Kimkim Trip Reviews for Argentina

I planned a trip to various places in Argentina and it took some very good coordination from Emilce (and Kim kim) to pull this off. I want to say everything went PERFECT, there were no delays, their drivers and people were always there on time and so willing to help. This truly was a trip of a life time and it was so rewarding to feel they had everything under control.
They were very patient and kind during our planning phase and they showed grace as we where trying to fund the payments.
My family and I had such an amazing experience and I would do it again through KIM KIM and their people. I am very grateful and thankful for their help, accommodations, etc. If you are thinking about traveling, I can 100% verify that through them, you will have EXCELLENT service.
Thank you ALL for making this trip an unforgettable experience.
Emilce, you are the best!!!!
Sincerely,
Lisette

We had an amazing trip to Argentina thanks to KimKim. Our guides, drivers were always delightful, helpful and went beyond just picking us up or telling us about the sites. It’s very evident that everyone loves their country, the descriptions and history were always filled with details and excitement that reflected that pride. We felt safe, free to ask for advice and always looked out for throughout the trip. Ana did an awesome job putting together the itinerary and selecting hotels and flights. The Vamoos app was a great source, having everything all at your fingertips and the ability to communicate easily and quickly was a definite advantage. I usually do all my trip planning, but so happy that this time we used KimKim and we highly recommend Ana for her knowledge, availability and willingness to listen and adapt plans.

On very short notice Camila and the folks at Kimkim help me develop the most amazing vacation to Argentina. Their hotel and tour selections were spot on. Each local tour agency throughout Argentina was very professional and made every activity seamless and worry free. In the middle of our trip we had weather related flight cancellations and Camila was there to reschedule our flights and provide an unexpected hotel stay. All the guides and drivers were very courteous and professional. This was my first overseas trip that I did not plan and arrange myself, after this marvelous experience I think I’ll use Kimkim again.

1) Several transfers had been arranged for us, of which 4 were to get us to airports in time for flights. Two of those were so late we found other ways to get to the airport. Kimkim did refund the cost of those two missed transfers, but that didn’t restore our confidence in their ability to provide timely transportation to airports. See also comments on communication below.

2) Communication was good before the trip. Agustina was our contact. When we arrived, we were assigned Nicolas as on-site contact. We met him over coffee and asked many questions. He named the person who would be our contact for the coming Saturday and Sunday when he was off. But we never were told who our contact was for our final day (Friday, a week later). That day, when our transfer was 15 minutes late, we tried in vain to contact Nicolas. Even later, we got a text from the previously-named weekend person (now working on Friday). By then we had hailed a taxi and had barely enough time to get through all the lines at the airport for our departure from the country (we’d allowed 4 hours). So, while it was helpful to have a local contact person, it was disturbing to be unable to contact him when we needed help on our last day.

3) We would have appreciated a more helpful description (i.e. what the different price ranges would be) between their strata of “comfort,” “mid-range,” and “basic,” rather than planning the whole itinerary before realizing that the total cost would be beyond our comfort zone. They did adjust things in response to our requests for less expensive accommodations and fewer arranged tours. So, we made our own lodging arrangements and chose our own activities for half the trip. We were disappointed that they didn’t give much help deciding where to splurge and where to save on our itinerary. On our last night, we were in a hotel room (booked by them) where the toilet ran continuously every time it was flushed. That hotel’s concierge, on the other hand, did an excellent job of communicating with the taxi driver we’d hailed, so that we were able to pay with the funds available to us. In the end, we had a good experience, and wish that others would be given more clarity about the prices of different options than we were.

4) The tours kimkim arranged were good, and we had a better time with the smaller groups than the large ones. For example, kimkim had scheduled our Milonga night right before being picked up in the morning for the airport at 5 am. That activity was just our guide and us, and she accommodated our request to leave the festivities at 10 pm instead of 11:30 or later. The other extreme was a boat full of people (100+). It made two stops and for each, we were told we must all be back on board at a specific time. For one of us, 50 minutes was not enough time to relax and enjoy the 0.6-mile loop path in the Bosque de Arrayanes (Myrtle Forest), much less the snack bar at the end of the path.

5) One more thing: kimkim knew our preference to communicate in English, and for the most part, paired us with competent English-speaking guides. However, the tour of Victoria Island in Lake Nauhuel Huapi was led by a Spanish-only speaker. The boat that took us there had some commentary in both languages and some only in Spanish. For the Island, we were given a firm time to return to the boat and cautioned to stay with the guide so as not to get lost (it is a larger island and has more paths than the Bosque de Arrayanes). We would have enjoyed that day better if we’d understood what was said both on the boat and on the guided tour of Victoria Island.

