap, especially upgrading hotels for a night at the Shinta Mani Angkor, our champagne on arrival set the scene!! Ms Thuy also suggested Koh Rong Island in a Beach Bungalow at the Sok San Resort, this is a must do if you stay on the Island.
Kimkim Travel is definitely the only way to go if you want an Independent/flexible holiday that you can design around your individual needs and wants.
Thanks Ms Thuy & Kimkim for a perfect, seamless, fantastic Adventure through the beautiful country of Cambodia."
Warmest Regards
Teresa & Matt

Really fantastic experience booking my trip to Chile with KimKim. Oxana was very knowledgeable and helped me plan the perfect trip and every detail seemed to be taken care of. The transportation services were excellent and I was able to experience all the parts of Chile I had hoped to visit. I was even automatically checked in for domestic flights I had while in Chile, which was super convenient. The accommodations were also superb. My only quibble would be that some of the tours I was on were with people that were about twice my age (I’m 29 and the median age of a lot of my fellow tourists seemed to be about 60). I would have enjoyed being around those more my own age, but also realize that as a solo traveler, I am being accommodated by tour groups that are able to take me and it’s not necessarily within KimKim’s control as to what age group I end up touring with, and it didn’t negatively impact my experience- just something for others to bear in mind. And in some instances I was the only person signed up for a tour and the tours still went, which was really appreciated as I know some tours won’t go if they don’t get enough participants. Overall excellent experience and service and I will definitely consider traveling with KimKim again in the future!

Trip was wonderful. The contacts were responsive and super-helpful. Our arrival time changed and it was easy to contact both Yassine and Ali and adjust accordingly.

The trip was excellentl. The Riads were First rate, The guides were knowledgeable, professional and friendly. Our driver, Mohamed Samouk, was one of the best parts of the trip. He became our friend, part of the family!

We will recommend KimKim and Off the Beaten Path to anyone wishing to explore Morocco.

Amazing experience with Kimkim.
Ingrid was very professional and made sure to tailor our trip to Oslo, Bergen and Tromso based on what we want and what we like and was always responsive in a timely manner.
Highly recommended!!

Our experience was great. Osi was very organized and friendly, conversed well. Itinerary was good, glad we went to Nuwara Eliya and not Hepatale. Would have been a very long drive to there from Kandy. Not sure if the drive up to Liptons Seat was worth the very long drive.

Except for the painfully long wagon ride Hiriwadunna was surprisingly good for such a touristed place.
We loved all the safaris. They all had their own charm. Watching the over 70 elephants come in for a drink at Minneriya National Park was special. Whenever we mentioned that we watched birds the safari drivers seemed enthused to do more, taking us to quiet spots. We saw over 120 species overall.
Our accommodation in Kandy and Newara Eliya was well out of town. They were excellent but made us completely dependent on our driver, not being able to go for a stroll when we wished.
Lovely country, lovely people, thanks so much, will probably return one day

The trip was fantastic!

My only suggestion is that there is more communication between the tour organizer and the driver before the trip takes place. Sanjaya made a few amendments along the way, one being changing our train journey which meant we did not have pre-booked seats and had to stand the entire way! It was quite uncomfortable and not as enjoyable as it could have been. The drivers are the ones on the ground and know how things work so their knowledge needs to be taken into account.

Mairesol was our guide both days - to Guatape and the coffee plantation. Both days were great!
We loved climbing the stairs of El Penol and it was followed by a great meal, away from other tourists too!. The visit to the coffee farm was great. The views were tremendous and the food and coffee was tops.

Hi Jess,
Sorry it took me so long to get to providing feedback.
All round I had a really great trip - an unforgettable experience.
Starting with exploring various options through an internet search - your website struck me as really professional and the co-branding with well-known brands gave me the confidence to go with kimkim. Your responses to my initial inquiries about possible options were prompt, friendly and efficient - I felt the same about the booking process and your subsequent follow-up notices.
We received a very warm and friendly welcome from the agency team in Leticia - it was immediately obvious that it was a professional and experienced outfit. We were well briefed and looked after.
The guide was fantastic - knowledgeable, caring and supportive and really good at keeping us well fed. The translators (we had 2) were also great - really friendly and helpful.
The hike offered a good mix of variety of activities - walking (or battling at times) through the forest, staying with the local population, sleeping high up in the canopy and camping overnight, kayaking and crossing the Amazon into Peru, and then exploring the jungle further via boat.
All the meals and stays along the way were very enjoyable.
A final observation from a marketing point of view (and please take it coming from a 63 year old man - BTW the guide told me I was the oldest person walked with) - I would rate the hike on the "extreme adventure" spectrum (6-7.5 out of 10) rather than "for those looking for something a little more adventurous". The terrain is very challenging and while you don't need to be super fit, you need to be firm very firm footed with solid muscle strength. And you need to be comfortable with heights and about crossing streams and pools on tree trunks (in the dark at times).
Notwithstanding, it was a truly wonderful experience. Thanks to you and please pass on our thanks to the crew in Leticia. All the best Deon

