Moonika Apart

The primary reason for visiting Finland was to attend the 2024 NHL Global Series games in Tampere. Naturally, we wanted to make the most out of traveling such a long distance from Miami and pack as much fun into the trip as possible. It was such a relief to know that the hassle of setting up transportation and convenient lodging would be taken care of, as it was one of our biggest concerns when considering a trip in an unknown region. Our vacation would’ve been drastically different and wouldn’t have gone so smoothly if it weren’t for the expertise provided by Moonika and the kimkim team.

Moonika was extremely accommodating to our travel needs and was able to provide frequent and timely communication with us both before and throughout our trip. She also exceeded our expectations by keeping an eye out for a better-suited hotel in Tampere months after we had booked our trip.

Our itinerary was not only well-thought out, leaving a perfect balance of leisure time without seeming like time was being wasted, but the amount of detail provided to us left us very little room for questions and concerns. All of our drivers were on time, personable, and professional.

In Helsinki, Nadia from Green Cap Tours was a fantastic guide and provided us with so much information about both the city and Finland in general. It was the perfect way to officially begin our trip and left us feeling more confident when we were left to explore the city on our own once the tour had concluded.

Visiting Tallinn in Estonia wasn’t something we wouldn’t have considered without Moonika’s suggestion and we were so grateful that she had! The massive size of the ferry was a pleasant surprise to us as we were expecting a significantly smaller boat. Tallinn was such a beautiful city and we enjoyed our walking tour with Jorge. We appreciated that he didn’t let the rainfall that occurred throughout the afternoon and evening put a damper on our travels to many key destinations within Old Town Tallinn.

Immediately after our return to Helsinki the next morning we were driven to Tampere. Now, we’d been warned that snow was an unlikely possibility at that time of year, but we held out hope regardless…To our complete surprise we were welcomed with the first snow of the winter! Prior to both hockey games we spent most of the day exploring the city in awe of how gorgeous everything looked covered in fresh sheets of snow. Thanks to a suggestion by another traveler we made the trek to the Pyynikki Observation Tower and it was absolutely worth the walk! We could’ve spent so much more time exploring all that Tampere had to offer, but next on our itinerary was our overnight train to Rovaniemi. That too was an exciting experience as we had never traveled in a sleeper cabin like that before.

Upon our early arrival to Rovaniemi we met Joona. He happened to be both our driver and our guide for the Northern Lights Hunting excursion. He was extremely friendly and so passionate about his craft. The pictures he was able to capture of us on that phenomenal night are almost unbelievable!

We also had an exhilarating time on our Quad Bike tour with Pure Lapland. Our time was filled with laughter from start to finish and we even had a bonus drive-by look at many of the huskies they had on site! However, getting to make a face-first snow angel in the middle of nowhere was my personal favorite part of that adventure.

One of our final destinations of our trip was the Korouoma Canyon. It was one of the most scenic and breathtaking experiences we’d had! The hike was a bit more strenuous than anticipated given the icy surface, but we managed to make it through and got to enjoy a nice snack around the fire.

Without getting into any more detail than I already have I also wanted to mention just how fantastic each of the accommodations were! We really wish we had more time in the Glass Resort to fully appreciate all the amenities and gorgeous views, but we made sure to make the most of it by using the outdoor hot tub before rushing to the indoor sauna!

This trip wouldn’t have been nearly as incredible and unforgettable without all of Moonika’s hard work! We were genuinely surprised by just how smoothly everything had gone and we could not have asked for a better experience. Our expectations were very much exceeded and look forward to planning our next trip in the near future.

Moonika and the KimKim team made our trip an incredible experience. Moonika was fast and responsive creating a trip itinerary to Finland that was amazing and allowed us to see some incredible sights in such a condensed amount of time. We especially enjoyed the Northern Lights Ranch and the Northern Lights Tour that we were able to attend!

I would not hesitate to recommend Moonika and rebook with her in the future!

Itinerary designed by Moonika was perfect, it covered most popular activities/ places of interest, the itinerary wasn’t hectic but at the same time it was quite engaging where each day was felt extremely satisfying and fruitful. There were no hiccups I.e. none of the activities were cancelled, rescheduled etc but all happened as per the plan. We appreciate throughly your professionalism in planning, execution and more importantly being there always to answer our questions. All the activities were great. The guides Justin, oren, Anttie, Gaber, and Jyuka were best. They ensured our activities were filled with fun and
knowledge.

The most memorable trip that we had of all trips till date. We would like to sincerely thank Moonika (KimKim) for the fabulous experience, meticulous planning and seamless execution. Utmost patience and giving out details with so many queries before finalization of the itinerary. Transparency and unwavering commitment towards client servicing (over so many days) was the hallmark of the entire experience.