Hotel Reviews

Hotel Nevada Bariloche

San Carlos de Bariloche

Again, this hotel was listed as our place to stay, but at the last minute, we were shifted to another hotel. Therefore I cannot accurately rate this hotel.

El Pueblito Iguazu

Puerto Iguazú

I can't rate this, since our booking was changed at the last minute to a different hotel.

Infinito Hotel

Buenos Aires

This is the third hotel that was assigned to us, but it changed at the last minute. It's too bad that kimkim doesn't have our actual hotels available to rate.

Activity Reviews

Day Trip to the Pampas & Estancia Lunch

Buenos Aires

We appreciated our driver who negotiated everything from busy Buenos Aires traffic to the bumpy and very dusty last mile or more to the estancia with aplomb. The visit and tour of San Antonio de Areco was lovely, though it seemed a bit brief since we had to leave to get to the estancia in time for horse riding before lunch. The church, museum, and inside view of some workshops (silver, and braided fine strips of rawhide) in San Antonio de Areco were worth seeing. Our guide, Laura, was proud of her local history. At the estancia (El Ombu is not as prominent in the tourist literature but was really wonderful, and we credit Agustina for steering us to this estancia), we had lovely weather for lunch outdoors, shaded by large spreading trees. A typical asado has very little in the way of vegetables, but this one included a couple of very nice salads. A highlight of the afternoon was being invited to learn a simple dance and dance with the live musicians after their performance. The last performance of the day was a young man and a horse who performed quietly and impressively with only gentleness (aka horse whispering).

Walking tour: Palermo & Recoleta

Buenos Aires

At the request of our guide, Sandra, we met for this tour an hour later than scheduled. This is another of the small groups (just us three and the guide) that we appreciated for their individuality. Palermo and Recoleta is a large area, so we didn’t know what to expect. We did walk by highights that Sandra told us about, then went to Recoleta Cemetery. The cemetery was impressive, and Sandra drew our attention to some areas of special interest. Part of the tour, for us, was two brief rides on the subway, so we were able to see some of the art we’d heard about in the Subte system.

Valle Encantado trek

Bariloche

We can't review this because we didn't do it; our itinerary was changed because of the timing of our flights into and out of San Carlos de Bariloche. Instead, we did the Chico Circuito which did allow us to see some of the sights in beautiful Bariloche.

Milonga night

Buenos Aires

Melina met us on foot at our lodgings, then led us to our car and driver for the evening. First, we went to a dance studio where we had a private lesson in the basic tango step with her. As expected, I didn’t feel at all confident when the lesson was over, so when we got to the milonga (it appeared to be a hotel ballroom where the dance floor was surrounded by tables), I was filled with fears of not doing well, not being graceful, and not fitting in. Melina made things easy for us by introducing us to another tour leader, Martin who graciously agreed to dance one dance with each of us. We were grateful that Melina was willing to leave much earlier than planned (10 pm instead of 11:30 pm) because we were scheduled to leave for the airport the next morning at 5 am. The evening did leave me with more appreciation of where to start learning to dance the tango.

Gran Aventura Navigation tour

Puerto Iguazú

This was a very exciting (and wet) boat ride into the water splashing up from the bottom of the Devil’s Throat. We got very close to rocky shorelines and saw animals like capybaras and caymans on small beaches on the way. There were a lot of steps down (and back up) to get from the rest of the paths around the Argentine side of Iguazu Falls, and the logistics of putting everything into a dry bag, and changing into dry clothes afterward were tricky (no real locker room or place to change). It was almost warm enough to wear a swimsuit for the whole experience, but it still would have been tricky to dry off and change into dry clothes afterward. Our turn to do this boat ride was in the middle of the day, and the rest of the day was walking around on walkways where the drizzly weather and mist from the falls combined to keep us wanting our ponchos on, as well as a lot of walking that wouldn’t have been comfortable in water shoes. They managed to give a lot of people the experience, and it was fun, but we’d have appreciated a neater way to change clothes.

Full day to the Argentinian side of the falls

Argentina

This was a long day which, for us, was interrupted by the Gran Aventura Navigation Tour. We followed our guide Francisco to many viewpoints of the falls. Looking at photos or a map ahead of time didn’t prepare us for how much walking up and down would be involved, nor did the photos prepare us for how large an amount of water we’d be close to. It was thrilling! The handrails were quite slick at times, making it feel a bit less secure, though the area is designed to keep people safe. We saw capuchin monkeys cavorting in the trees, and toucans just being themselves. If I had it to do again, I’d wear a waterproof hat with a brim over the waterproof poncho to better keep my head dry. The poncho hood I had didn’t provide enough cover. Fortunately, the air temperature was warm enough that getting wet wasn’t too uncomfortable, while the drizzle kept the sun from roasting us.

