Kimkim Trip Reviews

This was one of our best trips to Europe. Croatia is a beautiful country and Robi made this trip memorable for us. The guides that we had starting with Bruno, Pero, Antea were top notch each one of them were experts in their field. Robi planned a special boat trip for us and we got glimpses of Dubrovnik from the coast which was the highlight of the trip.
I am very satisfied with this trip and will recommend it to all my friends and families.
Robi treated us like his guests and not clients and he inculcated the love of Croatia within us. This is invaluable to find. The customizations, the impromptu requests all were met smilingly and without any complaints.
We will be forever grateful to Kim Kim and to Robi who made this trip so very special. Robi went above and beyond for us and we will remember this trip for a very long time. Hvala vam to the entire team.

Hotel Reviews

Hotel Degenija

Rakovica

The hotel staff was nice and friendly

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

https://www.facebook.com/VillaRadicSton/

Ston

Very nice arrangement and friendly owner

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Prijeko Palace

Dubrovnik

This was the best hotel. Very very nice. Staff was very professional and the room was the best!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

It was very well located and we were treated like loyalty!! Overall a great experience for us

Hotel Dubrovnik

Zagreb

Authenticity & Character

Location

It was in the heart of the city

Skradinski buk

Skradin

The lady at the reception was very nice and helpful

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Pasike

Trogir

Not good. We had a lot of trouble finding a parking and they were very callous about the whole thing. They should have a better parking arrangement

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Hotel Marul

Split

The lady at the reception was not nice. The elevator was not working. Robi had arranged for a drink when we arrived. But the lady was very patronizing and told me that I should travel light which was none of her business and not professional

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Dubrovnik Old Town and the City Walls

Croatia

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Zagreb - Arrival Day & Sightseeing

Zagreb

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Leaving Zagreb and exploring Plitvice Lakes National Park

Zagreb

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Visit to Zadar and overnigth in Skradin

Zadar

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Krka National Park -Trogir

Skradin

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Explore Split & Diocletian's palace

Split

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Pelješac Penisula and Ston- Triple Atraction

Ston

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Dubrovnik and Elaphiti islands - Lopud and Koločep private boat trip

Croatia

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

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Leisure day in Dubrovnik

Dubrovnik

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

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Goodbye Dubrovnik

Dubrovnik

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Ryan and Brittany were great, always in communication during both planning of trip, as it reached closer to dates of departure to Costa Rica and when I reached out during my visit to Costa Rica. We had a mix of beach, rainforests and volcanoes - I wouldn't of changed it a bit. I highly recommend KimKim, they are a A+ in my book. Thanks KimKim.

Hotel Reviews

Hampton by Hilton San José Airport

Alajuela

Arenal Country Inn

La Fortuna

Not my favorite, very dated and rustic. Rooms were tiny.

Hotel & Spa Poco a Poco

Monteverde

Authenticity & Character

Location

Cleanliness & Comfort

Karahé Beach Hotel

Manuel Antonio

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Arenal Hanging Bridges Guided Walk & EcoTermales Hot Springs & Meal

Arenal/La Fortuna

Manuel Antonio National Park Guided Nature Hike

Manuel Antonio

Really good suggestions and organisation. Picked venues I would never have chosen and activities that were all top rate. Would definitely recommend.

Julia planned my 14 day trip to fjords in Norway. She did a superb job and my trip was amazing. I visited Flam, Balestrand, Bergen, Geiranger, Alesund, and Oslo. Every place was charming with a beauty of its own. As I was a solo traveller Julia had planned most of my excursions and given me enough options for my free time. It was indeed travel made easy and enjoyable! Thanks Julia and KimKim!

I am so happy that we decided to use Kim Kim! Ina and her team were prompt and very knowledgeable and helpful in the planning and the actual execution of our trip. We were in contact with her the entire trip and she continued to modify our plan according to our wishes! Loved it! Thanks Ina and KimKim!

Hotel Reviews

Cavos Hotel & Suites

Tinos

Super nice location and big rooms! Felt very luxurious. If you are big on cocktails however, the bar only makes a few of the common ones and they were not as good as we could find other places. However, the food and local drinks were very enjoyable! The pool is also very very nice. There is AC in the rooms, but it is only turned on when you are currently in the room. This is how it is all over Greece from our experiences.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Only giving 4 stars here because the bed was two twins pushed together and that was not ideal for our honeymoon hahaha. Also the AC situation was a shock coming from USA

Herodion Hotel

Acropolis, Athens

A very nice hotel with a great rooftop bar and beautiful greenhouse dining room.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Beautiful view of the Acropolis

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

The room was a little small, but other than that it was a great stay.

Korali Palace Hotel

Naxos

Very nice hotel with very friendly staff and a great location. We just walked everywhere from our hotel!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Right in town, but not on too busy of a street.

