Insiders Travel Experiences

The people and trips were simply amazing! We highly recommend food tours to get to know the cities and regions.

Hotel Reviews

Hotel Firenze

Venice

The staff were very polite and full of recommendations. They made us feel right at home.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Bigallo Florence

Florence

The room was very, very small. The staff were okay, but not warm and friendly.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Florida Residence

Positano

Wow! No words can describe the view! The staff were beyond amazing. So friendly and helpful!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

I can't say enough about how friendly and caring the staff treated us.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel del Mare

Sorrento

We weren't pleased with the view of our first room. It looked at a side of another building and there was a dead bird outside. I mentioned it to the front desk assistant. They worked hard to fix our concern by moving us to another room the next day. I can't thank them enough! Very friendly and helpful!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Great location! We were able to walk to the water and to the downtown.

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Venice Bacari Food Tour

Venice

The guide was fantastic and authentic! Excellent way to meet people and become familiar with your surroundings!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Wine tasting & dinner in Chianti vineyard

Italy

This was our most memorable activity on our trip! Food and wine were incredible. We met so many new friends!

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Tuscany Highlights: Siena, San Gimignano & Pisa with lunch & wine tasting

Florence

Fantastic guide and the towns were full of history! We particularly enjoyed the food and wine tastings!

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Capri Cruise

Italy

This trip was canceled due to weather.

The guides on our trip were excellent. Federico, Luigi, Stephania, etc.

Hotel Reviews

Duodo Palace

Venice

Clean hotel, centrally located. Staff, breakfast were very good. Friendly staff.

Authenticity & Character

Traditional

Location

Staff

Ariel.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Minerva Sorrento

Sorrento

Magnificent location with breathtaking views of the Gulf of Naples. Words cannot describe this hotel location. The first night there was a private banquet in their dining room. Despite this, the dining room manager Giuseppe put up a special table for us in a very nice location and served us an excellent dinner. We had a picturesque view of the Gulf of Naples from our room and balcony. Breakfast everyday was on the top floor patio overlooking the Gulf. I would come back here in a heartbeat.

Authenticity & Character

Golf=geous big room with all amenities.

Location

Beautiful view of the Gulf of Naples.

Staff

Unbelievably friendly staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Clean

Hotel Berchielli

Florence

Nice clean hotel, nicely located. Walking distance from all must see sites. Safe.

Authenticity & Character

Traditionally decorated

Location

Centrally locates and safe.

Staff

Friendly

Cleanliness & Comfort

Clean

Al Manthia Hotel

Rome

Well located, safe.

Authenticity & Character

Was a two level room with bedroom upstairs. Steep stairs to go up.

Location

Centrally located and safe.

Staff

Staff was uptight, can be significantly improved

Cleanliness & Comfort

Clean hotel

Activity Reviews

Venice Private Bacari Tour

Venice

Very good tour. Would recommend. A must do.

Quality of Experience

Guide was nice

Essential Venice

Venice

Historic place visits.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Explore Pompeii - Private

Italy

Pompeii is a wonderful place to visit. Our guide was knowledgeable but was too descriptive.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Driver was great.

Tour of the Amalfi Coast

Italy

Ah, we were the only ones so it became a private tour. Excellent experience. Luigi our driver and guide was very good. Very knowledgeable and was a local person. Friendly and full of jokes and we had a lot of fun. Positano, Ravello, Amalfi were nice and the coast is just gorgeous. Along the way is Atrani where the movie “Equilizer 3” starring Denzel Washington was shot, just beautiful. If I have a choice to have a second home overseas or to retire overseas, this would be it.

Quality of Experience

Friendly driver.

Food

Food in Amalfi was tasty.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Luigi.

Transport

Clean car.

Walking tour of Florence (Private)

Florence

Saw all the historic sites.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Visit to Pisa, San Gimignano and Siena with lunch and wine tasting

Florence

Long day 7a to 7p. But must do and great trip. Winery in San Gimignano was nice. Siena is cultural and historic.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Tuscan cooking class with San Lorenzo food market

Florence

Magnificent experience. A small group. Roberta our chef was very very good. An absolute must do. Don’t miss it.

Quality of Experience

Food

Food tour among squares and fountains of Rome

Rome

We enjoyed this very much. Stephania was very very good and made our tour so enjoyable. She went above and beyond. Very pleasant and professional.

Quality of Experience

Excellent, excellent. An absolute must do.

Vatican Museum, Sistine Chapel & St. Peter's Basilica

Rome

Breathtaking, overwhelming, wonderful experience.

