Kimkim Trip Reviews

Great trip, but our trip coordinator was slow to respond more than once.

Unfortunately, we had a flight delay on the way over, which resulted in us arriving a day late. We were charged for the first night in the hotel. Kim Kim said they would refund half of the hotel price.

Shinkansen tickets (Tokyo to Kyoto) were supposed to be at 1100. We planned a tour in Kyoto based on that time. Unfortunately, we received a message from Shona the day before with tickets that were at 1200.

The evening before the transfer to Kyoto, we tried to change the ticket ourselves (at the station) to 1100, but this was not possible because Kim Kim did not provide the original email that issued the tickets (Kim Kim only provided the attachments). So we messaged our coordinator, Shona. She answered that she would follow up before 10 AM the next day (the day of the tickets). Next day…No answer at 10. Shona responded at 1010 that she would confirm it for us right away. Nothing back until 1040, asking if we were at the station…(we had been there since 9:30) .

At 9:55 we got a message from the emergency coordinator, Heidi, asking (again) if we were at the station. By then, it was too late to have the tickets changed to 10:00. Heidi provided a transfer for us to the our planned tour directly from the station in Kyoto. Overall, a last minute save, but this whole thing was really annoying. For whatever reason, Shona was unable to respond quickly on what should have been a fairly easy change, with plenty of lead time to fix.

Overall, we thoroughly enjoyed the trip. Our tour guides Ayumi (Tokyo), Seiya Maegawa (Kyoto), and Luna (Osaka) were AMAZING.

We would certainly go to Japan again, to see more of the country, but I would be hesitant to use KimKim again due to the coordination issues we experienced.

Hotel Review

Hotel Vischio Kyoto by GRANVIA

Kyoto

AMAZING BREAKFAST!! Great location, right next to the Kyoto station.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Right next to the Kyoto station

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Full Day Kyoto City Tour with Fushimi Inari-Taisha

Kyoto

Our guide, Seiya Maegawa, was FANTASTIC. He shared so much detail about each place we visited. Very personable, and just did a wonderful job bringing each place to life that we visited.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Tokyo Highlights Day Tour with Tsukiji Outer Fish Market

Tokyo

Ayumi did a wonderful job ! She asked us about our preferences before we left on the tour, and did a great job sharing Tokyo with us!!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Ayumi is a WONDERFUL tour guide. She speaks English very well, and was very personable.

Transport

Ayumi came prepared with a day pass for the trains for each of us. She did a wonderful job teaching us how to navigate the public transportation system in Tokyo.

Osaka Local Foodie Tour in Dotonbori and Shinsekai

Japan

Great food and a wonderful tour guide! The only thing I’d change… We ended up missing out on Soba at the end because the other members of the group had eaten too much at the first two restaurants. We would have liked to have tried it (we still had room), but the tour ended.

Quality of Experience

TASTY FOOD!!

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Luna did a wonderful job.

Transport

The meeting point is in a very loud location (at the entrance to a train station). We had a hard time hearing our guide until we were away from under the train tracks.

As expected, everything ran smoothly. Our driver Mohamed made the trip even more special with great driving and great service. I highly recommend him. The guides we had (except Hamid in Marrakesh) were very good and knowledgeable. Chefchaouen nice little town, good shopping and nice pictures. The Medina in Fes, interesting and good shopping as well. We found that doing our shopping before Marrakesh was better. We did not see copper pots in Marrakesh.
The trip highlight is the desert, unbelievable! The day it takes to drive there and the day it takes to drive back are worth the experience. The best meal was on Dades. Marrakesh great city we spend extra days in it. I would stay outside the Medina since the "regular" hotels are within walking distance from it.

Overall terrific for education, information, hotels and transportation. Food tour in Athens terrible and something the guide was not familiar with. Wine tasting in Athens had very mediocre wines. Food tour in Thessaloniki also poor. Educational/ touring components good. Mount Olympus tour out of Thessaloniki exceptional.

Hotel Reviews

xenodocheio Milos 5*

Athens

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Antigon Urban Chic Hotel

Thessaloniki

Beautiful. Space very tight

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Space an issue

Tsikeli Hotel Meteora

Meteora

Great little hotel in an out of the way location

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

COCO-MAT Athens BC

Athens

Lovely staff beautiful hotel. Great view of. The acropolis

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Space tight in the room

Activity Reviews

Private Walk of Acropolis & Food Tour

Athens

Very informative on archeology and history. Charming. Not a oerson who should be giving food tour . Selections marginal.

