Stress Free Vacation
Colombia | Dec 24 - Jan 1, 2025

S
Stefanie B.
Ashburn, VA | Reviewed on Jan 08, 2025

Columbia is just an amazing country and we are so glad we had the help in planning.
Most of our guides were FANTASTIC- so friendly, intelligent and interesting! We had one guide that was good, I have nothing bad to say but I do not think we needed a guide for the activity and truth be told, it was too touristy. I would not have selected Guatape but went with the suggestion anyway.
I did most of the other planning and KimKim did the rest (booking guides, drivers, internal airfare) but I could have really let KIMKIM select the hotels as they know the area better than I did.
We loved the hiking and the remote villages and of course the tour of the Stilt Village was awesome.
It was truly a carefree trip and while using KIMKIM is certainly more expensive than doing it on your own, it takes all of the stress and organization off your hands and to me, that is worth it to me!

Hotel Reviews
Landmark Hotel Medellín
Medellín

Perfect room, location with a lovely gym and healthy food! Decor was amazing and it was very clean. We appreciated having free laundry!

Authenticity & Character
Location
Staff
Cleanliness & Comfort
Hotel Boutique Casa Carolina
Santa Marta

The hotel is beautiful and the staff were amazing but the location did not feel safe. We stayed in the hotel and did not venture out once we were in for the day. It is also very noisy from the streets around.

Location
Staff
Cleanliness & Comfort
OZ Hotel
Cartagena

We checked out, it was dirty and the staff were not very nice.

Location
Staff
It could be the language barrier and that is my fault for not speaking Spanish but it seemed they were annoyed with me even in terms of showing me my room.
Cleanliness & Comfort
Had bugs, cracks in the walls and the hallways smelled.
Activity Reviews
Peñol Boulder & Guatapé Boat Trip
Peñol Boulder & Guatapé Boat Trip
Medellín

We did not like this part of the trip as it was too touristy and there was not much to do. We would have preferred to do some activity there other than sit and climb the rock

Food
Guides, Drivers and Staff
Transport
Natural Reserve: "Cerro Bravo"
Natural Reserve: "Cerro Bravo"
Medellín

We love hiking and while this was the scariest hike I ever did, we loved it. What made it challenging was there is no real trail and what is there is very slippery. Going up was fine, hard but good but I was really worried about going down.

Quality of Experience
Food
Wherever you picked the food up from it was amazing!
Guides, Drivers and Staff
I forget our guides name Froi, I think and he is AWESOME
Transport
Medellín Transformation Tour
Medellín Transformation Tour
Medellín
Quality of Experience
Guides, Drivers and Staff
Transport
Hike Tayrona National Park
Hike Tayrona National Park
Tayrona National Park

You do not need a guide for the first part of the hike and I think that was all that was scheduled for us but we decided we wanted to do more bc we actually like to hike and be in remote areas. Once we got past the crowd it was awesome. You do not really need a guide for this trip but it is nice to have and he was lovely.

Quality of Experience
Guides, Drivers and Staff
Transport
Hiking in Cerro Kennedy
Hiking in Cerro Kennedy
El Dorado Nature Reserve

Loved it!

Quality of Experience
Guides, Drivers and Staff
Transport
Nueva Venecia and the stilt villages of the Ciénaga Grande (On the Way to Cartagena)
Nueva Venecia and the stilt villages of the Ciénaga Grande (On the Way to Cartagena)
Colombia

Our guide was awesome and this was one of the highlights of our trip- definetly worth stopping!!

Quality of Experience
Food
Guides, Drivers and Staff
Transport
Market Visit & Cooking Class
Market Visit & Cooking Class
Cartagena

While the market is quite the adventure, is is not for the faint of heart- it is truly dirty but very cool place to be! I would not have felt safe being there without all of the support staff we had.

Quality of Experience
We could have done more cooking- we have done cooking classes in other countries and did a lot more.
Food
I think for foreigners you must cook the food and not serve raw.
Guides, Drivers and Staff
They were fine but we did not interact much
Transport
Walking tour in Cartagena's Historic Center
Walking tour in Cartagena's Historic Center
Cartagena

The guide did not provide much to the trip, we learned very little. We could have just walked around the city ourselves. She was nice and tried to help get us a dinner reservation but we did not do anything that required a guide and she just did not teach us much. The other guides were full of knowledge and stories.

Quality of Experience
Guides, Drivers and Staff
Transport
We had clean cars and transport the entire time never a problem with drivers!
Local specialist: Michael Gold
Michael
Michael Gold
Local specialist in San Agustín, Huila, Colombia | Replied on Jan 08, 2025
Dear Stefanie,
Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback! We’re so glad you had a stress-free and memorable trip to Colombia and that you enjoyed the stunning hikes, the visit to Nueva Venecia, and the remote areas you explored.
Your kind words about the guides and logistics mean a lot to us, and we’re happy that the coordination made your trip easier. We also really appreciate your constructive feedback - especially regarding Guatapé, the walking tour in Cartagena, and the...
Read more

Dear Stefanie,
Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback! We’re so glad you had a stress-free and memorable trip to Colombia and that you enjoyed the stunning hikes, the visit to Nueva Venecia, and the remote areas you explored.
Your kind words about the guides and logistics mean a lot to us, and we’re happy that the coordination made your trip easier. We also really appreciate your constructive feedback - especially regarding Guatapé, the walking tour in Cartagena, and the cooking class. We’ll be sure to use this to refine future experiences and make them even more aligned with traveler preferences.

Thank you again for traveling with us and sharing your thoughts. It was a pleasure to help you plan your trip, and we’d love to welcome you back in Colombia for another adventure in the future!

Warm regards,
Michael