Quality of Experience

Our guide Stephania was great.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Colosseum - Palatine Hill - Roman Forum

Rome

Very nice tour. Guide was wonderful.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

We booked KimKim to go to Greece for our honeymoon and loved it! Our local specialist Chris was very flexible especially when we first started booking with KimKim. We had lots of questions as we tried to navigate the best flow for our trip, and each time he took our ideas and paired it with his recommendations to create a fantastic itinerary! Throughout our trip Chris was very reliable and always provided clarification to any of our questions in a timely manner. Our tour guide in Athens (Johanna) and our sommelier in Santorini (Nick) were fantastic additions to our honeymoon as they were friendly, personable, highly knowledgeable guides who clearly love what they do! We couldn’t have asked for a more special honeymoon… from the views in Santorini to the beautiful cruise along the caldera to its spectacular sunsets to the cooking and wine tasting experiences. Five days in Santorini was definitely a great recommendation as it allowed us to get to know the entire island personally. We were also very happy and comfortable with the transportation and living accommodations arranged by KimKim all throughout our stay. We would love to use KimKim for another travel adventure in the future!

Hotel Reviews

NLH Monastiraki

Athens

Authenticity & Character

Location

short walking distance to Monastiraki Square!

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Belvedere Suites Santorini

Santorini

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Diamond Caldera Morning Cruise

Santorini

Quality of Experience

Very laidback experience allowing us to take in the views of the caldera, swim in the Aegean and have a yummy Greek lunch. It was also a beautiful day for our cruise

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Athens Orientation

Athens

Amazing tour!! We loved Johanna our tour guide. Very engaging, knowledgeable and friendly. She made us feel very comfortable with asking questions!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Cooking & Tasting Experience

Santorini

We love cooking so this was definitely a very meaningful highlight of our trip! Chef Chris was fantastic. He was very personable and passionate about Mediterranean cuisine. He gave us very clear instructions during the cooking process and even handed out recipe cards at the end of the tour which we appreciated! The opportunity to enjoy the whole lunch with gorgeous views atop the restaurant was an added bonus to the experience! Perfect group size too, allowed for a more personalized experience.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

I really enjoyed our tour to Acropolis and Parthenon. Our tour guide Katarina was very informative, knowledgeable. The food tour was delicious! That was a great start to our trip.
Meeting Thanos for coffee made us feel welcomed. His thoughtfulness provided us with confidence to enjoy this adventure.
My favorite place was Mykonos! I had so much fun exploring the labyrinth town, the famous beautiful windmills, and a few beaches! The day cruise to the archaeological site at Delos and learning about the birthplace of the twin gods Apollo an Artemis the Sun and the moon was inspiring.
I’m not one to jump into the waters, but am so happy that I had the chance to swim in the warm, turquoise blue waters! Just amazing!
Santorini was amazing place to explore, the beautiful white buildings setting along the side of the steep hillside are a site to see in both day and night! The red, and black beaches are beautiful, and the food, sunsets and drinks are refreshing.
The bus tour was nice, but the tour guide voice was a bit high, hard to listen to. I enjoyed the lunch that was provided and touring their wine cellar was a nice touch.
I would recommend KimKim 100%. And if I ever have another chance to go exploring again I will coordinate the trip through you!

Chris has been very pro active and responsive throughout our Italy trip although the initial engagement was for Greece vacation. Overall trip is well paced with no major required.

He has been thorough from pre sales to post sales.

Although Chris is based in Greece, together with his counterpart - Maria in Italy, both have been prompt on updates, advise on to do with special mentioned regards the Trenaline train delayed for 4 hours, our pre booked business class seats been hijacked. Very much appreciative for your on the toes in handling the situations.

The original planned Hotel Roma was reported with leaking issues, we were arranged to another boutique hotel.

Only feedback is room Accomodation request would be better accomodate as most of the rooms were partitioned, with rooms facing the streets.

Will definitely engage Chris again if we were looking for Greece holiday.

Every element of our trip, from the drivers who collected us to the various tours, was amazing. On time, very informative, fun.

