Kimkim Trip Reviews for Mexico

The kimkim team (Leslie and Ximena) were very helpful in:
1) Planning my trip, giving me options, suggestions, etc. The trip was well planned (for the exceptions see below).
2) Helping me with any and all issues during my trip. Ximena was very responsive to all my messages and very nice.
3) My tours of Puebla and Oaxaca were very good.

Suggestions for the future:

1) Please book hotels that have a return policy, even if it costs a bit more. Something always comes up, hotel fees need to be returnable up to 24 hrs before the stay, this is international practice.

2) If a tourist needs to spend a night near the airport, the hotel needs to be near the airport and not in the Historical Center. I feel silly even writing this. I mean, hello? All the traffic and 250 pesos to get to the airport in the morning, for what?

3) That my original flight was cancelled due to the cold weather is nobody's fault. But in the end I was in the MC for the two full extra days. And the team that was SO helpful in planning everything before I bought the tour kind of left me hanging. I went on internet and booked my own tours, one tasting tour in Polanco and one private guide tour through the Historical Center. The hotel staff recommended museums and how to get there. It probably cost me more, I am sure you have your contacts and your discounts. I could not even get into Palacio Nacional because there were no tickets. I was expecting, for this price, that the team would come through and help me plan those two unexpected days with the same care they helped plan the original tour BEFORE I paid. But I guess when you don't have anything else to sell, it's not that important. It left a bit of a bitter taste in my mouth.

4) Xochimilco is a tourist trap. That was a unanimous opinion of all 18 people in our group. There are no flowers - they say they don't buy them anymore due to the inflation. There were a million of garishly painted cheap wooden boats in dirty water. No flowing at all because there were centimeters between these boats and they kept hitting each other. No views except the aforementioned garish boats and huge crowds. Mariachi that wanted $10 (that's $220 pesos) for ONE song. Noisy sellers of junk and drinks coming over all the time. Nothing to see, really. Maybe it was nice 30years ago but now during the holiday season? Plain awful.

That whole tour was not very successful. The guide gave a saliva-spitting raging rant about the conquista (get over it, it's been 500 years; a guy from Chicago next to me commented, "what sore losers") and kept bragging about his sexual conquests while in college. Coyocan was nice but we spent less than an hour there. Xochimilco, as I said, was awful, long waits, huge crowds... I could have spent my day better.
A good tour would be to visit Coyocan, visit the Frida Kalo museum, visit the Trotsky museum, etc.

Final note: they came at 9:07 am, not sure why I was told to be ready at 8:30 am sharp. I have no problem waiting but I need to be told that there is a time range. I worried they forgot about me.

5) The tasting tour in Oaxaca is a LOT of food. Please tell your guests not to eat anything before. I was told to have a light breakfast and in the end completely missed the last two tastings because I physically could not fit anything else in me. It's a feedback for them, not for kimkim, but it needs to be related to them. Each stop is a lot of food. They need to plan it better. They are very nice people and I really enjoyed working with them, don't get me wrong. But one can only eat so many big pieces of dough stuffed with meat/veggies.
For example, the tasting tour in Polanco in MC had seven stops but was PERFECT in terms of the quantity of food: a small cup of tortilla soup here, a (very) small tortilla with some topping there, etc. In Oaxaca they want to feed you all the good stuff that there is to eat in Oaxaca, in regular portions. It's like eating six lunches in a row. I was almost sick after it.

Again, thank you for all your help. Please take my suggestions with a good heart - I am simply trying to make it better for the next tourist. Mexico is a beautiful country with a lot to see. I will be back.

Wow, what great service!!!! This was the first time I've worked with a travel agency and they made our last minute mother daughter trip an absolute breeze! It was so nice having someone on-call to answer any questions I might have while traveling out of the country. We truly had a seamless experience and I'm SOOO HAPPY I used them. Highly recommend!