Staff

I loved the staff, but I wasn’t sure were else to mention this: the reception opens at 9am, and this is a problem when your flight leaves at 8:30am and you need to check out and pay the taxes on your room. Who I think was the owner did come down and open up early for us, but we had to get one of the breakfast staff to call her and explain our situation.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Hike & Cook in Naxos Villages

Naxos

SPECTACULAR! This was the coolest experience. The couple was so authentic and very hospitable and friendly. Our translator was super sweet and very knowledgeable. What was so cool with to me was that the translator (as the couple speaks no English) and the couple were actually good friends. It wasn’t just a job to either of them, they all would have been enjoying each other’s company without us being there, so it was like we were invited to a friends house for a casual but fun and delicious meal.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Sailing Tour around Naxos

Naxos

Quality of Experience

Quality of Experience

Food

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Transport

Emanuela did an incredible job planning this trip to Iceland for my family! She was super helpful and insightful about appropriate activities for myself, sister and dad. She was very professional and listened to our request and needs, and ultimately guided us in the right direction. We had a blast on the snowmobiles, forest lagoon, blue lagoon and glacier walking tour. We were provided an extremely detailed itinerary with where to go, the history behind the places and restaurant recommendations. There was a minor hiccup at a hotel, but Emanuela was reachable and helped solve the problem right away. We requested higher end hotels and only the ones in the main city of Reykjavik were exceptional. The others were a little run down compared to what we asked for, but that may be due to the remote towns we were in. Overall, we had a great experience.

Activity Reviews

Golden Circle

Reykjavík

It was really beautiful but extremely windy and a little hard to drive.

Langjokull glacier snowmobiling

Golden Circle

The most incredible activity we had. The company was extremely organized and made everything easy. We spent a decent amount of time snowmobiling, so we were all really happy. Would definitely make this a most on people’s itinerary.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Scenic Drive to Akureyri

Iceland

Did not see. We used the Google maps gps map provider for our drive and didn’t realize this was optional so we were already too far past it when we realized it was missed.

Forest Lagoon

Akureyri

Stunning. Would recommend this over blue lagoon.

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Guides, Drivers and Staff

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At the feet of the Vatnajokull glacier

Höfn

Would instead recommend going directly across the bridge to diamond beach. This area was extremely crowded and difficult to see.

Glacier Walking

Skaftafell

Our guide Sofie was incredible. She made the entire experience fun and educational.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Depart Iceland

Reykjavík

Easy airport.

The whole process from first contacting Daniel at Kimkim to discuss the itinerary through to arriving back home at the end of the holiday was as seamless as it could have been. Daniel was super responsive throughout and always happy to talk through any changes to the itinerary we wanted, and the guides/drivers we had in Ecuador were similarly super helpful and friendly (Danny, Francisco, Segundo and Pablo).

All the accommodation booked was exactly what we wanted (the Huayna Capac suite at the Luna Volcan adventure spa in Banos was particularly amazing) and all the activities were excellent (horse riding in Cotopaxi national park was a favourite of the kids, despite the weather). There was a lot of travelling during the holiday but the vehicle Daniel booked was perfect and spacious for a family of four.

Iberia airline were awful throughout but that's nothing to do with Kimkim and in fact Daniel helped a lot by finally getting Iberia to return our luggage which they lost. So if you want a reliable tour guide I would recommend Kimkim.

Hotel Review

Luna Volcán Adventure Spa

Baños

Book the Huayna Capac suite if you are in a family of four and it is available, the views are incredible. Checkout is 1230 lunchtime so make the most of it and checkout at 1230....

Activity Review

Agroecological Farm - Mompiche

Quito

We only stopped here because it was en route to our final destination but so glad we did as it was fascinating to get a personal tour of the farm and amazing lunch.

Our family of three returned last week from a truly phenomenal experience in Iceland, planned by Emanuela Grieco for KimKim. The process of planning the trip with Emanuela was entirely smooth - we worked through some adjustments after her itinerary was developed, and she incorporated our input at every step. Once we got on our way, we found the GoogleMap links to be particularly helpful on our driving days. While we did have a few very busy and long driving days, overall she planned just the right amount of activity in each day and the distances were manageable. Working with Emanuela saved our busy family a ton of time, resulted in an itinerary that we never would have produced ourselves, and and was worth every penny!!