Hotel Reviews

Urban Stripes Athens

Koukaki, Athens

Very nice, comfortable and chic hotel.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

V Hotel Delphi

Delphi

The hotel was no frills, basic and clean.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Divani Hotel Meteora

Kalampaka

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

The Naxian Collection

Naxos-Greece

The hotel is nice but next to the airport - when a plane has recently landed you smell jet exhaust. Lighting was barely existent in bathroom (by design), so it was difficult to see for tasks. Breakfast was very tasty. Location required taxi into town, longish walk to beach area. Sheets and towels were not white, rather dirty-grey. I think this may have been part of their ecological drive to not use bleach - just seemed less appealing. Loved the semi-private pool and landscaping.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Domes Noruz Chania

Agioi Apostoloi Chania-Crete

Overall design of hotel is cool but room design is very impractical. We had a “wellness suite” on 2 floors. Entry floor features the bathroom sink in the middle of the room, too much furniture but no place to store clothes or even put suitcases (had to put one on the sofa, the other on floor next to bathroom door). Bathroom is impossibly small. Bed area upstairs features small queen bed that is “cocooned” by glass half-wall on sides and feet. Must be extremely difficult for housekeeping staff to change bed linens and clean. Small toilet next to bed area impossibly small. Jacuzzi bath on balcony had zero privacy from people walking around hotel. Yoga ball and foam roller took up too much space, as well as 2 nesting coffee tables, rocking chair and sofa bed. As an adult-only hotel, I wondered why the need for a sofa bed, so many coffee tables if only max two persons in room? This was probably meant to be the nicest hotel of our trip but the Collection (Domes) is trying too hard to be something the travelers are not - funky.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Review

Acropolis & Athens e-bike guided tour

Athens

Fun, informative and exactly what we’d expected

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

All of our tours were great and we met a lot of very nice people! All of our accommodations and recommendation for places to go see and to go eat were great as well. This was our first time on a trip this big and did not have a lot of knowledge on planning a trip so we did not ask a lot of question! I would recommend ask more questions on the places and how to get there and what class you want to travel. I would also recommend the specialist to give more options of travel and ask more questions on how you want to travel. An example of this is: We were in Chania Crete and had a driver pick us up, drove us to Heraklion for one overnight then catch a ferry to Santorini. This was the only option we got from our specialist. We were booked business class on the ferry which gives you no perks and I am sure cost more and travel days are a lost day. We wondered if there was another way and found out we could have taken a flight from Chania for 60 euro's and saved one travel day. We all agreed the specialist should give you option for how to get there and show the difference in price and the perks for business or economy. The only other issue we had was when we went to the train station we new we were going on the bus because there was maintains on the rails but were given no instruction on where exactly we caught the bus so it was a bit stressful until we found it. So if he would have put in our itinerary that we get dropped at the train station and we had to cross the road and go down a bit then we would have know. Overall I was happy with our trip and would recommend using Kimkim.

Hotel Reviews

Kriti Hotel Chania

Chania, Crete

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Ippokampos Beachfront Hotel

Naxos

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Achilleas Hotel

Athens

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Monastiri Guesthouse

Kalampaka - Meteora

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Olive Green

Heraklion

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Nissia Beach Apartments & Suites Santorini

Santorini

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Philippos Hotel Athens

Athens

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Meteora Half-Day Sightseeing Tour

Greece

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

All Time Classic Santorini

Santorini

Wish they would have made sure we would have our last stop for drinks on the hill and bin there for sunset. They had us there an hour before.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Morning Catamaran Cruise

Naxos

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

The 7 Villages of Apokoronas Tour

Greece

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

We were very impressed with all of the tour guides on our trip. We had tour guides in Athens at the Acropolis, in Chania (on Crete) for a food tour (Maria), one while hiking the Imbros Gorge (Nikos), another at the Knossos Palace (Carin), and another for a half day trip around Paros (Nicole). All were very knowledgeable and added a lot to our understanding about Greek culture. They were really delightful to spend time with. We also appreciated their professionalism . They all seemed to be very interested in giving us a better understanding of Greece.

We were also very impressed with the transportation on our trip. All of the drivers were there on time and transported us to our next destination in comfort.

Hotel Reviews

Elia Bettolo Hotel

Chania

The room was very comfortable. The location was very central which made for a fun stay.

Authenticity & Character

The front desk/ lobby is very small. It does not make for a very inviting entry.

Location

It is close to everything in Chania

Staff

For the most part staff was friendly and engaging

Cleanliness & Comfort

Bed was very comfortable

Sweet Home Hotel

Athens

It was an adequate facility with a good location and breakfast. Staff was helpful and friendly. We were hoping for a more unique hotel for our first few nights in Greece, however.

Authenticity & Character

There was nothing special about the facility

Location

The property seemed a little run down

Staff

Very Freindly

Cleanliness & Comfort

Mr & Mrs White Paros

Paros

This is a very unique property with a good design theme. It felt like an oasis at the end of our three week trip. The grounds were well landscaped and the pools were very inviting.

