Kimkim Trip Reviews for Italy

Marianne, our agent with Kim Kim begin planning our trip to Sicily almost 3 years ago but then 2020 brought Covid and we were continually delayed. Through it all Marianne was very helpful, patient, kind and very understanding explaining how to work thru the delays and with our concerns even after travel was reopened.

I have to say ALL of our guides Captain Marco from Lionel Ritchie in Casslemare Del Golfo provided an amazing boat ride in the clear blue waters of the Tyrrhenian Sea, Lorenzo in Agrigento shared his incredible love and knowledge of his home town and of the Valley of the Temples, in Modica Professor Onofrio Prestifilippo’s exuberance sharing his knowledge of the excavation at the Villa Roamana Del Casale Villa’s and what’s more to be found was contagious, our guide in Syracuse was Fausto at the Archaeological Park where he shared his knowledge of the history of the caves and surrounding area, we had an amazing tour and lunch at the Tenuta San Michele winery then Marco Saprenza our guide at Mount Etna shared we were blessed because we could see Mount Vesuvius it was so clear, we couldn’t have had a more beautiful day and tour, we did a nice relaxing boat ride in Taromina in the Ionian Sea, we ended our travels in Palermo where our guide Lara Guida Turistica with her big smile and love of the city provided us a knowledgeable walking tour even though it was an unusually wet rainy day. Sicily is a MUST see destination!

“Trip of a lifetime” said one of my daughters during our amazing vacation. A good friend of ours recommended kimkim and we were blessed with having Andrea to help us plan our first trip to Italy. For the most complicated trip we have embarked on, including the first time to Italy, Andrea was exceptional. The entire process was very smooth. His recommendations on the itinerary to start us off provided a great foundation and his desire to put together a special trip for us was apparent from start to finish. The attention to details was comforting. The hotels he selected were perfect for us, centrally located, enabling us to explore by foot in every city. The vouchers he supplied for transfers to and from the airport, tickets for the high-speed trains and “skip the line” tickets for key venues were very helpful to have in advance. The tours he selected were perfect. His willingness to instantly respond to random questions throughout the entire trip was a huge help as we navigated Italy. The advice and recommendations he provided from beginning to end were so helpful. We are forever grateful for having Andrea as our planning partner for our “trip of a lifetime”. Thank you from all of us.

Hotel Reviews

Hotel Il Guelfo Bianco

Florence

Beautiful hotel in the heart of Florence. Very neat place with exceptional front staff.

Authenticity & Character

Really cool place.

Location

Staff

Super helpful at all times.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Belvedere di San Leonino

Castellina in Chianti

Beautiful hotel in the countryside. Felt like we were in a different world.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Views were amazing. Location was very peaceful.

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Albergo Del Senato

Rome

Beautiful hotel right next to the Pantheon. Location was exceptional. Staff was excellent. Rooms were very nice.

Authenticity & Character

Had a nice feel inside rooms and in lobby.

Location

Central location right across from Pantheon.

Staff

Everyone was always genuinely helpful.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Palazzo Veneziano Venice

Venice

Beautiful hotel in an excellent location.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Wine tasting in Tuscany countryside with lunch (1 winery)

Italy

What a way to start our time in the Tuscan countryside. Location and views were amazing. Food and wine were top notch and the staff/family were all very nice and welcoming.

Hidden Venice and cicchetti experience

Italy

Great way to learn about the nooks and crannies of Venice.

Florence private guided walk including Accademia Gallery

Florence

Great way to explore Florence by foot. Really loved the city. Our guide was great.

Rome Private Guided Walk

Rome

Great way to explore Rome. Our guide was very knowledgeable.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel - private guide

Rome

The Jewels of Venice (St. Mark & Doge Palace)

Venice

Truly enjoyed everything we saw. Three hours was a bit intense.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Colosseum and Roman Forum - Private guide

Rome

Fabio did an amazing job planning this trip for us. It was truly a vacation, since we did not have to deal with the stress of figuring out tickets, transfers, tours, and a myriad of other details that make a trip to cities as busy as Rome and Florence stressful.

The private tours were priceless, especially as we wove our way through unbelievable crowds at every turn. Having private transfers to and from the train stations and airport were life savers, something that we would not have even considered planning otherwise.

The day trip to Siena with lunch and wine tasting at La Marronaia, again planned by Fabio, was the best day in Italy.

It was also helpful to have someone to contact when we had a few issues - particularly lost luggage - because sometimes a translator is needed to explain and understand a complicated situation.

Both Kimkim and Fabio were the best!!!! We will definitely use them again.

Thank you.