Secrets of Plaka and Anafiotika with Wine Tasting

Athens

The woman was lovely, the secrets of Plaka and Anafiotika was fascinating. The wines were very mediocre. We are at a luxury level tour and the wine selection was not appropriate.

Transfer to Meteora with en route Activity to Delphi Archeological Site

Greece

Charming and informative driver to Delhi. Driver fro Delphi to Meteora less talkative but still lovely.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Private Hiking Experience to Meteora's Hermit Caves

Meteora

Trip was enjoyable. Young man leading hike. Original destination too difficult for us, but alternative was great.

Culinary Journey through Thessaloniki

Thessaloniki

While he knew history and local color, the food was not great . When we took your food tour in Portugal, we sampled foods from different parts of the city, different cultures represented there. Instead in Thessaloniki we sat at a restaurant for most of the time without even a suggestion as to what we should order. No history of the place we were eating etc.

Dion and Mount Olympus – Private Day Trip

Thessaloniki

Awesome day. Both driver and guide very informative and interesting people. The guide even invited us to his apartment afterwards. A wonderful day. Highly recommend.

Kimkim made organizing such a trip easy. Active India was indispensable in helping me customize my trip and the flexibility provided by Active India.

The itinerary laid out met my expectations. I was able to see everything I wanted. Varanasi is incredible. An amazing place!

I was well looked after by Ravi and his team. The drivers and guides were courteous, helpful and always on time.

Unfortunately I caught the flu early in the trip, and not feeling my best contemplated ending the trip early. Fortunately Ravi and his team were there for me. I will alway be grateful for his encouragement to rest and persevere. I got better and I got to see Varanasi at the end of my month in South Asia.

The two highlights were the accommodations, food and town of Avignon similar. I was pleased with the former in Sete as well was very charming.

Hotel Review

Hotel Le Cloitre St Louis

Avignon

A beautiful historic building. Probably the best meal I had in France was in their dining room. I was lucky to walk into a watercolor exhibit in the same building. Avignon was magical.

Authenticity & Character

Historical and beautiful

Location

Within steps of the train station

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Bathroom was not entirely clean

Activity Review

Guided visit of the Medieval city of Carcassonne

Carcassonne

Wonderful and very informative super interesting. The private tour was so nice after having done a tour with 24 people.

Quality of Experience

Guide was well-versed in the history of Carcassonne.

We had an amazing time during our trip to Morocco. From when Mouad picked us up at the airport until the end of our time with him, he was amazing and constantly checked that we were happy. His English was good enough that we could have great conversations about the countryside we were driving through, he made sure that we were always comfortable and had anything that we needed. We would highly recommend him as a guide for anyone wanting to see the country as he drove us from Tangier to Chefchaouen, to Fez, to Rabat, to Casablanca and then to Marrakesh. The riads that we were booked at were, for the most part, quite amazing. Beautiful old places and the staff went out of their way to make us happy. Except for one place - the riad in Rabat. We had requested two beds and instead of separating the two beds that made up the king size one (which would have meant they would have to remake the beds) they left us with the king size and a very uncomfortable couch in the sitting room area. We were so tired that night, we didn't even have the energy to eat, we just collapsed. We were very unhappy about that experience. The guides that we had in Fez and Marrakesh who took us around the city and through the medinas were very very knowledgeable about the history of everywhere they took us. Two of our highlights were the hammam that included a massage and dinner with a local couple in their home where we had a lively discussion and learned a lot about the day to day life of people in Morocco. We would unhesitatingly recommend KIMKIM as the company to use in your travels and Mouad especially. He went out of his way to ensure we always had everything we wanted/needed.

I recently had an incredible trip to Morocco, and I can’t thank KimKim and Sharon enough for making it all possible. Their exceptional service and careful planning were key in allowing our journey to continue seamlessly, even when one of our group members faced unexpected challenges.

Special thanks to Maryem, who crafted a perfect itinerary that balanced the best of Morocco’s culture and landscapes. And an extra shoutout to our wonderful guide, Sallam. His dedication went above and beyond; he not only drove us through the stunning Moroccan countryside but also guided us through the medical system with patience and expertise. Thanks to Sallam, we felt safe and supported throughout our journey, exploring unforgettable places like Marrakesh, Casablanca, Fes, Chefchaouen and Tangiers.

This trip wouldn’t have been the same without this team’s care and professionalism. Highly recommend KimKim for anyone looking to explore Morocco with peace of mind and great company.