Authenticity & Character

The hotel design is a good example of modern greek architecture. It is very well maintained.

Location

It was about a 1 km walk to town on a very busy road with no sidewalks. We didn’t mind having to walk into town, but the road was a bit of a nuisance

Staff

Very attentive and friendly staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Everything was immpeccable

Activity Reviews

Acropolis & Acropolis Museum Guided Tour

Athens

Our tour guide (I wish I could remember her name) was extremely knowledgeable and a very delightful person to spend time with. She held an advanced degree in Greek history which gave her good credentials to conduct the tour.

Quality of Experience

See above

Guides, Drivers and Staff

See above

An ultimate food experience in the villages around Chania

Chania

Nikos was a very courteous and helpful guide. It was fun to spend time with him and the hike through the gorge was very memorable.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Half Day Paros Highlights tour

Paros

Nicole was a great guide. Once again, she was a fun person to spend time with and she was a wealth of knowledge. The insights she gave about the history of Paros (and Greek mythology in general) were really fascinating.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

The private tour of Knossos Minoan palace

Greece

Carin was an excellent tour guide. She was lot’s of funk and very knowledgeable

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Our group of six is just back from Greece -- it was one of our best trips. We'd worked closely with Chris to plan the two week plus trip asking for superb guides, excellent 3-4 star hotels, restaurant recommendations and a sensible plan of action. I felt a culture gap working with Chris, he was rather laid back and we were slightly anxious about arrangements. Happily, everything worked out beautifully. Of the guides Spiros Daudakis was delightfully impressive. A history buff, he was engaging about all aspects of Greek history and we spent two full days with him - bombarding him with relentlessly with questions. He is exceptional. Although we only had 5 hours with Panagiota Kankali, we felt she was terrific fun and truly excellent. A+ in her introduction to Athens and her explanations of culture - and so engaging. Both were kind enough to take us to fabulous places for lunch - Panagiota to the Athens fish market and Spiros to souvlaki in Rethymno! True, the food was great but both were cultural experiences. We also enjoyed Vera who was knowledgeable and interesting. Turning to drivers, we must give a huge shout of appreciation to Yannis P. who chauffered us for four days. He gave us the feel of being taken around by family, a favorite uncle. He's so widely read and personable that we loved the time we spent with him and getting his take on Greek life. Yanna was another fabulous driver who we were with for a lovely day. Lastly, Nikos was excellent, though our time with him was shorter. Our hotels were perfect. Restaurant recommendations were most appreciated, though it must be said that the food across all Greece was just spectacular. And our game plan worked beautifully for our group. So Chris was able to do it all and be laid back! Thank you, Chris for all your work on our behalf.

Our group of six worked with Chris to plan most of our two-week trip and then we took it from there and went on to a couple islands. Chris met with us online several times to work out our itinerary and came to meet us on our last night in Greece. He was very good to work with on our plans. He was open to our ideas and he followed through to adapt to our requests, including taking a ferry ride through the Corinth Canal, seeking out archeological sites in Crete, and lunching in Arechova on our trip to Delphi.
Our guides were excellent. In mainland Greece Panagiota Kankali gave us a superb introduction to Athens and Georgia took us on an informative visit to the Acropolis. Yannis drove us to Delphi and for three additional days around Nafplio and was engaging and knowledgeable and truly kind. In Crete we had guides and drivers through GS Tours, and their staff were wonderful. Spiros Daudakis was exceptional in his passion for his country's history and culture and willingness to spend many hours answering our constant questions, and Ariadne was thorough and flexible in showing us the beauty and offerings of Chania. Our driver Yanna was very smart and enthusiastic and engaging, and Nikos was kind and competent and helpful.
The hotels were each in central locations and were quite comfortable. We stayed at the Hotel NLH Monastiraki in Athens, and even though there was a street closure due to a festival on our departure day, Yannis managed to find a way to bring the van close to us. In Nafplio we stayed a Adiandi and Amymone, which is a boutique hotel with a beautiful breakfast cafe across the street with a view of the sea. In Chania, Crete, we stayed at Elia Zampeliou Hotel, which was in an old stone house that was located in the center of the old town and very comfortable. In Heraclion we stayed at the Olive Green which was a newish functional hotel for one-night stopovers before the ferry to the islands and spatially well-outfitted. All the hotel staff were very helpful and friendly. Some of the hotels required ability to climb stairs.

We thought the whole trip was exceptional, and we especially loved Crete. We spent a lot of time in museums and in archeological sites and we climbed lots of stone steps and walked long distances and were glad for good preparation. And we ate vast amounts of delicious food.