Kimkim Trip Reviews for Italy

This was the first time we have ever planned,booked and paid for a trip totally on the internet. We are older travellers and were a bit hesitant about "faceless" booking, but we are happy to say everything worked out wonderfully. We started planning our trip to Italy with local specialist ,Georgia who put together a fantastic package and was completed by Marianne, with a few changes that we decided to make. All in all, every detail worked out great with no problems with any of the arrangements. What we really liked was being able to plan exactly what we wanted to see and to have the ability to have days to ourselves such as we did in Amalfi for 3days.

HOTELS...... We asked for 3star hotels and were very pleased with all of them. They all were in prime locations for walking to all the sights. Particularly lovely was the Hotel Culture in Napoli, Il Piccolino Giardino in Taormina and the Via Della Giudecca in Syracuse, Sicily.
DRIVERS......Every driver was waiting for us at each airport to take us to our hotel.also punctual were the drivers between cities. Every car was a Mercedes!
TOURS......we had 2 tour guides, both very knowledgeable and approachable. Ludevicia for Napoli and Pompei was exceptional and Eva in Syracuse was very personable. The boat trip around Ortega Island was really fun. The cooking class at Porto Messina restaurant was a great day too.

We would not hesitate to use KimKim again for future travels. The cost was very fair for the quality of trip we experienced. Such a good idea to be able to plan with an agent who actually lives in the area you want to visit and also have the backing of the KimKim company throughout the process.

Julien and Olivier from Allibert Trekking did a fantastic job in planning my itinerary for my Dolomites trek. Given that August is the high season, I thought the task of booking my trip would be almost impossible given that I booked in June. Nevertheless, within 48 hours of initial contact, I had my itinerary mapped out and all rifugios confirmed. It was almost too good to be true!

They were super responsive and possess great knowledge useful for people wanting to take a self-guided tour.

The itinerary they planned was very detailed, and the accommodations were excellent.

I'm already thinking about the next trip I will want to have planned for them. Great job guys!

We had a terrific experience working with KimKim. There were some glitches and problems along the way, but the fact that we had a cell phone number to call and that someone ALWAYS answered the telephone and assisted us immediately made a huge difference in our feeling that we did not have to resolve the issue on our own. The hotels that were booked through KimKim were fine, and without exception the staff at the hotels, many of which were family-run, were kind and helpful. Regarding the guides: the only one who was questionable was the person in Palermo. Although knowledgeable, he was on his phone way too much during our time together. All of the others were friendly, took their job very seriously, and had much to offer. They had great pride in being Sicilian and that was great to see. It made a big difference to be able to just arrive at a location and know that someone was waiting for us and that we did not have to first try to hire someone ourselves. They all (except for the Palermo guide) spoke about the importance of being a professional guide and their concern for quality of service.

Carmelo, Alessandra and Ketty were great. Without repeating myself, we also greatly appreciated how Ketty handled our situation in Lipari. We arrived there not realizing that the hotel we had booked for a week was at the far end of the island, the staff there not particularly pleasant - we had to wait almost an hour for them to pick us up at the ferry despite repeated calls, the beach narrow and all big stones, and that the only way to get to the town was by a bus that ran once an hour and stopped at 7:00 pm. Otherwise, we would have to take taxis at 35 euro each way. There were no cars to be rented. Ketty was wonderful, she booked us into a beautiful hotel 10 minutes walk from Lipari, with a swimming pool which we used daily, and easy access to everything in town. She took care of cancelling the week at Hotel Cutimare and KimKim absorbed the additional cost of the Hotel Tritone, and so the whole situation was hassle-free for us.

The only other inconsistency in the trip was that we drove from Trapani to Agrigento and saw the Greek ruins. The following day you had scheduled us to go to Selimunte, but that would have been at least a 1.5 hour trip each way back to where we had just come from, and we ended up cancelling that excursion. It would have been much better to do these 2 excursions in reverse order.

We really enjoyed every aspect of the trip - probably least favorite was Palermo - the garbage was overwhelming- but the hotel was fine and the sites remarkable. We brought too much stuff - we did not realize that none of the places we stayed would have elevators and our suitcases were heavy, so in the future I would pack much lighter and find laundry places to wash our clothes. it would have been helpful to know in advance that there are no elevators. In Cefalu we had a problem with the taxi not coming to take us to the airport, and it seemed - if we understood right, that it was coming from Palermo - it would probably have been better to hire a local taxi that was not affected by traffic, as we almost missed our plane - but again, Ketty helped us through that.