Our 6-day trip with Wind Horse Tours was great! From the moment we were met at the airport by Pema and our driver (don't know how to spell his name), our trip was carefully organized to introduce us to western Bhutan’s highlights. The days were active but not exhausting, mixing enjoyable hikes with visits to important cultural sites. Pema explained a lot about Bhutan’s religion and culture as we visited temples, dzongs, etc., and he was interesting to chat with as we drove through the beautiful country. He was always willing to take the time to answer our questions. No request was too much trouble, such as spending more time here or there. The restaurants where we had lunches were well chosen by Pema. The hotels were very comfortable and provided good dinners and breakfasts. Our driver was also excellent – this was something we especially realized when we saw a serious car accident caused by a driver falling asleep. The only thing we would have preferred would be to have our hotels in Thimphu and Paro closer to town so we could walk around the area a bit.

Gummi helped plan our itinerary and he was very helpful. When you book trips for people, it would be helpful to ask their physical condition and capability. I have a balance disorder and osteoporosis (Bad bones, so I don’t want to fall and break anything) and I’m 65 years old. I spoke with Gummi about this and he said bring my walking sticks.

The lava cave tour was hundred of steps down and up (a lot of space between each step..easy to trip or fall for me) and once we arrived there, I was unable to participate because it was too risky for me. My husband went and enjoyed it and that was fine but I wouldn’t have paid for me to go, so we lost that money.

The glacier and ice cave tour was ridiculous for me to participate. The truck driver to get us there drove like a maniac on the off road terrain to get to the glacier. He drove so fast and my back was smashing up and down and it was very scary too. Once we arrived (it was extremely windy and rainy) and I saw what it would take to participate and once again, I had to wait in the truck for an hour and a half because it was way too dangerous for me to participate. We lost that money for me too.

Our guide, Guttie (I’m sure I misspelled his name) was truly fabulous. His knowledge of Iceland and history facts were wonderful. I give him 10 stars! He made sure we saw the northern lights and spent two late nights with us until we did! He is warm and friendly and took care of everything for us.

So, like going into a restaurant and the server asks you if you have any food allergies, your company should ask the travelers if they have any physical limitations first!

Thank you,
Julie Mandell

Hotel Review

The Reykjavík Edition

Reykjavik

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Review

Sky Lagoon - Experience the seven-step Sky Ritual

Iceland

Quality of Experience

Our trip to Morocco via KimKim was truly magical and probably one of the best trips of my life (including 25 other countries visited so far)!! This was my first time traveling via a travel agency and with a guide / driver and I cannot recommend KimKim, Majid or our amazing guide Mouad enough!! My heart is so full after this trip and our experience with them! Morocco is a beautiful country with kind people, amazing food, adventure, relaxation, shopping, art, music and more. Majid did a great job organizing the details of the trip and providing recommendations so our itinerary had it all!

Once we arrived to Casablanca, we were met at the airport by our fantastic guide Mouad who's big smile, great sense of humor, attention to detail and thoughtfulness truly left a huge impression on our group. Mouad was an extremely safe and organized driver. We could relax and have fun because we knew he had everything handled. He frequently broke up our longer drives for "great stops" along our route which allowed us to really get a feel for the beautiful people, culture and cuisine of Morocco that we would not have found with out him. Some of my favorites stops were to get fresh squeezed pomegranate juice, prickly pears and oranges from local farms, coffee from roadside vendors, freshly shucked oysters right from the ocean, assorted Moroccan cookies from an amazing bakery, henna tattoos from a local village, hikes along the sea and mountains, etc. Mouad is DEFINITELY who you want as your guide! He is positive, funny, knowledgeable, easy going, and he has a gift for reading people and assessing their needs. He flexed perfectly from giving us great information on the country, being our hype-man when we were having fun and excited, finding anything we needed (ice, medicine, a birthday cake, etc), and creating a calm environment when everyone wanted to relax in the car. He also invited us to his family's home for lunch in the desert which was a heartwarming experience that I'll never forget. He helped us get a special birthday cake in the desert, play a prank our on friend in the Dedas Valley and he helped us change our plans a few times so we could stay in the best places (with the best rooms) and be sure to see Essoueria which was our favorite! Our trip to Morocco was full of so much laughter, adventure, learning and love all thanks to Mouad!

My favorite adventures of this trip were wandering the narrow medina streets in Fez, hiking with monkeys in the Atlas mountains, riding camels, ATVs and 4x4s through the Sahara desert, dancing to Gnawa and Tinariwen music at the desert, camp, meeting Mouad's family in Rissani, shopping for a custom leather jacket and Berber rugs in the Atlas mountains, relaxing at the Hammam in Marrakesh, laughing and eating together, trying street food in Essoueira, and galloping down the beach on horseback in Essoueira. Thank you to KimKim, Majid and Mouad! <3

We had a very nice time and enjoyed the Galapagos very much. We were met at both airports Baltra And Villamil by welcoming guides that greeted us and facilitated our transition into the next legs of our trip. The Eco guides that led our excursions were very knowledgeable and spoke English very well. accommodations , the Albermarle in Villamil and the Solymar on PTO Ayora were very nice for the most part. Upon arrival at Albermarle we found our room upstairs which were overly steep and difficult for my wife to negotiate. The first night at the Albermarle there was a fiesta for Dia De Los Muertos that was very loud until 3-4 in the morning and made it hard to sleep. The day tour to Los Tunneles was ok except the short hike to the Booby nest was inaccessible for my wife as the trail over lava and the transition from boat to lava shore was too difficult for my wife to negotiate. She had to stay in the boat while the group went ashore. The same inaccessibility of the boat small boat landing on N Seymore to explore the nesting Frigate birds and the trail over lava rocks was inaccessible to my wife. Nicholas had informed me that these excursions would be accessible for her but they proved to not be accessible for her.
There was another excursion problem in PTO Ayora. The morning of the excursion to Tortuga Bay, when the guide arrived to pick us up he had about a dozen other tourists with him and he refused to wait 5 minutes for my wife who wasn’t quite ready at 730 am the, pick up time. So they left without us. He made no attempt to facilitate us a way to catch up to them. We ultimately walked ourselves to the 300 stairs staircase up to the Tortuga Bay entry station. We climbed the stairs with difficulty and walked the 3 Km to Tortuga Bay. We enjoyed the Walk to the beautiful Bay and park. We arranged our own water taxi passage back to Ayora.
It would seem reasonable for your company to refund the costs we paid in advance for that excursion that we did not recieve.
Apparently, Nicholas, who arranged our trip itinery, lodgings and excursions according to the criteria I had carefully explained to him regarding my wife’s physical disabilities, has not actually been to these Islands nor experienced the
excursions we were booked onto. If he had he might not have booked us onto the excursions with the very small boat transitions to the difficult shore landings and inaccessible lava rock trails.
The escorted taxi ride and escort on the Itabaca Ferry and bus to the airport was nice. As my wife was leaving the Baltra airport for home I was met by the Galapagos Aggressor dive boat staff for the rest of Galapagos adventure.
Now after spending two weeks in the Galápagos Islands and enjoying them fully I’ve returned safely home. It seems your firm overcharged us considerably for the trip you arranged for us. This may influence whether I can refer your services to anyone in the future.
Sincerely,
Jim Lipow
Riverside California

Hotel Reviews

Albemarle

Puerto Villamil

On the beach, near beachfront restaurants. Breakfast basic.

Authenticity & Character

Excellent room very comfortable

Location

On the beach and close to everything in town

Staff

The office was staffed except late at night to 630 in the morning.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Solymar

Galápagos

Waterfront. good breakfast poolside, harborside. One of the best in town except for maybe 2 ultra posh other hotels. Central location. We had to change to a second room upon arrival because the door knob on our original room was so loose it was about to fall off. The staff was very responsive to this issue and move us immediately.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Wildlife Encounter at Los Tuneles (Cabo Rosa)

Galapagos Islands

With a little effort the Galapagos park authorities could make the shore landing accessible for individuals with disabilities

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Snorkeling at Tortuga Bay

Puerto Ayora

The guide would wait 5 minutes and left us behind. What a jerk

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Experience the Pristine Beauty of Galápagos Islands: Discovering an Uninhabited Island

Puerto Ayora

The walking trail proved to be inaccessible to walkers with disabilities. Too bad because a hand crew could make it accessible in short order .

Quality of Experience

Food

The walking trail

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Free Morning Until Departure

Galapagos Islands

Ther was time for nothing before our departure to the airport

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Welcome to Santa Cruz Island: Highlands (Plant a Tree) & Charles Darwin Research Station

Puerto Ayora

There was no tree planting and no evidence of any tree planting before our visit. But the Darwin Center is a MUST VISIT part of a visit to Santa Cruz and PTO Ayora.

Our specialist, Huyen, was great to work with. She helped us take different pieces of different tours to come up with our own itinerary, move dates around, and answered all of our questions.

From the moment we landed in Hanoi, we felt well taken care of even if we were unable to communicate with the local drivers. All of the drivers and tour guides were friendly and on-time. When moving from one activity or guide to the next, we were always handed off to someone who would then take care of us.

