Murat Ornek

Murat helped us plan an amazing trip to Turkey for our family. He was spot on with all of his recommendations and all of the accommodation, activities and transfers were perfect. Our guide Emre in Istanbul was so lovely and knowledgable. He was also really flexible and helpful given we were travelling with our 3 young sons. Next we went to Cappadocia and our guide Efe was just as wonderful. We loved the trip and enjoyed such a wide variety of different historical and cultural experiences. Would definitely recommend Murat, his team and this trip to anyone travelling to Turkey.

We had a fantastic time in Turkey. Our guides, Sebnem and Burcu, were absolutely wonderful! They were very kind and caring AND they were incredibly knowledgable. They gave amazing tours of ancient ruins and modern parts of Turkey that were interesting for my teenage daughters. They were patient with all of our questions and they were extremely engaging. Additionally, they were able to cater to our changing plans - they added a haram experience and food tastings on a whim.

We had an amazing trip through Istanbul, Cappadocia, Ephesus and Pamukkale. Murat provided many great ideas to make our trip amazing and he was very responsive to our needs. Our trip to Sirince, a small town in Turkey, was a fantastic suggestion. Murat arranged a great boutique hotel with a incredible sight over the whole village. The balloon ride in Cappadoccia was very memorable. Given the unpredictable weather during winter, we could have missed this opportunity but we were fortunate to capture this and had a once in a lifetime view of this amazing out of the world landscape. Sebnem, our local guide in Istanbul, was fantastic as she really listen to our needs and went out of her way to make our trip fantastic as well as her recommended restaurants. We also liked to explore on our own as well as using local guides to complement our experience. Murat really helped in making this possible. Highly recommend using Kimkim and in Turkey, Murat's team is fantastic!

This experience was amazing. We have traveled to many places before, but it was the first time we used KimKim. Murat did great putting our schedule together and helping us to make reservations to great restaurants. Our local guide Andy (Onder) was wonderful. Always on time, and ready to make recommendations on trustable shops. His historical knowledge of all the places we went was just great. It is so difficult to pick just one favorite place from our visit to Turkiye. I choose all of them. We would definitely want to return. I would definitely recommend this itinerary, and ask for Andy to be your local guide.

Hotel Reviews

Kayakapi Premium Caves

Urgup / Cappadocia

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Pera Palace

Istanbul

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Discover Byzantine + Ottoman Istanbul

İstanbul

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Eminönü Heritage Tour: Explore the Historical Bazaars and Ottoman Architectural Sites of Istanbul

İstanbul

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Visiting Göreme Open Air Museum (UNESCO World Heritage)

Cappadocia

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Avanos: Discovering the Ceramic Tradition and Light hiking in the Love Valley

Cappadocia

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Kaymaklı Underground City

Cappadocia

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Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

We initially planned this trip pre-pandemic and had to postpone until Nov 2022 so it has been a long time coming. Murat, our local specialist, has been very accommodating throughout this whole period and we were finally able to make it happen! Communication and coordination leading up to the start of the trip were only slightly delayed but everything turned out great. The final call(s) to touch base put everyone on the same page and was quite helpful.

Our local guide, Onder (Andy), was very helpful, informative and friendly. It was wonderful to have a knowledgeable guide show us around different parts of Turkey. He also helped us navigate the (occasionally tricky) streets of Istanbul with ease and had the best tips and advice for every spot we visited.

Our itinerary was quite packed so it depends on the type of traveler you are but overall, we hit the main highlights we wanted to see. Can't wait to go back and explore more of Turkey!

It was a one of the best organized trips I had been on.. from the hotels, car pick ups, tour plans to sight seeing it was a very well organized and very thoughtfully done. It was a customized tour plan and since I was a single traveler Murat and team made sure I was always taken care and never felt unsafe.

From Volkan, hatice to Murat himself were very good hosts and excellent travel buddies.

Istanbul - hotel, food everything was good. It’s a vibrant city and should be seen only on foot like I did! Do not miss the baklava, grand bazaar or the blue mosque!

Cappadocia- by far my most favorite destination. Gul Konnaklari!! Is a beautiful medieval castle.. and I MYST recommend their small restaurant for a dinner. Absolutely gorgeous! Both food and people
And my best guide was Hatice- she is fun and knowledgeable and practical. And the highlight of Turkey is the Hot Air Balloon that nobody should miss!

sirince - it’s a beautiful location but the crown jewel is the hotel NISANYAN! I landed late at night and was not so impressed but in the morning I instantly regretted not staying longer.. the food was fantastic.. service is amazing and the room they gave me had the best views. Not only do I recommend I will definitely return to enjoy more time there..

All in all it was a very well organized tour. Highly recommend Murat and his team if you are planning to go.. Turkey is a beautiful country with a lot of heart and soul! must Visit

Hotel Reviews

Pera Palace

Istanbul

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Gül Konaklari Sinasos (Rose Mansions Sinasos)

Nevsehir

Beautiful in every way!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Nisanyan Houses

Selçuk

Highly recommend

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Doğa Thermal Hotel & Spa

Denizli

Authenticity & Character

Location

Hi

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Explore the historic sites of Istanbul's famed old town

İstanbul

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Explore the historical + modern hub: Pera, Karaköy and Beyond

İstanbul

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Visiting Göreme Open Air Museum (UNESCO World Heritage)

Cappadocia

Quality of Experience

T

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Whirling Dervish Ceremony at Saruhan Caravansarai

Turkey

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Discovering the Ihlara Valley and Light Hiking Along the Melendiz River

Cappadocia

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Explore the Ancient City of Ephesus

Turkey

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

We really had a great time in Istanbul and Cappadocia. Overall the Kim Kim Did a good job in helping us capture the authenticity that we wanted in this trip. The people were amazing, the sites were wonderful, and the food was great.

There were some small glitches. Firstly, after a long flight from the US, we didn’t have anyone waiting for us at the airport. Only after several texts and calls did someone finally come, but it did delay us significantly.

The facility in Cappadoccia, although cute and charming, had no air conditioning. In the dead of August, this made our time in the hotel quite uncomfortable And nearly intolerable. It was brought to our attention that the organizer of our trip was a partial owner of this facility, Which raises some conflict of interest concerns and why we didn’t receive better accommodations.

A trip that was 2 year in the making due to Covid we had an absolutely amazing time in Turkey. Murat was very patient and considerate of all our questions and requests. The accomodation was special, namely Gil Konaklari in Cappadocia and Nisyanan house in Sirence. The Pan Thermal hotel in Pammakule was a bit disappointing.

Yunnus our guide in Cappadocia was excellent. He has so much knowledge to share and we enjoyed his stories of places and people. He is a good driver and made every effort to also take us to places that were not on the program. Thanks to him we were able to get a booking for the hot air balloon on our last morning after two cancellations on the first two days.

Our guide Ozan in Izmir was also great. He quickly understood what we were interested in and planned the day accordingly. He came across as a very genuine person. Both guides took us to some local places for meals and the food there was delicious.

Overall the trip was well organised and went without a hitch. We got to see everything we wanted. The only recommendation I would make of Kimkim is if they could also arrange car hire for tourists as we had a lot of trouble while picking up the car with Enterprise car hire.