We had an incredible trip to Greece! Harris did an incredible job working us to plan the right amount of activities and staying within our budget. He recommended we visit Naxos instead of Mykonos and it was the highlight of trip! Once we arrived to Greece we were impressed by the quality of the tours & lodging, and all of the logistics worked perfectly! We appreciate all Harris and the Travel12 team did to make our trip special!

Ina and her team worked with us to set up a trip that combined history, museums, biking, hiking and some free time as our son was in the region to which we were traveling. We were able to easily see what we wanted and travel (with all the details pre-arranged) between Venice, Florence, Levanto and Rome, Italy. The planning was a great collaborative experience, the attention to detail was excellent, and the guides that they set up for us were all among the best we have had (for tours and for bike tours). This is my second time using Kimkim and I will be back for the next big trip.

Hotel Reviews

Hotel Antiche Figure

Venice

They actually upgraded us to a junior suite at the sister hotel which was a 5 minute walk from this place. Both looked great but we stayed at the Canal Grande and loved it and the staff.

Authenticity & Character

It “fit” what we expected for Venice.

Location

Easy to get anywhere.

Staff

The staff were friendly, recommended places for dinner and made the reservations. Excellent service!

Cleanliness & Comfort

Milu Hotel

Florence

This was our favorite of all the hotels because it was full of cool art and again, the staff were fantastic.

Authenticity & Character

It was in the fashion district and had a totally cool vibe about it.

Location

It was right in the midst of everything we wanted to do and so everything was a 10 minute walk.

Staff

They were also great at finding us places for dinner and we were comfortable enough to just let them pick and make the reservation.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Palazzo Vannoni

Levanto

This was such a friendly hotel!

Authenticity & Character

Location

It was just a bit off the beach in Levanto and easy to navigate to and from. Also close to the train station.

Staff

Super helpful with directions, hiking suggestions, other activities and food!

Aenea Superior Inn

Rome

It was a convenient location and provided good access to what we needed.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Market & Cicchetti Food Tour

Venice

Tour guide was knowledgeable, the food was amazing, and it was just us and another couple which was fun.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Bike Tour on Lido Island

Venice

Valerio took good care of us, adjusted the trip length and speed to our desired activity level, and had a ton of good info.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Afternoon Gelato Making Class

Florence

He was hysterical, and excellent teacher, and so much fun!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Chianti Wine & Olive Oil Tour from Florence

Florence

Our guide for this was so personable and the small group was easy to get to know. Loved seeing and learning about all the places we went.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Sunset e-Bike Wine Tour

Italy

Sara and Matteo took us on an fun trip, were good at explaining the history, use of the bikes, and took lots of pictures and drone shots for us to enjoy.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Vatican Guided Tour

Rome

Really knowledgeable tour guide that made this more interesting than I expected it to be. But you can’t go to Rome and not see the Vatican. She made me glad I went.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Bike The Appian Way

Rome

I can’t believe Valentina actually got us to bike on some of those roads, but what a trip! It was a great way to see things a typical tour would not get to, she was wicked smart, and took good care of us as we went through some really busy places. We learned a lot and appreciated Rome so much more. The description mentioned a breakfast or lunch but that wasn’t actually included in the tour.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Monica from the KimKim affiliate Your Custom Journey began working with us at first. She was amazing. Love that we could say where we wanted to go and the kinds of things we wanted to do but at the same time have suggestions from Monica on other activities.
Booking was easy.
Near the start of our trip we had to switch consultants for a understandable reason and began working with Fabio who is Monica's boss. I think he is extremely busy with the number of travelers he is handling and he was harder to communicate with. Also Gloria was thrown in the mix so it was a little confusing.
The end result of our activities and accommodations and drivers was excellent. But it was a little nerve wracking trying to reach anyone including the concierge when we had questions. Again it all worked out in the end but I would have preferred a quicker response from most everyone.
It was a wonderful vacation.

Hotel Review

Grand Hotel Cavour

Florence

Great location with an amazing rooftop bar. Clean and a great breakfast!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Walking distance to so many historical must sees.

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Private truffle hunting, and lunch in the tuscan countryside - Explore Arezzo

Italy

I would suggest doing this in the morning. Afternoon experience runs a little late and could have a daunting drive in the dark back to accommodations.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Private transfer to Avignonesi. Small group cooking class, winery tour & Grand Lunch with wine tasting (6h)

Cortona

Maybe favorite part of the trip. The setting is beautiful. Very educational on vinyards. Cooking class so much fun. Lunch with wine tastings amazing.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Cheese making demonstration& Row meal pecorino production - Self-explore Pienza-Turn in rental car

Cortona

Again a beautiful setting. Proprietor has an interesting life story and is obviously very passionate about his property and farming. Cheese and other food was delicious.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

We had used Kim Kim in the past for a trip to Costa Rica. Everything from the activities to the accommodations, guides and support were exemplary. Unfortunately, our experience with our recent trip to Italy was not as great and I do not think I will be using Kim Kim or recommending Kim Kim in the future, which is sad given our first experience was so positive.