My boyfriend and I had a fantastic trip in Sri Lanka. We did a nine-day tour, and Shalindra patiently worked with us to create the itinerary and answered all of our questions. Our driver/guide, Kapila, was very knowledgeable and accommodating whenever we wanted to change up the itinerary a bit. He also gave us suggestions and brought us to some local roadside stands for snacks like coconut roti and hoppers. Our hotels were fantastic and the breakfasts were really great, especially the Colombo Court Hotel & Spa in Colombo. My favorite spots/excursions were Ravana Falls in Ella, the elephant safari near Dambulla, and the whitewater rafting in Kitulgala.

My two small "negatives" are 1) I wish we'd gotten to spend more time in a few places, like Kandy and Nuwara Eliya, but now I know for any possible future trips to SL and 2) the spice garden is a bit more of a touristy shopping trap, so I'd probably skip that in the future, but we did also get nice mini-massages there.

All in all, I'd highly recommend Shalindra/Kapila/Exemplary Voyages!

My friend booked this trip and I joined last minute, the communication with Erin in the booking process was really difficult, which she blamed on the time difference but that was just an excuse. My time difference with Erin was only 2 hrs and 45 min as I'm not located in the US and apart from that, she could go more than 24 hrs to reply. She never even apologised for this.

Once I confirmed the trip I never even got a confirmation that my money arrived until we followed up, which was unprofessional.

Upon arrival in Kathmandu I had two guys waiting for me at the arrivals. Once I got to the car I realised one guy was a scam as he just asked me for money. The representative told me to just give it to him otherwise he would fight him. This isn't directly the fault of KimKim, but the representative at the airport should have definitely stepped up.

The next morning Erin came to meet us at our hotel for a briefing, now working myself in the travel industry, I might have had high hopes as I've briefed many clients myself but this was just disappointing. There wasn't any clear information we got. She went through the program, but all she said was, today you will go for sightseeing, on the day you arrive back from Bhutan you will go for sightseeing.. No further details regarding the sightseeings.. We also had to confirm a couple of other details with her and when we asked her a question she seemed a bit annoyed answering it and that everything was just supposed to be obvious. I felt uncomfortable asking her any further questions from there. She also was a bit unclear with her program as she thought on the last day we were staying in Kathmandu and I had to make it clear that this wasn't the program.
I also asked her during the booking process if I could get a discount as I won't be doing any activities on the last day as I had an early flight out of Kathmandu and my friends only left late evening. She said that was calculated properly but once I asked during the briefing she didn't even remember my friends had any sightseeings that day. So I even doubted whether or not I paid too much for my trip.

At the end of the first day of sightseeing we received a rather cold message from her regarding tipping. I believe that our guide complained we didn't tip her, which is understanding but we thought we tip at the end of service and we knew we had the guide again for the last two days during our trip so we knew we had to tip her at that time, not at the end of each day.. Again something that should have been made clear from Erin's side during the briefing not writing us a vague and cold message about it later onwards. Apart from that, I believe tipping is based on how satisfied you are with the service, so if we weren't satisfied I think asking for a tip from Erin's side onwards the guide isn't the right way to go about it.

Now regarding the hotels, we stayed at the Patan Inn and Millas Guesthouse, both places were super lovely and amazing food, would definitely stay there again if I would return to Kathmandu.

Our guides name was Pratikshya and she was a super lovely and knowledgeable woman. I enjoyed every minute spent with her. She was very polite, explained in nice details but didn't overdo it and she was always on time and very professional. If I was to ever return to Kathmandu I would also use her again as a guide.

