Kimkim Trip Reviews for Iceland

Our trip to Iceland was great! I had no idea that the landscape would vary so much in the different regions - it is amazing. I loved the fact that every day we would have different experiences - waterfalls, glaciers, geysers, geothermal pools, cliffs, beaches, whales, birds, horses, I could go on... We really enjoyed trying to find all the "hidden" nature baths too.

My only complaint was that a more detailed printed itinerary would have been useful (or at least a more detailed paper map in the booklet). Our GPS wasn't working properly so we ended up not using it. Since all of the stops were marked on the GPS, it was hard to plan our days without having to look up all of the sights listed briefly in the itinerary to see where they were on the map and how to get there (the detours etc). Otherwise, we had a splendid time bouncing along in our Defender ;-).

Everyone was terrific!

Thank you for connecting us with Inga. She planned every detail perfectly including the weather. The trekking was incredible!

Inga was patient, kind and very knowledgeable. And she was quite an inspiration to my daughter and niece. To top it all off the food was fantastic and exceeded all our expectations.

Overall, the experience with KimKim was quite good. Need to check the rules about the car rentals. We were shocked by the massive deposit required by Sixt Car Rental in Iceland. Nowhere on our paperwork did it denote that they wanted a $2000 hold on our card for 20 days. We were forced to buy added insurance to get the deposit down. Also, need to be careful about where you book people based on their 'lifestyle'. Our second stay was at a hostel which was very inappropriate for who we were. It was adequate but the beds were very uncomfortable.

A few more details on a couple of things and more appropriate accommodations would have helped.

I do have some feedback, really for North Sailing, but wanted to share here too since they are a partner of KimKim. We went on a whale watching tour which departed from Husavik. The seas were rough on the day of our reservations. When we checked in, the person assisting noted this to us - I was not sure exactly what this meant. They had already canceled some of the other trips that day.

We were provided with the jumpers, raincoats, and gloves. The waves were about 10 feet high and a number of them broke partially over the bow of the boat. There was no rain. The boat seemed to rock side to side at roughly a 20-degree angle. My mom (70 yrs-old), who was for a short time next to the side about mid-way down, noted that the sea level was about 2 1/2 to 3 feet from the top of the boat railing. Our backpacks were placed on a bench in front of the captain's control room (bridge on larger ships) and with one of the tips went sliding off and hit the side of the boat where my mom was standing. My husband followed shortly thereafter. He was also seated on the same bench. He slammed into my mom and she sustained a knee injury - it still needs to be diagnosed but it is either a sprain or possibly a minor tear.

After that, one of the guides was very helpful in helping my mom (I was too sick to assist). She made sure she had a raincoat and gloves and brought her to a better location on the boat (top deck). I was sick nearly the whole time. I am susceptible to motion sickness so I knew this would be a possibility; however, over the course of the trip about 2/3 of the approximately 24 guests had thrown up at least once.

That all being said, we did see whales. My perspective is that the decision to go out was not a good call. The conditions I would say were unsafe - considering that it is not unfathomable that someone could have gone overboard which would be pretty terminal (the life ring would not do much in those kinds of seas) - and the majority of the guests were sick. In the cafe afterward, some of the guests appeared pretty stunned - starring into space. Please pass along to North Sailing.

Overall, we were very happy with Chris' work on the Iceland trip. He provided valuable input that really shaped the trip itinerary. We ended up going around the ring road which we would not have thought of if Chris had not suggested it. We are so glad we did! Having information on the sites was very helpful and of course having someone knowledgeable about lodging and booking the accommodations, car rental, and activities was super!

Thank you so much to the KimKim team for putting together such an amazing vacation for us. Everything was customized to exactly what we wanted. An extra special thanks for working with us through our 2-day flight cancellation/travel delay issues!

Halldor was great!

Great facilities. Friendly staff. Flexible about moving us from a rainy day to a sunny one. right. She is delightful and informative.

Our guide Becca was wonderful. She tailored the trip to us just

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!