For starters the price was absurd. We paid $20,000 for a 2-week trip for 5 (3 children and my husband and I)-over $1,400 per day. This did not include food or flights and did not include most of our entertainment/activities. We stayed in 4-star hotels and had several activities and several train rides as well as multiple private transfers included. I understand this is expensive and I had thought the price may be reasonable at the time until I started asking our guides, transfers, and hotels for the amount they had been paid and compiling a spreadsheet of this. I understand there will be a premium going through a travel agency, but this was borderline fraudulent and not at all congruent with our prior Kim Kim experience. My family is from Sardinia and so we began planning our own activities using them as well as a family friend who is a local travel specialist in Italy who reviewed our prices and itinerary and basically concluded we were conned.

Second the planning was extremely sloppy. We did not receive the actual schedule with times in PDF format as we had before with costa Rica. Everything was through the app. Multiple links did not work so I had to frantically call Jessica from the train station in Venice when the train tickets Kim KIm had uploaded to the app had the wrong link and were not there (we almost missed our train). Jessica had EXCELLENT communication as was available 24/7, however I feel if that if the trip was planned better, I would not have to had to be contacting her so frequently. It was annoying and stressful to constantly be on What’s Ap instead of enjoying our vacation. Our schedule told us that in Venice our transfer back to the train station would meet us at the hotel this was not the case and we waited in the hotel until the driver called the hotel and told us to walk the quarter mile to the canal for the transfer. I would have been happy to do this if it had been communicated. Our driver in Florence was late to pick us up to the train station for the transfer. Our driver in Sorrento could not find our hotel, and again for our transfers given the hotel location it was not possible to be picked up at the hotel as the itinerary said, but we had to walk to a street corner, Jessica communicated this the day before, (again not a big deal, but helpful to know all of this ahead of time and put in the itinerary before we left so we knew what to expect and were not constantly having to check whats app, bother Jessica and clarify all the transfers) Our driver to drive us to the airport on departure to Rome was also 30 min late bc he had a 6:30 pick up despite the 6am pick up listed on our itinerary.

The planning was also not well thought out. We had 2 full days in Florence, one free day to visit Uffizi and dell’Academia etc and one day of a private bike tour. Kim Kim planned Monday for our free day to visit the major attractions including the Uffizi (listed in our itinerary) however did not take into consideration that these major museums and galleries are CLOSED on Mondays!!!! This made no sense and despite traveling all the way to Italy/Florence, we were unable to see the Uffizi. Seemed like a major oversight and not something I would expect using an Italian travel agency for a $20,000 trip. Sardinia was similar. A free day on Pelosa beach, however there was no mention that we needed to buy tickets to go to the beach, so again on our planned beach day we were unable to go bc there were no tickets!!!! It seems like this would have been important info to put in the itinerary, let us know about.

I have nothing but positive things to say about Jessica. She went above and beyond and was readily available and an excellent communicator. However, as wonderful as she was, I would’ve preferred to just enjoy our trip and not have to be in constant communication with her about details that were not well spelled out/thought out in the itinerary. Jessica was not assigned to us until after the trip was built, so I’m guessing most of this was all out of her control.

We enjoyed the chosen hotels/accommodations except for Florence (location of this one was too close to large amount of vagrants/beggars, and the kids were scared walking back to the hotel, the staff were also not friendly, and the room was stuffy and hot and did not have enough beds so 2 of our children had to share a twin bed). We enjoyed the planned activities (mask painting, scavenger hunt in Dodge’s palace were both excellent, gelato making excellent, bike tour in Florence excellent).

At the end of the day our trip was still amazing, and these were minor inconveniences, however the whole point of using a travel agency is to not have to worry about the minor details/logistics. And again, after a perfectly executed trip in Costa Rica (a much less developed country than Italy too!), the planning on this trip was extremely disappointing, between this and the price gauging, this will be our last Kim Kim trip. I hope a large portion of the $20,000 we paid goes to Jessica, because she is worth her weight in gold!

