Kimkim Trip Reviews for Croatia

We had an amazing 10 days in Croatia and working with KimKim was an absolutely wonderful experience. Veselka our local specialist was a joy to work with and she checked all the boxes in helping us set up our family sailing adventure to Brach, Hvar, Vis and the Pakilani Islands. Every detail was covered and all the suggestions that were made and the advice that was given was right on point! Our Captain Alen and his wife Natalija were A1 and treated us like family as they took us on around the beautiful Adriatic Coast for 6 days in their 42ft Catamaran The Avacado. (with it’s Avacado Pink Sail!) The meals on board the boat were fabulous and made according to the seasonal availability of all the freshest and healthiest ingredients. The dinner recommendations from the crew in each of the port cities we visited were perfect! (The Naked Fisherman of Hvar!) actually have a restaurant and boy was it fabulous! A big Thank You! to the both of them for the vacation of our lives!. Our day trip to Plitvice lakes was coordinated perfectly with no waiting to enter the park. Our Driver Miran and our charming and knowledgeable guide Ivana, made the day one we will never forget. The time we spent in the Split was unforgettable as well, and Nevis our tour guide gave us so much insight about the Croatian culture (proper coffee😊 ) and the history and Architecture of the city as we toured the Diocletian palace. We Love Croatia! Thank You KimKim for making travel stress free by not having to worry about the details when vacation time is meant to be spent enjoying the moment. Zivjeli!!

My wife and I joined two tours in Korcula, Croatia with Rachael and John. One a guided walk through an old town called Znovo followed by an amazing dinner with Frank and his family. The second was a cycling and wine tasting tour which involved cycling from Korcula through the
Lumbarda countryside and stopping at two venues for wine tasting and snacks.

Both were well organised and most enjoyable. Sue and I can highly recommend both tours.

We can't say enough good things about the KimKim experience. We traveled as a family of four with 19 and 16 year old son and daughter and this was our first trip to Europe. Planning the trip with Ante was very easy. He provided several example itineraries which we were then able to adjust to fit our preferences. We were able to meet him when we were in Split, having coffee before leaving for Hvar. He was genuinely interested in us having a good experience. What made the trip so special was the local people Ante set us up with, from the drivers, to the apartment hosts, to the guides; every single one of them was exceptional. I might not get all the names correctly, but it's worth trying. Antonia, our guide in Plitvice Lakes park was great. The park is very crowded and she was able to get us around many of the long lines the visitors were stuck in. Diana and Christian, our apartment hosts and Sea Kayaking guide in Hvar were awesome. The Apartment was perfect, clean, comfortable, with a nice terrace. Daria, our hiking guide to the Lost Villages was absolutely the best. The hike and the lunch we had in Malo Grablje was a highlight of our entire trip. We hated to have to say goodbye to Daria. The apartment in Dubrovnik, and our host Octavia, were also excellent. The apartment was located a short walk outside the old walled city, and had a beautiful terrace, with a small pool. We went sea kayaking around Lokrum island outside the old city walls. Luksa, our guide was really great. There are many large kayaking groups with commercial guides. Luksa was our own personal guide, and made it a point to avoid the other large groups, and educate us on Dubrovnik's history. It's worth mentioning that the drivers, both to Plitvice Lake and the transfers in Dubrovnik were also first rate. They were on time, professional, and very personable. Overall, the trip felt like we were visiting with family friends. I would absolutely recommend planning your trip with Ante. We will definetly be using Kim Kim to plan our next adventure.

Robi did a wonderful job coordinating a half-day boating trip for us near Split, Croatia. When I inquired about the trip, he was able to find a trip at a price and schedule that fit our family's needs. His turnaround time was great and he had excellent communication with us from the trip planning to following up with us after the trip. Our skipper on the boat, Sime, made the day so fun and relaxing! He took care of everything we needed, was very flexible and kind. I would highly recommend this trip!

We had an amazing time during our week long visit to Croatia - thanks to Ante!!

We were lucky enough to learn of KimKim and be connected with Ante during our planning process. Ante helped from pre-planning, all the details during our trip and also met us in person. He listened to our preferences and helped us design the perfect itinerary including excursions and transfers. Our trip included a walking tour, bike tour and boating day - all were coordinated with amazing guides and were the perfect experience. Ante took care of (and communicated to us) all of the transfers between cities whether they were through fast ferry or rental car.

During the trip, Ante was with us the whole way - answering questions, providing tickets and information. There is nothing as beneficial as having someone who lives in your destination to help you with your trip. Ante went above and beyond and we were thrilled to meet him in person too.

I really can't say enough good things about our experience!! Highly recommend Kimkim and ANTE!!