Throughout our 10 days in Finland, there was not a single glitch. Choice of activities and more importantly choice of service providers for each of the distinct activities was fabulous (the reason I say this is because all activities were not given to a single service provider, and we did one northern light activity on our own which was a disappointment compared to the norther light hunting organized by Kim Kim).

Special mention of the service providers for each of the activities:
1) Helsinki City tour walk: Lesley was very good in taking us through Helsinki city to the important landmark. Clear in her explanation and had a lovely time

2) Antti for northern light hunting: This was the one of the best experiences and i would say blindly go for Antti if one gets a chance to go for northern light hunting. Here is the guy who has true passion for northern light hunting. He puts in slightly more than 6 hours for the hunt and just wanted to ensure that we get very good sighting as much as possible. He kept driving and outpacing the clouds and tried to see multiple places to get a good sighting. In our 3rd citing place, we got a good glimpse. While we were returning, all of us were asleep since it was well past midnight. He makes a stop (which he could have well avoided) and wakes us up since he has seen something good. Will never forget that moment.

3) Ranau Zoo visit: Another very good experience. Oren is such a lively person with very good sense of humour. During our drive to Ranau Zoo, he explained us the reason the norther lights phenomena with so much clarity and details. It was fun experience with his explanation about the animals and his capturing of the pics for the different animals. Another individual who loves his job thoroughly.

4) Korouoma Canyon Wilderness Hike: Very different and another fabulous experience of a nice trek. Gabor initially came us a kind of a reserved guy and then as the trek went by he was all fun. His one liner timings were hilarious. Very good activity and here too Gabor was very patient with us given that we were halting almost everywhere to click our own pics with nature apart from plucking and eating berries all along the way. Loved the wood chopping and fire making activity with nice plant-based hotdogs. Will definitely recommend Gabor too as a tour guide.

5) Sauna by the lake: Wow what a location just by the serene lake. Nice, pleasant weather. Justin was our tour guide and again a very good experience. She made us very comfortable and arranged everything for us seamlessly. We had nice sauna experience along with a dip in the lake and repeating this sequence more than once. Justin provided us with nice berry juice and berry tarts

6) Amethyst mine and canoeing in Pyha: So far all activities were very good experience fun and hence the bar was automatically set high. In Pyha, we meet the man Jukka who was with us for almost 3 days. He is simply superb. Always smiling, accommodating and absolutely fun loving. He kept with our changing needs with no fuss and made our stay and experience absolutely fabulous. Amethyst mine small trek and the mine experience was very unique and fun. Canoeing experience with Jukka at helm was outstanding and will remain etched forever in memories.

All our stay at Hotel Glo Art, Artic Light Hotel and Kurula's Resort were very good and comfortable. We also loved the overnight train journey both ways.

All the above experiences were made possible thanks to the fabulous itinerary prepared by Moonika without which it would have been just not possible.

Strongly recommend KimKim

Hotel Reviews

GLO Hotel Art

Helsinki

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Overnight Train

Authenticity & Character

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Arctic Light Hotel

Rovaniemi

Authenticity & Character

Sauna experience and the rooms

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Kurula's Resort

Pyhätunturi

Fabulous location, ambience

Authenticity & Character

Sauna with Jacuzzi by the lake

Location

next to the lake, simply wow

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Helsinki City Walking Tour

Helsinki

Tallinn Day Trip

Helsinki

Flexible Northern Lights Hunting

Rovaniemi

Wow

Ranua Wildlife Park Visit

Finland

Finnish Sauna Experience

Rovaniemi

Korouoma Canyon Wilderness Hike

Rovaniemi

Reindeer Farm Visit (No Safari)