Half day tour to the Iguazú Falls (Brazilian side)

Argentina

This half-day tour with Dario as our guide and Diego as our driver included quite a bit of walking with more wide panoramic views of the falls than on the Argentinian side. It was a wonderful complement to the views from Argentina. We stopped near the entrance to the park for refreshments and saw a chameleon in some rocks along the path. We got wet on walkways that went out over parts of the falls, and that was exciting! There was also a souvenir shop conveniently placed near the end of our walk. After we left the falls themselves, we visited the Birds Park (reviewed separately), and a large souvenir shop before heading back across the border. We were also given the option to take a helicopter tour over the falls which we declined in favor of more time in the Birds Park. With all the time that the border crossings took in both directions, it was more than a half-day total, but fortunately, we didn't have anything else scheduled.

Bird's Park

Argentina

This was amazing. Wonderful! Loved it, and wasn’t prepared for how much we would enjoy wandering into the birds’ spaces. Some were protected from us, and others were allowed to fly right past us. It’s a refuge, so there are displays about various aspects of conservation and concerns with ecology. We were very pleased that we'd visited the Bird's Park (Parque das Aves).

Kayak in Moreno lake

Bariloche

We did this on our last morning in San Carlos de Bariloche. The weather was sunny and not too cold or windy. It was wonderful to be inside the beautiful scene of the lake and mountains we’d been seeing from shore for two days. We were outfitted with gear including water booties, a spray skirt, and a life jacket. The kayaks were very stable, and we were given basic instructions. This activity was a great contrast to walking and driving tours. However, some of us had sore arms by the end, not being accustomed to the movements of kayak paddling. We had a nice break on a tiny beach where we were served a variety of snacks and teas. Our guide, Leticia, was very helpful and shortened our outing to enable us to get changed into dry clothes and back to our hotel in time to meet our airport pickup.

Boat trip over the Nahuel Huapi lake and Victoria Island

Bariloche

This is long because there are a lot of points to be made. -We were anxious when the bus didn’t pick us up soon after 12:30, though it did eventually come. We had been switched to a different hotel and pick-up point that wasn’t written down and didn’t know who to call or text to check our information. -We had more confusion in the boat launch area because we already had our boat ticket, but needed to get a pass (the English signs said everyone needed to pay entry tax) for the park entrance later in the day. -The catamaran boat was crowded and slow, though it was equipped with a snack bar and restroom facilities. -The cruise aspect would have been more enjoyable if it had been easier to see the scenery around us (beautiful lake with mountains in the distance) out the windows but they were somewhat obscured by spray from waves on the lake. Options for clearer viewing were on a deck above the majority of passengers, reserved for some special subset, and the top of the boat which was so windy as to be unbearable for long. -Time at the two stops was shorter than we would have liked, -At one stop (Victoria Island) it was strongly suggested that we stay with the guide rather than risk getting lost. But the guide spoke only Spanish, so we missed a lot. Also, we were encouraged to stop at the snack bar there, but it took a very long time to get our order (pizza) filled, which left no time to eat it. -The amount of time on the boat felt very long compared to the short times at the two stopping places. The day was listed as 8 hours, and we spent 50 minutes at the first stop and less than 1.5 hours at the second; the rest was riding in the bus to and from the boat launch area and on the boat. -The two stopping places were disappointing, mostly because we couldn’t understand the guide who was pointing out things of interest on Victoria Island, and because we’d already seen some Arraynas trees the day before (though the Bosque de Arraynes stop this day did have more trees, we were in a hurry to be sure we’d be able to get back on the boat).

Emi was a wonderful specialist - guiding us from the very beginning and through our trip. I cannot praise him enough

Hotel Reviews

Loi Suites Recoleta

Buenos Aires

Room and location was great. Breakfast was not very good

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Xelena Hotel & Suites

El Calafate, Santa Cruz

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Half day City Tour - Private service with English speaking guide

Buenos Aires

Lionel , our tour guide seemed very bored and rushed. We were hoping to see the cemetery but he told us there was no time

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Driver Fabio was great

Transport

Tango Show and Dinner at Gala Tango

Buenos Aires

Great setting, staff was efficient and courteous. Very fun show and the food was surprisingly good

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Nativo Experience

El Calafate

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Full day tour to Parque Nacional Los Glaciares and Minitrekking

El Calafate

Best part of the trip. The experience was truly unique and the guide was outsranding

Cristina Estancia Classic

El Calafate

Johanna and Kristy were both incredibly helpful and supportive through the entire planning process and the trip itself! We never felt alone, and had 24/7 support throughout the entire trip. We had an amazing trip filled with numerous activities in Patagonia. Thank you for creating the most special honeymoon for us!!