Hotel Reviews

Hotel Giorgione Venice

Venice

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Albani Firenze

Florence

not good for families

Authenticity & Character

Location

near area where vagrants hang out, kids were scared walking back to hotel, would NOT stay here again

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Alghero Resort Country Hotel

Alghero

loved it

Authenticity & Character

Location

not walking distance to anything, worked well for us bc we had a car

Staff

staff make this place. they go above and beyond. cannot say enough great things about the staff here

Cleanliness & Comfort

Cuore di Sorrento Suites

Sorrento

Authenticity & Character

Location

hard to find, otherwise great location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Monti Palace Hotel Rome

Rome

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Venetian Mask Painting & Family Scavenger Hunt in the Doge’s Palace

Venice

Rosana did excellent job engaging the kids and also teaching them about the history of Doge's palace. LOVED the mask painting.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Private Gelato Making Florence Class

Florence

not what we were expecting but still a good experience, we were in small room in back of gelato shop, very authentic experience and Tulio was great with the children. wasn't quite as hands on as we were expecting though.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Downhill to San Gimignano: Family Biking tour

Italy

Piero was excellent, we really enjoyed our time with him. I had done bike tours in Tuscany in the past and only critique of this trip/route was there were some roads with cars and some street crossings which weren't ideal with the kids. Piero was extremely conscious of this and safety centered, the prior tours I'd done were all in the countryside. the lunch was the best meal we had in florence/tuscany. SO GOOD!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Guide 10/10

Transport

van was very comfortable and roomy.

Snorkelling in the coves of the Bosa coastline

Italy

rained out/cold, didn't go

Full Day Tour: Positano, Amalfi & Ravello

Italy

Really liked our driver Rosario, however would probably not do this tour again. Was SOOOO crowded and most of our day was spent sitting in the van in traffic (likely the same of any of these tours).

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Our agent from KimKim, Marianne was incredible and made our visit a seamless experience, we are so grateful. She provided wonderful suggestions, constant support, and coordination.

Vincent was our guide for our 3 days in Rome was nothing short of exceptional! Vincent’s enthusiasm and knowledge of the history of Rome plus his visible love and pride for his home made each day exciting and so worthwhile. We will never forget our experience with him.
Ciao for now Roma, we will see you again 🥰

We couldn't be happier with our 10 day honeymoon in Italy. We felt like our trip was tailored to us completely, with our preferences for activities, culture, food, activity level, etc. taken fully into account. We were able to give feedback and change anything we wanted until we were satisfied and everything fit in our budget. The most helpful parts of booking through kimkim were 1. having all of our transportation pre-booked ahead of time which made things incredibly easy and straight forward while traveling in a foreign country, and 2. registering for unique private and small group tours that we never would have found on our own. Our favorites were a private walking tour in Venice, a small group food tour in Florence, and a private ape callesino tour in Rome. Even when I got food poisoning halfway through the trip, the agency worked with us to help secure refunds and reschedule activities when possible. We would recommend kimkim to any of our family and friends.

Hotel Reviews

Hotel Antiche Figure

Venice

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Alfieri9 Boutique Hotel Florence

Florence

Authenticity & Character

Location

a bit far from anything we were heading out to do (30+ min walk everywhere). fine for us since we don't mind walking that much, but would have been more convenient to be closer to the main attractions.

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

La Sosta di Ottone III - Boutique Hotel & Restaurant

Levanto

Authenticity & Character

Location

Since the area we were in was so remote, we had to take taxis to get to and from the villages, which were 50 euro per round trip plus tip, so definitely added up and was time consuming as well. However, can't give too poor a score because the view was INCREDIBLE and it felt very special/unique to be removed from the hustle and bustle.

Staff

can't say enough good things about the sweet woman running this hotel.

Cleanliness & Comfort

our favorite place we stayed in terms of beautiful bathroom, luxury, restaurant, etc.

Relais Le Clarisse Rome

Rome

Authenticity & Character

Location

fantastic location in trastevere neighboorhood

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Private Sunset & Aperitivo Gondola Ride

Venice

Even though we arrived about 15 min late, they were so accommodating and let us on no problem. The prosecco is a special touch. this was overall a beautiful and peaceful experience, definitely essential for those visiting Venice

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Cannaregio and Jewish ghetto private tour

Venice

Our guide was SO knowledgeable and personable. We enjoyed this tour so so much. recommend for anyone who really values history and/or wants to explore locations off the beaten path.

Quality of Experience

Florence Food Tour & Dinner

Florence

Left the tour feeling like we learned a ton about the culture and foods that are specific to Florence. The restaurants were all great and the small group atmosphere was fun.

Morning Florence Highlights Walking Tour

Florence

Nothing specific that could be improved upon, it was just overwhelming at times since this was our largest tour and it was very crowded in Florence, so at times it was difficult to hear. Our guide definitely did her best. Our guide for the Accademia specifically was fantastic. She was very engaging and you could tell extremely knowledgeable.

Private Transfer with a Visit to Pisa & Lucca

Italy

A very comfortable and convenient way to travel from city to city and we felt like we were able to add bonus destinations into our trip. Our driver was very nice and taught us a lot about each of the cities.

