Amr Ali

Our trip to Egypt and Jordan with KimKim was truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience. From the moment we arrived, we felt incredibly well taken care of. Thanks to their detailed arrangements, navigating airports was seamless. Having our own driver and guide throughout the trip allowed us to customize our itinerary on the go, ensuring we could spend more or less time at sites based on our interests. This flexibility, combined with the warm welcome from every guide, driver, and hotel staff member we met, made the journey unforgettable.

The highlights were many. Our guides in both countries were knowledgeable and accommodating and went above and beyond to make us feel special. In Jordan, our guide Ramzi surprised us with thoughtful gestures, including a beautiful, warm Jordanian coat, when he noticed I was unprepared for the cold mornings. He also gifted us traditional headscarves and showed us how to wear them, making us feel connected to Jordanian culture. Additionally, KimKim’s efforts to celebrate my mom's birthday throughout the trip were extraordinary. From cakes and traditional songs to stunning gifts, they ensured her day felt truly special.

One of the standout benefits of booking with KimKim is the convenience. While their packages are undoubtedly pricey, the hands-off planning and seamless execution make it well worth the investment. Every detail was handled for us, allowing us to relax and fully enjoy our trip without stress.

Some locations were unforgettable must-sees. The Valley of the Kings in Egypt stood out for its breathtaking grandeur and rich history—it’s an experience unlike any other. In Jordan, Wadi Rum was an absolute highlight. The surreal desert landscape, with its towering sandstone mountains and expansive red sands, was mesmerizing. Watching the sunrise and sunset in Wadi Rum felt like stepping into another world—a memory we’ll cherish forever.

That said, there were a few areas for improvement.

As a group of three (my parents and me), accommodations were not consistently handled. At times, I slept on a cot in the same room as my parents, while other nights, I had my own room. Given we chose a premium package, it felt like an oversight not to have my own room throughout the trip. Additionally, the cabin booked for us on the Nile cruise was too small for three people. We spent more time in the cabin than expected during the cruise, and without my mom's intervention to upgrade, it could have made for an uncomfortable experience.

The trip to Abu Simbel was another point of contention. After visiting many incredible temples (Luxor, Horus, Edfu, Kom Ombo, Karnak, and the Valley of the Kings), the 4 a.m. wake-up and six hours of driving for a temple that felt similar to others wasn’t worthwhile for us. The effort and time spent in transit far outweighed the experience, and we wish this had been explained better during planning so we could have opted out.

Tipping in Egypt was also challenging. While we understand the cultural norm, managing small tips for drivers, airport assistants, and bag carriers felt like a constant task. It would have been far more convenient if these smaller tips were included in the package price and handled by our guide. We were happy to manage tips for our primary guides, as it felt more personal, but the smaller tips became a source of stress.

Despite these critiques, KimKim truly excelled in making the experience unforgettable. Their ability to deliver a highly personalized, seamless, and expertly managed trip is unmatched. From thoughtful surprises to the ease of having everything arranged, KimKim allowed us to immerse ourselves fully in the beauty and culture of Egypt and Jordan. Between exploring the ancient wonders of the Valley of the Kings and the stunning, otherworldly landscapes of Wadi Rum, we created memories that will last a lifetime. For anyone looking for a stress-free, curated, and enriching travel experience, KimKim is absolutely worth it. We’ll treasure this trip forever.

I've had a bit of time to think about the Egypt trip and I do have a few comments. First of all, providing the WiFi unit was an enormous plus for us. It was often stronger than the hotels where we were staying. Secondly, the greeters at the various airports were very helpful and professional. The drivers were all amazing and skilled at maneuvering the triffic in the cities and in the countryside! Our guides in Cairo and from Aswan to Luxor were both excellent and knowledgeable. Heragy was especially good at being helpful and at interacting with my 12 year old granddaughter, Ginger. I highly commend them both. Also, Ginger was given a lovely silver necklace with her name in hieroglyphs. Very thoughtful. The content of the tours is something I regret not being more involved with. I absolutely love the ancient monuments and Ginger had been studying the mythology and heiroglyphs of Egypt. All were presented to us very professionally. On my previous trip to Cairo and Luxor, however, we were taken to several very interesting mosques and Coptic sites and to several places that were culturally interesting - a carpet factory, papyrus demonstration to name a couple. I regret that some of these were not on the schedule to relieve the visits to ancient sites.
One item that really caught me by surprise was the amount of tipping necessary for the plethora of people involved in the trip. Some realistic guidellines of who and how much would have been VERY helpful before we arrived. I did not bring sufficient US $$ to even begin to cover the necessary tips. ATM's were available but I had to make numerous withdrawals to cover expenses. Also, perhaps I should have known that there would be at least 3-4. people requiring tips on each journey (airport greeter, driver, guide, porter etc....)
Another downside, the days in Huarghada were difficult. The choice of hotel was not provided to me so I had no idea where we were going once our dirver arrived in the area. I naturally expected to have a nice hotel on the Red Sea with the beach an easy view and walk. Not only was the waterslide resort (that we called Disneyland) not AT ALL what I would have chosen, but the assigned guide, who tried to be helpful, really did not have enough English to be working with us. He was about an hour late meeting us with the driver and assistant at the hotel, but just trying to plan the days was very iffy. Except for the bit of snorkeling that Ginger was able to do, the rest was unexpectly difficult. He did indeed try to provide us with good service, but had it not been for his use of a translation app with Whatsapp, we would have had a very difficult time indeed. On the last day our check-out time was noon and the plane departure was 7PM and there was apparently no pre-planning for the intervening hours. As it turned out, Mohamud made a good plan for us and the time was interesting.
I've never made such a lengthly reiview of a trip so I hope this might help you with other customers. I have previously used KimKim for granddaughter trips to Greece and to Paris and these were exceptionally delightful.

Activity Reviews

Meet and Greet + Transport to Hotel

Cairo Int. Airport (CAI)

The greeter was excellent. I was not prepared with Visas for Egypt and he handled this with good grace.

Quality of Experience

We did see a lot of wonderful ancient sites, would have liked to have had some exposure to Coptic and Moslem sites.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Drivers, especially, amazed me. Very tricky driving!

Transport

Giza Pyramids and the Sphinx

Egypt

Camel ride was good but expensive. Nice lunch at the 9 Pyramid lunch place.

Food

Loved the lady making the delightful bread at the lunch place.

Sakkara - Memphis - Dahshur

Cairo

Visit to Khan Al Khalili

Cairo

Cruising on 5-star cruise ship

Egypt

The ship was very comfortable and the staff extremely courteous. There were very few passengers and yet every detail was carried out with perfection, from the dining experience to the several onboard activities.

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Lunch at 9 Pyramids Lounge

Cairo

Nice lady making bread

Snorkelling/Diving trip

Hurghada

The National Museum of Egyptian Civilization

Cairo

Don't miss it.

Egyptian Museum

Cairo

Surprised that our guide needed to stand in line for tickets.

The unfinished Obelisk and Philae Temple visit

Egypt

Don't miss it.

Aswan high dam

Aswan

Very interesting site.

We had a wonderful experience with our trip to Cairo. It was relatively last minute, and Amr was great in working with us to make sure that we saw what we wanted within our budget. On the ground in Cairo, Mohammed was wonderful with helping us with our arrival and departure from the airport, including making sure that our visas were all handled properly and quickly. Mina also greeted us upon arrival to ensure that we made it safely into to city and to our airport.

The majority of our time was spend with our wonderful driver, Hassan, and our wonderful guide, Hagar. Both were always extremely punctual. We don't know what we would have done with Hassan getting us around as we would not have been up for driving! He made our trip very safe and comfortable. Hagar was an incredible source of information on Egyptian history and culture, and she was a pleasure to spend time with in general. She was very attentive to our needs and requests (for example, she adapted our original itinerary so that we could visit the Khan El-khalili Bzaar, which was not part of the original plan), she always anticipated our wanting water, coffees, snacks, etc., and she always made sure to ask that we were seeing everything that we wanted and getting all of the information that we were curious about and more.

We were in Cairo for such a short visit that we will definitely need to return, and we would hope to work with the same group again.