Ha Long Bay was definitely a highlight of our trip. The views were amazing and we especially enjoyed kayaking between the rock formations. Plus we got to know other travelers on the ship. We were also pleasantly surprised by the large size of the cabin on the Swan Cruise ship.

In Ho Chi Minh City, we really enjoyed our food tour with Phat from Saigon Food Tour. He was fun and enthusiastic, and he took us to a couple places off the beaten path. The food was all delicious and we learned about the culture.

In Hoi An, highlights included a ride in a basket boat, a walking tour of the old town, and a hands on cooking class.

Though we had a couple of obligatory stops at the tourist centers where they try to sell you everything, I'm confident that I would not have been able to plan as successful a trip on my own.

Hotel Reviews

Calista Sai Gon Hotel

Hotel was clean and staff was friendly, but the hotel is in a very loud area and the windows do not block any of the sound.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Swan Cruise

This ship was really nice and the staff were very friendly. The rooms were bigger than we expected. Everything was well organized. We really enjoyed the kayaking between the rock formations. Would definitely recommend.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hoi An Rose Garden Hotel

Hoi An

Great hotel and friendly staff. We took advantage of the onsite spa.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

AMIRA HOTEL HANOI

This hotel was right in the heart of things, but wasn't noisy. Everything was clean and the staff were helpful.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Hanoi Cooking Class & City Tour

Hanoi

The city tour was OK. Our guide didn't seem to really have a plan so we wandered around aimlessly and he kept pointing out the same items at different stalls. Even after he asked if we were ready for lunch, we wandered around much longer than expected before finding a place to eat. I think it threw him off when we asked for local food and not a touristy restaurant. For the cooking class, the chef was great and we were definitely able to get hands on with making the delicious food. The location was a bit difficult for our driver to find. We weren't expecting a cooking class with just the two of us and we also didn't expect the driver and tour guide to stay with us the entire time.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Halong Bay - Hanoi - Fly to Danang, Transfer to Hoi An

Vietnam

Driver was excellent.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Hoi An Cooking Class & Cam Thanh Fishing Village:

Hoi An

Excellent excursion. The cooking class was very fun and we enjoyed talking to the other participants. Not only did the chef show how to make the dishes, but there were several assistants to dummy-proof the hands-on part of the class. The food was very tasty. The basket boat ride was one of our highlights. There was clearly a standard agenda. Paddle, visit the professional boaters who could spin their boats very quicky, visiting the fishing man casting his net, visit the karaoke area, do some fishing, and visit the heart sculpture for pictures. Our boatman was super nice.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Half day city tour to visit Hoi An Ancient Town

Hoi An

Troung was a great and very kind tour guide. She showed us all around the old town and gave us the history.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Saigon By Night Food Tour - Experience Vietnam on Two Wheels (Group tour)

Ho Chi Minh City

Phat was a great food guide. He was fun and enthusiastic, and he took us to places off the beaten path.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Cu Chi Tunnels and Ho Chi Minh City Tour

Ho Chi Minh City

This was an enlightening experience, but might not be worth the long drive to Cu Chi from HCMC. The city tour was good. The lunch was OK. Clearly all of the tour guides take their groups to Nam Du for lunch.

Quality of Experience

Food

Don't go to Nam Du restaurant.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Hanoi - Halong Bay Cruise - Overnight on boat

Ha Long Bay

Highly recommend! Ha Long Bay is beautiful, the Swan Cruises ship was very nice, and the cabins were much bigger than expected. We really enjoyed kayaking between the rock formations as well as meeting other travelers. The guide on the ship was terrific!

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Across Portugal was fantastic! The tour groups they hired for us were all amazing! Everything went very smooth from planning to the day of.

Morocco is a beautiful country with amazing people. The trip was very memorable for us. It was a short and sweet trip. Hassan organized out trip well and was very accommodating to our request. Younes our driver and guide was very helpful and made us feel at home and kept looking out for our needs. Will def give him 5 star rating. The hotels and riad we stayed were gorgeous and the spa we ended our trip with was amazing. The whole trip was a charming experience.

Loved our guide when we visited Louvre!

Leny did an amazing job setting up our trip and our trip schedule. She was attentive throughout the trip and easy to communicate with throughout the trip. Leny added Google maps for us to assist us getting around. Leny also saw that it was my wife’s Birthday during the trip and arranged for some memorable surprises for her. We would highly recommend using Leny to plan a trip for a trip to Japan.

Hotel Review

Hakone Kowakien TEN-YU

Hakone

This hotel stay was one of the highlights of our stay in Japan. I would very highly recommend a stay here along with their Kaiseki dinner.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Quiet hotel surrounded by natural beauty.