We also stayed at some wonderful places that you did not book:
La Serenita outside of Noto
Ai Lumi in Trapani
Agriculturismo Casa di Basso outside of Agrigento
and we highly recommend that you explore them for other travelers.

The food was unbelievable - we did not have a bad meal the entire trip. The cooking school was fun. The trip to Mt Etna was great, as was the day-long excursion to Stromboli. We also took a boat to Vulcano one day. We went to a lot of beaches of all kinds, also to Modica and Ragusa, and did much "offbeat" things. At the B&B La Serenita, a woman who works there is also an aspiring chef of typical food, and she invited us to her cava in the mountains and prepared us a wonderful meal.

Thank you again for all your assistance and mostly especially for being available throughout our trip.
Allyson and Bruce

Took forever to get answers on the tour then once in Italy tour was not what I paid for and they were unable to purchase the tickets for the underground Colosseum as purchased. Very disappointing experience in all.

Our feedback from our 12 day trip in May/June 2018 to Sicily organised for 4 adults by KimKim was outstanding to say the least. We asked KimKim to put together a leisurely itinerary that covered the history of Sicily, farmhouse lunches and a Sicilian cooking class.

From our pick-up on arriving by ferry from Malta at 6.30am by Stefano our driver and Maria our guide. Maria and Stefano (supplied by Valdinoto Tours) were both outstanding. So helpful throughout our 3-4 days with them. Maria was so knowledgeable and gave us an in depth history lesson on the areas we covered with her.

All the other transfers and guides were of high standards. They were all on time and helpful throughout their time with us. Only one slight hiccup being one driver could not speak English but was still helpful as 2 of our party could manage with Italian language.

All of the accommodation were to the standards we expected and in very good locations.
They all were very helpful with any requests and the breakfasts supplied throughout each B&B or hotel were excellent.

Our guide in Agrigento was also outstanding. So passionate about the history of the te archaelogical site we visited. One slight problem with our stay in Agrigento the street where this B&B is located is closed to traffic at certain times of the day and unfortunately we arrived during this time. Our driver overcame this by speaking to the police about how to get there and at the end we had to reverse up a one way street! The owner of the B&B met us to carry the bags up a stairway.

The cooking class we had in Taormina at the Porta Messina was excellent they could not do enough for us and it was such fun along with plenty of food and drink.

All the other farmhouse lunches the lunch at Acitrezza were excellent, so much food! We certainly enjoyed the experiences.

From the time we arrived in Sicily to the time we left we did not have to handle our luggage.

We highly recommend KimKim for their excellent organisation and their very reasonable pricing.

We had a wonderful 14 days in Sicily with an extension of 2 nights in Lipari and 2 additional nights in Rome. Marianne was very helpful, especially when we altered our Mt Etna excursion and she then added an additional dinner to our trip. The only recommendation my husband and I were to make is if you plan to drive to Syracuse's part of the City called Ortygia, it should be mentioned that you need to 1st park your car in longterm parking and then take a taxi to the hotel as only residents' cars are allowed.

Marianne did a great job of arranging our walking trip on the Francigena way from San Miniato to Siena. The hotel arrangements were great, the bag pickup was flawless and the taxis she arranged that allowed us to cut down each day to a reasonable 10-12 miles a day of walking were aways on time. Working with her was well worth the money.

We could not fault the whole trip. All the guides were exceptional. The places we visited were fabulous. The farm house lunches absolutely great. We would recommend this trip to anyone who asked for advice.

An excellent trip. Choice of guides and destinations inside Sicily was excellent. Accomodation excellent except for two nights in Cefalu where the accommodation was too basic and better suited to backpackers.

With our input, Giorgia came up with a great itinerary for our trip to Sicily, and the experience was smooth and stress free. We were paired up with very knowledgeable guides and really enjoyed the street food and culture tour in Palermo and the tour of the temple ruins in Agrigento. The hotels where we we we stayed were clean and centrally located so that we had only short walks to the center of town, The agriturismo was my favorite stay -- located in the countryside with gracious hosts and a veranda with spectacular views of the countryside which we enjoyed while we sipped some wine and relaxed at the end of our day,

The drivers were courteous and arrived promptly, and having a driver really made a difference in our enjoyment of the trip. We would have had some issues finding some of the places where we stayed, especially in the agriturismo which is tucked away and off the beaten path, Having this trip planned for us by an expert allowed us to really enjoy the experience without the worry and work that normally goes into planning vacation of this sort. I don't think I would travel any other way from now on!

I reached out to KimKim because I had a difficult time planning the itinerary for our Italian vacation on my own. Giorgia did an excellent job with helping us plan. She had great recommendations for tours and things to do in Florence. She booked a small group tour of the Colosseum including the underground and other off-limit places. She also booked us for a small group tour of the Vatican. Our guides were extremely knowledgeable and seemed to love sharing the history of their city. Giorgia also booked us for a food tour in Florence. We loved trying the local foods and our guide was a lot of fun.

Giorgia had excellent communication with us and answered all of our questions. She even reached out to us during our trip to make sure everything was going smoothly.

I would definitely recommend Giorgia and KimKim to anyone looking to plan a memorable vacation!

This trip to Italy was amazing. Giorgia did a fabulous job arranging everything, responded to emails quickly and efficiently! We had some issues with our flights getting changed multiple times, and Giorgia was amazing, kept in contact with us and our driver and our driver was there to meet us when we finally got there. My daughter especially liked the guide (whose name I can't remember) for the city tour of Florence, she took us to several churches, told us about art (my daughter is a artist so was especially happy) and history and we just had the best day! Seeing David was really the best part of the day! The next day we went to Pisa and Lucca, Simone, our driver was fabulous. He was funny and interactive, and made the trip driving seem really short. The hotel was perfect, Hotel Basteri was perfectly located within easy walking distance of everything. All in all this was a perfect trip for my daughter - it was a surprise for her 26 birthday!

Several accommodations were outstanding - Palazzo Failla Hotel in Monica and Hotel Olympia in Venice were great and exceeded out expectations. However, the hotel in Catania, Hotel Alla Giudecca was in a good location but was pretty "spartan" and dark; the kitchenette for our purposes was unnecessary. The hotel in Catania, Hotel Etna 316, was also only marginally acceptable. Again it was in a good, central location. Problems include: it had poor air conditioning; our room was literally connected to the breakfast dining area and was noisy; the host who greeted us, Marco, was rude and obnoxious, and instead of answering our basic questions about the neighborhood, safety, etc, he felt compelled to brag about himself and avoid answering our questions. Also, somewhat curiously, they demanded to hold our room key at the front desk when we went out.
The tour guide in Siracusa, Eva Greco, was outstanding and should always be recommended for her knowledge and personality. Our guide in Venice, Fiona Giusto was also very solid.
The transports to hotels and back to the airport were also very dependable, calling the hotels to remind/confirm our departure times.
One of the highlights of the trip was wine tasting and lunch at Cantina Planeta Buonovini. They had a great presentation, excellent wines, and a great lunch in an outdoor setting.

Giorgia was very responsive to the several questions we had while on the trip, and sent reminder messages to us about tour times and connections. Her choices for accommodations and tour guides were, overall, excellent.

There were a couple of problems when we were using the private transfers. We couldn't find the drivers and had to call the car service a couple times. The drivers were actually there but they were hard to find. They usually had a sign with our name but those times we couldn't find them, the drivers were in a high traffic area or not holding the sign up at all. When we called the car service number we provided, they often did not speak English so it was difficult to communicate the problem. Otherwise, the transfers were fine.

Giorgia was very attentive and answered questions quickly. When we had problems with the private transfers or with a tour guide meeting point, she was attempting to troubleshoot and find solutions. She always checked in with us to make sure everything was going well and was very friendly.

The itinerary - Giorgia worked with us to create the trip that was suited to us, at a fair price.
She was always there if we wanted to contact her with any queries or comments.
The hotels - Were all in great locations, and were very good to excellent rooms. There was only one that was unsuitable, and this complaint was quickly rectified by the hotel and Giorgia. The staff were always helpful and friendly, and were always expecting us.
The connections - All connections were met, the drivers were on time, English-speaking and well-briefed.
Extra activities - All activities that we booked were arranged with excellent guides, and were great experiences for us. Tour guides were professional and fluent, and activities such as food tours of particular towns and the cooking class were outstanding value for money.

All this meant that we were able to be confident in our itinerary, certain about what would happen, and therefore fully able to experience the trip without worry.

Thanks to Giorgia of Kimkim for her great work in organising and implementing what was an excellent and memorable two-week immersion into Sicily. We have great memories for life.

Robert Lewis and Ros Gilchrist

Only one slip-up on a day which was overpacked with 2 archaeological sites and a guide scheduled too close together.

It was mostly perfect. The drivers were all wonderful. They were punctual, friendly, obliging and cars were immaculate . The guides were even better, especially Valentina in Palermo who we adored.The others were fabulous too.Accommodation was mostly good,but we found the agiturismo in Agrigento tooooo remote,and my brief did say we were city slickers . Also it was feragosto eve and they had a party.
However,I have been recommending you to everyone.

Also nearly perfect but better than good. As I mentioned,The accommodation in Tenuta San Giovanni was really not us, we would have preferred something in the city of Agrigento. This place was 7 kilometres from the nearest village and 50 minutes from Agrigento.I have stayed at farmhouses before but they were walking distance to piazza's. Not this one.
Also, the voucher for the Etna excursion said meet at 9.30 at the hut. When we arrived at 9.23,they told us the 9.30 group had gone and we would have to wait for the 10.30 group. This would've got us back to our transport to Messina too late, and also we had arrangements in Messina to get to on time.So we paid for the shorter version out of pocket. The man in charge of hut Etna excursion said we should get a refund for the one we missed,so I am also enquiring about that .

Every part of your itinerary went off without a hitch - perfect! Thank you, thank you. We never waited a minute for any of our transfers or activities. Would definitely recommend and use you and KimKim again.

Transfers: The drivers who did our transfers all were in time, polite and had nice, clean luxury cars.

Lodging: Our accommodations were well selected. The locations were great and staff very helpful. Our only comment on hotels was the the Hotel de Corsa in Taromina : the location, staff and breakfast were good but the rooms were small and "tired" looking - no "wow" factor, seemed more two star, we wished we had upgraded. Just two doors down was a similar boutique hotel called "Hotel Taodomus", prices for lodging looked similar...you might
want to look into that one for future bookings.

Activities: Taromina - Our day of Mountain Biking on Mt. Etna with Luca from "Sicilybiketouristservices", was fun and challenging. Luca was waiting with all the equipment for us (nice comfortable mt. Bikes) plus a picnic lunch. He made it safe and accommodated our skill level- which was "beginner."

Would strongly recommend him again- a lovely kind person who refused to take a tip, only asked that we give him an hi set review. A great day to away from of the crowd streets of Taromina - still back with plenty of time for dinner and shopping.

The next day's cooking class at Porta Messina with owner Stephano was top-notch . Learned much about Sicilian food with a trip to the market first, then back to his restaurant for the cooking and learning experience -so much fun and so much food to eat !!! Five star experience!

Modica: A nice drive to a different part of Sicily- arrived with our road bike tour guide" Raffaelle from "Sicilybikeroutes.com" was waiting for us with wonderful road bikes. We took a nice ride through the countryside on stone fenced roads and almost no car traffic- a dream for us cyclists.

We visited a cheese farm where we watched them make fresh mozzarella cheese and then we sat down to wonderfully prepared lunch awaiting us. A different scenic route back with a stop in Scicli to view beautiful church, then a fun climb navy to our luxury hotel in Modica. We later heard that the restaurant at the hotel was so good it should be Michelin star rated, but we had already been offered the chance from the hotel to go to an evening cooking class in an old villa in town, which we did (and enjoyed immensely.

The following day's bike ride took us to the Noto region for another fun ride with a private tour and lunch at a winery with the owner, Baron Sergio. Raffaelle and his company "Sicilybikeroutes.com" were top notch- excellent bikes, clean transport van, great food selection activities plus some added flexibility when we asked to visit a local bike store one morning. We felt like we were treated like royalty and would definitely highly recommend using Raffaelle again.

Ortigia: Our bike operator transferred us to Ortigia where we had very nice accommodations at Hotel Alla Giudecca. The next morning our city guide Eva was waiting for us with a taxi to take us on our private tour of the history sites of Syracuse. She was an excellent choice of a guide for us - very knowledgable, spoke great English and a lot of fun- again a great choice.

Our early transfer to the Catania airport worked out good. The airport was very crowded and by the time checked in at the airline, we had something to eat we had little time to spare, so you were right to get us there 2.5 hrs early.

All and all we had a lovely, stress-free time in Sicily - all due to your good planning.

One small issue, airport pickup in Sicily did not show up on time and had to get a cab.

Giorgia was a pleasure to deal with!

Awesome trip