Kimkim Trip Reviews for Spain

I don’t even know where to begin with this review, because our trip to Spain was perfect…and I mean PERFECT-from start to finish.

Patricia was incredibly patient and kind during the planning stages. She quickly and seamlessly accommodated the many changes we had to make because of flight changes , Covid, etc Due to storms back home, we has to stay in Spain extra days. Patricia set up a new and wonderful hotel and our new Covid test appointments.

We spent 3 days in Barcelona, took the high speed train to Madrid, and took a day trip to Toledo from Madrid. In Barcelona, we had a bike tour in the Gothic Quarter with Clara who provided an fun and enlightening information as well as tips on where to go for tapas! We also has an intellectually stimulating tour of the Gaudi Masterpieces and Güell Park with Elena, whose historical knowledge was stunning. For us, the icing on the cake was the guided tour of La Boqueria Market and subsequent cooking class with Carlos. We learned to make paella, crema catalana, Spanish omelette, pan tomate, and flat bread with spinach, pignoli, and raisins. We highly recommend all of these activities

After arriving in Madrid, we were greeted by the most gracious driver, Ricardo. He ended up driving us three times while we were in Madrid, and by the end we felt like he was family. Our day trip to Toledo was life-changing. Toledo was one of the most physically beautiful places I had ever seen! We were so fortunate to have Inma as our guide. We took a cab tour to see the bigger picture, and then we saw the Cathedral and the Jewish Quarter. She left us at a wonderful place for lunch.

I can’t think Patricia enough for this trip. It was truly magical, and she was the one who made it happen. I would recommend her 1000 times over. Thank you! You made me and my husband fall in love with Spain. We will be back!

Karin was very patient in putting together our trip. We booked two weeks in advanced which is too short and Karin was able to make an excellent trip for us. Thank you Karin, we always remember you and Kimkim.
Once Beatriz de Pablo took over in Spain and Portugal it was an awesome trip. We told her our flight and she was able to adjust in short notice our accommodation. Beatriz make our trip so it won't be tiring for us. We have enough rest and go sight seeing, shopping, walking downtown and having tapas. Beatriz also made sure we are doing fine by texting via WhatsApp everyday, if our pickup was there. She also got all the professional guides for us. It turns our almost all out tours were private. Hotels she choose with our budget were excellent. They were very clean and comfortable and made us feel welcome. Staff at the hotel were accommodating as well, they guided us where to eat, shop, what to see on our free time.
Hello Bea, Hats off to you, you did awesome. It's a trip we can't forget. Please also thank our professional guides Cristina, Enrique, Sergio in Barcelona. Jorge in Madrid. Train ride to Toledo was excellent and the place great. It was sooo cold. But anyway we were able to change our return trip to Madrid earlier. Oh gosh, we were having a good time and I forgot the names of our guide in Granada Please so sorry. Our guide in Seville Andres who waited for us to get our antigen test and was very patient. Our driver Juan Pedro going to the Andalusian Olive Estate thank you for being an excellent guide. Now in Lisboa, our last destination this trip was suer great. Miguel our food tour guide was so professional, friendly with a god sense of humor. Maria our guide to our Lady of Fatima was to drive and guide us was very good. It was an hour and a half drive from Lisboa. Tireless woman.
Overall, five stars to all who made our trip worth remembering. Hats off to all!!!

Hotel Review

Ciutat de Barcelona

Barcelona

Easy access to shops, restaurants, points of interests. Hotel can call a taxi for you. Excellent location. Very clean rooms and we had free buffet breakfast. Breakfast selection was very good.

Tips for future travelers

No parking nearby.

Authenticity & Character

Ambiance

Location

within City Center

Staff

Friendly and accommodating

Cleanliness & Comfort

very clean, good wifi connection

Activity Review

Tapas Walk in Barcelona

Barcelona

Excellent tapas. Wine or any drink you like to have. Cava was our favorite.. We went to three bars and tapa place and they were all very good. Tasted parmesan cheese cake!! Cristina was a professional guide.

Quality of Experience

we had the best tapas

Food

Awesome!

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Very Professional

Transport

we walked

Due to Covid, this trip was booked last minute due to several iterations. Karin made it possible and was even available during the trip in spite of a personal situation. She is the best to work with.