We had a wonderful first time in Croatia. Ante was extremely helpful and professional, providing us with an excellent service. We highly recommend using kimkim! Thank you Ante :)

Veselka was great to work with. She listened to what I wanted and helped me plan an incredible trip. All of our hotels were in incredible locations and were in the budget that we wanted to be in. In Dubrovnik we stayed at Hotel Lapad. In Hvar we stayed in the pedestrian area in the old town at a hotel called Villa Nora. It was very charming and old. It was more like a bed and breakfast then a hotel. Every room is different, but they were all clean and very nice. In Split we were also in a pedestrian area but we were attached to the wall of the palace. It was amazing. The rooms were small but the location was perfect. Our last place was in Rovinj. We stayed at the Angelo D'Oro. The room here was incredible! I think it was our nicest room. Breakfast was included in all the hotels but the breakfast areas in Hvar and Rovinj were the most beautiful. We sat outside in gardens! All the breakfast were great but those were exceptional. It was a great hotel near the pedestrian walkway and amazing restaurants. Our hotel in Dubrovnik was a short cab ride from the Old town. We were picked up at the Dubrovnik airport and taken to the hotel. Our friends bags didn't come and Veselka was amazing helping us get the bags. It took 5 days but once they landed in Dubrovnik she got them to us in split. In Hvar we went sailing for a day that included a great lunch and swam in the most beautiful blue water. Our guide told us to call him H, was very nice but a little quiet. At times it was nice that we had some space and at other times it was a little awkward but an amazing day overall!! We also went on a hike through the small/abandoned villages in Hvar and had a local lunch. Bertie the chef was fabulous. This was one of the most incredible experiences. The food was outstanding. They made there own wine, grappa, sweet wine and olive oil. The only thing I didn't like were the anchovies but I tried them! I don't remember the guides name. He said to call him good looking. He was hilarious and had us laughing the whole time. I would recommend this to anyone. We had another guide in Rovinj. his name was Luka. He was really nice and informative. He drove us through all the hilltop towns. We went wine tasting at Kabola vineyards, olive oil tasting at Chiavalon and truffle tasting at Karlic Tartufi! What a fabulous day. At each of these places the hosts were incredible. They taught us so much. They provided food to go with the tasting as well which was very unexpected.

Kimkim is a very convenient service, and I am beyond thrilled with the local guide they connected us with in Croatia. Robi of Soul of Croatia (aka ACDC) helped us plan the perfect honeymoon! He worked closely with me prior to the trip to make sure we got everything we wanted out of our trip. He is attentive, responsive, considerate, detail oriented, friendly, professional, and makes amazing recommendations! While we were on the ground, we did tours with his colleague Goran who was also such a great guy - super knowledgeable and fun to travel with! I absolutely recommend these guys as the go to expert for any trip to Croatia.

Working with Miha and the Kim Kim team was a seamless experience from start to finish. I would highly recommend this company and will be using them in the future.
Thanks Kim Kim

We planned a 2 week vacation to visit the Dalmatian Coast. I was confident in choosing my own accommodations through Airbnb, but needed assistance in planning activities for my family, as well as places worth visiting. After completing some research online, I contacted KimKim who put me in touch with Veselka. She was extremely helpful from the start. Her communication was precise and prompt. We worked together over a period of 6 months putting the trip together. I could not have been more please and would highly recommend her. The communication stayed all the way till the end. I can't express how easy she made our travels - never having to worry about transportation or guides. Honestly, I just can't say enough good!

A TRULY MEMORABLE HOLIDAY — HVALA ANTE!

From the 2 weeks of planning to the duration of our holiday, Ante went well above and beyond his role of local specialist, which we never expected from someone we met for the first time!

He was consistently available to answer any and all questions; providing useful advice and numerous options for all aspects of the trip — activities, dining, transportation & alternatives when the weather presented setbacks. Indeed, despite thunderstorms delaying our transit via Zagreb, he kept us updated via messages on the status of the subsequent flights and ensured our safe arrival. Ante hand-picked our tour guides to best fit our requirements and personality, even guiding us through Split when he could have easily found someone to take his place — putting in extra effort with no hesitance. Throughout our numerous holiday stops, he would send regular messages to ensure our safe arrival and that all transportation and activities went over smoothly; always courteous and never forceful!

This holiday was also very special to me, because of my intention to propose to my girlfriend (now fiancé) — Ante proved a great asset; providing numerous ideas for romantic venues and settings throughout the trip, culminating in a wonderful sunset dinner atop Srđ Mountain overlooking the beautiful city of Dubrovnik where she would say yes! In her words: "the proverbial cherry on top, making an already fantastic holiday... perfect!"

