Elena Del Vecchio

When I started to plan my trip to Italy I was totally overwhelmed and stumbled across Kim Kim as a travel source. Elena asked questions on where we wanted to travel, type of hotels we wanted and activities we wanted to do. She built a perfect itinerary and supplied us with detailed steps on how to get around. She was also available via a messaging app during our trip and always very responsive. I would certainly use Kim Kim again for future trips and have already recommended to one person who also used Kim Kim and was satisfied too.

Elena, our guide, did a fantastic itinerary for us that was not super touristy but also got us to see the special parts of each city. We had free time and also planned tours. Food tours were excellent! We had a Cesarine food experience in Florence in Barbara’s home which was just amazing!! What a delight! Our guide in Florence, Elvira, was phenomenal! We had most of our time well managed in Bologna, Turin, Verona, and Venice. However, we should have listened to Elena and stayed extra day in Turin instead of Bologna. We will definitely visit Turin again. It was beautiful and unexpected! All of the tours that were set up were either private or small group and worked well for us. Only slightly disappointing tour was Murano/Burano due to the fact that we didn’t have time to walk around much there. But it was still a great tour that I wouldn’t have anyone miss. The cichetti tour was something we would never have done or found and was super. I must say that all the tour guides that were chosen and the drivers, etc were excellent! We will use KimKim again for sure and would love to work with Elena again on our next trip to Italy! Thank you!!

The itinerary allowed me to visit three regions Rome Venice and Florence all fantastic. Overall the hotels were very nice with the exception’s of Venice where hotel access was past a fish vendor and our final day in Rome where the lodging was well below average.

Elena did an amazing job of communicating with us throughout the entire process of itinerary creation, booking, and execution. Our guides were very knowledgeable and Elena always provided their contact information prior to the Tours. Two of our best guides were Mariapaola and Riccardo. Mariapaola was really amazing as our Rome Tour guide, our driver Riccardo, took us from Napoli to Sorrento gave us great local info along the way. This trip was a great balance between education and relaxation for our family of 5. Thank you Elena for customizing for us.

Elena did a wonderful job from car rentals, food tour, Pompei visit, restaurant recommendations, things to see in each respective place and booking the hotels in Naples and Sorrento. My husband and I really appreciate the arrangements, scheduling of the whole trip.

Upon arrival at Rome airport, we headed to Hertz to get the rental car. We visited Tivoli (Villa D 'Este and Hadrian's Villa) before heading to our Naples hotel Napoli Tree B&B. They suggested parking down the street but note that the parking entrance is really narrow. I contacted Elena and she replied right away regarding where to park. The elevator up to the B&B requires 10 cents to use (they have a bowl of 10 centavos in the reception). The building has a lot of B&B's. The location of the B&B is nice , because the room has a seaview, near the boardwalk and walking distance (36 minute walk) to the food tour meeting place Piazza del Gesu Nuovo. It would have been better to have a hotel nearer the oldb historical area though. But during the walk to the old historical center, we walked through Galleria Umberto (1887 shopping building), Plebiscito Square and more.

Our food Tour guide is Giovanna (Compania Guide) was on time, informative and very cheerful. She walked us through coffee/hot chocolate, buffalo mozarella, wallet pizzas (yum), pastries like baba rum cake which we love, gelato, and walked through Naples' Nativity Street where she showed us the different 'Presepe'. We didn't have limoncello though. She gave us suggested places to go after our food tour which is up to the Funicolare di Montesanto to see the view the Castel dell Ovo and Napoli Sotteranea (underground tour). She even gave us list of restaurants in Naples and Sorrento, Amalfi, Positano and Ravello because we mentioned heading there after Naples.

The visit to Pompei was fulfillment of my bucket list. We arrived quite early at the parking at Camping Spartacus and thankfully our guide, Enza started earlier than planned. Exploring Pompeii with Enza our guide where she touched the highlight of the vast ancient city was like stepping back in time. She was informative, knowledgeable and the whole experience was well worth it. During our visit,the weather at first, was cold, then it rained a little then became hot. We had lunch at La Delizie (really good pizzas and caprese salad, croquettes) then had baba Napoletano at a nearby pastry shop across the street.

Driving to our Sorrento hotel, we were told that there is a valet to park our our to a parking structure. We didn't need the car to go to Amalfi, Positano and Ravello because we took the bus which is near the train station (10 minute walk from hotel). Driving in the Amalfi coast is very hard due to narrow winding roads. We got a little carsick from the drive so it is a good idea to take motion sickness medicine in the bus ride. The boats are still not operating /going there (Amalfi Coast) due to high waves. There is a ferry to Capri Island though. Our hotel La Piazzetta Guesthouse is new and location is very nice. The only drawback is that on Saturday night the restaurant below had loud music till very late. Christina of La Piazzetta Guesthouse was very accommodating and welcoming. Since the season will only start in April, a lot of hotels and restaurants are still close. We were the first guest of La Piazetta this early March 2024.

Our fist bus stop is to Positano. we went down the beach and looked up at the houses in the cliffside, bought some souvenirs along the way and Assumption church. Next bus stop, we went to Amalfi, went to visit the St. Andrew cathedral. We had lunch at Pizzeria Donna Stella and had a limoncello gelato along the way back to the bus stop. We took the bus to Ravello using the same bus ticket but different bus, which is good for 24 hours. Upon arrival in Ravello, we visited Villa Rufolo then did some souvenir shopping then headed back to catch the bus back to Amalfi. Upon arrival in Amalfi, we took the bus that heads back to Positano and Sorrento. The next day we had a leisurely day at Sorrento.

Over all, this tailor made, Italian experience was five stars.

Elena and her team helped my partner and I plan a wonderful trip to Florence, Cinque Terre, and Venice! We truly enjoyed it and felt that our experience was enhanced by going through Kimkim, as we would not have been able to know the details as well as they knew them. We highly recommend anyone book through them!

Hotel Review

Hotel Al Duca di Venezia

Venice

Location is very good and definitely recommend this neighborhood (Cannaregio), but the bathroom had a not so clean odor and was not very well ventilated

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Hidden Venice and cicchetti experience

Italy

Wine and food tour in Florence

Florence

Florence private guided walk

Florence

Cinque Terre Sunset cruise (Private)

Cinque Terre

The Jewels of Venice (St. Mark & Doge Palace)

Venice

Elena and Andrea made the trip to Italy so very easy. It was the first time I had travel to Europe so was a little nervous. But with both their help everything went fine. Andrea helped us out when the e-bike chain came off. They called the company and had them send out a different bike. Transfers to different site seeing places was made easier by having a driver already booked. Our vacation went smoothly and will definitely use Kimkim again

Hotel Review

Relais Osteria Dell'Orcia Tuscany

Castiglione d'Orcia

Love this place, staff was exceptional. The only thing is out in the country so make sure you have a car or a driver to use.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Review

Florence cooking class with Market Visit

Italy

Barbara was a fantastic teacher. Took us to the fresh market and then we went to her house to cook. She taught us how to roll the dough for gnocchi. My daughter and I both loved the market and the lesson