Our itinerary that gave us sufficient time to explore Reykjavik at the beginning of our tripo, returning 3 mornings in a row to Braud & Co. for incredible pastries right near the Hallgrimskirkja. We had a really lovely dinner at Snaps, befriended a friendly Icelandic cat, and visited the Settlement Exhibition at the Reykjavik City Museum. She booked a helicopter ride over the volcano fields that left our 9 year old son's jaw on the floor, and a whale watch that enabled us to see 5 species of marine mammals. On our third day we left the city and toured the Snaefellsnes peninsula, having a very nice traditional Icelandic lunch at Langaholt Guesthouse & Restaurant on the south coast right after the Ytri Tunga Beaches. Further along, we joined a tour of a series of subterranean lava tubes left behind 8,000 years ago during a volcanic eruption. All around the peninsula, we kept trying to count waterfalls but there was so many it was impossible! By far our favorite hotel was FossHotel in Reykolt with lovely hot tubs and a quiet setting after a long day of travel. The Golden Circle is a "must do" but the sites along the way were (not unexpectedly) crowded and touristy - parking was a challenge at most stops. An unexpected find was the small, easily accessible Fitjarfoss waterfall off the 52 Road on the way to the Thingvellir Visitor Center from Reykolt. [Careful - there is more than 1 Reykolt in Iceland!]. After staying outside Selfoss, we traveled to Vik and along the way stopped at incredible waterfalls, fed bread to the friendly Icelandic horses and stumbled upon a film being shot on location at the Kvernufoss waterfall - a lesser known and much less crowded site than the incredible Seljalandsfoss waterfall. The Seljalandsfoss was awesome - our son loved the "pouring rain" and walking behind the falls. We had 2 perfect kid-friendly dinners in Vik at the Black Sand Pizza Company and Smidjan Brugghus and stayed at Hotel Kria, which had a great breakfast. Emanuela booked us a horseback ride along the black sand beaches the evening we arrived in Vik, and the next day she sent us out on a whirlwind day including a glacier hike on the near the Skaftafell Visitor Center with Troll Expeditions (Tina was a highlight for our son) and an amphibian boat tour of the Jokullsarlon Glacier Lagoon. The late afternoon sun light shining through drifting glaciers was gorgeous, and harbor seals were everywhere. On our last day we drove from Vik to Grindavik for an ATV tour over the lava fields and a final night at the gorgeous Silica Hotel, where we sampled the Blue Lagoon and had sandwiches at the hotel for dinner. The Blue Lagoon is absolutely worth, even if only for a strange, other-worldly experience and people watching!! Relaxation was more easily achieved in the smaller private lagoon of the Silica Hotel.

The overall experience was 5 stars. Karin’s direct experience and knowledge of Spain provided invaluable information in making decisions about the itinerary of the trip. The interactive application provided by Kimkim during the trip was extremely useful to review daily plans and verify trip details.

Hotel Reviews

Hotel NH Collection Granada Victoria

Granada

Great location

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Petit Palace Museum

Barcelona

Fair to good

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Melia Sevilla

Seville

A lot of amenities and good ambiance

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Catalonia Catedral Hotel

Barcelona

Fair to good

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Dear Hotel Madrid

Madrid

Great central location on Gran Via, metro station and plaza de ESPANA. Easy access to numerous city highlights

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Tapas Culinary Experience

Madrid

A must do if your visiting Spain. You get to taste a variety of tapas and wines, while getting a local feel of the people during this bar crawl.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Guided Visit of Madrid: History, Culture & Architecture of the Capital of Spain

Madrid

The guide was knowledgeable an insightful of the city’s history. She was very pleasant and easy going.

Quality of Experience

Train Madrid to Segovia, Guided Visit of Segovia, Train Segovia to Madrid

Madrid

Train ride is always fun. Segovia is a must with 3 major attractions: the Roman aqueduct, the cathedral and Alcazar.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Guided Visit: Alhambra & Generalife Gardens

Granada

A MUST DO!!! One of the major highlights of the trip. The 8th wonderful of the world.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

The high speed train

Flamenco Show

Granada

If your in Granada you have to see this original local show. The performers were extremely passionate about their craft.

Quality of Experience

Private Transfer {{start_location}} to {{end_location}} via Caminito del Rey

Spain

Again, a must do if your in this region. The hike brings diversity to your itinerary with its breathtaking views and natural settings.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

The actual S class Mercedes Benz used for transport; extremely comfortable!

Private Guided Visit of Seville

Seville

The guide was truly passionate and insightful. Walking through the Jewish quarter was very cool. Again having someone provide you input to what your observing simply enhances the experience.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Day Trip to Montserrat & Penedès Region Wine Tasting

Barcelona

Montserrat was very cool to see, but the wine tour was the highlight. You need to expand the time for the wine tour.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Catamaran Trip around Mallorca with Snorkeling, Kayaking or Paddleboarding

Mallorca

A fun way to introduce yourself to the island and get an opportunity to go swimming, relax, and drink.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

The trip was great overall, Our guide, Steph, was fantastic. We changed a few items in the itinerary due to weather/cancellations & added a few unplanned activities. All of the hotels were great. Activities
Bettys bay - Stoney Point Penguins colony; Wilderness - canoeing/hike; Boutkans bridge bungee jump; Tsitsikamma National park hike; Plettenburg Bay skydive; Robberg nature areas hike; Knysna catamaran sunset cruise; whale watch tour; Oudsthoorn cango caves; meerkat viewing

