Kimkim Trip Reviews for Iceland

I was very pleased with the work done by kimkim.

My family and I really made it challenging for Chris to arrange our plans: We were located in 3 different cities all giving different feedback. Chris did an excellent job coordinating and adjusting to our {changing} needs.

Everything was good and we had a wonderful time on our trip. I do feel like a few things could be improved. Kimkim was not proactive in providing itineraries or details. Everything was booked but I didn't receive confirmation number or vouchers with the tour agency. When I asked about this I was assured that everything was all set and I didn't need any confirmation number or voucher.

While everything turned out to be fine I would have felt more comfortable with some sort of voucher. Also, the receipts for payment are not itemized. That would also be appreciated. We did have a couple minor hiccups. Our guide had a hard time locating our snorkel group and the snorkel group had us booked for the next day. It was all worked out and we got to snorkel but there were about 45 minutes of confusion.

On our second day of touring, we had been told that lunch was included. It was not. We had not brought along any food. Luckily our guide shared his extra food with us and all was fine. But had he not we would have gone very hungry as this was an all day tour.

But not to focus on the negatives! We had wonderful and personal experiences with guides who customized our trips. They were all friendly and full of information. We had three days of very rainy weather and they all helped us enjoy ourselves despite that. Booking with kimkim was convenient with the chat function and spread out payment. I would use the service again.

Chris had very good suggestions and advice during the planning stages of the trip. His experience was very valuable in customizing the trip. Everything went on smoothly. We had no trouble finding accommodations. The places were comfortable and as cheap as one could get in Iceland. The places were also located strategically such that we could get to the attractions reasonably quickly and before it got completely mobbed.

Chris also provided detailed recommendations for each day for places to see, hikes to take, and also restaurants. We fully followed those recommendations and were rewarded. remember that in Iceland, every attraction is not marked 20 miles ahead. Therefore, it is easy to miss some. Having a local expert is priceless.

Overall, booking with kimkim was an excellent decision.

The north and east was great, the south was so-so. Some of the hotels were passable. The food was good but outrageously expensive.

Chris was very responsive to the wide range of questions. Response time varied a lot depending on his schedule or travel

Small hiccup that was weather related. Could have been more responsive during the planning period. Itinerary was outstanding and the way that it was adjusted when the weather threw a monkey wrench was great. Otherwise, we loved it.

Timing of responses could have been better. When I started directly emailing him and calling while in Iceland, communication was much better

It would be great if kimkim could provide google maps links that provide a driving route. I manually created google maps routes each night for the next day- although i am fine with doing it, but i dont think other folks would have been ok with tackling that activity. The manual entry was challenging with the spelling of icelandic destinations.

Chris' trip was outatanding, and I greatly appreciated how he went the extra mile to find a riding tour that was appropriate for my wife's riding experience. It was a highlight of the trip!

We had an amazing time, and thought that KimKim did quite a good job, especially given the short notice for our trip. There were several issues that could have been better:
1) There was several recommendations of places to go that were simply impossible to see at the time of the trip - as an example, the Leirhnjukur Lava Fields were completely inaccessible. This happened to us on several occassions, which caused us to spend time that could have been better spent at places that were simply not accessable.
2) In some of the itinerary, there could have been more detail in terms of actually finding the locations. As an example, where exactly is Hvalnes Nature Reserve? It would be useful, when doing a self guided tour to have more specific directions and suggestions about what to look out for, where to turn, and where to park, etc.
3) In the town of Vik, it would have been I good idea to let us know that we needed to call ahead to make reservations for dinner.
4) There was some really sketchy and somewhat dangerous driving, and I think that we could have been better prepared for that. In addition, the driving times in many instances were a severe underestimate of the actual driving time.

These things being said, we did have an exciting and unforgettable trip!

We thought that Chris did a very good job, and was quite helpful when I reached out to him during the trip.

Chris was very fast to answer, and so informative!

It was pretty much perfect. One day we drove a long way to some hot springs, probably ended up being and extra 2 hrs to find they didn't open untill 4pm. Should've checked but worth adding to the info sheet. Didn't mind too much though.

It was helpful to have someone with knowledge of the area to help us book rooms. However, the itinerary seemed somewhat generic rather than customized. For example, there were several recommendations on the itinerary that were not open during the winter season. Also, because it was winter and the roads were not always in the best condition, it would have been nice if the itinerary was a little more specific with directions (i.e. what roads were before/after) rather than just saying look for the signs. We relied a lot more on a Rough Guide and a detailed map than I had expected to.

I was really pleased with the itinerary put together for us. We weren't able to do everything but we did almost everything and found some other interesting additions along the way.

The whole trip was planned half-way easier knowing what to do and what shall be expected in Iceland with assistance of kimkim's service.

Chris was able to adjust / alter the itinerary according to our preferences and requests and it turned out to be a successful journey. Most of the time we stayed 2 night straight at the same hotel and as a result it allowed us to revisit places and savor the dramatic landscapes we were not able to enjoy at the first day due to extreme weather condition in this April.

The trip was amazing. Loved the tips on stops and restaurants. Really happy with most of the accommodations. Will definitely be using Kimkim in the future

Only complaint was we weren't the happiest with the car rental place, didn't seem the reputable. Also the accommodations at the centric house, while centrally located, were very dirty for the price paid. Other than that, very happy.