Sunset Boat Trip

Italy

So much fun! The skipper was fantastic, a true local who taught us a lot about the region. The seafood they made on board was so fresh and tasty. A very cool and beautiful way to see the villages by water.

Rome With Ape Calessino

Rome

10/10. Our tour guide was a young local who was extremely passionate about his city and the history around every corner. We learned a lot and really enjoyed the ape callesino since it was such a beautiful night out. He took a lot of cool pictures of us as well. We already sent the name of the company to friends of ours going to Rome next month and told them we highly recommend doing a tour.

I am satisfied and appreciate all that Kimkim put together for our trip.My experience of the guides is they expressed interesting and quality knowledge of the places we visited. They appeared enthusiastic and connected to our group.
The drivers were great, helpful and friendly including personal stories of the places we were traveling through.
The hotels we stayed were responsive accommodating our needs. Thank you

Hotel Reviews

Ca' Pozzo Inn

Venice

The hotel was clean, good beds with helpful employees.We just had over night there.

Authenticity & Character

The ease to water taxi and restaurant.

Location

There was a restaurant close by that was excellent with a great fun loving staff.

Staff

Friendly and helpful.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Beds

Raffaello Hotel Rome

Roma

The hotel staff were helpful.Send me to day spa connected to a hotel so I was able to have massage, soak and do water aerobics in a pool then ate delicious meal at the hotel.

Authenticity & Character

Needed a more modern upgrade on the interior.

Location

Staff

Hotel Amalfi

Amalfi

The hotel was cozy with nice view from rooftop breakfast place. They were helpful accommodating our needs.

Authenticity & Character

Cozy nice and view.

Location

Room comfort with porch to sit out.

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Review

Hidden Venice and cicchetti experience

Italy

The guide was friendly, enthusiastic and made the history interesting. I loved the cicchetti and wine at the place he took up. It was so special, so delicious. I would have loved to go there everyday to hang out.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Sonia helped us plan a wonderful, personalized trip to Italy. Our itinerary was full, but everything went smoothly. From driver’s meeting us at the airport, to train stations etc - everything was wonderful. She also provided us with a concierge who took care of us during our trip when we had any questions or concerns. All the hotels and excursions booked were great! I would highly recommend booking your dream vacation through KimKim and using Sonia’s services. She was terrific.

Location: Rome, Florence, Venice, Athens, Mykonos, Santorini
Duration: 2 weeks
Travel Agent: Ina

The two weeks that he had organized through kimkim was a terrific travel experience! We will first start of by saying that they do a wonderful job on working with a set budget. Ina was our travel agent for our excursion in Italy and the Mediterranean and was able to provide a very detailed itinerary, then amend it based on our thoughts, prioritization and budget. Each of our destination locations were roughly 2 days, which gave us time to experience pre-set tours, walking around the locations, eat out and allow us to have a "free day" to explore.

It was incredibly convenient to have Ina email us the itinerary prior, with all the tickets, tour info, must see hot spots, and have ALL the intricate travel taken care of. We appreciated the recommended sights to see as well as cafes/restaurants/bars to visit. We had never seen such a detailed itinerary and were very appreciative of all the insights. Car services and water taxis were very punctual (sometimes early) when picking us from the hotels and taking us to the next destination on the itinerary. How to get from point A to B to C was something we were initially stressed about. Kimkim does an excellent job at taking care of all the travel plans while you are in a foreign country. We had minimal issues with moving to and from locations due to the detailed itinerary and punctual aspect of the car services.

Restaurant reservations were even made by her after our input on food preferences.
Every now and then, we would need to reach out to kimkim on Whatapp via mobile if we were in a bind for some details, but kimkim was prompt and handled the situation without any major issues.

The only recommendation we have is to provide different options for the local tours. We overall were happy with the tours Ina set up! For example, we are very interested in Greek mythology and there was an option to do a Greek mythology based tour of the Acropolis. We did the architectural based tour which was good but would have liked to have the mythology incorporated into the tour.

Overall, this trip was incredible, and it went by so fast for how busy we kept. We took this opportunity to do as much as possible in the 2 weeks we had. Ina made sure to be very detailed in the planning.

Kimkim wiped away so much stress, made travel easier and provided an insight into the Italian and Greek culture that we would not have gathered with self-planned travel.

We can't speak highly enough of kimkim and look forward to our next adventure with these folks the next time we choose to travel internationally!

Our trip was amazing! We saw 3 cities, Rome, Florence, and Venice and each one was just as amazing as the others. All of our transfers went smooth, our hotels were fabulous, and our tours were great. It was the perfect balance between scheduled tours and time to explore on our own. One tour guide in Venice named Valerio Coppo was phenomenal. He went above and beyond. His tour of the islands of Murano and Burano were exceptional. So personal! Could not recommend more. Livtours also did a fantastic job. We had one of the Colosseum in Rome and one in Florence (which was a food and wine tour ) which happened to be just my husband, myself, and the tour guide.
Our other tours were great as well. Evyenia and Harris did an excellent job with our itinerary. Would highly recommend. We were so pleased we are going to start planning next years trip with the KimKim agency.