I found kimkim with a Google search, and was impressed with the positive feedback given by former travelers. Now, I am the one giving the positive review without any hesitation! Our trip to Spain was planned excellently and with attention to detail by Sam. We certainly had some anxiety due to COVID restrictions, but decided to go ahead with the trip and had a wonderful experience. In addition, my wife had a fracture in her foot that limited her ability to walk distances, but wheelchair assistance was arranged for her when possible. Transportation between sites was always on-time and each driver was very polite and helpful. Each guide was well-prepared and extremely informative and friendly and welcoming: Teresa in Madrid, Joaquin in Cordoba, Maria in Seville, Roberto and Paco in Granada, and Maria and Craig in Barcelona. We experienced so many wonderful sites, too many to mention, but the highlights were: Prado and Royal Palace in Madrid, Mosque-Cathedral and Alcazar in Cordoba, Cathedral and Alcazar in Seville, Alhambra and Albaicin in Granada, and Sagrada Familia and Parc Guell in Barcelona followed by a day trip to Montserrat and a winery near Barcelona. Our trip also included several meals and a Flamenco show, and we thoroughly enjoyed these as well as the sight-seeing planned in each city. Also, Sam and his colleague Fran checked in with us during the trip to make sure everything was going smoothly--and, of course, everything did go very smoothly thanks to the attention to detail by our travel agent! The accommodations were very nice and always in a convenient location in each city. Overall, we had an amazing experience, and would highly recommend Sam and kimkim to anyone. We have no regrets and only wish we had more than ten days to spend in Spain.

Hotel Reviews

H10 Casa de la Plata

Sevilla

Hotel is in a great location close to historical sites and shopping. However, if your room has an outside view, it can be noisy during the night. The staff were friendly and hotel was new and clean and nicely decorated.

Tips for future travelers

While the view of the street was nice, choose an interior room for less noise during the night.

Authenticity & Character

New and nicely decorated.

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel NH Califa

Córdoba

Hotel was good--clean and convenient. However, it could use some updating. Staff was friendly.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Casa 1800

Granada

Hotel was in a quiet, secluded street. Building was old with lots of character. Staff was extremely friendly.

Tips for future travelers

Highly recommend.

Authenticity & Character

Beautiful building and rooms.

Location

Close to shopping and sites in center of city,

Staff

So friendly and helpful

Cleanliness & Comfort

Beds weren't the most comfortable on our trip.

Gallery Hotel

Barcelona

Great location, very helpful staff, comfortable beds and climate control.

Authenticity & Character

A modern hotel. Nicely decorated.

Location

A little farther from tourist sites, but easily reached by taxi or walking.

Staff

Very helpful as this was our last hotel of the trip and we had documents that we needed printed out.

Cleanliness & Comfort

H10 Puerta de Alcalá

Madrid

Nice location, great breakfast, helpful staff. Hallway noise could be heard in rooms.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Private City Tour of Seville

Seville

We toured the Cathedral, Alcazar and explored a neighborhood with our guide, Maria. She was very informative and made the experience so much fun and informative.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Guide was fun, informative, and well-prepared.

Transport

Private Tour of Park Güell & Sagrada Família

Barcelona

Parc Guell is fun and whimsical place to visit. Sagrada Familia is just too amazing for words. If you only have time for one place, go to Sagrada Familia. Also, our guide, Sandra, made the place come to life.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Took taxis, but had no issues.

Private Flamenco & Tapas Tour

Seville

Flamenco show was so much fun and interesting. Tapas tour was also informative and our guide explained the traditions and food choices to us. Delicious!

Quality of Experience

Food

Restaurant choices were excellent.

Private Tour of Córdoba

Córdoba

Mosque-Cathedral and Alcazar were fascinating and came to life with our guide.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Day Trip to Montserrat & Wine Tour

Barcelona

A great day trip from Barcelona. Nice to see the countryside and experience more culture away from the city.

Quality of Experience

Food

Stopped at a restaurant in a small town and thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Craig transported us and was a great guide for our day.

Transport

I cannot provide enough superlatives that capture how beautifully my family's trip to Spain, (and side trip to France) unfolded. While very well traveled, and having used Trip Advisor incessantly for many years, I had been unaware of kimkim.com, until I saw it mentioned in a travel magazine. Learning of its origins and creators, and then reading excellent reviews about it, I thought I would give it a try. I generally arrange all of my family's travel, but have been feeling overwhelmed in the past year like many, and decided it would be nice to have a little bit of help "in country", in connecting some of the dots and details. That said, I didn't have very high hopes because cause in the past I have tried a couple of travel agents and been sorely disappointed. Because of my experience in traveling and preference for exacting detail in hotels and itinerary overall, I have found I have to explain too much to an agent. They also tend to want to designate something "typical" or popular for the average tourist.
Well… from the very first encounter with Patricia to our last communication upon arriving back in the States, I could not have been more blown away by the excellence and professionalism offered by Patricia and her associates.

We first exchange some letters and I explained the basics of what I was after. She suggested a phone call to better communicate; I found kimkim's set up of arranging a phone call via the website worked beautifully. Phone calls seem to route through Palo Alto headquarters and the connections were always excellent. At any rate, Patricia was so intuitive fom the get-go. I never felt guilty or pressured when I expressed atypical things like my family doesn't generally like to have a tour guide at attractions. We prefer to just be together and educate ourselves via audio guides or internet searches. She started to get a real sense of our travel preferences and really ran with it. She suggested hotels but knew that I had done a lot of research and respected my considerations. We had such a wonderful back-and-forth regarding selections and I was so impressed at her savvy, warmth, and kindness. I always felt throughout the 7 or 8 weeks of planning that Patricia had my back with every detail. Kimkim has a wonderful platform for sharing every detail of the itinerary, including what is and is not included in the final cost proposal.

Our trip was only 9 days and fairly full. I always felt confident, though, because Patricia had placed the entire detailed itinerary right on the cell phone she provided upon our first hotel check in. An in-country local phone might seem like the smallest detail, but It was seriously the smartest travel luxury I think I've ever been given. I could text Patricia on it at any time and it was unreal how quickly I would hear back from her. What travel agent is that responsive any time of the day or evening?!

We centered in Barcelona, with side trips to Montserrat, the Pyrenees for skiing, the coast, Girona, Perpignan, France, and Port Aventura. So much of it was simply stunning, and always culturally-enriching. There were quite a few times that questions would arise, due to language barrier or a typical international travel snafu, and my husband and I were absolutely blown away at the convenience of having that phone. Patricia would think of a suggestion for a dinner reservation and make it intuitively, just knowing that places would be filling up around the holidays. Then she would check in with me as to whether we were interested. We always were. I just felt like she read my mind and was saving me the trouble; so refreshing not to have to be "Mom the Travel Director" every minute! Her business partner and the driver, Omar, they assigned to us for all of our transiting, pick-ups and drop offs (except for when we rented our own car) were also fabulously professional, sharp, and proactive.

Some real challenges were presented because of changing Covid protocols and requirements, and I thought it spoke volumes that Patricia's team were so adaptable and helpful in overcoming these obstacles (twice very late in the evening!), making it as easy as possible for us. Whether just to check in that all was going well, or calls and texts related to troubleshooting, the level of enthusiasm and responsiveness from Patricia and her team was almost shocking. Such an incredibly high bar was set that I'm almost afraid to arrange a trip to a different part of the world because I will miss her level of service! That stated, I will definitely look to kimkim in the future, since this trip was so seamless.

Do not hesitate- in fact, RUN to arrange a trip to Spain or Portugal and request Patricia and her company Your Trip to Spain and Portugal via kimkim!!

Marina was a wonderful trip planner! She was knowledgeable about the cities in Spain we wanted to visit, offered detailed guidance, took care of all the details and was exceptionally responsive. She selected hotels that were perfect for us and provided all the resources and information we needed to have a wonderful trip. She checked in with us all week, even on Christmas day! Thank you, Marina!

Marina was great help in selection of cities and help along the way. Our first stop in Girona was magnificent and Carmen was an elegant host.

Salmanca was also excellent. Hotel Rector was amazing.

Sam and his team did a wonderful job from start to finish. They were able to understand what we were looking for in our trip and did everything possible to accommodate us. Communication was clear, thoughtful and timely throughout the process. The guides he found to show us around the Costa Brava and Barcelona were awesome! During the trip itself, Sam's team made us feel taken care of and looked after. Each activity from kayaking to museum tours was amazing!

I would highly recommend using Sam. He brings the exactly what you are looking for to plan your next trip!

Thank you Patricia and team! You planned an ideal first visit to Spain for us. You made sure that we saw the most important highlights of Madrid, Seville, and Barcelona, but also included really authentic 'non touristy' excursions. The private tours you arranged were wonderful. All of our guides were knowledgeable and really made an effort to customize our experience. Highlights included Carmen's extensive knowledge of history and politics related to the sites we saw in Madrid. In Seville, Aldara's tour of Triana, the flamenco show, and the traditional tapas at a local bar was fantastic. She is truly an absolute joy! In Barcelona, we enjoyed seeing sites with Elena and loved our day trip with Mariana to visit two local wineries. All of the hotels were conveniently located and our transfers were on time and the drivers were extremely professional. Patricia checked in frequently to ensure things were going smoothly and adjusted our dinner reservations to accommodate our last minute needs. She even booked our PCR tests so that we would have no issues with getting our results before returning to the US. Patricia's service was EXCELLENT from the first inquiry to our flight home. We highly recommend her! We loved Spain more than we ever thought we would and we know it was due to Patricia's careful planning and her knowledge of the best things to see and do.