Activity Review

Rio Secreto: The Mayan underworld

Cancún

The highlight of our trip!!! It was so cool being underground and swimming! The caves were absolutely beautiful and I felt completely safe the entire time.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

My local specialist was not Natalia, it was Ximena. Natalia booked the initial trip and then it changed for some reason that I was not made aware of.
There are several areas of improvement in communication and research that could have/should have been done prior and during to make the trip better. I had to make decisions on my own a few times due to the specialist not understanding timing/our needs etc. and the roads in the Yucatan. They clearly have not traveled there, or not driven themselves or to make arrangements with more time allowed because of construction/closures/ road issues etc.
Just having some more life experience would be helpful for your specialists, and also knowing the area well is even better. Taking in mind lack of cell service in areas we were going to, and the cultural differences taken into consideration. Thankfully, I can figure my way around without a cell phone and have traveled to many different countries in the past. It was a little exhausting having to explain to communicate better to the specialist and why things weren't doable. We ended up doing about 70% of the planned trip and was able to find my own way around but it ended up costing us more money. One of the more expensive hotels (Hotel Okaan) we booked on my birthday (Dec 24th- xmas day 25th) had no working toilet inside the rooms and they didnt seem to care or want to refund any money. I will be returning to Nuevo Durango on my own and that was worth it. The pueblo was great, The experience was great. The specialist....was OK.

Our trip to Mexico was amazing!

Rutopia basically set us up with a personalized guide in both Mexico City and Oaxaca for our family of four. We felt totally taken care of -- private car, private transfers, and private tour guides showing us around everywhere -- flexible to our needs. It was totally a luxury, and not how we usually travel. I think we could have done this trip for about 30% cheaper if we did it on our own. But, we were traveling with two small kids, without knowing much Spanish, so I was glad we paid extra for the luxury. It was worth it. We would have never found all these tours and private guides without the help if Rutopia (via KimKim).

Also, Rutopia found us two gem hotels to stay at -- little boutique hotels in quiet neighborhoods with easy access to everything -- Casa Decu in CDMX and Hotel Tabaa in Oaxaca. We LOVED where we stayed.

Highlights:
* Food Tour of CDMX with Adrian from Eat Mexico. Learned about all the foods of Mexico and their history. Fruits, pastries, cheeses, mole, and tacos.
* Seeing the CDMX Anthropology Museum with our guide Jose.
* Dinner at Rosetta in CDMX. One of the best restaurants we've ever eaten! (We did this on our own)
* Seeing the Pyramids of Teotichuacan with our guide Jose. Good explanation of the site and plenty of time to explore on our own. I just wish we could still climb the pyramids.
* Private transfer from CDMX to Oaxaca stopping in Puebla and Zapotitlan Salinas. The cactus reserve near Zapotitlan Salinas was particularly awesome to visit. Way off the beaten path -- but spectacular to be among the cactus like that.
* Street Food Tour of Oaxaca with Pepe from Ethnoturstica. We ate ALL the things and learned so much about the history of Oaxaca, Mexico, and all the different types of food -- from memelas, to agua fresca, to mezcal.
* Guided tour of Monte Alban with Alejandro. Learning all about this ancient Zapotec site that I'd never heard of before the tour.
* Visiting the alebrije workshop and the black pottery workshop near Oaxaca.
* Private cooking class in the Oaxacan country side -- starting with a visit to the market to buy everything, cooking everything from scratch, and eventually eating it all.

Things I would do different:
* Xochimilco in CDMX was meh. It was a Mexican party boat. It wasn't what we were looking for with two small kids. Most people can safely miss.
* Don't book a tour everyday. If I had to do it again, I would have one "dead" day in CDMX where we can do things on our own, e.g. visit the Centro Historico and another "dead" day in Oaxaca where we can just wander the city.
* Tell your guides early on that you want to have lunch and to work it into the plan. The working assumption was usually "no lunch". Which didn't work for the kiddos.
* Don't book fancy dinner reservations on the days that you are doing food tours. After the food tour I basically didn't want to eat for another 18-24 hours I was so stuffed.
* Note that Guides are important for context at various sites -- but you don't need them all all the places. For example -- Centro Historico, Coyoacan, the more "tourist markets", and many other places in CDMX are easily visitable on your own. I would strongly recommend getting the private guide for Teotihuacan, the Anthropology Museum, Monte Alban, food tours, and the cooking class.

All in all though, an amazing experience -- we really felt like we got to see large swaths of Mexico, learn a lot about the culture and food, and be taken good care of the whole time.