From the moment we started planning our trip James was an amazing resource and guide. He set up a fantastic itinerary that included Barcelona, San Sebastian, Costa Brava and Bilbao. We had amazing guided private tours in each city. Some of the highlights was the Pinchos tour in San Sebastian as well as our Picasso museum tour. The cooking class in Barcelona was very memorable. This was with cook taste Barcelona cooking class and our chef with Rosa. Our Picasso museum tour guide was unbelievably fantastic her name was Gilda

Rocio was our in country guide who was always available and made changes as necessary. We ate at some great restaurants hiked kayaked and spent amazing times with the Spanish people.

we loved every hotel we stayed at which included the Almanac in Barcelona, hotel lllondres in San Sebastian and aigua blava in costa brava

Entire team is fantastic and I would highly recommend going with him for your memorable trip to Spain

Hotel Review

Almanac Barcelona

Barcelona

Great staff Amazing pool Virens was awesome Superb location.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Everything

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Private Cooking Class with a Guided Visit to the Boqueria Market

Barcelona

Ross I was excellent. Very educational and Interactive. We loved the food and the experience

Quality of Experience

B

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

A Pintxos Tour of San Sebastian

San Sebastián

Visiting the culinary capital of the world and taking a guided Pintxo tour was just delicious. Recommend doing this very much visiting and Sebastian

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Half Day Kayak Excursion on the Costa Brava

Spain

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

I can’t express how much we enjoyed our trip to Portugal! Pedro and Joao exceeded our expectations both with the trip they planned for us as well as their responsiveness when anything came up along the way! While we enjoyed everything we did and all the places we stayed, we particularly enjoyed our walking tour of Lisbon with Ricardo, our drive to Sinatra with Jose, the beautiful Vila Vita Parc Hotel in the Algarve and the Aurora boat tour to see the caves!
We will definitely use Kimkim to plan vacations in the future!

Hotel Reviews

Pousada de Lisboa, Praça do Comércio - Monument Hotel

Lisbon

Beautiful, spacious hotel will situated in the heart of Lisbon. Great breakfast buffet included

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Vila Vita Parc

Porches

Gorgeous hotel with very comfortable guest suites, delicious food and drink, very accommodating staff and unbeatable views!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Pestana Cidadela Cascais

Cascais

Large comfortable rooms overlooking the marina in an old converted citadel with very interesting art installations throughout. Well located adjacent to the city center.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Private Historic Odyssey Walking Tour of Lisbon

Lisbon

Ricardo did an excellent job navigating around the hills and around to lesser known vantage points and sharing the interesting history of Lisbon. He is a very knowledgeable guide. This tour is what I wish my history classes would have been!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Immerse Yourself in the Portuguese Culture by Experiencing a Fado Dinner

Lisbon

Very authentic Portuguese experience!

Quality of Experience

The music was beautiful! The only negative was that the restaurant was small and when the singing began, they turned off the a/c and closed the door to better hear the performance but that made it quite stuffy inside.

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Unveil the Fairytale Villa of Sintra with a Private Driver Service

Portugal

Our driver Jose was very informative about the area and even took us to some hidden gems for photos and the beautiful Monte Mar for lunch. What a great day!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Private Boat Voyage to the Spectacular Benagil Grottoes

Portugal

Unfortunately, we were dropped off at the wrong location for this trip by our taxi driver so we thought we would miss it, but Pedro contacted the tour company and they waited and hour and a half for us to get there to start this amazing private tour of the caves! So glad it worked out because it was truly one of the highlights of the vacation! The boat captain navigated the caves so beautifully around the waves, kayakers and paddle boarders to get us unbelievable views of these magnificent caves. Ogo, the guide was very knowledgeable about the area explaining the formation of the area and showing us beautiful vantage points and interesting fauna.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

There was a mixup getting to the right place but once we found it, it was worth the trip!!

Good planning overall. Was helpful in taking out a lot of the work for us to plan and book and organize.

What’s missing:
1) The order shown for site visits and hotel check ins shown on a given day in the summary and detail plan needs to match the order shown on the driving maps. On most days, they didn’t.
2) Every tour and site visit on the plan needs to show (without having to look at vouchers or tour company websites):
- Total time at site (with ranges or estimate for self-guided sites)
- Total time round trip from hotel
- More logistical info - for example distance/walking time from site parking lot to site (frequently walks were much longer than we knew and messed up our timing - we ran behind). Every night, it took us half an hour or more to plan the following day step by step in order to make tour times, dinner reservations, factor in time and logistics for eating lunch, etc. And we had to look up missing information
3) For a couple of the self guided tours, way too little time was factored in when planning the day - in one case a visit was suggested that we figured would take 30-40 minutes but including a critical scenic cliff walk tour that was was a highlight of the day but took 1.5-2 hours. We didn’t know, missed most of it and saw later from people posting on a Facebook page that it was amazing. We would have planned the day differently had we known.
4) Driving times and distances between individual stops on a day’s driving map
5) Too many separate links are provided for the plan, driving directions, geo locations, vouchers, special driving tips and instructions, etc. Should all be included in the plan. 1 single link. 1 single document. Creates too much self-organizing, printing, arranging and cross-referencing when preparing for trip.
6) Every agent needs to have their cell number on the site.

