Kimkim Trip Reviews for Norway

Ingrid would get more stars if you offered that option.
Having just returned from 2 weeks in Norway arranged by Ingrid at Ethical Travel I can write an informed review. Ingrid, you are fantastic! The KimKim web portal works very smoothly and makes planning efficient and easy. You are attentive, detail oriented, personable, optimistic, very knowledgeable about Norway, flexible, accommodating, responsive, creative. And, you have a high power to weight ratio as we learned on our walking tour of Bergen. You are extraordinarily customer service focussed. The most telling example of this is when we texted you late on a Saturday afternoon that the hotel we were checking into did not have operable air conditioning and was uncomfortably hot. You not only helped make arrangements for a different hotel, you interrupted your personal activities to meet us in the lobby of the hotel to attend to the details. I can give Ingrid, KimKim and EthicalTravel my highest recommendation. FANTASTIC!!!!

James Flax, MD, MPH, DLFAPA

Fantastic experience. I am a last minute planner and Ingrid was exceptionally patient and helpful. Helped arrange a great tour, was available for last minute changes and was always on top of things.

Highly recommended!

We had an amazing time in Norway. Ingrid was great with organising the whole trip and was very knowledgeable. She was always very prompt with responses.

Would highly recommend.

Alta was my favorite part of the trip, especially dog sledding!! The hotel we stayed at in Alta was great and had an amazing breakfast buffet. The tours we took were a lot of fun and allowed us to view as much of Norway as possible in the small amount of time we had. We did two dog sledding trips, went ice fishing/snow shoeing, RIB boat on the Fjords in Flam, and more. Ingrid did a great job listening to what we wanted to do and helped plan a trip that was really memorable. I can't wait to visit Norway again!!

First of all: kudos to Elina - her attention was first-class and, I am very grateful for it - above all, I value the personalized attention. We wanted to experience the artic environment in Norway and we did get it. Our days spent in and around Tromso are unforgettable - to remember thru our lifetime. We took this trip as an opportunity to experience (first time ever) the cold artic in a leisure way and we did -so much so that we skipped some activities to simply enjoy the scenery and the moments. The schedule was followed as planned, guides showed up as planned, well-mannered and confident - great experience overall, Thanks!

We had a fantastic time on our trip to Norway. The highlight for me was definitely the two days of dog sledding in Alta. We had two fantastic guides - Elaine the first day, who was very experienced, friendly and helpful, and explained everything we needed to know very clearly, and shared lots of great stories and knowledge about all the dogs and her experiences with them. I loved how they really let us do everything ourselves too, after they gave us some instruction, so we got to walk around the yard and find the five dogs assigned to each of our teams, meet them and get comfortable with them, then we got to harness and hook them up to the sled ourselves. That made it way more rewarding than if they had done everything for us. Our guide the 2nd day was not as experienced with teaching tourists the ropes, but her personal story was incredible (she is only 18, and is the youngest person to ever complete the Finnmark race, which is the northernmost and second longest dog sled race in the world at 1200km), and we had a great time with her as well. The actual experience of dogsledding was one of the coolest things I have ever done, it was amazing, and I can’t say enough how much I enjoyed it.

The first day we also visited the ice hotel in Alta (recommended by the cook from lunch), which was incredible. The ice sculptures and carvings in the walls were unbelievable. Even if you don’t stay there, anyone who visits Alta really needs to check this out!!!

Since we had some time the second day in Alta, we booked an ice fishing/snow shoeing excursion through the same company that did our northern lights outing, and I would highly recommend them as well. Our guide Rolf (and his trusty dog Javri) took us on a beautiful forest hike (on snow shoes) to a lake called Kvenvannet, nestled in the snowy mountains, where he showed us everything we needed to know to try to catch fish in a lake that was about a meter of solid ice with another half meter or so of snow on top. I did catch a small trout, which was pretty exciting. He then made us an awesome lunch of salmon and vegetables cooked over the fire. Which reminds me - you Norwegians know your food! We did not have a disappointing meal all week. The breakfast spread at the Thon hotel in Alta was phenomenal, and the staff there was great as well. I wish we had good bread everywhere in America like you seem to there! The meals we had at the dog sledding place and the northern lights place were both delicious, two very different style soups with local fish and vegetables, and of course really good bread.

The northern lights tour was great, but unfortunately it was pretty much completely overcast the entire time, so we did not get a chance to see them, but we still enjoyed ourselves. I guess we’ll just have to make a trip back!

The 2nd half of the week was great as well. We had an awesome time exploring Bergen, we had beautiful sunny weather when we were there, and we had a great dinner at the restaurant attached to the fish market. After dinner we took the funicular train up to the mountain overlooking Bergen and the fjord where we saw the sunset which was beautiful.