Hotel Reviews

CasaSur Recoleta

Buenos Aires

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

one of our towels was dirty and they shut the water off for 5+ hours at one point

Xelena Hotel & Suites

El Calafate, Santa Cruz

Authenticity & Character

Location

a bit far away from downtown, but they had a shuttle

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Auberge du Vin, a Tribute Portfolio Hotel, Tupungato

Tupungato

Authenticity & Character

Location

way too far away! we felt stranded and had to take long rides to get anywhere

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

A Wine tour of Valle de Uco

Mendoza

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Rafting the Mendoza River

Mendoza

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Minitrekking Ice Hike on Perito Moreno Glacier

El Calafate

Quality of Experience

Food

no food included! make sure to tell folks to pack a lunch

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Horseback riding

Puerto Natales

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Guided “W” Trek 1/4 (camping)

Chile

W Trek itself was amazing, but they had us doing not the entire W trek which was very frustrating! Therefore, we had to hike 17 miles on day 3 (rather than take the catamaran to the bus to the shuttle) to get to the last refugio! Overall, the trek was amazing though and we had a great time, just not great planning and we met several other people who were staying at different refugios so they hikes were better spaced out.

Quality of Experience

Food

We had a great experience from the personalized and customized planning process, to the ongoing interaction leading up to the trip to ensure that all of our questions were answered, and the near perfect execution. All of the accommodations suited our style, except for perhaps in Ushuaia and Bariloche (which was a bit dated). The tours were excellent. The guides were very professional overall. The Vamoos app was extremely helpful to keep us on track since this was a long trip. A learning for us, and perhaps for future clients, would be to explain in detail what some of the tours entailed, since we had scheduled a private tour that included 6-8 hours in a car. Fortunately we were able to amend this with the local guide. Overall it was a great experience, and we have recommended KimKim to many of our friends, and one of them has already booked their next trip through you! Thank you. Paul & Hélène

We utilized this service for first time travel to South America. It was convenient and saved a lot of time we didn't have researching and booking. Not knowing the cost of each component of the trip made it hard to make decisions. Not knowing the fees of the agency makes it difficult to know whether there is value in this service for next time. More communication on where to spend/save money would have been needed to use this service again. There was one major mistake that we had to scramble to fix ourselves. The agency did what they could to make it right, but just didn't have the local knowledge or influence to make it happen. It had to be done by us at the locale and with our airlines. It all worked out, but was effort by us with the airlines and hotel we booked directly. Overall, the trip was amazing and there was some time saved and convenience from the service. If money is no object and you have no time to do any self planning or you simply have no idea about the place you're going. this may be the way to go, otherwise a well plotted trip utilizing hotel concierge service may work as well and cheaper. Getting what we needed from KimKim on the Wtrek i feel made it worth it this time. Kristy stepped in about halfway through our trip and was awesome.

Hotel Reviews

Los Cerros Boutique Hotel & Spa

El Chalten

Felt like we had best room in town.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Close to restaurants and trail

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Lagos Del Calafate

El Calafate

Just ok.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Kau Yatun Hotel Boutique & Estancia

El Calafate

Great cute hotel

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Refugio Torre Central

Parque Nacional Torres del Paine Pedro Montt

Weskar Lodge

Puerto Natales

Authenticity & Character

Location

I

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Refugio Paine Grande

Puerto Natales, Chile

Refugio Los Cuernos

Torres del Paine - W trek Circuit Reserva Cerro Paine

Activity Reviews

Drive to El Calafate

Argentina

Minitrekking Ice Hike on Perito Moreno Glacier

El Calafate

Quality of Experience

I

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Trekking & Canoeing in Tierra del Fuego

Ushuaia

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Private transfer to Torres del Paine/Natales from El Calafate

El Calafate

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Visit the Penguin Colony on Isla Martillo, Explore Puerto Almanza (non-walking tour)

Ushuaia

Quality of Experience

Food

Nice

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Walter = Awesome

Drive to El Chalten

Argentina

Matias was very flexible and did a fantastic job of incorporating our feedback in order to arrive at the vacation plan that best fit our needs. He brought numerous alternatives for consideration based on our input.