So to sum it all up, the guide and the hotels were really nice and a great pick for us but Erin's services were very disappointing. However to be honest, we already had a feeling that our interaction with Erin wasn't going to be so great as we noticed during the booking process.

Marina was very tentative from the very beginning. She’s very responsive and explained very details to us. At first I was a bit nervous using online travel agent since we didn’t have any in person interaction but after a while Marina made us feel very comfortable. I would recommend Kimkim to my friends and our future adventures.

Midgard Basecamp was a great place to stay. Friendly staff, and great food and drinks! Our guide Bjarni Guðmundsson was awesome! We spent a few days with Bjarni exploring the wilderness and he knew lots of great spots to show us. I would definitely recommend Midgard Adventure!

This is a complicated review to write because I had very mixed feelings about our trip. Let’s start with the positive: Lena quickly put together the trip and patiently fielded endless questions from me. Our driver in Jordan, Moustafa, was truly fantastic and made our stay in his country very rich and special. The dinner with a local family in Petra was the best meal we ate on the entire trip and the family could not have been more welcoming and kind. It was an unforgettable experience. We felt safe on the entire trip. Our guide in Jerusalem/Bethlehem, Issa, was also phenomenally knowledgeable, and he was just fun to be with for the day. Our driver in Israel, Gorge, was jovial and eager to please.

Now for the honest negatives. The accommodations were terrible. The boutique hotels in Amman and Tel Aviv were what we expected and we were perfectly happy there. We are used to staying in five star or chic boutique hotels, but in an effort to be economical we chose only boutique for this trip. I read all of the hotel reviews and looked at photos before we left, and I really went back and forth about staying at, for example, The Kempinski or The Hilton at The Dead Sea and decided that the extra thousand dollars wasn’t worth it for one night. I was wrong. Know that traveling in this area five stars will be closer to 3.5. The agent was not clear about that. However Lena and Tania were very responsive and helped us move. The alternatives were no better though the staff was very friendly so I hate giving a terrible review. We arrived in Israel in time for Purim, and, as a result, a couple of the attractions that I paid for were closed. Tania and Lena are refunding is, and I appreciate that, but I was not happy that we were not warned in advance. It’s a big holiday and three-four days long, so to arrive and have the driver say “everything will be closed have a nice time on your own today” was very upsetting. Fortunately he was wrong and we had a nice day.

I took a risk using a service based strictly on a NY Times recommendation, and while I was relieved to have a very organized itinerary, I think I could have done it on my own with much better hotels. I have used similar services with much better outcomes. The whole experience was ok but not without its issues.

Kuchara is the name of our tour guide.
3/15/2019 is the date of our cruise. When Perez Group arrived at the cruise port Princess have a bus that took us outside the port to meet our guide. Kuchara was not there and we are so worried because there are so many guides who is asking if you needed a tour. I have to call Sandun to locate our guide. My goodness, he was sitting in the bus and we did not see our name because the sign is just lying on the dashboard not posted on dashboard window. And as a guide, Kuchara should be waiting & standing for us holding the sign like the Viator and ToursByLocals guides we saw at the port.

I would like to suggest, your guide should at least provide bottled water to the tourist. It was already hot and humid although its only 9:00 am. All our guides;: Singapore, India, Sri Lanka, and Dubai gave us bottled water and it makes a big difference. Our guides also have cameras and took us pictures and email them to us after our tours. We felt special and connected with our guides.

The most memorable part of our tour is the lunch. Kuchara took us to a Chinese Restaurant while we were in Sri Lanka because we don't eat spicy food. The food was great, location and service were excellent.

All the best!

I'm so grateful to Ingrid, Kimkim and Trapper's Farm for helping me arrange the Norwegian adventure of my dreams. I wanted to chase the Northern Lights on a multi-day dogsledding expedition, and Trappers Farm delivered. The 4-day trip was highly personalized, authentic and filled with once in a lifetime opportunities. If you want to experience dog sledding off the beaten track, I highly recommend arranging a trip with them.

We had an amazing trip traveling to Athens and Santorini. Each hotel we stayed at was very accommodating and the staff was wonderful. Each tour that was set for us was very punctual and the guides were all very polite and very generous and kind and always made sure we were comfortable and enjoying the trip. We were very pleases with every aspect of the trip. Tasos was wonderful in helping us plan this trip to our liking and was very pleasant.