Hotel Reviews

Casa Decu

Mexico City

Fantastic boutique hotel right in the heart of Condesa. It's on a quiet street just steps from the greenbelt that circles the neighborhood (Amsterdam Ave). The room we were in (a suite) was well appointed for our needs. We had one room with a queen bed and a crib. Our older daughter slept on the couch in the living room that could be converted into a comfy twin size bed. There was a kitchen as well with a fridge, microwave, and sink -- perfect to store water, milk, make bottles, etc. One of the best parts of Casa Decu is the rooftop. We had breakfast on that roof every morning . There is a nice spread of juice, coffee, bread, cereal, yogurt -- with the option to purchase hot food if you wanted. It was really relaxing to go up there every morning overlooking Condesa and have a lazy breakfast and chat with the other tourists at the hotel. The staff was really helpful as well -- pointing our restaurants, letting us store our baby stroller and car seat on the ground floor, and keeping the room sparkling clean.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Tabáa Oaxaca

Oaxaca

We loved our stay at Hotel Tabaa. It's located just three blocks away from the Historic Center of Oaxaca in the neighborhood of Jalatlaco -- just a short walk from all the action, but on a quiet corner away from it. The inside of the hotel is a beautiful courtyard that feels like a little oasis in the middle of Mexico. We loved spending time in the courtyard having breakfast, tea, and hanging out on the hammock with the kiddos. Our initial room was a single room with a double bed -- that wasn't big enough for our family of four (which includes a baby). But after talking to the owner, he was able to switch us for the last three days to their master suite that had two separate rooms -- a master and a "family room". That was a perfect fit for us on the ground floor. I wish it had a kitchen, but we made do. The little breakfast kitchen in the courtyard was just ten steps out our front door, so we ended up using that to store our milk and make bottles for the baby. It really just felt like our courtyard. The staff was *super* nice and helpful as well. They went out of their way to make us feel welcome and helped us order food when we arrived there late at night on the first day, store our baby stuff under the stairs, help us switch rooms, and just talk and get to know us (and us them). It felt like staying at a family house rather than a boutique hotel (in the best way). Super authentic.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Rural cooking workshop in Oaxaca

Oaxaca

This was one of the highlights of our trip. It was such an authentic experience. Pepe, our guide, took us to meet Dalia, our cook, at the market in Tlacolula. There we picked out all our vegetables and meats and took them back to Dalia's house in the village of Santa Ana del Valle. There she has a big kitchen where we got to work. Dalia only speaks Spanish, but Pepe was there to translate for us. We made: * a mole from scratch with dried chiles, corn, and other herbs. We ground it down on an old school moler stone. This was much of the fun. * A pumpkin flower soup with zucchini in there. So good. * mashed down corn to make empanadas and the mole base * sweet empanadas from our corn mash and corn husks We ate: * our mole over chicken * said soup * chile relleno * agua fresca * said sweet empanadas We would do this again in a heartbeat. My 8 year old loved it and participated in everything. The baby was happy there crawling around on the floor and interacting with all the other people.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Be amazed by the pre-hispanic beauty of the chinampas in Xochimilco

Mexico City

This was meh. It's a Mexican party boat. Wasn't the right fit for us as a family of four with a baby. We just sat on the boat for 2 hours and in traffic for another 3 hours to get there and back. Would not do it again. It felt very "manufactured", e.g. a tourist trap like experience where it's just a bunch of other tourists on boats and people trying to sell stuff to us.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Our team was great in setting up a quick getaway to Mexico City packed with fun, cultural adventures. Would absolutely recommend for anyone wanting to get a good taste of the city.

Activity Review

Tour of historic Mexico City with street food tasting

Mexico City

Lots of great insight! Fun and good food. Loved the tacos. Would, if anything, mix in some other non-tacos (churros perhaps?). Very fun and informative, though!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

The hotels were all great. The guides were friendly and knowledgeable. The local support team was there for me when difficulties arose.

Our Mayan trip was wonderful. Our guide, Joyce Guia was so knowledgeable and accommodated our need to move a little slower and take breaks. He could also answer our questions about the current culture, flora and fauna. Seeing Palenque and The famous Bonampak murals were a highlight as well as the Olmec sculptures in Villahermosa.

Hotel Review

Hotel La Aldea del Halach Huinic

Palenque

The plants were beautiful on the grounds, the restaurant had good food, the pool was lovely and we tried a massage at the spa.

Authenticity & Character

The local food

Location

The tropical plants

Staff

Very friendly

Cleanliness & Comfort

The rooms were clean and pretty

Activity Reviews

Visit to Carlos Pellicer Cámara

Villahermosa

Amazing artifacts that should not be missed if you are interested in archeology.