Hotel Reviews

CasaSur Recoleta

Buenos Aires

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Poincenot

El Chalten

Beautiful hotel in El Chalten. Nice location

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Los Ponchos Hotel Boutique

El Calafate, Santa Cruz

Really cute B&B style hotel with amazing staff

Authenticity & Character

Amazing character

Location

A bit away from main strip of El Calafate

Staff

Incredible staff. Very welcoming and friendly

Cleanliness & Comfort

Loi Suites Iguazú Hotel

Puerto Iguazú

Beautiful hotel. Nice pool areas and quiet locations with nice balconies for each room

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Villa Mansa Wine Hotel

Vistalba, Lujan de Cuyo

Nice hotel but odd in that it is in an area surrounding some redevelopment and is a bit far from Mendoza city center.

Authenticity & Character

Cute hotel with nice aesthetics

Location

Pretty far from Mendoza

Staff

Staff were very friendly

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Explore the Argentine Falls

Puerto Iguazú

Our guide was simply the best. Highly recommend the boat trip into the falls

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Uco Valley Wine Country

Mendoza

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Condores & Aguilas Viewpoints

El Chaltén

Dinner and Tango Show at Rojo Tango

Buenos Aires

Fun experience

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Buenos Aires Barrios Tour

Buenos Aires

Good to get perspective on the areas but our guide seemed more interested in her own perspectives and ideas than inquiring about our interests.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Driver was great but tour guide was a bit much for us

Transport

Explore the Brazilian Falls

Puerto Iguazú

Our guides were amazing

Quality of Experience

Food

Food at the national parks is okay

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Amazing in all respects

Transport

The Argentine Dinner Experience

Argentina

Very fun experience and highly recommend. Great way to meet other travelers and have fun experimenting with food and drinks

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Iguazú Falls Great Adventure

Puerto Iguazú

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Maipu Valley

Mendoza

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Nativo Experience - Lakes and Caverns

El Calafate

Too cold for this experience. Not super interesting from our perspective

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Laguna de los Tres Trek

El Chaltén

Weather impacted our trek but a great experience regardless.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Estancia Gaucho Day

Buenos Aires

After experiencing a real ranch in Patagonia this was a bit of a letdown. A lot of idle ti e and do not need to have a guide with you the entire time.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Minitrekking Perito Moreno Glacier

El Calafate

Amazing experience

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Great engagement

Transport

Horseback riding at Estancia Cristina

El Calafate

Amazing experience. Highly recommend the horseback riding as it is legitimate experience on well trained horses. Not the “trail ride” with poorly trained horses. The food prepared at the bbq was fantastic. What a truly enjoyable day and experience.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

We worked with kimkim and Matias to book our honeymoon to Argentina after work and wedding planning got too busy to tackle it ourselves. There was very limited time to plan and Matias was patient with us and accommodating to our various requests and edits, but there were also some mixups - for example, the first trip Matias planned was far more expensive than expected. We said that and worked out a different trip, which somehow came in at an even higher price point. At that point, I asked to see the price breakdown and from there was able to make decisions to get us to a budget we were more comfortable with. It was still higher than I hoped to spend, but we figured that was the price for waiting until the last minute.

Overall, the trip itself was great. Some really amazing experiences that I don't know we would've found ourselves include the tour to milongas with a professional tango instructor, the food tour of Palermo, and the wine tours in Mendoza. There is not a lot of English in Argentina and we don't speak much Spanish, so it was helpful to be paired with English speaking guides. It was also a relief to know our internal flights and hotels were taken care of, and all we had to do was show up!

This was our first time working with a travel agency and not the usual way we travel, so there were some bumps in the road, but overall we are very grateful to kimkim and Matias for making our honeymoon so memorable, and thank you Matias for sharing the best of Argentina with us! We hope for many trips back some day.

Activity Reviews

Excursion to Two Milongas

Buenos Aires

Such an incredible experience to get a sense of the REAL tango scene in Argentina.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Sherpa Gastronomic Tour

Buenos Aires

Such a fun and delicious tour. Our guide was wonderful and had great recommendations for bars and restaurants outside of our tour. Very accommodating to vegetarians too :) It was really nice to do a group tour for this and bond with people over good food and wine!

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Wine & Cheese Tasting at Palacio Duhau

Buenos Aires

This was a really nice and individualized experience in a beautiful setting. The wine and cheese pairings were unlike any I have had before. It was amazing to hear directly from the sommelier and cheese expert.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Lujan de Cuyo Wine Experience

Mendoza

Suchhhhh good wines, and the lunch at the end was incredible. Really fun to learn about wine directly from the people making it.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Uco Valley Wine Country

Mendoza

We had this tour the day after our tour of Lujan de Cuyo and it was so interesting to learn about the different region and what makes their wines so unique, and of course sample some! Our guide and driver were wonderful and played us some really great Argentinian music!

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

We enjoyed our trip to the fullest! Everything was very well planned, and each time we needed communication, the team was very responsive.
Our guides and drivers were all very friendly and knowledgeable, they adapted to our family and did great with the kids.
Every location we visited was memorable, Iguazu falls, Buenos Aires, Uruguay.
We will definitely come back to South America and use Kimkim again.

Kristy and KimKim were honestly the best in helping plan my honeymoon. I was limited in time for planning and Kristy really helped me to plan some great activities.

She also helped me to rearrange a few things last minute when our flights were delayed.

I really can't recommend using KimKim enough to help maximize your time in a place.

One of our highlights was a walking tour all day in Buenos Aires that really helped to acquaint us with the city. We also did an amazing wine tour in Valle de Uco that was excellent.

Hotel Reviews

Finca Adalgisa

Chacras de Coria

This hotel is amazing and peaceful. We loved the serene setting. The cooking class here was also amazing.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Design Suites Bariloche

San Carlos de Bariloche

The hotel had a beautiful view, but is quite noisy on the first floors of the buildings. The heated pool was nice. The breakfast was only ok for a 4 star hotel.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Nuss Hotel Buenos Aires Soho

Buenos Aires

Very cute room and very cute terrace. Super fantastic location in walkable Palermo. I would definitely stay here again when in Buenos Aires.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Review

A Wine tour of Valle de Uco

Mendoza

Our guide was fantastic. We went to smaller producer vineyards and they were amazing. Delicious wine.

Quality of Experience

Food

The smoked trout with potato foam was excellent.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Mery did a superb job of putting together an amazing trip on very short notice. The guides were almost all very excellent. The drivers were prompt and willingly waited when we were delayed. The level of service provided for al aspects of thsi trip was excellent.

Activity Reviews

Half-Day Buenos Aires City Tour

Buenos Aires

We were to meet the driver for this tour at a specific time in front of our hotel. We were there early. A van arrived and we asked the driver if this was the city tour. He said that it was the city tour so we boarded the van along with six other people. No one asked us our names but the same circumstance had occurred the previous night. Unfortunately we were on the wrong van and so missed the city tour.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Dinner & Tango Show

Buenos Aires

Very athletic dancing. The show was a great introduction to Argentina.

Quality of Experience

Food

Advance notice that an excellent meal could be had but that an additional cost would be involved.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Half-Day The Argentine Experience Cocktail & Dinner

Buenos Aires

The meal preparation and dining experience was great. The staff who coordinated the event were very good. We were told to arrive no later than 7:00 pm so we made sure to arrive 5 minutes early. We were not told that the cocktail teaching experience required us to be there by 6:15 pm so we missed out on that part.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

We were able to walk from our hotel.

Full-Day Estancia Day - San Antonio de Areco - El Ombu -

Buenos Aires

The horseback riding was not very exciting as the horses moved slowly along a predetermined path in an open field. The barbecue and the wine were both excellent and made the day a pleasurable experience.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Full-Day Iguazú Falls Argentine side

Puerto Iguazú

Astounding views of the falls. The guide did a wonderful job of showing us around and explaining everything.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Half Day Brazilian Falls tour

Argentina

The Argentinian side of the falls was amazing. The Brazilian side of the falls was ten times as wonderful. I tell everyone that they must put this natural wonder of the world on their bucket list. Our guide was very conscious of the fact that we were arriving on a Brazilian holiday and that the falls would be crowded by the afternoon so he wisely switched the order of our day's itinerary so that we had an even better experience.

Quality of Experience

A great guide and a stupendous sight.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

The guide was very knowledgable and did is best to make sure we had the best experience.

Transport

Visit to Parque Das Aves

Puerto Iguazú

An memorable park that allowed close observation of the various birds and other animals.

Quality of Experience

Close encounters with exotic birds.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

A very knowledgeable guide.

Transport

Half-Day City Tour Santiago de Chile

Santiago

The guide did not seem interested in showing us the highlights of the city. My impression was that she was doing the minimum to get through what she had to do and no more.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

The guide seemed bored and disinterested.

Transport

Full-Day Rafting & Trekking

Mendoza

A fun day rafting and trekking in the Andes. The trekking included rappelling which could be a lot of fun. However, the guides had trouble explaining the steps. When I observed from the bottom as others were beginning their descent it was clear that the instructor missed explaining a fundamental point that would have made it easier for everyone. The rafting was fun. A better explanation of what was required of us and what would be provided wold have been helpful. For instance, we did not know if wet suits were provided or what footwear we needed etc.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Better information by a person fluent in English early.

Transport

Full-Day High Andes with trekking to Durazno Gorge

Mendoza

The sights while hiking in the Andes were great. The hike was not too long or to difficult.

Quality of Experience

Food

Transport

I am not sure how to improve the transport but travellers should be aware that it is a 3 hour drive each way (6 hours total) for a 2 hour hike

Full-Day Cacheuta Hot Springs

Mendoza

A half day at the spa would be sufficient. Sitting in pools of water at various temperatures loses its appeal after a few hours. The spa could add additional services such as massages, facials, manicures and pedicures to make a full day.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Full Day Valparaiso & Viña del Mar Tour

Santiago

A good day seeing an historical city.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Full Day Visit to two wineries in the Colchagua Valley

Santiago

Very informative trip to the one winery. The second winery was a fascinating place but the guide spoke very little English so it was difficult to benefit from the tour.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Full-Day Red Rocks

San Pedro de Atacama

A great experience. We did not expect to be treated to two picnics in the desert along with visiting the National Flamingo Park as well as the Red Rocks with their lagoons. The guide was very helpful and knowledgeable.

Quality of Experience

Food

I was very pleased to be treated to two picnics in teh desert.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

A superb guide who made a clear effort o make everyone feel welcome and relaxed and enjoy the day.

Transport

Half Day Tatio Geysers

San Pedro de Atacama

An amazing place. The hot springs and geysers are a highlight of the trip.

Quality of Experience

Tremendous sights.

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

The guide was knowledgeable and able to answer all of my questions.

Transport

It is a very bouncy ride up the mountain.

Half-Day Moon Valley Tour

San Pedro de Atacama

A hike in the desert hills with stunning views al around. Wonderful.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

The guide knew the best time to go and took us to a great location to watch the sunset.

Transport

Johanna and Kristy have been awesome specialists helping us plan the trip and execute it.
They were prompt in replying on the portal before the trip and on WhatsApp during the trip.
We always felt we were in good hands.
Their advice was right on about the key things to see in the places we picked.
They were accomodative to the changes we made before the trip due to preferences, just before the trip due to airline schedule changes and during the trip due to weather issues.
Kristy also helped us get the flight changes we needed when Aerolineas was not being responsive.
She even helped us pick the restaurants that cater to our vegan preference.
Of the tour agents they picked for us, Piratour to Isla Martillo were the best.
Both Thomas the tour guide and the ladies at Haberton marine mammal museum were quite informative and awesome.
Sabrina was an excellent tour guide at Buenos Aires, very knowledgable, patient and took us to off-beat interesting spots in the San Telmo and La Boca neighborhoods
Visits on our own to the 3 places Kristy recommended were definitely worthwhile - Glaciarium at Calafate, Casa Botella and Tres Fronteras at Iguazu falls.
Word of caution to other vegans - Vegan restaurants are hard to find outside Buenos Aires - do your research ahead of time.
El Chalten has only 1 but it's awesome - Curcuma! Iguazu falls has only 1, and average at best, on the Argentina side.
There are more vegan choices on the Brazil side of Iguazu falls. The one recommended by our side, Gilderlei, Cantina de Bea was very good.
Another word to the wise: We wish our Spanish ability were better. While the tours were bilingual, we kept wondering if we were missing anything.
In the shops, restaurants and on the streets we found very few english speakers, even in the Buenos Aires Metropolis.
Google translate was quite inefficient at best and useless where there was no internet connection.

Kimkim did a fantastic job arranging our trip. We essentially circled Argentina which KimKim arranged. Our itinerary included Buenos Aires, Iguazu Falls, Salta, Mendoza, Calafate, El Chalten and Ushuaia. All the guides and agents hired by Kimkim were exceptional, professional and accomodating. Thanks to our BA driver, Carlos who was always prompt and engaging. The following guides are highly recommended:
- Patricio, our BA bike guide, introduced us to mate and alfajores!!
- Roxanne in Iguazu,
- Juan Rios in Salta (House of Jasmines is a fantastic estancia - one of our favorites)
- Tessa (our wine guide) and Ricky (our whitewater rafting guide) in Mendoza
- Alejandro in El Chalten - He tracked us down to make sure we were getting taken care of!!
- Gabriel in Ushuaia for a very adventurous hike to Laguna Esmeraldo, our Rumbo Sur guide and driver to Tierra del Fuego National Park and of course, the guides and Penguins on Isla Martillo!
- Finally, our estancia tour, horseback ride and barbeque at the ranch in San Antonio de Areco. Wonderful way to end our trip!!

Francesca from KimKim gould not have done a better job. She has excellent knowledge of Argentina and the excursions we wanted to do. Also thanks to Kristy for her follow up and assistance. I would highly recommend KimKim especially Francesca.

Activity Review

Biking through Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires

The guide was excellent, very knowledgeable and engaging. Maybe an e-bike?!

