Kimkim Trip Reviews for Wales

Our private guide, Dylan Jones, showed us North Wales, then through the middle of the country, next along the coast, and, finally, to Cardiff. His knowledge of Welsh history, culture, interesting sites, and natural resources made the country come alive for us. From the beautiful Bodnant Gardens to the top of Mt. Snowden to a folk festival in Fishguard, he made the journey fun and interesting.

Thanks, too, to Aleksandra and her colleagues at kimkim for putting together a trip that was so memorable.

Hotel Review

Twr y Felin Hotel

St. Davids

Excellent food, facilities, staff and location. Best of the trip.

Authenticity & Character

Stylish and modern with old world charm

Location

Walking distance to town

Staff

Friendly and professional staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Beds and pillows great

Activity Review

Cardiff Private Tour with Local

Cardiff

Dylan knows his town and delights in sharing his knowledge.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

We had a wonderful time on our way-too-short Wales trip...visited the seaside resort of Tenby, saw Puffins on Skomer Island, did a day hike along the beautiful Pembrokeshire Coast out of Fishguard, which is a wonderful town spend a day meandering. Our transfers went off without a hitch, the drivers were all prompt and professional. We ended the trip in central London with an evening walk around Big Ben, Westminster, Buckingham Palace. Such a wonderful experience all around and many thanks to Jane and Marine-Héloise for shaping this trip for us.

trip to Wales was wonderful! The itinerary was exactly as we had planned. Our lodging and quality of meals exceeded our expectations. Excursions, recommendations and planned activities were exceptionally interesting and scenery beautiful. Megan did a fantastic job working closely with us to build a memorable adventure! The Kim Kim Team did a tremendous job to ensure we had a pleasurable journey that enabled us to learn and appreciate the natural, historical and cultural wonders of Wales! Heartfelt thanks to Megan and the Team for enabling our trip full of lasting memories! Kim Kim provided real value for our travel dollars!

Very Respectfully

James Cunningham

Hotel Reviews

The Parkgate Hotel

Cardiff

Rxcellent! Amazing dinner and wonderful breakfast!

Authenticity & Character

Ambiance

Location

Central Cardiff

Staff

Gracious

Cleanliness & Comfort

Spotless

Llys Meddyg

Newport

Cordial staff! Comfortable! Delicious food!

Authenticity & Character

Quaint yet up to date

Location

Staff

Shout out to restaurant and hotel staff who went to such thoughtful measures to save us Sunday Roasts for our late return to the hotel! So much appreciated!

Cleanliness & Comfort

Spotless

The Bull Beaumaris

Anglesey

Staff the best! Food delicious! Very comfortable! Dining areas with roaring fires very charming!

Authenticity & Character

Quaint yet modern appointments!

Location

Staff

Cordial and helpful

Cleanliness & Comfort

Spotless

The Felin Fach Griffin

Comfortable, delicious food, cordial and helpful staff!

Authenticity & Character

A really historic inn that exudes local culture!

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Spotless

Activity Reviews

Conwy Castle

Wales

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Head to Pembrokeshire

Wales

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Cardiff Castle

Cardiff

Quality of Experience

lol

Guides, Drivers and Staff

St Fagans

Cardiff

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Our trip was positively flawless, and the service while we were "en route" on our trip was responsive and helpful. The locations and activities that Jane recommended and help to orchestrate were spot on, and enabled us to feel far more like "travelers" than tourists. We enjoyed every aspect of our Wales vacation!

Hotel Reviews

Grove of Narberth

Narberth

This is one of the most beautiful and memorable hotels of our trip, set on a lush landscape reminiscent of a time gone by. The accommodations are beautiful and luxurious, and make you feel as if you are living as a Welsh royal. The furnishings are beautifully restored, and the main house fireplaces and lounging areas make you feel as if you are at home. The restaurant chef makes incredible, sustainable meals with produce grown in their garden. It is a special place, and we'll definitely be back!

Authenticity & Character

Location

While this hotel is tucked away, isolated and very private, you are still within easy driving distance of the Brecon Beacons and numerous castles, walking trails and the seaside.

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Tyr Winch

Cardiff

The owners were friendly and the location was great for our needs, however, the rooms were small. The breakfast was not particularly impressive but served our needs as we were on the road early.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Saracens Head

Beddgelert

The Saracens Head offered an extraordinary experience, especially when we had a power outage. The owners looked after us as if we were their own family. The breakfast here was to die for.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Review

State Room at Buckingham Palace and Changing of the Guards (during summertime only)

London

Having been to the changing of the guards many times as a child, youth, etc., i was looking for a better experience to share with my husband for his first time to London, and this does not disappoint! The guide was amazingly knowledgeable and enabled us to enjoy the ceremonial aspects of the changing of the guards, rather than just stand in front of the gates and "wait" for the guards to change locations. We enjoyed the music, the array of different guards and their various roles/dress, etc.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Jane did an amazing job helping three generations of our family explore the region of Wales that our ancestors are from. The highlight of the trip was our 8 hour guided tour. Our guide Roberta and driver Barry were outstanding and very knowledgeable. The surprise of the trip was Gwidyr castle. Such amazing history in this building and just amazing the restoration that the current owners have done. Also our visit to Caernarfon Castle was amazing and the train ride there was relaxing and scenic. I highly recommend Jane and team for any planned trip to Wales!