This was truly a vacation that was filled with fun, adventure, delicious food, wonderful people, beautiful nature and animals, peace of mind, and memories to last a lifetime! Thank you KimKim and especially Sergio for making this such a wonderful experience. I truly appreciated Sergio’s patience and perseverance as we carefully refined our itinerary!

When we landed at San Jose’ we found our driver easily. After a red-eye flight it was a treat to be driven to our first destination, Nayara Springs! We were greeted by Andreas and escorted to a comfortable chair in the lobby where we enjoyed a cool cloth to refresh and a sample of their delicious drinks. Here is where we checked in to our room and were introduced to the many amenities of this beautiful hotel. We enjoyed a delicious lunch overlooking the Arenal Volcano and infinity pool. Our room was more like a luxury apartment! Their were two vanity areas in the bathroom, an indoor shower, private outdoor shower, large bedroom and sitting area, private patio complete with lounge bed, table & chairs, hammock, plunge pool, and the most beautiful landscape complete with birds and other creatures that graced us with their presence! Our stay here was outstanding! All of the hotel staff were super friendly, helpful, and knowledgeable. The head chef was friendly & made creative dishes. It was here that we had some of the most unique and delicious meals, and the service was exceptional! Above the lobby is where I was able to get some of my first Costa Rican Coffee! Amazing! Andreas was always available to help us and even found the sloth we so wanted to see! The hotel even surprised me with a happy birthday decoration, card, and champagne in our room when we arrived home from our first tour.

Kenneth Arenal Guide was awesome! He and Pablo (great driver) provided us with our Arenal Volcano Private Hike & La Fortuna Waterfall Tour. Kenneth was truly amazing as he shared his knowledge of Costa Rica and guided us to the base of the volcano. He brought his scope along and was very talented at taking photos and videos through it to share with us. Kenneth has a passion for his work and has an incredible ability to seek out all kinds of wildlife. We had a delicious snack that Pablo had prepared for us at the end of the hike, and then we headed for the Waterfall. The 500 steps down with the cool mist of the fall was peaceful, and we stopped to take more photos of course! Kenneth was always patient, helpful, and never rushed us. What a way to begin our tour experience! I highly recommend Kenneth and also left him a 5star review on Costa Rica Travel.

Safari Float at the Penas Blancas River was also a fun. We grabbed our paddles and enjoyed a float with a small group to observe more wildlife. The guides on this float were fun, informative, and also had a great ability to find alligators, iguanas, herons, and so much more! After, we enjoyed lunch and had our first intro into extracting the juice from the sugar cane. Lots of pictures! Lots of Fun!

The transfer to Monteverde I would categorize as fun! Our driver had a new vehicle which he took pride in, and was kind enough to make a couple of stops for us to get coffee. We were enjoying the music he played as he expertly avoided as many pot holes as possible. At one point we were all singing the Queen song “Don’t Stop Me Now” at the top of our lungs… we were truly “having such a good time”. :)

Senda Monteverde Hotel was like being nestled in a little mountain cabin. Again we were offered drinks when we arrived and the friendly staff checked us into our room. The rain that was promised finally arrived! We had quite a down pour, but we were thrilled to be safe in our room and enjoyed watching the rain. After all it was a perfect time to relax after our long drive. By the way… I give this hotel the “Softest Robe Award”! Truly the softest and coziest robes of all the places we stayed. There were even hot water bottles at night and complimentary snacks in our room. The bartender and servers here were so friendly that we enjoyed all of our meals here!

Sky Adventures Zip Lines & Hanging Bridges - YES! YES! YES! This is a definite must if one visits the Monteverde area. We definitely chose to enjoy the hanging bridges with a guide. Again the guide was instrumental to finding interesting creatures and fully enjoying the experience above the jungle canopy. The zip lines were truly exhilarating! What an adventure! Again - lots of photos…. Lots of laughs! The staff here works hard to make this a safe and fun experience.

Coffee & Chocolate Tour - Very enjoyable! It was nice to be in a small group. Our guide was so informative and we learned so much about coffee and chocolate. It was here where I felt I was able to learn more about the culture and people who work in these areas as well. Yes, we bought lots of coffee and chocolate for gifts … and ourselves too!

Transfer to Gulf of Papagayo - again another wonderful driver. He was super kind and stopped to show us monkeys and picked a small orchid for me along the roadside. At one stop we were able to see some beautiful McCaws too!