Quality of Experience

Quite extensive tour of the city. Hit a number of important and interesting sites.

Food

Stopped for lunch at one of the parkside eateries. Tons of really tasty food!

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Great knowledge of the areas we visited. Accomodating and engaging. Introduced as to mate and alfajores!!

We had an amazing trip in Argentina and Chile for our honeymoon thanks to Camila, who was great to work with and happily handled all of our annoying requests to totally change locations, activities, trip dates, and more. Everything went off without a hitch during the trip as well, including airport pickups, transfers between locations, and all of our guided activities. Camila even helped us arrange a pickup from a totally different airport at a different time when we decided at the last minute to change to an earlier flight to Buenos Aires. We will definitely be working with Camila for our next trip to Argentina!

I originally planned my Argentina trip for last year, when a Google search recommended Buenos Aires for a November vacation. Another Google search directed me to kimkim as I frankly didn’t know much where to go in Argentina. The trip was planned and then…life got in the way. My kimkim advisor at the time worked with kimkim, pushing out my final payment a week or so, until I had to finally make the decision to postpone the trip. I was pleased with how easily this was done.

Fast forward several months later – I reached back out and was connected with Matias. I made some tweaks to the original itinerary, finally settling on Buenos Aires, Iguazú Falls and the Salta area. I’m so happy I went with Matias’ suggestions – he fit so much into a very short time frame. I was travelling alone and requested a mix of private and group tours to help bring down the cost when available. Matias was usually quick to respond to my comments – even when I said it was no rush! In fact, Matias even let me know he would be traveling himself a few weeks before my own trip in case I had to reach him. I have no complaints about anything – I was met at each airport, my guides and drivers were all fantastic (special shout out to my Salta guide, who had to put up with me for several days :-)) They even took care of some of my dinner and tango show reservations. It was truly a worry free vacation! I’m not sure if the app is something all kimkim vendors use or it was just Matias’ group, but it was very helpful and I referred to it often. The app was also where all flight information was posted.

I will plan on using kimkim again for future trips around the world and highly recommend working with Matias when traveling around Argentina – you won’t be disappointed!

We spent a month in Argentina and 10 days we were on a kimkim tour.

Our tour started in Salta. Our itinerary said that our tour operator was Signature Tours, but in fact it was Altiplano Travel. This was the start of the errors with our kimkim tour.

We were picked up from our hotel for a tour to Salinas Grandes and Purmamarca. The tour leader only spoke Spanish and we triple checked that we were on the correct tour. We were assured that we were on his list. So, for about 2 hours we listened to Spanish, which we didn’t understand and missed all of the information about the area.

We took a 4 hour Salta city tour one day that was also all in Spanish, so we didn’t learn anything. We had a young man accompany us as an “interpreter”. He was a nice kid who was still in high school and knew conversational English and was totally lost with translating. Our Spanish guide spoke and we got a 1-2 word translation. Again we had no information. I’m not sure why they even put us on the tour!

We then went on a 12 hour Spanish speaking tour to Cafayate with our “translator” who wasn’t able to translate. This section of road has been described as an “epic once in a lifetime road trip”, which we were not able to learn about! Super frustrating!! Kimkim did not deliver the English speaking guides that were promised and by this omission, left us unable to learn about the places we had flown so far to see!

Our tour Hornocal (14 Colors Mountain) was great when we were provided with and English speaking guide. We stopped at little villages along the way and the guide helped us order a delicious meal. The mountain was amazing!

We next went to Iguazu to stay at the Mercure Iguazu Hotel. When we arrived at the hotel we were told that our hotel had not been prepaid. The confirmation number we had from kimkim meant nothing and we had to pay again. Thank goodness we were set up to be able to do that! We received an apology from kimim for their error and eventually received a refund on our card.

The tour of Iguazu was great with a very good guide. We walked the upper and middle trails and then went on an exciting boat ride to the falls. The next day we visited the Brazilian side.

Argentina was our third kimkim tour. Myanmar and Colombia tours were 5 star excellent, but this one missed the mark by a long way!! I was very disappointed with this trip!

It was so nice to have the freedom to do the activities we wanted to to but also have the security of knowing you were being looked after and the convenience of all the transfers at airports and hotels. All of our guides were helpful and informative. We did have one issue with a hotel and Julian and Ana did a great job of getting us re-situated in a new hotel within 2 hours! The next night we received a complimentary bottle of wine for our inconvenience.

Matías was simply amazing! From day one in the planning process to the continuing support while in country, to the ENTIRE team on the ground in Argentina! I wouldn’t, couldn’t recommend any other agency! Just over and above service for the entire experience…..