Activity Reviews

Colosseum & Roman Forum Tour

Rome

Pasta & Tiramisu Making Class

Rome

This was fun! If you already know alot about cooking and baking, you might be a tad disappointed but all in all it was a fun experience.

Florence Food & Wine Tour

Florence

Had our very own private tour guide, just my husband and I. It was very nice! Tour guide was great.

Half-Day Murano & Burano Islands

Venice

Wonderful! Valerio Coppo could not recommend more.

Local transfer in Florence

Italy

Private Sunset & Aperitivo Gondola Ride

Venice

from organizing to the real trip, everything is going smoothly

Every guide we had was special, as was each of the tours we partook in. We especially enjoyed boat ride to the Zingaro Reserve. Boat company the Lionel Ritchie was great!
We thought Lorenzo Capraro delivered a wonderful guided tour of Agrigento.
We loved Professor Onofrio Prestifilippo at the Casale of Villa Romana.
Our tour of Ortigia and the Neapolis Archaeological Park with was amazing with Fausto Mignelo
Our tour with Marco Saprenza was awesome on Mt. Etna.
We enjoyed the energy of Lara Guida Turistica on our very rainy excursion through Palermo.
All of our Hotel professionals were very capable, we especially loved Hotel Failla’s accommodation.
Overall we were very pleased with all the arrangements that were made by Marianne. It was especially comforting to be able to reach out to her whenever we were not sure of a given situation. Of course our drivers were timely and very professional as well.
We will definitely recommend Kim Kim and hope to do another excursion in the future ourselves.

We had an amazing trip to Italy and Greece thanks to the help of KimKim and our specialist Harris.

Starting in Sorrento we had a peaceful stay right along the bay. Enjoyed wine and pizza and the local beaches.

Next we traveled to Athens where we had an amazing staying in Plaka District. We then finished the trip in Santorini where we enjoyed days by the pool and amazing Greek cuisine.

I would recommend KimKim to anyone looking to travel abroad and see the world in more detail!

Tomaz worked tirelessly to organize our trip the way we wanted and Grand Cuvee Tours managed it. Given the complexity of the trip for 3 countries over more than 2 weeks there were a few snafus which were well managed by the GCT team, but in all everything went extremely well. Italy was awesome and some of the hotels we stayed at were fantastic. In particular, the guide we had at the Uffizi gallery was very helpful and knowledgeable and the lady who guided us around Salzburg easily adapted to what we wanted to see and went out of her way to ensure we managed our way through the atrocious weather. We also had some great drivers, including Vincenzo who managed our visit to Pompeii and had an infectious sense of humor. This was the first time my adopted daughter visited Europe and she loved every day of it. Thank you everyone who helped make this a memorable vacation.

From the first greeting at the airport in Venice to the last goodbye at the airport in Rome our mother/daughter trip to Italy was expertly planned and perfectly executed. The entire team of KimKim staff, local guides and drivers were absolutely exceptional. Alessia Carraro, our personal concierge, was a great guide in Venice for our bacari tour and kept us organized and updated each of the 10 days of our trip. Her communication and timeliness was unprecedented. Mrs. Lucia Monetti helped us navigate Florence and get to our train on time even in challenging traffic conditions. Valeria Arcangeli was a fantastic guide for the aperitivo tour in Rome and took us to special local places while also sharing details about the rich history of Rome. The pizza making class at Pizzeria al Grottino was fun, education and fantastic. Thank you for creating an unforgettably special trip for us. We are singing KimKim's praises!

Hotel Reviews

Bonvecchiati Palace

Venice

Great and conveniently located hotel in the heart of Venice. The backdoor pick up/drop offs at the canal are great fun.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Grand Hotel Cavour

Florence

Great location. Beautiful hotel property with a beautifully presented breakfast.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Corallo

Sorrento

Exceptional views. Great location. Attentive staff.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

47 Boutique Hotel

Rome

Great property with a nice location near the river.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

"Bacari" local street food tour

Italy

Alessia was an exceptional guide. She made it fun and conversational.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Explore the Chianti Wine region

Florence

Our driver was incredible and took us a more scenic route with a stop in Greve in another village. Such a fun and special day.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Sorrento Coast & Capri Boat Tour

Italy

Unforgettable day on the water and in Capri.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Evening Aperitivo Tour

Rome

A fun taste of Rome with history and culture added in.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Private Pizza-making class