Casa Chameleon Hotel Las Catalinas was another gorgeous hotel with an incredible view of the ocean. Again we were welcomed with a refreshing cloth and special drink. Our luggage was carried to our room for us… thankfully! Fortunately we enjoy walking and hiking and the 75 steps down to our room … and back up….well… let’s just say we stayed in shape! Our room was well decorated, complimentary snacks and drinks, and even hot tea and treats were left at night! Here we experienced still more amazing staff, food, and scenery! The servers all work so hard! I looked forward to the delicious fruit plate, coffee, specialty juice, and pastries that were served every morning. There was also entertainment at night, and they made a delicious Negroni too! William at the front desk helped me to pack some gifts that I purchased there to take home safely. There were so many extra touches… ones that might go unnoticed… such as something as simple as insuring that when we were leaving for a tour that we were notified when the driver arrived and confirmed that it was the correct one. We really appreciated all of the kindness and thoughtfulness of the staff!

Wetlands Boat Ride and Rum Tasting at Hacienda El Viejo - loved this tour too for so many reasons. Carlos/Charlie was our driver and was friendly, patient, & thoughtful too! We enjoyed our time with him in the car and also at the Hacienda El Viejo. Our guide (Daniel, I think) was exceptional as well. Helping us to find more wildlife as we toured the wetlands by boat. After we took a side tour through another section not often traveled and were able to spot so many more birds and even a rare Jabiru’! After another delicious lunch we walked down to meet our tour guide Roberto for the Rum Tasting. Roberto was also passionate about his work and shared so much information with us. We even got to blend our own rum to take home! I definitely would go back here on another visit. Hacienda El Viejo is such a beautiful place with such history, and I hear that they are adding beer tasting room soon too!

Our last tour was the Sunset Catamaran Sailing Tour. The crew was awesome and worked hard to insure everyone had a great time. Drinks were served right away and the sailing began. We even spotted turtles in the water as we sailed. When we reached a cove the crew offered snorkeling, paddle boarding, and kayaking. They were so helpful providing equipment and assisting all of the passengers. I enjoyed kayaking and just relaxing on the boat realizing this was our last full day in Costa Rica. The crew provided some delicious snacks/dinner too! We saw a beautiful sunset and then returned to shore. Although we really enjoyed this tour, I think we would have enjoyed a more romantic type sunset cruise for our last evening here.

Thank you for helping to make this trip to Costa Rica so memorable! Even the weather was wonderful. We were expecting lots of rain, and we only experienced it a few times - once in Monteverde and then a couple of evenings in Nayara Springs. We are so grateful!

My husband and I had the most impeccably organized 13-day honeymoon planned by Veronica. She made sure we were able to do everything we wanted and everything was planned with love and top notch detail. Everything from transportation, local recommendations, and tours with knowledgeable and courteous organizations, made this trip truly unforgettable. We’ll never forget our memories of hiking through the Cloud Forest and rappelling down waterfalls near Arenal Volcano. Thank you Veronica and GWA for making our honeymoon the trip of a lifetime and showing us the true Costa Rican experience. Pura Vida!

Although he was not our original planner, Chris hopped right in and did a wonderful job of creating our Italian adventure. He communicated with us from the get go and always answered our questions/concerns timely. Transportation, tours and accommodations all went well. Athough the time was short, we felt like we were able to get a good feel for Florence, Lake Como and Venice, all special places that we would visit again.

Tours: We only had a few tours planned (unfortunately the museums were closed on Mondays in Florence) and Chris arranged several - one to the Accademia Gallery to see the David Statue and a walking tour of the city. I especially liked Deborah, the guide who lead the walking tour. She was very knowledgable and seemed to enjoy what she was doing. We were on our own in Lake Como which was nice not to have to adhere to a schedule. The food and wine tour in Venice was interesting but we felt the guide rushed through it as if she wished she were someplace else...

Transportation:
We had personal drivers for much of our trip. Cars were clean and comfortable. The bottled water provided was much appreciated. The drivers were all on time (actually early, for the most part) and even tho some did not speak much English, they had apps on their phones to help with communication. Our water taxi in Venice to the airport was a fun(and a little wet) ride. Maneuvering the train from Florence to Milan was a little tricky because nowhere on the board in the train station did it say Milan, but we went with the train number and time so we were ok. We had 2nd class tickets and the seats were quite comfortable. We thoroughly enjoyed our boat ride from Venice to Murano (extra charge) and tho we did not see a glass blowing demonstration, we found a gallery and made some beautiful purchases. We wish we had had more time there and also to go to the island of Burano.
We did not take a gondola ride, but used the city boat transportation both days we were there.
The ferry that took us from Como to Varenna was at times crowded but the scenery made it worth it.