Sam was a dream to work with when planning my trip of a lifetime to Spain! I was able to provide Sam with my goals and interests, and he tailor-made the perfect trip for me. It was packed with traditional Spanish culture, art, food and drinks. I was able to see the vast landscape that Spain offers through adventure filled day trips. Every details was taken into consideration. The accommodations, drivers, tour guides, and food was phenomenal! While I was in Spain, Fran was always a text away if I had a question or just need a recommendation on a place to visit! They truly are the dream team! I can't wait to someday share the special country with my family. I will be sure to use kimkim in the future! I could not recommend them enough.

Our first trip to Spain and second time using Kimkim and their local experts. Patricia did an excellent job sorting out our requests and building a perfect trip. Connections, shuttles, and guides all fit our plans very well. All the recommendations were spot on, Costa Brava, Girona, Llfranc, Barcelona, Seville, Ronda, Gibraltar and Granada all set for us to enjoy and not worry about details. The ability to contact someone in country and that knows the area is invaluable, we had a few last minute requests and Patricia always came through. I could go on and on but the real review is that we will be returning to Spin and will be using kimkim and Patricia @yourtriptospainandportugal again. Thank you.

Marina worked extremely hard to put together a last minute trip to Spain. We were traveling with our 6 yo son, and she was able to incorporate family friendly activities and tour guides that included fun stories and activities for kids. Great communication, friendly, responsive, and professional. We had a great trip and highly recommend Marina and Karin. Thank you!

Marina put together a great itinerary that met my goal of lots of active time out of the cities, while still seeing the cultural highlights in each place I stayed. All of the guides were very good, but a Rachel who was our guide for Caminito del rey was truly outstanding.

Karin planned our trip across Northern Spain that we had wanted to do for many years. Although we had some specific places that we wanted to see, Karin was able to recommend several places that we would never have found, and that absolutely delighted us. She hired guides that were knowledgable, friendly and flexible, and twice when an emergency came up for them, another was substituted at the last minute, which was also great! We could never have done that. I recommend Karin, and Espiritu travel with Kimkim

I have an interest in Medieval history and specifically the Knights Templar. Spain's rich history includes the Templars, so it was high on my list of places to visit. Susana and Paula immediately got what I was looking for and put together a great itinerary that allowed me to not just see but experience Medieval Spain and the Templars.

Because of my interests in learning more, it's important that the local guides are knowledgeable about the history and the legends. Each of the local guides Susana arranged was excellent. Not only were each of them very knowledgeable on the history, but personable, flexible and great storytellers. It was like traveling with a good friend rather than a guide I had never met before.

The attention to detail was suburb. The detailed travel book came in handy a number of times. The hotels were great and in the middle of what I was going to be seeing. Susana kept in touch each day to ensure I knew what was happening the next day, plus she happily stepped in a couple of times to solve minor problems, like when I got off at the wrong train station. She immediately called a local taxi company to transport me to the right station and interpreted with the taxi driver.

I would be remiss in not thanking Leo the taxi driver Susana arranged for me in Peniscola. Not only was he an excellent driver, but went into the clinic with me to translate and make sure I got the right COVID test. When I forgot my passport in the hotel, he drove me back to the hotel and back to the clinic.

I know that I'll be returning to Spain as there's much more I want to see and learn about. I will definitely use the great team at KimKim again.

My daughters and I traveled throughout Spain and had a wonderful trip. Patricia was our travel agent and she was great. We never had an issue with transportation or drivers. Our tours were so interesting and we didn’t have any problems because Pati was on top of everything from tickets to needed documentation. She set us up with wonderful tour guides, they were all so knowledgeable and nice!
I especially enjoyed a winery tour in Rhonda and flamenco experience in Seville.
I will be using KimKim again for future trips.

A huge thank you to Patricia and her team. We were a family of 4, trying to put together a trip to multiple locations in Spain, in the middle of the pandemic. Without Patricia this would not have been possible. She made it all super easy, set us up in amazing hotels, arranged personal bespoke experiences and brought her considerable knowledge of the area to bear. In addition she stayed in constant communication throughout the trip, checking in and fine tuning the agenda along the way. We could not be happier with the service we received and wish her and the team all the very best for the future. Would not hesitate to use her again.

WOW - what a trip. Nine family members ranging from 17 to 85 traveling to 5 of the 8 Canary Islands. First off, the itinerary had something for everyone. We felt the process of arranging the trip was very easy, even with us a half a world away in the US. Then Covid hit and we had to push the the trip a year. Gilles was very helpful taking our deposit from a year ago and working with all the Hotels to ensure we didn't lose it. Then once we arrived to the island we were assigned a guide for the week. His name was Eden and he rocked. Eden was tasked with managing everything, from touring, logistics, arranging our meals, and just dealing with 9 type A Americans that all had our own options and needs. I have traveled all over the world, and Eden was by far the best guide (and now I call friend) I have ever had the pleasure meeting or working with. He went above and beyond. He even spent an entire Ferry ride with my 24 year old daughter while she was sea sick. He held ice on her neck and never left her alone! Amazing is just one of many words I would use. Our trip was awesome, Eden ensured that and really cared about everything. If you go (and you should), request Eden - he made our trip a 5 star adventure.

Sam and his crew did a bang up job on our last minute trip. All the accommodations and arrangements were top notch. They even helped us get fast PCR test appointments on the weekend for our onward travel. A great time for our family!

Words can't express our gratitude and sheer joy we experienced using KimKim, but most important part was having Sam Lister aka our guardian angel tailormade our 14 Days of Northern Spain into reality!

Sam put together a trip of lifetime discovering Northern Spain from Santiago de Compostela, Cangas de Onis, Bilbao, LaGuardia and San Sebastian. Every aspect of our trip was planned to perfection to experience each region to the max.

My sister and I had private transport throughout our trip, and had dedicated tour guides in each city to ensure we immerse ourselves with the local cuisine, learn the history behind customs, and enjoy the most beautiful vistas while hiking Pico de Europa or San Sebastian.

Our trip started in Santiago de Compestela where we stayed at Parador de Santiago a five star renovated 15th Century Building right next to Cathedral of Santiago. During our stay we saw a few pilgrims finish there trip. We had a lovely tour guide named Eva who gave us a private walking tour of Santiago. We were also fortunate to be able to see the renovations that had been completed in the entry to Cathedral. Another day we went on a day trip to Ribeira Sacra with a boat ride and winery visit.

On our private transport to Cangas de Onis we stopped at a lovely seaside village Cudillero, and had lunch at Casa Julio where they bring the fish for you to pick what's been caught that day. Food was amazing and the wine divine.

We stayed at Hotel Parador de Cangas de Onis another renovated building that used to be San Pedro de Villanueva Monastery. Our guide Jose Miguel took us to Picos de Europa a majestic view all around, and to enjoy a stroll along the shores. We also visited a cider brewery and enjoyed the lovely village of Cabrales.

Our next stop was Bilbao where our private driver took us to lunch at a lovely coastal village of Castro Urdiales at a restaurant named Asador del Puerto (we recommend ordering the fish of the day). We stayed at Hotel Vincci Consulado de Bilbao, which overlooks the Guggenheim Museum and the river. Our tour guide Susana took us on a private tour of Bilbao, and the most scrumptious Pintxos. Her insight into the city culture, history and hot spots were very insightful, plus we really enjoyed her company and asked her to join our sisters trip! We also visited the Guggenheim, and enjoyed the local stores and antique jewelry shops around the city.

Our next stop was Laguardia which is home to more bodegas then people! We stayed at the renovated historic palace Hospederia De Los Parajes. We were so lucky to be in time for the celebration of San Sebastian. We got to see the local wear their traditional gowns, and be part of the celebration. Also, at midnight they had fireworks show outside the castle fortress. Our local guide Marina was the most amazing person, and expert on local wines. We had a private tours of various vineyards in La Rioja region. We also enjoyed a delicious local meal of lamb chops with great wine to wash it down.

Our final stop was San Sebastian. We stayed at Hotel de Londres which is ideally located right on the beach front of San Sebastian. We had our local guide Iaeaki take us to city center, and old part as well to enjoy best pintxos in town, paired with the best Spanish wines and drinks. We also did a private hiking tour along the Basque coastline looking down Bay of Biscay. Trust me after all the amazing food, wines and drinks we had on our trip we needed the exercise!

Our last night was spent in Madrid at the Gran Hotel Ingles. Great hotel within walking distance to Prado Museum, Buen Retiro Park, and shops. I highly recommend eating at Dis Tinto food is out of the world!

Throughout our entire trip Sam made sure that we had a wonderful experience, and all our travels went without a hitch. Sam even made sure when AA changed their policy for coming back to the USA, he scheduled our COVID-19 test for us. Everything Sam planned was perfection.