The entire kimkim team (William, Stephen and Clement) organized and delivered an outstanding travel and tour itinerary and arranged for extraordinary guides to thoroughly entertain and inform us of the welsh history and culture. Each driver and tour guide was on time and always accommodating to our periodic requests for extra stops. Of note were Phillip Owens (Transfer from Bangor to Pwllheli) who spoke fluent Welsh including Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch; Chris (North Wales Guided Tours) was a fountain of information. Not sure there is anything about the history or culture of Wales that he doesn't know. We visited burial grounds, castles (Caernarfon) , Snowdonia and an ancient manor house. Viewed slate mines , the Menai Straits and a experienced a pub or two along the way. A real bonus was renting ebikes for two days of personal exploration (Morfa Nefyn (Ty coch inn) and Criccieth Beach. The outfitter (www.discoverllyn.com) was very accommodating and helpful in providing biking paths for our destinations. Summitting Mount Snowden and the hike down the mountain to Llanberis was a bucket list experience. A great day and timely transportation from snowdonia-taxiarfon. A couple of unscheduled days in Abergavenny and Crickhowell led us to the discovery of a Michelin star Walnut Tree Inn and a number of really great small down pubs (Red Dragon Inn and The Bear Inn). Also hiked the canal trail from Crickhowell to Gilwern where we ended our pub crawl at the Corn Exchange meeting a number of locals and couple of fine welsh beers.
We had an extraordinary two days with Noel and Phionah (South Wales Personal Tours) touring Roman Ruins(Caerleon), the National Roman Legion Museum and , Cheptow Castle and Tintern Abbey . Day 2 took us to Swansea , the Mumbles and the Gower Peninsula which was absolutely stunning. Rhossili and Worm's Head were spectacular. Our trip home included a stop at Arthur's Stone and Merthyr Tydfil near our family ancestral homes.
The KimKim team was very helpful during our trip in identifying transportation on our open days (On-Demand transportation in Wales does not exist). Clement was on call during the weekend and was able to secure transfers needed to get us to the Abergavenny train station back to London. No small trick for nine people. One suggestion would be to have the itemized price of the transfers and tours available so that appropriate tips could be calculated. All in All I would not hesitate to hire KimKim for our next adventure. They, no doubt, were key contributors to our extraordinary family trip.

Activity Reviews

Day exploring the Castle, Coast and Country of North Wales

Pwllheli

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Snowdonian Mountain Railway

Llanberis

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Welcome to Llanberis

Llanberis

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Wye Valley with a private guide

Abergavenny

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

KimKim was an integral part in planning our family (9 people including a child) trip to Wales. They offered us a wide range of experiences with our own private, local guides, who were all excellent and passionate about showing us their country. Our days included castles, mountain hikes, and dips in the ocean - our trip had too many highlights to list here.

Most importantly, KimKim listened to our feedback during the planning stages, so our trip was unique and touched on all the items we wanted to complete on our itinerary while also leaving us some independence. They are very responsive; we needed some last-minute transportation and they worked with us to book our rides while in Wales (which totally saved us!).

All of our guides were on time, attentive, and worked with us to accommodate our family’s needs. It was a trip of a lifetime!

Riki was our guide and he was wonderful. Not only did he drive us around, he gave us insight about his country both past and present. The personal touch made the trip very special as did his patience with our flinching on the back roads where everyone drove on the “wrong “ side.

Loved everything about our trip. Kim Kim Alex and the whole team did an outstanding job. Can't say enough good things about Alex. I give them 10 thumbs up..a perfect 10.

Both Kate and her successor, Alex, went out of their way to create a trip that met our interests. They supported us through the entire process, from planning, to on-the-ground in country, and to the eventual return home.

We had an amazing few weeks driving through Wales and England. Louise planned a lovely trip based on our wish to see beautiful coastal walks and pretty villages. We loved Wales which has escaped a lot of the tourist hype. Mountains, villages and beautiful coast. Louise chose lovely hotels with excellent food. We also enjoyed time in The Cotswolds, Bath and Cornwall. Stand out hotels were Tyddyn Llan and Caes Faen in Wales, the Grove of Narbeth in Pembrokeshire, Dormy House in the Cotswolds, Lucknam Park in Bath and Gidleigh Park in Devon. The service was outstanding, accomodation beautiful and food amazing
The only place we found disappointing was a visit to Stratford-upon-Avon. It has become over commercialised and was packed with bus loads of tourists. All the other places we visited were lovely.
Louise also managed to sort out a small problem with the pick up location of our rental car very quickly. Communication with her was easy via Kimkim when we were at home in NZ and directly when we needed help in the UK. Couldn’t recommend her highly enough. Thanks Louise.

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!