Accommodations:
All were spectacular. I had changed a couple that Chris picked out initially based on my budget and they were well worth the upgrade. The Plaza Hotel Lucchesi in Florence had a most spectacular rooftop view of the city. The Palace Hotel in Como had a wonderful view of the lake from our room. The Hotel Antiche Figure in Venice was a small boutique hotel (no view from rooms) that was a personal favorite of Chris's and the couple who ran it was so kind and helpful.
Although we are not big breakfast eaters, all of the hotels provided abundant and delicious spreads each morning. And they thankfully all had A/C!!

Hotel Reviews

Palace Hotel Lake Como

Como

Perfect location overlooking the lake.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Lakeside view was beautiful. Short walk to everything.

Staff

There was a mixup with the number of rooms we and our friend were to have but it got straightened out with no issue.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Comfy bed and bathroom shower. Not the step up kind that we see so often in Europe, but a walk in shower that is more to our liking.

Hotel Antiche Figure

Venice

This is a small boutique hotel with helpful and friendly staff who went out of their way to assist.

Authenticity & Character

I loved the Venetian mirrors and light fixtures in the breakfast room.

Location

It is directly across from the train station and one of the water transportation stops. Walkable to just about everything.

Staff

Could not have been any more helpful and friendly. The owners really seem to enjoy all of their guests!

Cleanliness & Comfort

Room had everything we needed but the view was lacking (we faced the side of the building next door). Also, not a fan of the two single beds pushed together. Also, not a fan of the handheld shower wand.

Plaza Hotel Lucchesi

Florence

Our room was spacious and modern. Lots of closet space. We overlooked the river and the rooftop bar/small plates had a most spectacular rooftop view of the city. Bartender in the lobby bar was delightful.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Away from the crowds

Staff

All friendly and accommodating

Cleanliness & Comfort

Bed comfortable, good A/C and lots of room

Activity Reviews

Afternoon guided tour to Accademia

Florence

It was good, but very crowded at the Accademia making it a little hard to focus on what our tour guide was saying.

Best Of Florence Walking Tour

Florence

I thought our tour guide Deborah was great! She was quite enthusiastic and informative about her city and I loved her accent.

Cicchetti & Wine Tour

Venice

This was a private tour, just me and my husband and the tour guide. She took us to several small bars and we sampled small plates/tapas and wine in the busy Rialto (?) section of town. The food was a bit exotic for our taste - anchovies, octupus, creamed cod etc but that was described to us when we chose it. Wine pours were generous. Although we enjoyed it, we felt a little rushed through this tour and it seemed like the tour guide wished she were someplace else.

Departure day

Italy

Our driver didn't arrive at the specified time, but the hotel owners quickly got a hold of him and he was there within 5 minutes. It was a fun ride to the airport. Once we departed the boat, there was a person at the dock to help us with our luggage, since the airport is a good ten minute walk away. This was helpful since we had a lot of luggage.

Welcome to Lake Como

Lake Como

We had free time in Como to explore on our own. We took the Funnicular up the mountain for the most spectacular view of the lake and the town. The line to get in was long and it was hot and the bathrooms were a bit shady, but overall we enjoyed the excursion. The ferry to Varenna was very long but relaxing. There were multiple stops along the way but we opted to stop in Varenna, which was awesome!

Jessica planned such an amazing trip with the limited time we had! We especially loved the floating Islands and interacting with the locals. Our guides were very friendly and knowledgeable and we absolutely loved and adored them. Peru was so stunning and we are so happy that we had Jessica to plan this to our liking where we didn’t have to worry about calling a taxi, or what we would have to do on certain days.

We are very happy with our experience with Kimkim. Nadia was very responsive to our requests and quickly gained a good understanding of our goals and intentions for the trip. She selected high-quality venues and experiences for us, and gave us all the resources we needed to feel confident that we could make the most of our time in Greece.

The trip went very smoothly from start to finish. The hotels were all of good quality in excellent locations. All of our drivers and guides were professional and welcoming. Particularly memorable tour guides were 1. Penny (Delphi) who went out of her way to engage the children and help us see and learn as much as possible of the ruins in a few hours, and 2. Celia (food tour), who was very fun for all of us including the children and also knowledgable and generous with her time and energy. Andreas (driver to Delphi) was also extremely kind and fun to get to know during our long car ride. Feedback for Anna (kids mythology tour) is that at times it was difficult to hear her above the traffic or other city noise (needs a louder voice or wait until we are in a quiet place to speak) - but she did teach us a lot when we could hear her. For Manos (Knossos) - we were a bit frustrated when twice he stopped to take an extended call on his cell phone during our tour; other than that he was knowledgable and made the tour very informative and engaging.

A shoutout also goes to the manager of the Hotel Ariadne in Naxos, who was extremely welcoming and kind to us throughout our stay. We would heartily recommend his hotel to others looking for a stay in Agios Prokopios.

On this trip we achieved exactly the balance we were looking for in visiting historical sites, experiencing Greek culture, eating the best local food, and enjoying the beauty of the Mediterranean while avoiding big tourist traps. Will definitely use kimkim for future trips and have already recommended it to others.