Thanks to Ante's positive attitude, friendly demeanor, willingness to help, and passion for his role gave us peace of mind, but also a truly personal level of attention reserved to family and friends: which is how we both felt after leaving Croatia — we visited a truly beautiful country and wonderful friend!

Service during booking was very attentive.

We genuinely felt the holiday met and exceeded our expectations. The hotels at Split and Dubrovnik were excellent - the Villa Nora in Hvar was also very good but slightly let down by faulty air conditioning. Veselka met us at Split airport and explained the itinerary well, delivering us to our hotel as promised. Ivan took us to Plitvice lakes, and was prompt, very friendly and informative.
Natalia from Villa Nora met us from the ferry and gave us good service there, very approachable - she recognised the problem with air conditioning and was awaiting an engineer to fix it. The guide who took us on the 'lavender fields and old towns' day tour in Hvar was first class (sorry can't remember his name) this included a great lunch at a tavern on the way, which was prepared specially for us and it was memorable. We walked all the way into Hvar town which was a challenge for one of us and he managed to keep us cool and resting along the way! Excellent.
Dubrovnik old town was if anything, quieter than we expected and Anada gave us a tour round late afternoon. She was very good (if we had any comment it was almost too much detailed information to take in re history facts). But it did mean that we knew where to eat, and we then walked the walls the following day.
Our kayake experience was cancelled in Hvar due to weather, but Veselka transferred this to our last day in Dubrovnik and we really enjoyed this, our guide was 'Sirjon' and he was relaxed, friendly and helped us with photos as we did not have our camera with us. We value the fact that this trip was transferred and not cancelled!

Our trip to Croatia was amazing, what a beautiful country. We have been wanting to make this trip for years but never got around to planning, mostly because of the complicated itinerary we wanted. Thanks to Veselka the planning was easy. She made sure we got to do everything we wanted and booked the perfect hotels and apartments, all in the best locations. She also made sure that someone was there at every point to take us to our accommodation making this a very stress free and relaxing vacation. Our family travels a lot and we all agree this was one of our favorite trips.

Our Croatia tour came at the end of a longer trip. Our time was limited so we wanted to ensure we made the most of the time we had in Croatia. Veselka worked with us up front to determine what kind of experience we were looking for. Our goal was to see and experience Croatia, not only the highly touristed areas, which of course are beautiful, but also Croatia beyond that. We wanted a taste of the Croatia that required a bit of exploration.

Veselka paired us up with some fabulous guides for our Dalmatian Coast trek. In Dubrovnik, Darko was our escort on a countryside cycling trip and cooking class adventure. He made the day so much fun for us. He was very knowledgeable about the region and could answer the endless stream of questions with patience and thankfully, a great sense of humor. It was a fabulous day and we were so sad to see it end.

Our next guide was Vedran in Hvar, who was tasked with taking us on a trek through a beautiful valley where we explored abandoned villages and saw incredible mountain scenery. A stop for lunch with a colorful character was a nice addition to the hike. Vedran also gave us the option of extending our hike from its planned end point, up the coast back to Hvar town. It was not a requirement for him but he volunteered to extend our hike by several hours to give us an incredible experience and access to views otherwise unobtainable... and he also suffered the endless barrage of questions gladly... and we had many great laughs along the way. We were sad to see the day end and bid farewell to Vedran.

The last parts of the organized trip were the most intimidating for two prairie girls from Canada. Sea Kayaking was our first taste of being on the open water. We adapted quickly and were amazed to find that we were able to kayak across open water to islands just off the coast. It was a glorious day and Edi was the perfect guide for the sport. He knew his stuff, and he was so much fun! Again, we didn't want to say good bye.

The big event was the 3 day sailing trip in the islands. Land girls on a sail boat... there were a lot of things that could have gone wrong for us. Captain Bartul was a wonderful guide and ensured we got the most from our sailing experience. The evenings moored in little, out-of-the way marinas located in tiny villages, nestled in beautiful, secluded bays were so much more than we expected.

Both of us were so pleased with the experience from start to finish. We have traveled extensively for a lot of years and this trip lands at the very top of our list of highlights. Croatia is magnificent, but what took the experience beyond that was the planning on the part of Veselka and the wonderful guides we had the privilege of spending our time with. They made us feel like we were hanging with friends and we brought home some truly special memories as a result. Just can't say enough about it!

Jennifer and Kelly from Canada

We had the most pleasurable experience! From the beginning of the planning stages to each and every transfer was easy, with friendly people, and fun. Veselka was easy to work with and managed our time well. She offered great suggestions and knew exactly what to suggest with our ideas. All activities were great. We especially enjoyed the cooking class and tour and bike ride. Hotels were clean, easy to access. Verdan on the bike tour was full of knowledge and friendly and funny. The farm we ended up at for lunch was sustainable and so peaceful. Our chef Mya and tour guide for the cooking class were so pleasant and also we gain so much information about the city of Split. It was a fully engaging experience. I highly recommend the cooking class. We had a perfect balance of independent time, guided time, relaxing time, and learning time.