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Sayonara Japan!

Kansai International Airport (KIX)

The driver was on time and got us to the airport in plenty of time for our departure.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Authentic Sumo Experience in Tokyo with Chanko-nabe Lunch

Tokyo

Best Of Shibuya Food Private Tour - Evening

Tokyo

Clara, our tour guide was amazing taking us around Shibuya to off the beaten path places to sample food.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Full Day Nikko Tour from Tokyo with English Speaking Guide (Private)

Japan

Very long day trip to Nikko. We went to a waterfall that was fogged in. Walked around town to a okay lake. The highlight was to the Nikko Toshogu Shrine.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Tokyo to Hakone Private Transfer: Mt. Fuji and Hakone Full-Day Tour with English-Speaking Driver

Japan

Harry was fantastic

Kyoto : Experience Tea Ceremony with a Maiko (Geisha) in a Premium course

Kyoto

Maiko was good but I would not recommend this venue or experience.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Full day Osaka Food & Culture Tour with Government Licensed Guide (Private)

Osaka

This tour was good but there actually was no food provided on this tour. That is the reason for 3 stars. It was history and culture tour only. The food portion was taking a 10 minute walk through Kuromon market.

Half-Day Tokyo Tour with English-Speaking Guide

Tokyo

Excellent day spent with Ritzuko. Very efficient

Full Day Kyoto and Nara Tour with English-Speaking Guide

Japan

Good trip

Nishiki Market Delights: A Brunch Foodie Adventure

Kyoto

Semi was an amazing guide who wanted us to sample all of the delights of Nishiki market followed by a nice lunch.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

The best way to plan a trip and travel out there!! We will definitely use KimKim again!! Having the ability to personalize our Vietnam trip with a local agent like Doris was so easy and stress free. She listened to our desires and made it happen! Any questions we had before we traveled and during, she answered! When we got in country, our personal tour guides, Thao and Long, were amazing!!!! So knowledgeable and added so much to our experience! Long went out of the way above and beyond to show us around, meeting us after our “tour” was over to make sure we knew places to go during our free time. Both sent us suggestion and messages throughout our stay even when they were no longer with us. We learned so much more than we ever would have had we traveled in a big group or without a guide. It was a trip of a lifetime and I’m so glad we used KimKim!

Activity Reviews

Pu Luong- Ninh Binh - Visit Hoa Lu, Vietnam's Ancient Capital - Trang An Grottoes Boat Trip

Vietnam

The temple and capital were great, but the Trang An boat trip was the Most beautiful place of the whole trip!

Halong Bay - Hanoi - Fly to Hue

Vietnam

Sung Sot Cave is worth the visit! It is massive and worth the time and the climb it takes to get to it!

Hue: Thuy Bieu Ecovillage, Cooking Class & Imperial Citadel

Hue

When we got to Hue, we got a new tour guide. Highly recommend having more than one tour guide if visiting different areas of a country! This gave us a whole new perspective of the country that we wouldn't have gotten with one guide the whole time! The Ecovillage is completely worth it!!! They did an amazing job with the cooking class, the bike ride and even surprised us with foot massages after our bike tour! The village tour was fun too! Got to make some incense sticks with the local people.

Hanoi biking and city tour

Hanoi

This day was an experience :). I will say our favorite part of this day was the biking tour of Hanoi city, around West Lake (Ho Tay). There are so many scooters in the city and learning to bike through the city was something we will never forget!

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Hanoi - Mai Chau, Valley of White Thai People

Vietnam

Such a beautiful area! During the bike tour, we were able to visited with some of the locals while they were working. This began to show us the benifits of having a local guide to be with you, which partnering with KimKim allowed us to do! Our tour guide Thao, had built relationships with the people and understood the culture. This allowed us to get up close and personal with the village people and work along side of them! Bringing us closer to the culture and the land around us! We even got to make our own chopsticks!

Quality of Experience

Our guide had made relationship with the locals which allowed us to get up close and personal with daily life!!

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Tour guide had made

Transport

Mai Chau - Pu Luong

Vietnam

ONE OF OUR FAVORITES! We loved the rice field terraces. The beauty of this area is beyond anything I have ever seen. We were able to walk through a couple villages and make our way through the Rice fields.

Ninh Binh - Halong Bay Cruise - Overnight on boat

Ha Long Bay

Halong Bay is beautiful, but be prepared for the crowed that goes along with it! This was one of the days i was looking most forward to, but it was probably one of my least favorite, but still would do it again. This is the only way to really see the Bay fully and experience the vastness of the area. So just do it, but just be prepared.