Quality of Experience

Accommodated our needs

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Joyce Guia was fabulous

Transport

Ancient Mayan Cities of Yaxchilan & Bonampak

Mexico

While it is an effort to get to these sites, it is worth it. The murals at Bonampak are amazing and should not be missed.

This special trip otherwise known as My Dias de los Muertos Birthday Celebration was beyond amazing & was magnificent!! Leslie was kind, helpful, patience & extremely creative with her planning & designing our 10 day adventure! We also were so very impressed with the constant communication from our "Guardian Angel" Ximena Villavicencio. She gave us the comfort of always being there with confirmation info, questions or problems we had. It was like having insurance our entire journey as she was an excellent communicator & problem solver. This is what makes Kim Kim so special and personalized, Leslie's planning & Organizing and Ximena's follow through & communication. As for the entire trip itself, it was a a dream come true. Starting with The Hotel Morales in Guadalajara was perfect in terms of location, onsite restaurant and amenties was perfect. Our driver Ceaser was a sweet heart, kind, gentle & always on time or even a tad early. We knew we could depend on him. Our tour guide Josue was wonderful, helpful & very knowledgeable. Our trip to Oaxaca was a dream come true and our hotel at Hotel La Parra was amazing. The pool & bar side service were wonderful. Our trip to Mezcal country was a special experience. We also were blown away with the rooftop access and terrace at our second hotel in Oaxaca. Our last night was in the cute Mexico City neighborhood of Coyoacan and we loved our quaint b&b at Casa Jacinta, but the showstopper & grand finale Gastronmic workshop & coffee tasting was beyond any experience we could have imagined. It was the best way to end a dream vacation and left us full with happiness!

Activity Reviews

Tequila Distilleries Tour

Guadalajara

Loved our guide & driver and the town of Tequila. I do think there was a little miscalculation of time and we didn't get to go to Jose Cuervo as we had been told. But what I appreciated about the guide was he wanted to make us happy and found a way to get us a tour at Sauza. That really was impressive to see how much they wanted us to have a good experience. The lunch was a little long in time but was a great choice for food & atmosphere. We really enjoyed the day.

Quality of Experience

timing of sightseeing

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Kind & Helpful

Transport

On time and enjoyed their company. It was great as we got familiar w/ them having them on other tours

Tlaquepaque: "The Magic of Cacao"

Mexico

A mouth watering sensory journey for your pleasure! This was an amazing tasting & educational experience. I learned so much and felt this was a special session that I would highly recommend to anyone.

Quality of Experience

The food, samples, drinks, atmosphere were top notch

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Educational & helpful

Transport

On time and helped with carrying my purchases!

Tlaquepaque: The artisan's route

Guadalajara

This was a magical & visual experience I will never forget. Seeing all the town decorated for Dias de Los Muertos and the vendors and Catrinas was eye candy and made me so happy. I felt like this was my DisneyWorld experience. Loved seeing the town, alters, vendors and more. A special town with a special celebration.

Quality of Experience

Getting my face painted, watching the Brides Parade

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Helpful and knowledgeable

Transport

knew the short cuts to avoid traffic

Archaeological Tour in Monte Albán

Oaxaca

A great place to visit to get the history of the area. It was a hot day and very busy so we cut the trip a little bit shorter. We appreciated the guide letting us cut the trip shorter as the information was alot to absorb.

Quality of Experience

Give options of 2 or more hours

Guides, Drivers and Staff

not sure

Transport

Walk through Oaxaca's colourful streets

Oaxaca

I did not personally do this tour as I wanted to see the Dias De los Muertos parade (we were not told about this by Leslie) but by our hotel and this was a priority. My roomate enjoyed the thour and thought it was great. She left it an hour early to go with me to the BIG parade!

Quality of Experience

seeing the town

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

The Mezcal Route

Oaxaca

A wonderful day with lots of stops to see many things that make Mezcal country special. Loved the variety of places we visited and the two different type Mezcal Distilleries. They really were informative and the Mezcal was yummy. Our private dinner at a families house was very special and the food was very good.