The train rides from Bergen to Flåm were great, and the views were gorgeous. The fjordsafari tour on the RIB boat was really fun as well. They gave us plenty of extra layers so we all stayed pretty warm except maybe the bottom half of my face, I guess I needed a scarf, but our guide (I forget his name) was great, the ride was smooth, we stayed totally dry, and he did a great job of stopping and telling us all about the fjords, the mountains, and the villages all along them. We got a great lunch afterwards at one of the cafes in Flåm before our train ride back to Oslo.

Kevin and Betsi took off that morning, but Cyndi and I had one last day in Oslo where we went cross country skiing at Oslo Winter Park which was great fun and great exercise (we had both downhill skied before, but never cross country). We figured when in Norway might as well do as the Norwegians do!

We had such a great time, and I left Norway just wanting to come back again. Thanks so much for all your help in planning this incredible trip!

Great trip. Great guides. Better than we imagined. I'd do it again!

We had a fantastic memorable holiday experience in Norway. Both Tromso and Malangen were stunningly beautiful. The trips and the guides were excellent; we loved the dog sledding and the overnight Sami experience. The holiday was both adventurous and cultural; learning about the Sami people was fascinating and the environment and scenery were amazing.

We were lucky enough to see the Northern Lights on two occasions, both in Tromso., which is quite an experience!

We are very grateful to Linda, who arranged our holiday for us, she did a great job! The accommodation and food were first class.

We will be recommending kimkim to our friends. Thank you for a memorable experience.

Ingrid did an amazing job planning our trip and with our hike in Bergen. The hotels she picked were great - nice rooms, friendly service, and close to activities so that we could walk every where. She truly did a marvelous job. The companies she booked for the hike in Stavanger and the fjord tour and snow shoeing hike in Flam were great as well - professional, good equipment and full of information about the area.

Ingrid was quick at responding, understood what we wanted out of our trip and made the whole booking process very easy. I would definitely use Kim Kim again and would recommend it to others.

Really good planning. Enjoyed the activities arranged for us

KimKim and Linda are the way to go! We got the trip that we wanted, with expert advice along the way. For me the Fiords were absolutely enchanting, I could have lost myself in them. For Paul, the whales were the highlight.

We did not get to see the Northern Lights so we already figure another trip to Tromso. Besides it being magic, I got my hair cut there and love it!

Thank you

We had the most amazing time in Norway. Linda went above and beyond for us and customized the perfect trip for my husband and I and our two young sons (1 & 2). It is probably the best vacation we've ever had. Thank you, Linda!

Fantastic trip- we loved the reindeer sledding and Sami experience which we wouldn’t have thought of. Northern lights chasing was great, although small hitch when the bus would not start. Dog sledding camp and the lavoo were great, but there was confusion about whether or not we were driving or riding. We would also have liked to have more time dog sledding, as we were only out for about an hour. All of the providers were professional with small groups and great guides. We really liked the hotel, which had great free breakfast and was in a convenient location.

Linda was always quick to respond and listened to everything I wanted to do. The end result of the trip exceeded all of my expectations. Would definitely recommend!

Great accommodations! We saw northern lights 2/4 nights!!!! The weather was perfect we Loved the Hardergruten MSSpitsberg it was a great size great bed!! We added a guide for our day in Tromsø her name was Edle with Individual tours. She was fantastic all day too. We had a carefree adventure because of your help! Thank you so much

Linda made it all possible!!!! Sweet great response time No question was to small....

Great communication before leaving and during our stay.

Linda was excellent, she was on hand whenever I had a query. A landslide occurred whilst we were on the train and I knew a taxi would be waiting for us in Aurland, obviously we did not know what time we would be expected in due to the delays, however, Linda was on hand and continuously kept us updated and also updated the taxi and our accommodation that we were significantly delayed. Couldn't have asked for more.

Linda was very intuitive and delivered exactly the kind of experience we were hoping to have.

Super!!!! I wish we could have Linda could always plan out our adventures.

We started with 8 people planning 1 itinerary, but ended up with 1 with 1 schedule, and 7 persons in a different itinerary. Linda was a fantastic, patient and knowledgeable travel guide in helping to plan our trip, from beginning to the end. She had fantastic recommendations. The 2-hour city walks / tours were wonderful. (We had 1 member who used a wheelchair for the walks, which we were able to borrow at our hotels. Planning that in advance would be a big help for future trips)

Linda was prompt in responding to our questions and concerns while on the trip. There were 2 issues that came up in 2 cities, and Linda helped to resolve them quickly and professionally to our group's satisfaction. Travelling in an unfamiliar country with a group of 8 people is difficult; when possible it would have helped us if we'd had a short list of recommended restaurants, price range, etc. Some of the places we wanted were closed for the season since it's the end of their peak tourist season. We would have loved to meet Linda while we were in Oslo, but we didn't have time. We'll definitely use Kimkim again, and will recommend to our friends.

Linda did an exclent job of determining our needs and matching them with a great experience for our family.

Great communication and responsiveness by Linda. Thanks