Rome

This was an incredible experience. We learned a lot and the pizza was delicious.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

I have always planned on going on my first trip to Europe since 2020. But with the pandemic, it was very difficult with planning. It wasn’t until this year, I made the final decision to go on a solo trip to Europe for the very first time. Not knowing how I would go about planning my trip, I went on the kimkim website and reached out to Chris. He has been helpful from the very beginning, and put together an amazing itinerary! I expressed that I wanted to go to Greece and Italy, and the types of excursions I was looking for in each country. Chris was able to quickly customize and put together the perfect itinerary for me. It was easy to follow and included dates and times for each destination, as well as transportation, hotel stays, description of each excursions, and restaurant suggestions. While reading the customized itinerary, I thought it was too good to be true! Days prior to my trip, Chris always reached out to me with any updates on my trip and asked if I had any questions prior. He was very helpful with answering questions on what to expect for each destination.

My 10-day trip included 5 days in Greece and 5 days in Italy! Nadia, who also works with Chris, followed through with me during my Greece destination. My first arrival to Greece was Athens. Traveling solo internationally for the first time was nerve-racking and I was anxious in the beginning not know what to expect. But just as stated in the customized itinerary, everything went smoothly with transportation from the airport to checking into my hotel! Nadia reached out to make sure I arrived safely. On the first day of my arrival, my first excursion was the Acropolis Guided Tour where I met my guide and enjoyed the wonderful walking tour. My guide was a wealth of information teaching me the history of the Acropolis and Parthenon as well as the greek civilization. I enjoyed the beautiful archaeological sites, temples and Parthenon. It was a great way to start my first excursion in Greece. The following trip in Greece included 2 nights in Mykonos and 2 nights in Santorini. I enjoy the beach very much, and experiencing the beautiful beaches of Mykonos and Santorini was like being in paradise! The beautiful island of Santorini has breathtaking views, where I admired the beautiful architecture and islands of the volcano! I ended my last day in Santorini with a gorgeous sunset view on the cliff during my wine tasting tour!

My destination in Italy included 2 nights in Rome, 2 nights in Florence and 1 night in Venice.
Upon my arrival to Rome, Chris followed up with me through video chat and discussed my itinerary and excursions of what to expect while in Italy! Of course, I had to explore one of Italy’s most attractions of the Vatican and world famous Sistine Chapel! Then I went on a walking tour viewing the stunning ruins of the Colosseum and Roman Forum! After my planned excursions, I explored more of the beautiful city of Rome such as the Piazza Di Spagna and tried authentic italian cuisine, pizza and gelato! From Rome, I took a trip to Florence known for its beautiful architecture and Renaissance art. This included a bus tour to Siena, San gimignano, Monteriggioni and Chianti tour where I got to view beautiful Gothic architecture, chapels, breathtaking landscapes, and ended the tour with wine tasting with our tour guide! I couldn’t end my Italy trip without viewing the beautiful city of Venice! It was so surreal being able to get a rooftop panoramic view of the enchanting city with the marvelous canals and renaissance palaces. I took in every moment of the glorious city. The next morning, I ended my last day in Venice taking a water taxi where I got to go through the canals of the lagoon and Adriatic coast seeing the last views of the bridges and enchanting city making my last day memorable!!

I had the time of my life and enjoyed my vacation very much! Being able to visit two beautiful countries and experience a trip of a lifetime was like a dream come true! In Greece, I enjoyed being under the sun and enjoyed swimming in the beautiful beaches and seas of Mykonos and Santorini! And in Italy, I enjoyed the guided tours while experiencing the cultural and countryside of each city! I am truly grateful for Chris for making all of this possible and putting together a beautiful itinerary for my first European trip! I highly recommend him and would definitely go back to him again when I visit Italy and Greece in the future!

Hotel Reviews

Mykonos View

Mykonos

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Acropolis Hill Hotel

Athens

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Blue Dolphins Apartments & Suites

Firostefani, Santorini

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Diana Roof Garden

Roma

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Executive

Florence

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Antiche Figure

Venice

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Acropolis Guided Tour

Athens

Restaurants in Athens

Athens

Welcome to Mykonos

Mykonos

Mykonos South Coast Sailing Trip

Mykonos

The cruise to each beach was beautiful and so much fun!