Quality of Experience

The whole day

Food

Homemade food was wonderful

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Anna was a beautiful lady with a kind heart & very knowledgeable. She just needed to speak a bit louder

Transport

Wasn't so comfortable in the van. The driver never attemtped to talk to us. He wasn't mean just no connection w/ us

Biking tour and street art

Oaxaca

My Birthday Day was kicked off with this amazing Bike Street Art Tour and it did not disappoint! The guide Shai was amazing, kind and spirtual. She made the trip 5 star. Her kindness & help was beyond. Somehow we had no confirmation number and they initially were not going to let us on the trip. I was so upset, but she was kind, patient and spoke to Kim Kim so they could provide an email confirmation. Luckily it worked out. The tour itself was perfect. Plenty of stops to see art, hear explanation and a few stops to galleries as well. A perfect size group too and the best way to cover a lot of ground in the busy city roads of Oaxaca.

Quality of Experience

All

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Shai was the best tour guide ever

Transport

Bikes were comfy and great to have mountain bikes on the cobblestone roads

Learn how to prepare delicious traditional food

Mexico City

This experience was truly one of the highlights of the week and a perfect ending to a perfect vacation! The education & guidance for our cooking experience was superb. We learned techniques on how to chop veggies, prepare food and tricks w/ garlic. The menu that was provided was so much and a great way to learn about Mexican culture and dining. The food was delicious and our Host Chef was excellent. He truly made us feel comfortable and he was very entertaining & engaging. This experience was exciting, enjoyable and full of passion.

Quality of Experience

The Chef, his direction, menu and the whole experience!

Food

The Guacamole, Mezcal, Coffee Drinks, Rice, and putting it all together

Guadalajara and Oaxaca, Mexico. My friend, Deb Weed, organized the trip and worked extensively with Leslie on planning and Ximena on the details. So I was along for the ride. From my prespective, the trip was fabulous. Our guide (Josue) & driver (Caesar) in Guadalajara were friendly, prompt, sincere and flexible. We felt like they were our friends when we left. Day trip to Tequila was memorable. In Oaxaca, our guide for our art bike tour (Shai from Coyote Aventuras) and Ximena helped us through a miscommunication issue which was resolved satisfactorily. Ximena was available every step of the way to help. She was awesome. Last night was in Mexico City before our departure, we did a cooking class with Luis Alfonzo, chef of Barra de Cafe de Malinche which was over the top. I will definitely recommend KimKim to my friends.

Hotel Reviews

Hotel Morales Historical & Colonial Downtown Core

Mexicaltzingo, Guadalajara, Jal.

We loved this hotel with its rich history. Beautiful courtyards and centrally located. The restaurant was an added plus since some nights we were too tired to venture out. Staff was very accommodating.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel De La Parra

Oaxaca

This smaller hotel was perfect for us. The location was perfect and within walking distance for all of the Day of the Dead feastivies and sightseeing. The staff was very helpful. Loved the pool area and the ability to get a cocktail in the afternoon. Breakfast was delightful.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Suites de la Parra

Oaxaca

Only stayed one night, but loved the penthouse suite. Large suite with outdoor patio and 360 degree views. Lots of stairs to the penthouse.

Casa Jacinta Guest House

Del Carmen, Coyoacán, Ciudad de México

Only one night here but wish it were more. Property was cute and quaint in a good neighborhood.

Activity Reviews

Tlaquepaque: "The Magic of Cacao"

Mexico

Christina Taylor was amazing with this private experience. You could tell she was passionate about her work and shared that passion with us. Loved the pairing portion of the tasting.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Josue (guide) and Casear (driver) were professional, knowledgeable and very friendly.

Learn how to prepare delicious traditional food

Mexico City

Loved this private experience! Luis, our chef, was amazing, friendly and professional. The food we prepared was delicious and we learned that everything is used in one form or another. Highly recommend this experience.

We really appreciated Leslie’s recommendation to visit Mazunte. It was exactly the kind of quiet, private, low key beach getaway we were looking for. Casa Lu hotel was perfectly located, clean, relatively upscale for the area, friendly staff, bar/restaurant on the beach. Loved that the infinity pool was steps away from the sand so you could lounge in the fresh water while taking in the dramatic coastline. Outstanding dinners at Navigante in San Agustinillo and Alquamista in nearby Zipolite. Also enjoyed our 3 days in Oaxaca city. Excellent tour guide, Leonardo, took us on a private city tour, as well as visits to local archeological sites, a mescal production facility, the giant Tule tree and a small weaving village. A former teacher, he was incredibly knowledgeable and enthusiastic. the best! Food was ok, but didn’t live up to the foodie capital reputation we’d heard. Only downside was returning with dysentery as we were not particularly careful about ice in drinks, salads, etc. Otherwise, great trip and Kimkim was helpful, responsive and professional.