Veselka--thank you so much! We will never forget this trip!

Ante did a fantastic job tailoring the trip to our needs. Allen and his wife Natalia the owners of Avocado were amazing as well. The islands we visited ( Mljet, Havar, Korchula, Saipan) and meals cooked on board were so much better than anticipated.
Allen has so many toys (seabob, electric bikes and paddle boards) you do not need to book any tours.

Overall, we're really glad that we had the personal touch of someone helping us plan our trip. We did start the planning process rather late for when we wanted to go, but that's why we enlisted help in the first place. A few points of feedback:

• The kimkim website FAQs indicate that we’ll be paying a 5% service fee to book our trip. I did also see that is says “in some cases, a more substantial planning fee” will be charged. We were absolutely fine paying the $250 for your services – you guys were very helpful. But I’m still not sure what the criteria were for the two different methods of payment. I’m guessing you didn’t get a share of the profit from the vendors when we payed cash upon arrival, so it probably helped cover those types of research and bookings. Again, we were very satisfied with what we got for the booking fee and consider it money well spent, but some more clarity around that process would have been nice.

• There were a few times when it felt like our specialists took longer to complete bookings or answer our questions than we expected. There was a time difference between us and Mandy and Alex, so I didn’t expect instant communications. However, there were a few times that I had to ask a second time before tasks were complete. I think some of this would have been alleviated if we (the travelers) had started the planning process earlier. Since we waited until a month before we left, I was definitely anxious to plan as quickly as possible.

• I like the format of a chat window for the planning discussions, but maybe in the future you might want to consider some kind of checklist feature where you turn the conversation into action items that you can assign to either kimkim or the traveler. Everyone would have quick visibility into the tasks/decisions that were remaining. You might even be able to turn completed tasks into items you need to add to the itinerary on your kimkim side. (This is my programming background coming out!)

• I mentioned this in my brief feedback right when we got home, but I wanted to repeat it here: We had a really great experience on the wine tour with Krug Travel. I would highly recommend that you send anyone who's going to the Istrian peninsula in Croatia to them. They offer other experiences besides wine tours, which I’m sure would be equally great.

• I mentioned this in my feedback too, but thought I would include it in the formal survey: Having never used booking.com before, we didn’t realize that there were hotels on the website that accept cash only. This was just a note to mention to future travelers before booking.

• Both transport companies that we used – GoOpti and Connecto – were excellent. Every driver was professional and arrived on time. We would definitely recommend these companies to future travelers.

• Laundry – this is more of a traveler note than anything. We did send out some laundry in Pula at the hotel, but it felt like we were somehow inconveniencing the hotel with this request (even though it is listed on their website as a service). We turned in our laundry early (probably by 10am) on the first day at the hotel, and we didn’t get it back until late on the second day. What was really strange was we stopped by the front desk on day 2 to reserve a taxi for a very early departure on day 3 (6am), and they almost seemed worried that our laundry wouldn’t be back in time. I always thought laundry service would be a less than 24 hour thing, and that we would definitely have it back the day before we were scheduled to check out. It was also much more expensive than I anticipated for basic shorts, t-shirts, and underwear. Obviously, you at kimkim had no idea that they were going to handle the situation so poorly. Personally, after that experience, I wish we had just found somewhere to do our own laundry or skipped that step altogether and packed enough clothes to last the whole trip. I don’t know where that fits in as far as feedback goes, but it’s just something I wish we had done differently.

We appreciated having someone to do all the planning legwork for this trip! We desperately needed a vacation but had no time to plan it. It was so nice having Mandy (and Alex) to do all the research and planning that we normally do when we go on trips. We would definitely recommend your services to friends and family who are looking to take a trip and just say “yes” or “no” to the suggestions from your team.

I included some suggestions about how our planning could have been better in the previous answer. I don’t think there’s anything particular that Mandy and Alex could have done better, but the big thing was that we were all talking about a lot of different things at any given time, and we lost track of some of the things that were still not complete. Both Mandy and Alex were super professional and helpful with answering all our questions and getting us ready to go.

Honestly, there really isn't anything that could have improved the trip. Communication from the get go was excellent and extremely thorough. Follow through on arrival was perfect and the guide exceeded expectations. Absolutely no complaints.

Had a problem with a hotel room but this was dealt with quickly and efficiently.

Vlasta stayed in touch during the trip to make sure all was well.