Hue, Visit Tomb of Emperor Tu Duc - Hoi An

Vietnam

Great for those that love history! A lot of this day was focused on history and learning about the dynasties of Vietnam. The Ocean Cloud Pass was beautiful!

Hoi An: Cam Thanh Fishing Village & Hoi An Ancient Town

Hoi An

The Coconut Village was so much fun! we really enjoyed the casting nets with our boat driver! We had a private boat that took us to the village and during the boat ride, we each got to cast the net into the water and learn about their fishing processes! The Coconut river and basket boats were a hoot! Lots of people, but you still felt like you were able to see and experience the river on your own!

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Our guide, Long was amazing! He went above and beyond to make sure we had a full experince, even when his "job" was finished, he joined us in the evening to make sure we knew where to go and what to do to get the full experience before the rain showers came the next day!

Day Free in Hoi An

Hoi An

Tour Guides know best!!! We asked our guide, Long, what we should do for a free day that wasn't already on our itinerary! He didn't steer us wrong. We did a craft village day with our free day. Doris, our agent was able to get us a private car to drive us to each of the villages. We filled a whole half day learning about different ancient art work and handmade crafts, while getting to participate and learn from each of them. We made wooden ordinates, pottery and lanterns throughout the day and only spent a total of $15 each!

Hoi An - Da Nang Airport - Fly to Hanoi

Vietnam

Train Street worth the hype! We visited Train street two different times, once at night (7:30pm) and once during the morning (11:50am). Very different experiences when you are on two different sides of the tracks! Great experience!

We loved our trip and were very pleased with our accommodations. Logistics were executed very well and we felt that we had an amazing trip handcrafted by the KimKim team. Our contact during the trip gave us immediate and responsive communication.

Hotel Reviews

Hotel Rio Serrano

Torres del Paine

Overall this is a great accommodation and I'd highly recommend it to anyone staying near Torres Del Paine. The staff was very friendly and helpful, the views were out of this world, and the overall presentation of the hotel was on point. We only had a couple of hang ups. One was that we stayed on the first floor, and the insulation/sound-proofing is not great. We were at the mercy of the people above us stomping around and could hear every footstep. Also, there was one morning where we were supposed to leave at 11am for an excursion (our travel company and the Massif specialist both confirmed this the day before), yet that morning we get a call at 8am asking why we weren't at the pickup point at the front desk area. That turned our one chill morning into a frantic dash to get ready in 5 minutes, and we were never given a clear explanation for the mixup, especially when we had confirmed it with the Massif the night before. The other issue with the Massif schedule is that they like to do their briefings at 8pm the night before. Please get rid of that or change the time! It is an extremely inconvenient time that is right in the middle of the prime dinner stretch. One night we had to wait until 8:45 to eat, and the other night we had to ask the waiting staff to hold our table for 15 min so we could come back. Either do it at 7pm so people can eat right after, or wait until 9pm so people can finish dinner prior. 8pm is the worst possible time to pick. Or just have people meet 15 min prior to departure the morning of. The last recommendation would be to have to the fitness room open at 6am. The staff was friendly and unlocked the door for me, but it seems very unnecessary to make people wait until 9am to exercise, especially when people have leave to go on an excursion or catch a transportation by that time. Again, overall we loved this hotel and would stay there again in a heartbeat, and I feel like a few minor tweaks/improvements would make it perfect.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

very friendly and helpful, only note would be for the waiting staff to be a little more responsive/aware of the customers status

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Boutique Le Reve

Santiago

Loved this hotel! In a great part of the city. Quiet/botique vibe. Staff was over-the-top friendly and helpful.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Cabo De Hornos

Punta Arenas

Activity Review

Navigation to Isla Madgalena 🐧❄️

Punta Arenas

I went with the idea to explore the nature of New Zealand and boy did it deliever. I am extremely happy with how things were organized; with all the guides involved and Ruth and Sherry for helping to put everything together and help with the glitches.
I do suggest to anybody doing the same trip to leave some days extra for added exploring on the scene, some things will amaze you on the way, and to leave some extra time to reschedule tours that unfortunately don’t happen due to unforeseen reasons.
I missed a few things due to weather conditions and had no time to reschedule, but I also found some things on the way that were a surprise.