I can't recommend Jorge and the team at KimKim highly enough. We will certainly use them again in future. We shared our priorities with Jorge (we wanted a mix of foodie tours and historic sites) and he proposed the perfect itinerary. We felt like we saw all the highlights of the cities, but nothing felt rushed, because of the very smooth transfers and daily updates/info from the local agent.

The hotels were wonderful and very central. The private guides we had were also fantastic and spoke extremely good english (which was helpful as our spanish is non-existing!). The best part of the trip for us was Oaxaca, especially the last few days where we had a couple of trips out of the city to see the Mescal distilleries, participate in a rural cooking class and visit a traditional textile workshop.

This was my first time using KimKim and was phenomenal in many ways. It was like having a personal guide with me and my group of 8 friends throughout my entire birthday celebration.

They set up a personal chef, photographer, five days of transportation and excursions.

The only thing that I am not totally favorable about is the lack of transparency in the pricing model. I had a friend to cancel and hike I understand the no refund policy after thirty days, we all know that all excursions can be cancelled and refunded up until
About 48 hours before the trip.

But, I will let that go because everything was planned out perfectly and took allllllllllll the stress away from me. Any issues that we had Ximena and Melina were only a WhatsApp chat away. I honestly rate these ladies 7 stars!!!!!!

Leslie did great on the planning but was often slower for someone who lacks patience (me), but once the trip was handed over the Ximena and Melina the responses were within seconds. This brought me so much comfort and my group was amazed at how responsive they were at all hours!!!

Activity Reviews

Mexican Dinner Party!

Nuevo Vallarta

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Sunset in a Sailing Boat

Mexico

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

City tour & Tequila Tasting

Puerto Vallarta

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

We had a fantastic experience with the Kimkim staff and the tour guides they connected us with.

Adrian our Mexico City food tour guide was amazingly knowledgeable and conscientious. The food in Mexico City is so delicious and we got to experience all sorts from markets to street vendors to high end pastries. Luis our guide in Tenochtitlán was friendly and easy going with all our questions and our kids. We learned so much about the history of Mexico and how it influences the culture of modern Mexico. Jorge set us up with some amazing food while on the trajiñeras and gave us the historical perspective of Coyoacán .

Willy in Puerto Escondido was a local who knew about everything in the area and was always on time, was great with kids and went out of his way to make the trip great.

I’m so glad we had Ximena on WhatsApp the whole time. It was so great to have her there to confirm tours and adjust schedules, and even in one case help us figure out what to do when one tour was no longer available due to weather.

Activity Reviews

Sweets & streets! Family-Friendly Historic Center Tour

Mexico City

Adrián was an amazing guide, a chef and pastry maker himself he was so knowledgeable about the world of food and about Mexico City’s gems. Great with kids and fun to spend the day with.

Release of baby turtles in La Escobilla

La escobilla

We got to see a turtle lay eggs and release baby sea turtles! What a unique and wonderful experience. Willy was the ultimate driver and guide.

Karen helped us plan our honeymoon to Mexico and we couldn't be happier with our trip.
She took everything we discussed on board and planned our 11 day trip with all our specifications in mind. The process of planning was very smooth and we had regular contact with Karen with additional updates to the itinerary. She was very receptive to any changes we needed to make and was extremely helpful in reorganising part of the trip when I made an error with flights.

The holiday itself was exceptional. We knew at all times who we needed to meet and where we needed to meet them and had daily correspondence with Ximena over What's app.
The mix of activities and excursions was exactly what we had hoped for and I feel like we got to experience a broad view of Mexico.
Our personal highlights were the food tasting and historical tours in Mexico City where we had private tours with some very experienced chefs.
We also got to experience some eco-tourism on the Yucutan and get an idea of modern Mayan culture. One of the best parts of our trip was the cultural emersion tour in Nuevo Durango. Because of these small tours we got to visit lots of hidden cenotes and small villages that we would otherwise never have been aware of.

Every day of our trip had an excursion planned but left plenty of time to explore locally in the evenings. I cannot recommend kimkim, and Karen in particular, enough. I would never have been able to plan such a varied trip without her.