Hotel Reviews

Achilleas Hotel

Athens

Very comfortable facilities. Friendly staff. Excellent location within walking distance of many Athens hotspots.

Authenticity & Character

Location

walkable to endless restaurants, markets, squares, historical sites

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Lato Boutique Hotel

Heraklion

Excellent location - walkable to city center and fortress. Friendly staff. Made use of the beautiful rooftop restaurant. Huge breakfast buffet available at long hours. Comfortable rooms.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Ariadne hotel Naxos

Naxos

Extremely kind and welcoming staff who checked in with us throughout our stay to ensure our needs were being met. Beautiful setting, walkable to beach, lovely pool, plenty of restaurants and markets nearby. Bus stop a few blocks away with service to other areas of the island. Rooms were comfortable, we enjoyed the verandas.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Holiday Inn Athens - Airport

Athens

Convenient, clean, well-run. Reliable shuttle to/from airport. Practical choice for our final night before heading to airport.

Activity Reviews

Restaurants in Athens

Athens

This was very useful as there are so many restaurants in Athens, a decision among Nadia's suggestions felt much more manageable. We ate at several of them and they were all very good.

Mythology for Families

Athens

Kids enjoyed writing their names in Greek, and we learned about lots of the local architecture and saw some of the ruins while walking around town, with the relevant mythology weaved in.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Athens Museums

Athens

Private Full-Day Trip to Delphi

Athens

Was really exciting to spend a day exploring the countryside outside of Athens and see Mt. Parnassus and the ruins at Delphi. We had a fascinating tour of the museum and ruins, followed by a delicious lunch at a family-run olive grove/tavern.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Andreas (driver) was fun to get to know on the multi-hour ride, and a safe driver. Penny (tour guide at Delphi) was outstanding --- very knowledgable, engaging for all of us (including the kids), and helped us make the best use of our short time at Delphi.

Transport

Flavors of Athens Food Tour for Families

Athens

This was a really fun way to learn about Greek cuisine and culture and be able to try some of Athens' best products. We made so many stops at a really wide variety of locations (markets, shops, restaurants, cafes) each specializing in a different and important part of Greek cuisine. Very impressive tour - we left feeling VERY full and with our arms full of take-home goodies.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Celia was so sweet and really fun for all of us to spend the morning with. Very knowledgable and committed to making sure we had a good time.

Transport

Hiking the ‘ring’ in Central Naxos

Naxos

Was a beautiful setting and we appreciated the opportunity to see some of the more remote villages and farmland in Naxos, to break up our beach days. Mildly strenuous hike. Everyone really enjoyed being able to sample the delicious figs, berries, grapes growing along the path as we hiked.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Thomas was very knowledgable and engaging. Was a bit put off by his cigarette smoking during the hike.

Transport

Restaurant Suggestions in Naxos

Naxos

Most of the suggested restaurants were not within walking distance of our hotel, and we did not have a car. Eventually we figured out how to use the public bus to get to the port where one of the restaurants was, but mostly we just ate at restaurants close to our hotel which were ok but nothing too memorable. Our dining experience in Naxos was definitely inferior to that in Heraklion and Athens -- not bad, but nothing memorable like the many highlights we had in the other places.

This was the trip of a lifetime. Angela worked through the details of our itinerary with us, tweaking it as we customized it. She was extremely responsive.

Alexis was a fabulous guide, allowing us to change our plans and then showed us a number of sights that fed our archaeological hunger that were off the beaten path.

Janne was a great driver and turned out to be a wonderful guide on his own as he got us from our hotel in Athens to Delphi and Meteora and back to Athens. He gave us a nice bit of color along the way.

Nicole gave us a tour of Therassia with lots of local information and history. The tour was a bit of death march up hills and stairs, but we saw wonderful caves, a beautiful church, and tasted local figs and plants along the way and got the triumphal sprig of rosemary when we reached the pinnacle!

The one thing I would recommend is doing the tour of Athens and the Acropolis+museum in two four hour days. Or waiting until you have fully recovered from the jet lag. It was more than a bit of a death march and, by the afternoon at the museum, we all felt it was interesting, but just wanted to lie down.

I highly recommend this kind of tour. It was private, just the three of us, and even though the tour guides have an agenda, which gets in the way of in depth exploration, every moment was orchestrated to give us the highest and most comfortable experience possible (except when marching, but that is easily adjusted for in the future).

I will never go on a tour with a large group after this experience and I will definitely use KimKim again for my next trip.

We are so grateful to Maria Grazia, who helped us plan the perfect family trip to Italy and to Jessica for answering any questions immediately while we were there! The tours and tour guides with Liv Tours added so much history and life to our experiences! SaraG in Florence was particularly wonderful. The transportation arrangements were seamless and the accommodations each offered something special for our family! We can’t thank this team enough for helping provide a lifetime of memories!