Liz Chreist

What an amazing trip to France that the KimKim Team and Liz put together for us! All our guides and experiences were 1st rate and we learned and did so much! I really don't have a favorite as it was all fantastic and each and every guide we had shared their love of the culture and history in their own special way. They were enthusiastic, friendly and knew the history of all the historical places so well. The trip to the Loire Valley Chateaux Day trip was definitely a highlight as was the perfume- making class and I absolutely loved the French Cooking class and market visit. Oh and the trip to Versailles riding Bikes and seeing the palace was incredible. All the vendors that Kim Kim chose where fantastic. I won't hesitate to book another trip with Kimkim again! Thank you for the memories to last a lifetime!

Overall we very much enjoyed the variety and expertise of our tours and guides! Here is a super-picky review just so you have details, but again we very much enjoyed our trip!!

Eiffel: guide was knowledgeable on how to make sure we would get to visit the very top given crowds and closures
Riverboat: great! one of our few chances to sit and have relaxing dinner as most days we were tired at the end of each day
Louvre: great run through the museum - guide was fantastic!
Notre Dame: guide was knowledgeable and talking points were interesting. Again, knew how to work the crowds
Loire: wonderful to see country outside of Paris for a day and the chateaux’s were great. DaVinci was a little underwhelming as but Amboise was beautiful - again we were in a hurry so I think we would have all liked more time in town to sit and eat a nice lunch (and browse) and I personally would have skipped the Luce just because we didn’t learn anything about DaVinci that we didn’t already know. We only had 30 min to get through Chambord. Maybe it was just too much for our group for the day, or maybe the guide should have kept us on schedule, but we still enjoyed the day trip.
Wine tasting: I enjoyed but the girls not so much
Perfume: fun and different!
Cooking class: chef was very nice, market was really cool (we all loved it) food was good, but no real cooking experience spent a lot of time there - maybe better for a longer trip or trip without teens
Versailles: great! again rushed in the actual palace (30 min to view before closing and some areas were closed) but bikes were fun and guide did a fantastic job with historical highlights
Opera/Passages: love the tour, guide was great! but we were all under the impression that we would get to do some shopping. It was great doing this at the end of the trip as it sort of touched on all the history we learned.
Food walk: guide was sweet and kind but the tour itself was not a highlight

Lodging: was nice! also nice to have a great little Italian place downstairs, but a couple of restaurant recommendations around lodging would have been fantastic - we were too tired to hit the bricks to look around and too hard to make a decision with 5 people. Nice accommodations, but may have been better to have been closer to our tours as we needed 45-1hr to get to them each morning.

Personally, I would have liked time to sit and eat between tours, but I like to eat :)

Kim Kim app: wonderful to have - here are thoughts for future
-push notifications when chat is enabled
-enable tour ratings in the app
24/7 help (by app or phone) on weekends as Karen mentioned

Other notes:
We found uber to be much better than taxi and the subway was clean and easy!

Thank you so much, Liz!

Hi KimKim team......thank you all for putting together a fun, educational, interesting, workable, walkable, cultural, meet wonderful people itinerary for us. We all had an amazing time! All of our private guides and tours were definitely the way to go for the 5 of us.....no waiting in lines or having to decide where to go, how to get there, or what to expect. The order of the daily activities was also good...one day built on the next especially learning about King Louis XIV...from the Chateaux Day tour, to the Louvre, to Versailles and finally the covered passages - he definitely got around. It's hard to pick out one favorite activity....each one had its highlight. Joel, our chateaux day trip driver and guide, Laurine at the Louvre, and Chef Dominque were exceptional. We all loved the Louvre teen quest tour- Laurine's stories made the sculptures, art works and history come alive. Since this was my 3rd visit to Versailles I enjoyed seeing the grounds by bike (even though it was a cloudy day and the gardens were not in bloom), but felt a little bad when our time at the Palace was cut short due to the length of the ride. The Opera Garnier was beyond imagination in decor. A special treat was seeing the outside and inside renovation of Notre Dame combined with Sainte Chapelle - our guide was able to go in with us, again a plus for having a private tour. Oh yes....and we all came home smelling very French!