Loved working with Chris, however would like an heads up when credit card would be charged so we could make sure the money was in the account.

We had the BEST time! Thanks so much Chris!

We were really pleased with Chris's response time and the trip schedule for making our way around the country. It was clear that Chris was not aware that a few of the sites and one of roads were closed for the winter. I also specifically asked about Glymur falls in the winter and if the log was across the river and what it would be like in March. Chris said the log would be there, however it was clearly marked on the sign at the trailhead that the log is not there in the winter. The hike was very snowy. We were prepared for that. Good hike either way but again some misinformation given the time of year. Our accommodation was generally excellent and very comfortable for our family of four. The OK hotel was good but the "pull out couch" was not long enough even for me to sleep on (I'm 5 foot 5 inches) let alone two 17 year old boys. Just good to know if you are putting a family in there it would work for two young kids.

Chris was very helpful and insightful. Always repsonded promptly.

Loved his suggestions and his possible itineraries he laid out for us. There were options and comments to help us gauge how we can cover all that we intended to see.

Chris was there to help me with everything with a fast response!

The Guides were fantastic and I was impressed Harpa put it together exactly to our needs with so little notice

My itinerary was great overall. Well paced, stopped at many terrific highlights and quite achievable.
It did however feel like it was written quite generically - that is to say, just a copy paste job rather than something tailored. As an example, one restaurant in Hellnar which was recommended (and pretty much the only one for miles) was closed for the winter. This is confirmed with a search on Google, it's not a one off. I would expect this recommendation to be removed for winter trips. Mentions of daily drive distances were a bit off - example, the second last day I had to drive from Skaftafell to Reykjavik (320km, 4hr), not Vik to Reykjavik (180km, 2hr20min) as mentioned in the itinerary. My guess is that Chris used a base itinerary to build mine which is fine, but some of the smaller details were not altered to conform to mine.

My main gripe though is the choice of car hire. I should have looked more closely before agreeing, but I'm generally wary about dodgy operators other than the core Avis, Budget, Hertz, Thrifty. While it might be cheap initially, they do the hard sell at the desk on added insurances, in this case 30 Euro a day (for things like gravel protection, sand protection, reduced excess etc), which still has exclusions. I asked Chris about insurances, he said it included liability and collision and asked if I wanted any additional. Turns out that cover doesn't cover much, and it still includes an approx. $2200AUD excess. Further - the company would put a hold on my card for $2200AUD for going on 10 days after the rental has ended. This is really unsettling and not to mention an inconvenience.

While this isn't strictly Kimkim/Chris's fault, the selection of the car hire company is really important. The discussions online about the chosen car hire company are really worrying.

Chris was very responsive and answered all of my questions promptly.

Our trip to Iceland couldn't have been more perfect. To start with, it is a beautiful country and we were very fortunate to have had perfectly clear weather the entire 5 days we were there in February/March, after what we had been told was a very rainy winter. 18 inches of snow fell just before we arrived, and the Northern lights were out every night, making it a winter wonderland. That part was sheer luck, but on top of that, the trip was as smooth as we could have hoped. Our driver was waiting at the airport and took us right to our hotel which we had booked the previous night because of our very early morning arrival. The first day in Reykavik we planned on our own. The next 4 days were planned by the kimkim operator. We had private tours of the Golden Circle and the south coast, and a group tour to the Thorsmark wilderness area. On the final day we took a quick tour of the Reykjanes peninsula and then a stop at the Blue Lagoon before heading to the airport. We had 2 guides for those 4 days, and both were very friendly and knowledgeable and made everything run so smoothly that we didn't have to worry about a thing. We felt very lucky that our guide for the south coast tour had grown up in the area, and he took us to see places where his family had lived and told us the stories behind them. Although we did some of the usual tourist things, we loved also going to a few places where we didn't see another person. The hike up the mountain where his great-great grandfather had a farm was spectacular. We appreciated his flexibility in changing the plan on the last day when we were tired and wanted to get back to the hotel a little bit earlier than planned.

The only thing I would have changed about our trip was the trip to the Blue Lagoon, but that is in hindsight. We had heard a lot about it and felt like we had to go see what it was all about, but it was too crowded and too touristy for our tastes. The hot lagoon was a unique experience, but if I had to do it over again I would try one of the natural springs out in the countryside instead, and save a lot of money too!

As far as the planning process, I have tried several different online travel planning services, and I really like the way kimkim uses a back and forth conversation to plan the details. It's much quicker than other services that start with a formal proposal, which then has to be laboriously modified if you want changes. For our Iceland trip, the local operator started with a general plan, then narrowed down the details, and then presented a completed proposal. Most of my communication was with the local tour operator, but on 2 occasions when there was a breakdown in communication the Kimkim team stepped in and sorted it out quickly. I hope kimkim adds more locations to their offerings. I will use it again.

A couple of very small details that could have been improved - our trip to Thorsmark was 1-1/2 hours longer than described. It seemed as if our guide added on some things at the end to give us our money's worth, but we were tired and would have been happy to end on time. Part of the reason we were so tired was because on our hike the guide raced ahead of the group instead of going at our pace. We weren't all 20-somethings who hike glaciers in our spare time, and it isn't much fun hiking if you are worried about keeping up! A final small detail - water in the jeep would have been nice. But these were small things. Overall the trip was amazing.