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Welcome to Santorini

Santorini

Restaurant Suggestions in Mykonos

Mykonos

Sunset Cheers & Dine

Santorini

Restaurant Suggestions in Santorini

Santorini

Welcome to Rome

Rome

Restaurant Suggestions in Rome

Rome

Early Morning Vatican Museum & Sistine Chapel guided tour

Italy

Colosseum and Roman Forum guided tour with Arena entrance

Rome

Best Of Florence Walking Tour

Florence

Restaurant Suggestions in Florence

Florence

Siena, San Gimignano, Monteriggioni & Chianti With Wine Tasting

Italy

Welcome to Venice

Venice

Essential Venice

Venice

Restaurant Suggestions in Venice

Venice

Departure day

Italy

Our entire experience with KimKim Travel was excellent from start to finish. Our local specialist Andrea was amazing. He was responsive to all our questions, proactive with his communication and patient with all our changes. He also went out of his way to help us with one of our group members who had some issues walking. His instructions and suggestions made each day an adventure.

We had a minor hiccup upon arrival that Andrea immediately fixed. We started our trip in Venice at the hotel Gardena. Peter, the concierge was so friendly and helpful. Our first guide was Giovanni who took us on a cicchetti tour of the city. We got to learn some local history, like the Jewish Ghetto, and to taste some local foods and wine. He brought us to a local restaurant for a dinner of pasta and seafood.

The next day we visited Murano and Burano on our own and then met Enrique at the Doge Palace and St. Mark Basilica. His passion for the history of the area and understanding of Venice made the day incredibly enjoyable. Enrique helped us find a good spot for a gondola ride and another local restaurant for dinner.

After a train ride to Rome, we checked into the Hotel Raffaello which is centrally located and convenient to everything. We met our guide Maria Paula who took us on a tour of the city highlights including the Imperial Forum, Pantheon, Trevi Fountain and Spanish Steps. She share granitas with us and helped us find a great spot for wine and appetizers.

The next day Colosseum and Roman Forum. Maria Paula is so well educated in the local history and made the day a so enjoyable and fascinating for us. She was responsive to all our requests and questions. We ended our day visiting the Jewish Ghetto and enjoying wine and food.

Our last day in Rome with Maria Paula was a visit to the Vatican and Sistine Chapel. She met us at the Vatican Cafe where we had an unbelievable lunch before starting our tour. Maria Paula was so helpful to our companion who could not walk well and took her through some guide only paths to easily visit what she was able. Words cannot describe the majesty of the Vatican and Chapel. Maria Paula made it an experience we will never forget.

The next day our driver Enzo took us to Pompeii. Enzo was so gracious to our injured friend who could not tour with us. Our guide Antonio is from a family of guides and was so excited to give us a 3 hour tour of Pompeii and show us the off the main path areas and explain the unbelievable history of this historic location. Enzo then took us for the best pizza we had ever eaten before dropping us at the Amalfi coast and Hotel Amalfi. The hotel was located in the center of town.

Amalfi is a truly colorful and unique area of Italy and we highly recommend a visit. Unfortunately the weather did not cooperate and we had to cancel our trip to Capri. Andrea called us about the cancellation and helped us fill our day with other highlights of the area.

Ginaro then drove us to the Naples train station and then Valerio met us in Rome to take us to our yoga retreat in Tuscany. Both drivers shared information on local sites with us and were very helpful.

The next 6 days were a yoga retreat we planned on our own in Tuscany. I will say the area is worth the visit.

Our driver Luca picked us up in Tuscany to take us to Florence. Luca was such an positive, friendly personality. He pointed out all the highlights on our drive, stopped in the town where he went to school for a bathroom break and gave us a quick tour before handing us off to our guide Simona in Florence.

We only had a few hours in Florence and Simona filled them with history, art and fun. She took us to see the David, the Ponte Vecchio and recommended restaurants and her favorite gelato place.

Everyone we interacted with exceeded our expectations. They were all helpful, well educated, informative, respectful and fun. We would happily visit with any of them again and would recommend KimKim to plan your travel. We will use them again for our next trip.

Hotel Reviews

Raffaello Hotel Rome

Roma

Centrally located, safe. clean neighborhood. Helpful staff. Clean rooms.

Authenticity & Character

Nice rooms

Location

Near the sites and good restaurants.

Staff

Very friendly and helpful

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Amalfi

Amalfi

Very nice hotel in the center of town. Back way in is easier to access than off the main road. Clean and comfortable rooms, centrally located, helpful staff, great breakfast room.

Authenticity & Character

Nice design with beautiful balconies

Location

Close to everything

Staff

Helpful

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Hidden Venice and cicchetti experience

Italy

A unique introduction to the city locations and the food. So much history to learn. All the cichetti locations were friendly and welcoming.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Giovanni was so friendly and fun, really helping us enjoy the experience

Transport

Walking through Venice is easy and the best way to see the city.

St. Peter's, Vatican Museums, Sistine Chapel and St. Peter Basilica - private guide

Rome

Words cannot describe the beauty of the Vatican and Sistine Chapel.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Maria Paula is so well informed and a fun guide to spend time with.