Activity Reviews

Half Day Black Abyss Trip

Waitomo

Unbelievable experience. A friend recommended me this and she was spot on for this. One of the highlights of the whole trip was going back on the tubes, looking at the lighted ceiling and listening to history of the cave and glow worms.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Hobbiton Movie Set Tour

New Zealand

When I first booked this, I was a bit skeptical, but I was very wrong. The tour is well organized, the village is really beautiful and the scenery does get you to Hobbit/Lord of the rings mood.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Morning Cultural Food Tours City Meander

Christchurch

Really nice city tour with a local. She showed us small, easy to miss details of the city that were very interesting.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Yuqqa organized this trip, and she allowed us to have our input on where to go. She did an excellent job selecting the events, hotels, travel etc. And she did this in a record time of a few weeks. During the journey she followed us on a daily basis. She is pleasant, very accurate, knows her stuff. She made this an unforgettable amazing journey. She is the best!

The drivers were Yadi and Very. Both were very nice, pleasant and excellent drivers. They took us to the most interesting places.

We enjoyed learning about the Indonesian culture, their religion, how they live, what they like to eat, how they travel. We learned about the Indonesian history, we saw their rice-, tea- and coffee plantations. We learned about Batik, the Wayang culture. We spent time in the big cities, like Jakarta, Bandoeng, Yogyakarta and Semarang.
Of special Interest:
Jakarta: Old Batavia, the National Museum of Indonesia, Pasar Baru
Bogor: The Botanical Gardens
Bandoeng: Wayang Golek, Malabar tea plantation
Yogyakarta: Kraton, Making of Wayang puppets, Making of Batik, Prambanan Temple, Gunung Marapi
Semarang: Kota Lama, Ambarawa with train museum

Hotel Reviews

Hotel Des Indes Menteng

Jakarta

Friendly staff, great breakfast. Exellent located in city of Jakarta

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

THE 1O1 Bandung Dago

Bandung

Old hotel Breakfast was great

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

The Phoenix Hotel Yogyakarta - MGallery Collection

YOGYAKARTA

Great Hotel, friendly and very helpful staff, great breakfast

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

FM7 Resort Hotel Jakarta

Tangerang, Banten

Great shuttle service from and to the Jakarta airport. Modern hotel. We had a great dinner at the roof-top restaurant. Service great, staff very pleasant

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Novus Giri Puncak Resort & Spa

Bogor

Great Hotel, excellent breakfast

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Metro Park View Hotel Kota Lama Semarang

Semarang

Great Hotel, excellent breakfast. Liked the coffee and ice-cream bar. Service at the dinner room was awkward, staff barely spoke English, kept on asking questions, very pushy and insisting us taking wine.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Explore Tea Plantations in Bandung

Bandung

We first went to see Wayang Golek. This is a must-see for everybody going to Bandung! Then to the Malabar Tea Plantation, see comments below: The guide did not discuss the process of the tea production, but instead showed us the kampung. This could have been an attractive part of the trip but has to be adjusted: more explanation of the tea process, no tour through the kampung.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

needs to discuss more of tea process. To much of the kampung

Transport

Lively discussion with guide about people of Indonesia

Visit Botanical Bogor

Bogor

Excellent. Botanical garden were very interested.Had a great trip over the Puncuk

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Jakarta City Tour

Jakarta

Very interesting old Batavia, Sunda Kelapa. Unfortunately the museum at the Old town was closed and the Wayang museum was being rebuild. The visit to the National Museum of Indonesia is exceptional. It reviews the 78 different ethnic groups of Indonesia. It is a must-see for everybody visiting Jakarta Visited Pasar Baru, interesting

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Kota Gede District, Plaosan and Sewon Temples, Prambanan Temple and Ramayana Show

Yogyakarta

We visited Krotan, the Sultan palace and had a great guide. She spoke perfectly English and knew everything about the sultanate and the Islam religion. Visit to Prambanan Temple was great. Had an excellent guide. Saw the inpressive Gunung Marapi vulcano. We loved the performance of the Ramayana Show.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Semarang City Tour

Semarang

Went to Kota Lama Semarang, impressive. Great walking tour. We went to places where they make wayang puppets and to a place where they make batik fabrics.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Explore Nature in Outback Semarang

Semarang

We went to the Train Museum in Ambarawa. We had a great tour-guide. We learned about the steam locomotives and how the train system was build between Semarang, Jakarta and Yogyakarta.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Visit Borobudur Temple, Pawon Temple, Mendut Temple, and Yogyakarta Market

Yogyakarta

We went to the Yogyakarta Pasar and saw all the different spices and fruits that were sold. Quite an experience! We were not able to make it to the Borodudar Temple, unfortunately

Quality of Experience

Quality of Experience

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Transport

Transport