Rovaniemi

Sauna Experience by the Lake

Pyhä

Another wow experience

Canoeing Experience on Pyhäjoki River

Pyhä

Another wow experience

Amethyst Mine Photographing Tour

Pyhä

Moonika was readily available whenever we had a last moment question - - this was wonderful! Hotel Kamp was excellent....perfect location, our suite was fabulous...we loved access to the lounge on the 2nd floor, too! Our guides were excellent, but a special shout-out and A++++ to Felipe, who was energetic, professional, delightful, knowledgeable, easy going, well organized, and fun - such an impressive young man; we so enjoyed spending time with Felipe! We felt like we made a new friend! A highlight was the Sunset Cycle and Sauna tour! My heritage is (50%) Finnish, so I was over the moon to have this truly special experience. Porvoo is a precious town, and we also loved Turku. Our guide in Turku was professional, well-informed, and gave us some awesome restaurant recommendations, which we enjoyed very, very much (Nooa and Mami). Every single driver we had was on time or early! Also professional, clean/nice vehicle, etc., The Taste of Suomenlinna Tour was a little different than what we had expected - - - in other European cities, we have had more extensive culinary tours (e.g., more opportunities to taste/try, guides in less of a "hurry")....we still enjoyed the salmon, but e.g., my husband really wanted to experience tasting reindeer and this particular guide just said "this is not possible" and moved on to what was on his agenda....On another note, I LOVED the market in Helsinki and was able to purchase some interesting jewelry to bring home with us - - the artisans were on site and friendly....I took myself on the Ferris Wheel ride and it was fun to see Helsinki from that height! We definitely felt like we maximized our time in Finland - - we also incorporated one day (on our own, rented a car and visited a distant cousin in Archipelago . . . how gorgeous - - stunning views and fun to travel on small ferries with our rented volvo! Everything was excellent! The ONLY small thing I would change: the "Taste of Helsinki" tour did not exactly include a taste other than some salmon on rye bread - - we had really thought we would have more of a culinary experience, and again, that particular guide seemed rushed and not so interested in what we were interested in. He did not allow time for questions, and seemed to be verbalizing a "script" and did not want to stray from that? That being said, he was on time.

Hotel Reviews

Hotel Kamp

Helsinki

LOVE LOVE LOVE this hotel! Everything was beautiful and perfect! Our suite, the breakfasts, access to special lounge in afternoons, location to restaurants, shops, market, sightseeing, etc., - - everything was wonderful. We would definitely choose to stay here again! Lovely hotel.

Authenticity & Character

Just stunning! Fun to learn that many extremely well known musical artists (and other famous people) have also stayed in this hotel over the years - -

Location

Walking distance to many sights, restaurants, good shopping, history, culture, etc.,

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Our room, lounge areas, restaurants/bars - everything was wonderful!

Solo Sokos Hotel Turun Seurahuone

Turku

Hotel Kamp is a tough act to follow! As you would imagine! But this place suited us just fine for our needs while in Turku. The staff was very friendly, warm, helpful. Plus they place chocolate everywhere! I may have eaten more than my share! We enjoyed the location very much...we were able to easily walk to the river and to some excellent restaurants (which were recommended by our very helpful guide in Turku - sorry, can't recall her name but she was lovely. A professional educator (special education teacher) with a very pleasing personality, native Finn, which was great.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Comfort Hotel® Xpress Helsinki Airport Terminal

Vantaa

Well, it suited our purpose - which was to be close to the airport the night prior to our early flight to Amsterdam! For its purpose, it was fine! We did have some laughs (from Hotel Kamp to this?!?!)!!! Haha! We were essentially sleeping in a box, sort of like sleeping in a pod? or a tiny berth in a boat? or a camper!? But as I said, we were not there for long. It seemed clean and the staff was nice. And it served our need of a few hours sleep before a long day of travel back to the USA.

Authenticity & Character

we chose to take it for what it is, and we had some laughs! We walked across the street (to the Hilton) to eat an actual meal, as this place only has a small bar with limited drinks and very limited pre-packaged food! But it was fine and we laughed about it! We slept fine. It is certainly quiet! And the wake up call involves the TV getting turned on at the time you want to be awakened!!!

Location

haha! well, it is actually in, and I mean IN the airport.

Staff

the staff was very nice.

Cleanliness & Comfort

seemed clean. Bed OK, but what do you expect for this type of place!? As I said, it suited our needs!!!!

Activity Reviews

Taste of Helsinki & Tour of Suomenlinna

Helsinki

Our guide was on time. His name was Al...? something. He was not a Finnish native, and had only recently moved to Finland, we believe. He had a script. No time/room for questions, input, etc., He seemed in a rush. It was definitely not a "food" or "taste" tour. He rattled as many facts as he could, very quickly, and seemed in a hurry.

Quality of Experience

Overall, everything was excellent! Moonika was attentive, responsive, and planned our time according to our requests, etc.,

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Overall everyone was exceptional (one exception, the rushed "taste of" tour in Helsinki, first day there, which was a little disappointing). Otherwise, guides excellent, and we especially loved Felipe!

Transport

professional, always arrived on time or early, clean and safe vehicles

Helsinki Sauna Tour

Helsinki

This was absolutely AMAZING! We love riding bikes, and it was a beautiful evening! Felipe allowed us to select our sauna; we chose the more authentic/older one - - WHAT an incredible experience! We loved never feeling in a rush, and Felipe always answering our questions, interacting, very professional yet friendly and open - - - we cannot say enough positive things about this experience!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Hanging out with Felipe was the best!

Transport

we love biking as much as possible. We felt very safe.

Porvoo Private Day Tour

Helsinki

It was perfectly lovely.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Turku Walking and Boating Tour

Turku

Our guide was lovely, professional, informative, open! We thoroughly enjoyed. What a beautiful town! Our guide provided us with some awesome restaurant recommendations, which were all five star perfection!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

We hadn’t booked with KimKim before but our experience has been excellent. Moonika booked us a week’s trip in Finland with hotels, transport, transfers and tours in each place we visited. The hotels were very comfortable and the tour guides, Alvaro, Karri, Andy, Leesa, Chris and Justine were all very interesting, professional and charming. Moonika was very supportive during our trip and checked with us to see all was going well. She responded to all our queries promptly and efficiently. We would definitely use KimKim again and recommend them to others.

The entire trip was very well organized. Moonika created the ideal itinerary based on our specific requests. We stayed in nice hotels and had wonderful guides who really personalized our experience throughout.

Hotel Reviews

Solo Sokos Hotel Turun Seurahuone

Turku

Lovely hotel in Turku. Walking distance from most tourist hot spots.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Haven

Helsinki

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

GLO Hotel Art

Helsinki

Interesting layout as the hotel is spread across two buildings. Based in the Design district with lots of Art galleries within walking distance. Great breakfast buffet. Walking distance from the waterfront and tourist spots.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Helsinki Sauna Tour

Helsinki

Was hesitant about trying the sauna experience but it turned out to be a high point of the trip.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Turku Gourmet Tour

Turku

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Helsinki and Suomenlinna Private Tour

Helsinki

Lots of walking but a lovely full day with lots of immersive experiences.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Porvoo Private Day Tour

Helsinki

Small town - probably could discover on your own.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Turku Walking and Boating Tour

Turku

Wonderful boat ride - best way to see the city!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Our trip to Finland was wonderful! A large part of it had to do with Moonika our KimKim travel agent who helped with all our arrangements. She was terrific as far as communicating with us in a timely manner and, I especially appreciated her flexibility with plan changes and help at the very end. We had booked a final trip on our own to Estonia and it got mistakenly cancelled. She booked a new trip for us just a day in advance! We were a group of nine and so there were multiple rooms in each town and transfers and one couple went to the airport early and one group of three had their plane pickup and drop off changed. She made all these changes successfully!
Our guides in each city were great, but I loved Sari, our guide in Helsinki! Her English was great and her insight and love for Finland made her tour personal and very informative!
The hotels we terrific, especially Glo in Helsinki and the Lapland Hotel Arena! They were more than comfortable and yes, the breakfasts were truly amazing!!
My most memorable trip was our sailing trip on the Archipelago to a small island where we hiked. Our captain built the boat which was impressive and the trip on the sea was beautiful! We also had a lovely simple lunch that he provided.
It was a trip of a lifetime! We loved Finland!

Hotel Review

GLO Hotel Art

Helsinki

Loved the uniqueness of the hotel along with the comfortable beds and rooms. The breakfast was amazing as advertised!! Rooms were quiet. The location was walkable and seemed very safe. The front desk was helpful with several good ideas for restaurants. We stayed several nights. The only small complaint was that the AC did not seem to be adjustable. The first nights we were there it seemed warm, and they did bring a fan in for us. At the end of our trip we stayed again and the temperature was better.

Authenticity & Character

Breakfast! Unusual architecture.

Location

Restaurants and grocery store close by. Walkable to downtown.

Staff

Very helpful! Polite.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Rooms were very clean and was the rest of the hotel! Everything was in good repair. The beds were very comfortable!

Activity Review

Boat Trip from Nauvo

Turku

This was the primary trip I was interested in and it didn't disappoint! It was a long trip to get to the boat, but the travel there was comfortable in our own large van or small bus. We sailed on a sailboat built by the captain, just our party, to a small island in the Archipelago. The boat was built in the fashion of a traditional work boat from the past. The captain was interesting, informative and friendly. I loved being on the sea and seeing the multiple islands! It was a treat! We were also served a delicious lunch of fish stew!

Quality of Experience

The beautiful land and sea made this special and being on such a unique boat with my family.

Food

The captain's fish stew!

Guides, Drivers and Staff

The vehicles were more than comfortable. One was a Mercedes van.

Transport

Nice vehicle. Nice to not have to figure out the driving! Everything was on time.