Hotel Reviews

Cabins in Nuevo Durango

We stayed in one of the cabins in Nuevo Durango as part of a cultural tour of the area and it was one of the best nights we spent in Mexico. The cabin itself is rustic and sparse but very clean and the bed was incredibly comfortable. The cabins each had a toilet and shower and mosquito net for protection. The wifi didn't stretch to the cabin but this didn't limit the experience in any way, and moreso created an unplugged, relaxing night. We had delicious lunch, dinner, and breakfast, all cooked locally and our guide, Jose, was really excellent at showing us around the area and bringing us to the cenote in the centre of the town.

Authenticity & Character

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Casa González

Mexico City

Great location with easy access to town and nice local restaurants. We felt very safe in the area and there were always plenty of people around. The room was beautiful and comfortable and the staff at the front desk were very helpful. Breakfast each morning was delicious with a good variety of Mexican and international food on the menu. Our only issue was with the timing of the room cleaning. We arrived back from trips late in the afternoon most days and our room hadn't yet been cleaned and on one occasion the cleaner arrived while we were in our room (around 4pm) and we had to leave for half an hour while the bathroom bins were emptied and the room cleaned. Despite this we really enjoyed our stay and would happily visit again.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Gayser

Valladolid

Great location that was a short walk to the main square and restaurants. The room was clean and comfortable and the air-con was great. We were on the ground floor and there was a lot of noise with music playing in the lobby at night which made it very hard to sleep. The breakfast was limited, just toast and fruit, so we wouldn't have relied on it as a full meal for the morning.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

too much noise from music playing in the lobby at night

HM Playa del Carmen

Playa del Carmen

Beautiful and clean hotel with a great pool and bar service. Check-in was very straightforward but there is no elevator in the building so we had to carry heavy suitcases up 2 flights of stairs. Location was great and just a few minutes walk away from the main strip but far enough away that there was no noise at night. There's also a secure carpark which was great.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Fiesta Americana Viaducto Aeropuerto

Mexico City

Brief overnight stay between flights. Very nice and clean hotel with great airport shuttle service. Check-in was very straightforward and the staff were very helpful. Very clean and comfortable.

Activity Reviews

Shared biking experience through Teotihuacan "The City of the Gods"

Mexico City

Really pleasant morning biking around Teotihuacan with our guide. We got to visit one of the nearby caves and learn a bit about Aztec customs and auras which was fun! A light lunch was included which was enjoyable before heading back out in the sun. We also had a visit to a local craftsman who showed us how some of the obsidian ornaments are created. Our guide was great and full of information about the mathematics and construction of the pyramids. Really enjoyable tour overall

Float in the Muyil Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve with transportation from Cancun.

Cancún

Cannot recommend this tour enough. The reserve has a gentle current so we spent 40 mins in a very relaxing natural lazy river. Our guide filled us in on how the Mayans used the lagoon and pointed out native plants and fossils as we drifted along. We really didn't want to leave!

Thank you Leslie and Ximena🙏🏻 Our Mexico City and Playa Del Carmen trip was so enjoyable and carefree thanks to all your planning for us. Every transfer, tour and reservation went according to plan and my daughter and I felt completely safe and taken care of💞

This is the second time we used kimkim for our trip planning and this is the second wonderful experience that we had. The trip was wonderful, the guides and tours were great, and we had great peace of mind knowing that the details were taken care of. I find the planning process painless and flexible so we get the kind of trip that we want. Both Lelie and Melina were prompt in their communications. Although we didn't have any problems, I knew we were just one chat away from getting help which is a nice feature in a foreign country.

I highly recommend the guides we had, Alex from Etnotouristica and Margot from Vamos o Que?. They really knew their stuff and we feel we got very unique tours tailored to our specific interests. And thanks to Alex, we got to see one of the pre-festival parades on our first day which was a real highlight for me.

Overall, I highly recommend kimkim and we will use them again.

Hotel Reviews

Hotel Boutique Parador San Miguel

Oaxaca

We loved this hotel. Fantastic location and adorable accommodations. Very friendly staff. We would definitely stay here again.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Santa Fe Hotel

Puerto Escondido

Great location but the hotel was showing some wear and tear. The food and staff were great. The hotel had very unreliable internet which became frustrating (we never got it in our room, we had better luck in the restaurant).

Authenticity & Character

Location

Across from the beach!

Staff

Very friendly and helpful.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Internet. Need to improve reliability of internet in the rooms. The room was looking a little worn out.

Activity Reviews

Oaxaca city artistic tour

Oaxaca

Loved it, small group, great way to experience the block print art of Oaxaca and it was great to meet some artists. The chocolate tasting was a nice surprise and a great way to break up the walk.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

This is a walking tour. Be prepared to walk!

Gastronomic Indigenous Roots

Oaxaca

Amazing meal! Quite a treat, beautiful presentation and delicious food.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

we were very happy with how smoothly everything went. fair amount of moving us from place to place and all went perfectly . hotels were great and in wonderful locations. thanks to everyone involved

But Jennifer was not our local contact but certainly put together an excellent itinerary

Hotel Review

Guayaba Inn

San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas

Low key. Serene. Easy walk into town. Very close to Na Bloom museum. Great breakfast

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Review

Visit 2 villages in Los Altos de Chiapas: San Juan Chamula and Zinacatán

San Cristobal de las Casas

Surreal. Unreal. Wish I could have taken a long long video. Will have to stay in my heD

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Enjoyed using Rutopia (Marisol and Melina) to plan my trip to Mexico. Marisol helped me figure out the best options fand booked everything. Melina was my in country support. Rutopia (the company through Kim Kim) is great and would highly recommend it to anyone who wants to take the burden out of vacation planning. My son and I truly enjoyed the trip knowing everything was taken care of and we just had to have fun. Thanks!

Hotel Reviews

Hotel El Moro

Puerto Morelos, Quintana Roo

We went with this hotel as we were only staying a night and wanted quick access to the snorkeling at Puerto Morales. It's a small homey hotel. It's not fancy but the staff is great and had a good feel to it.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Holbox By Xaloc

Isla Holbox

Activity Reviews

Snorkeling in the beautiful marine park of Puerto Morelos

Puerto Morelos

Really enjoyed the company and the guides. Being an avid snorkeling, I would have liked knowing ahead of time that you are required to wear a life jacket while snorkeling. I understand it is to protect the coral but for me, I would have liked to know about it to determine if I would have chosen to snorkel somewhere else.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Coba and the sacred Mayan roads

Cobá

Manual is an amazing personable guide. Both him and his son were just really nice and helpful. My son and I really enjoyed biking through the ruins.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Float in the Muyil Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve with transportation from Cancun.

Cancún

I really enjoyed this adventure. Eddie the guide was just great.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Too many stops to pick up others. It was supposed to be a 7 hour trip and it was 10hours. The transportation was just too long and too many pick ups.

We had several different guides.
Most memorable was Enrique and his walking and biking tour in Teotihuacan.
Nicolas and the food tour including Mezcal tasting in Mexico City.
Manuel in Chichen Itza and Vincente and Cesar in Tulum and Cenote.
Also very memorable was Rio Secreto.

Overall it was an amazing vacation which had everything, culture, history, food, nature and relaxation. And thanks to the organisation and our provided local contact Melina we hadn't had to worry about anything, so we were able to enjoy every secong of our vacation and trip.

Hotel Reviews

Hampton Inn & Suites Mexico City

Mexico City

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hacienda Merida

Mérida

Great stay, beautiful old colonial building

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Courtyard By Marriott Cancun Airport

Cancun

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Shared biking experience through Teotihuacan "The City of the Gods"

Mexico City

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Spirits of Mexico: Pulque, Mezcal, & Tequila

Mexico City

Great experience but more a food tour than a pure mezcal tequila pulque tasting tour

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Nicolas was so passionate about mexican food culture. It was like eating and drinking with a good friend

Transport

Tour of historic Mexico City with street food tasting

Mexico City

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Visit the Museum of Anthropology and Chapultepec Castle

Mexico City

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Coyoacán and Xochimilco including Frida Kahlo museum

Mexico City

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

City Tour of Merida: The White City

Mérida

Was not really a walking tour, rather a driving tour which was better due to the heat and humidity

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Explore the Celestun Biosphere Reserve

Mérida

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Explore Chichén Itzá: A Wonder of the Mayan World

Chichén Itzá

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Immerse Yourself in the Peaceful Yokdzonot Cenote

Mexico

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Rio Secreto: The Mayan underworld

Cancún

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Snorkeling in the beautiful marine park of Puerto Morelos

Puerto Morelos

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Visit the Archaeological site of Tulum and snorkeling in Gran Cenote

Mexico

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport