Veronika Turskytė

The plan to visit three Countries - Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania was built around my curiosity with the complex history, mix of cultures of pre-Christian, Nordic, Slavic, German, Russian and many others, and intriguing cuisine of this part of the world. Veronika created a good plan to cover everything I wanted to experience. In actual execution this is what I felt about the trip:

Hotels:
The hotel choices were uneven. Of the 4 hotels three did not have lifts. I should have been told that in advance, because this meant I had to carry the suitcase 3 floors up. Veronika should have checked that I can physically do it. I understand these are historical buildings but the traveller should be informed. The check in and check out information need to be with the traveller, so in case I arrive early I can prepare what to do. These details were not shared. I arrived in Tallinn after a 16 hr journey and was told I could not check in for another two hours! The hotel in Tallinn (Three Crowns Residents) was also really bad and had the smallest room I have ever had. The staff were among the most unfriendly I have ever met. The other three hotels were good and staff friendly. Espcelially the Edvards Hotel in Riga and the Rinno hotel in Vilnius was good. When I checked Booking. com I saw that the reviews support how I felt about these hotels - good and bad. So I felt that booking.com was giving me more information than I was getting from a kimkim tour which is supposed to be bespoke. Honestly what I paid for as a package and what I got in terms of hotels (I now know hotel prices online from booking.com in these cities) was disappointing.

Activities and Tours:
The guides were almost all good. The city tour of Tallinn, the food tour of Tallinn, the city and food tour of Riga, the city tour of Vilnius, the tour to Trakai - all well informed and interesting. However the Sigulda trip had only a driver and no guide while the description given to me was different and promised a guide. The driver told me he knows nothing and basically just drove me to the castle and left me on my own. Also unlike the description given to me earlier I realised that all the entry tickets I had to pay for at Sigulda and Turaida. So basically the tour only organised my transport to these places! Similarly the Riga city tour was supposed to be a tasting of food tour too - but the tour was completely different from what was promised in the write up. This difference between what is given as a write up to fix the package and price and what comes later as final bookings was there in some cases and it felt bad because one expected a seamless journey through this, which did not happen. I felt not enough research was done to find the best tours, they were mostly what can be found on viator which I can book myself (which i did earlier when I used to curate the trips myself) and kimkim's promise of the 'local' added nothing to the journey. Another example of this is the Saaremaa trip - in the description which was sent to me for me to finalise and pay the advance it said small group tour with detailed descriptions of what all I would see Later I got only a bus ticket and a ferry ticket and was told I have to do the tour
on my own! This was completely different from the expectation at the time of fixing the budget.

Veronika herself is a lovely friendly person. She was in the area and drove down to take me in her car to Saaremaa islands which I deeply appreciated. She also came on the last day to have an evening out with me and her friend which i liked a lot.

The three countries are beautiful, as was the food and the people I met. I had so many amazing discussions on politics, power, people and culture. I loved the food and the spirits - both in bottles and of people. It was a very special experience. My respect also for their resilience against the constant empire building aggression of Russia and for their solidarity with Ukraine.

However, as far as Kimkim goes, I would say that going by my earlier experience with traveling in Japan with Kimkim, where Kimkim's local partner there did a fantastic job, I was expecting the same level of service here. I would give that a 9/10. Unfortunately my experience here was a 6.5/10 . I felt I did not get the value of money I spent and I could have got a similar trip much cheaper if I did this through viator and booking.com This should not be how kimkim feels. I have already booked an Iceland trip through kimkim and Veronika - which she has promised me will be with less problems. I really hope so. But i will think twice before booking one more kimkim trip.

Hotel Reviews

Three Crowns Residents

Tallinn

Really bad attitude of staff and small dreary rooms.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Staff and room airy.

Beguta Guest House

Haapsalu

Lovely, tiny, comfy.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Breakfast can be more substantial.

Hotel Edvards

Riga

Absolutely lovely hotel

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Rooms were amazing.

Rinno Hotel

Vilnius

Lovely room with sun window

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

After 8 pm open and close door yourself with pin. No lift. So up 4 or 5 floors.

Activity Reviews

Sigulda & Turaida Treasures — An Intimate Glimpse into Latvia's Medieval Magic

Latvia

Only driver, there was no guide. No tickets were paid for. This was only a car ride to and from these places.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Please provide guide

Transport

Lithuanian Kitchen Secrets—A Vilnius Culinary Experience

Vilnius

Was cancelled.

Trakai's Island Splendor—A Serene Escape from Vilnius

Vilnius

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Tallinn's Hidden Depths & Heights—Private Exploration of Old Town and Bastion Tunnels

Tallinn

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Vilnius Old Town Reverie — A Private Stroll Through Time & Beauty

Vilnius

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Estonia Bites & Delights: A Culinary Expedition

Tallinn

Wonderful guide.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Riga Revealed—An Insightful Stroll & Local Tastes

Riga

The tour was good but there was nothing to taste. The actual trip offered and what is in description is totally different.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Riga's Central Market Delight — A Dive into Latvian Gastronomy

Riga

Wonderful guide.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

We were two couples with somewhat different physical needs. Most of the planned days and guides were great. A couple of the days were either beyond our capacity or interest or were not delivered as promised (booked a private tour but were thrown into a group) To her credit Veronika refunded our money for that trip. The rest of the trip and guides were good and knowledable. We particularly enjoyed Urban , Sari and Marianne.

If going to Scandinavia with walking or heuggt issues, avoid adventure park and forest as you will spend the day in pain or sitting waiting for others.

Activity Reviews

Møns klint and Forest tower - A day tour from Copenhagen

Copenhagen

Didn't have a guide really but a driver. And we had asked repeatedly if this was appropriate for us and it was not. Could have done other things adventure camp great for an overnight stay if you are a zipliner. We didn't or couldn't climb the tower so a brief walk in the woods same with the cliffs. We couldn't really enjoy it. A wasted day

Quality of Experience

Listen to traveller's when they are concerned about participating.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Vasa Museum

Stockholm

It is amazing. Might want a private guide.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Stockholm Hidden Gems Tour with a Private Guide

Stockholm

Sari was great and knowledgable.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Harmony in Stone: Temppeliaukion Church

Helsinki

Amazing site.

Nuuksio National Park—Finnish Wilderness Wonders

Helsinki

David was very sweet.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

David was thoughtful and sweet

Transport

Helsinki Flavors & Tales: City Sights Meets Culinary Delights

Helsinki

Alvaro made the trip Food hall and food great and he was prepared to answer all questions.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Helsinki Highlights & Suomenlinna Island—A Combined Sightseeing Experience

Helsinki

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Viking History Full Day Tour from Stockholm including Sigtuna and Uppsala

Stockholm

Great day and very knowledgable guide Urban.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Stockholm Archipelago Tour with lunch

Stockholm

Great lunch bit couldn't hear the guide so missed some info.as speaker near us was broken. Complained but staff couldn't do anything. Company refunded part of our fee.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Kon-Tiki Museum

Oslo

A gem of a place. Great little museum.

Quality of Experience

The Norwegian Museum of Cultural History

Oslo

Fascinating plan to spend the day not just the morning

Quality of Experience

Dinner Cruise on the Oslo Fjord

Oslo

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Explore Oslo with a Local

Oslo

Great guide dont miss city hall!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Marianne was wonderful.

After trying to plan a multi-city visit to Norway on my own (a country I had never been to) that including small towns where my ancestors are from, I decided I needed to find someone who could plan it for us and found kimkim.

Veronika did a wonderful job of planning our trip, including the details of setting up taxi rides for us to take from a train to the hotel when needed (this was in multiple towns). And when we rented a car for a few days, she made sure the rental company was in walking distance of our hotel. When we just needed a quick overnight stay, the hotel she booked was within walking distance of the train station (it was even easy for my mother - who is in her 80s - to walk to it). When planning the trip, Veronika paid attention to the things we were interested in and also had suggestions for things we didn't know about but definitely fit our interests. She helped introduce Norway to us and we loved our time there.

The kimkim website did get a little confusing sometimes for where I was supposed to look for the information I needed while during the trip (when I didn't have the pages we printed out readily available). I was using my phone to look at the kimkim website and sometimes couldn't find the info at first, but would eventually find it. I somehow missed a message within the itinerary detailed section about contacting our tour guide ahead of time for the personal walking tour of Oslo. It was to let him know our interests and what we wanted to see. I only saw it right before we met up with our guide, Neil, but things worked out. We let him know some of the things we wanted to see, he made a few suggestions, and then off we went. He was a great guide and having just arrived in Oslo that day, totally unfamiliar with the city, he pointed out where we could find the places that we would be going to in the next few days and the best ways to get there. That was the only time I completely missed something on the itinerary during the trip, though.

It was really nice to have our tickets for the trains, museums, and tours all in one place that I could just bring up on my phone so we didn't have to keep track of papers as we traveled (unpacking and repacking) all over southern Norway.

Santiago Hinojosa Iceland

Veronika was amazing! She responded quickly with very efficient and kind answers. She deserves 6 stars 🙌🏼

The whole experience was amazing, de RV was perfect and so were tours, guises and hotel reservations.

Our ONLY complaint is the person that checked us in when picking up the RV. She had a terrible attitude, she was in a hurry for us to leave, and a little rude to be honest.

I will recommend KimKim to all of my contacts that want to visit Iceland. And I hope to use it again!