Hotel Review

Citadines Trocadéro Paris

Paris

We had 2 rooms for the 5 of us. The 2 teenagers enjoyed having their own room as did the 3 adults. The adult room had a sitting room with a twin sofa bed (very comfortable) and one bedroom with a double bed ( it would have been nice to have 2 single beds instead). As you would expect, the rooms were small but adequate. The kitchenette was nice for snacks and coffee. The hotel had a breakfast buffet but we did not partake. There was a nice bakery 2 doors down for morning pastries as we headed out early every morning. There was a nice restaurant next door plus small market just down the street. The neighborhood was very welcoming and within walking distance of the Eiffel Tower, Arc of Triumph and Champs-Elysees and close to 2 metro stations. We found taking an Uber or taxi to get across town was expensive since we were about 3 miles from the Louvre area where a lot of our activities took place so walking and the metro were our favorite modes of transportation!

Authenticity & Character

Older hotel with small lobby and nice sitting room with fireplace. Breakfast buffet was extra. Very nice courtyard and patio if we had had time to enjoy it!

Location

The walkable and local neighborhood. We did not have a view from the hotel but loved having the Eiffel Tower as our landmark especially at night.

Staff

Friendly and available to give directions.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Rooms were clean, bathroom/shower was nice. Extra towels were readily available. Would have been a little tight with 4 in the one room with the one bedroom and sitting room with the twin sofa bed.

Activity Reviews

Eiffel Tower Guided Climb (stairs) to Second Floor with Optional Summit Access by Elevator

Paris

We all made it up the 360 stairs to the second floor, then took the elevator to the top. It was a sunny, cool day with clear skies so the view from the top was amazing. Dasha our guide was very personable and had lots of stories to keep us going.

Quality of Experience

Just being there!

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Dasha our guide was a good storyteller.

Transport

We were able to walk from our hotel.

Seine River Gourmet Dinner Cruise with Live Music

Paris

Our window side table was the best.....another beautiful night on a beautiful river! The food and wine was delicious.

Quality of Experience

Food

Private Notre-Dame & Sainte-Chapelle Visit

Paris

Private tour allowed us to skip the lines plus have the benefit of a very knowledgeable and passionate guide.

Quality of Experience

Seeing the renovated Notre Dame outside and inside.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Another amazing private guide.

Transport

A 3-mile walk from our hotel !!!!!!!

Private Loire Valley Châteaux Day Trip: Chambord, Clos Lucé & Chenonceau

Paris

Great to get out of the city and see the Loire Valley countryside plus 3 very different but beautiful Chateaux!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

The Louvre quest for teens

Paris

A private tour and guide with a focus on seeing 15 iconic masterpieces - sculptures and paintings - to uncover a secret code and unlock the cryptex was a fun and learning experience for all of us. The Louvre is just too big and overwhelming to just wander around without a focus!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Wine & Cheese Tasting Experience

Paris

Learned about the various wine regions and how the right cheese can enhance the enjoyment of the wine.

French Cooking Class & Market Visit

Paris

Fun to go to the market with Chef Dominque and choose the food for our lunch. It was a hands-on cooking class so we all learned some new tips. Oh....and the food was delicious!

Quality of Experience

Food

Unlock the Secrets of Perfume-Making!

Paris

Had no idea how many scents can go into one eau de par fun creation. Fun chemistry lesson!

Quality of Experience

Versailles Bike & Palace Day Trip

France

It was fun to see the Palace grounds from the backside and around the canal. The Palace was of course beautiful and rich with history.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Montmartre Local Food Walk

Paris

Fun seeing another area of Paris with cobblestone streets, historical architecture, art and steep hills leading to Sacre-Coeur and sampling rocks, macaroons, wine and cheese along the way.

Opera Garnier and Covered Passages Tour

Paris

The covered passages gave us another view of Paris and French history.....more Louis XIV references. Beautiful architecture and store fronts.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff