Kimkim Trip Reviews

thank you Lize and the Kimkim team and our wonderful knowledgeable guides. Rehana and Leisel for a fantastic trip . The experiences from the hike up Table Mountain, Cape Tour and phenomenal Garden Route and all their suggestions made for unforgettable memories! First rate!

We started planning this trip a few years ago in 2020. When the pandemic hit we had to pause for two years. As a result the trip had to be planned again. Kate and Alex did a remarkable job both times to create a memorable experience for my mom's 80th birthday. We flew into Edinburgh and explored that city for a few days, then travelled up into the Highlands and back down into Edinburgh. The hotels and attractions they booked were exactly what we wanted. Our trip then shifted into Ireland as we flew into Belfast and then drove around Ireland staying in a different place every night or two. Again, the hotels, restaurants and attractions were all booked for us, met the precise needs we had and were spaced very well.

I couldn't have built a better trip myself! They customized it for us and it fit us like a glove. There is no question that I would use KimKim again to plan a trip. They saved me so much planning time before the trip and during the trip I didn't have to worry about anything because they had given us such detailed plans. Also, we were able to reach out for support if we needed them.

Alex proactively checked in with us a few times to make sure all was going according to plan. The personal touch was so appreciated.

I am so glad to have booked my trip with the KimKim team. From the start the communication in planning the trip was exceptional. The trip was organized exactly how we envisioned. We got to visit 4 cities in just one week and the way the trip was organized it allowed us to explore each city in a day and still get the full experience. Our accommodations (hotels/riads) were beautiful and the service was amazing by the hotel staff. Our local tour guides Mohammad and Mustafa did an amazing job in letting us explore Fes and Marrakech by providing us their expertise of the area.
I can’t write this review without saying a special THANK-YOU to our driver Karim without whom the trip wouldn’t have been the same. From the start by picking us at the airport Karim made sure we had a safe transfer to our first city. Karim always came with an amazing attitude each day and really showed us what Moroccan hospitality is all about. He went out of his way to help us with anything we needed. Another added mention is how he would always share with us his own cultural background stories of his home Berber. He would also provide us with extra facts along our journey which just made the whole experience even more enjoyable. I know I will definitely be requesting Karim as our driver when I come back to Morocco with my family.
Thank you to the KimKim team! And Karim for a wonderful memories filled trip.

Hotel Reviews

Riad Salam Fes

Fes

Amazing Riad ! And Amaing Staff !! Special tanks to Ayub! Loved his cheerful personality. We really appreciated the time he took to explain the history of the riad and always greeted us with a smile. It definitely elevated our experience at the already beautiful riad.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Amazing Staff!!

Cleanliness & Comfort

Riad Dar Dar

Rabat

Good welcome tea and breakfast !

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Dar Mounir

Chefchaouen

Loved the location - so close the main attraction of blue city

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Palais Sebban

Marrakech

Very beautiful riad

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Oum Palace Hotel & SPA

Casablanca

Loved the service - nice staff

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Review

Half-Day Guided Tour of Marrakech

Marrakesh

Absolutely loved Mostafa's company! Will definitely ask for him on our next trip.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

The trip planning experience was relatively smooth, and we really enjoyed our family vacation to Iceland. Our advisor, Janel, quickly answered questions during the planning stages, and listened to our comments. The itinerary she put together included all of our areas of interest, and all of our bookings went well.
That said, I feel like the level of service was relatively generic and did not appear to leverage any specific insight or knowledge from someone based in country. I would have liked to have more options to choose from when deciding on places to stay, and the ability to customize a bit more. I would have prioritized lodging better suited to having 2 young kids, for instance. Also, knowing that we would be arriving to the airport after the rental car shuttle closed, would have been helpful to start off. Or knowing that during our time in Reykjavik, there would be a major event (marathon) occurring that would impact driving and parking at our hotel.
Overall, KimKim and Janel provided a useful service for making a wonderful country accessible. Next time, I would do additional diligence to make sure all the details fit our needs.

Hotel Reviews

Room With A View Apartment Hotel

Reykjavík

Do not book this hotel on the weekend - our room was next to a nightclub that was open til 3am with extremely loud music.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Fosshotel Hellnar

Hellnar

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Héradsskólinn Historic Guesthouse

Laugarvatn

Decent and roomy. lacks a few amenities like hand soap. towels like sandpaper. restaurant at hostel across the street was very good.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Cleanliness & Comfort

Farmhouse Lodge

Vík

Nice place, but a little cramped for a family with 2 young kids.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Vík Apartments

Vik I Myrdal

Modern, roomy, and functional. great for families. grocery store across the street a bonus.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

The Secret Lagoon

Iceland

better than I expected, nice relaxing environment. however, my son's sneakers were stolen from the locker room.

Quality of Experience

Jokulsarlon glacier lagoon amphibian boat tour

Iceland

pretty typical tourist attraction, wish they had gone closer to the glacier. was raining during our trip, which was not ideal, but still a beautiful sight.

Blue Lagoon

Iceland

relaxing, as advertised. the water did leave my skin feeling weird though.

Our vacation to Croatia was wonderful and stress free due to Nikola's preplanning and booking of all of accomodations, restaurants, activities, and transfers. All the service providers were professional, punctual, and courteous. Special thanks to our Split tour host Ivana, our driver Joseph from Split to Dubrovnik, and Mirko our Elafiti Islands boat tour skipper for some memorable days.

And very special thanks to Nikola for being just a phone call away and handling our schedule changes.

My fiancé and I recently booked an incredible trip to Morocco through Kim Kim and Wanderlust and we could not have been more happy! This was our very first time to Africa and every step of the process from start to finish was seamless and comfortable. For a very risk averse person such as myself, this prevented many a sleepless night worrying about accommodations, itinerary options and transportation, all of which can become a bit of a nuisance when trying to make the most of money and time.

Once we expressed interest in our destination, we were matched with Megan, an incredible advisor who was honestly a saint. I had so, so many questions, from recommendations on tipping to Roman ruin sites and much more. She was so prompt in responding through instant messenger and after we chatted for a bit, she sent me a fully formed itinerary that we could customize. The BEST! Payment through the online portal was simple and straightforward and adjustments in planning sites to see can be made even after the initial trip is finalized. It was a very enjoyable experience.

Now, for the really brilliant part. We totally lucked out with our guide, Hassan Amraoui. I can honestly say I've never met a person like him. Both my fiancé and I wholly believe the BEST part of our trip were the hours in between destinations simply talking with him. To be able to look back on a trip to AFRICA, with all its beauty and splendor, and think, "Wow, those hours spent in the car talking with our friend were the best part," is something I could have never predicted. He is a kind, engaging, considerate and a 100% genuine human being. He cared so much for our experience and wellbeing and we felt totally safe in his care. He shared his family history, his love of languages, cultures and people and made our trip the experience it was. I cannot begin to describe the relief and joy when, after getting off the plane in a new land after a 14 hour flight, you're met by a person such as Hassan, with the big smile and heart he has. I honestly consider him my good friend. If you are lucky enough to work with Hassan, this alone will make your trip outstanding.

All in all, this was truly a trip of a lifetime. My fiancé (then girlfriend) and I were engaged in Chefchaouen on this trip and Morocco will always hold a special place in our hearts. I will absolutely be using Kim Kim/ Wanderlust in the future and I give them my fullest recommendations. This is a truly stellar company. Hassan is a truly stellar human being. Much love to them all.

Marina was amazing! So great to work with and our trip was everything we had hoped for. When Marina was out, she had someone available for any questions. We had one hiccup our last day, when our car service for the airport did not arrive at 315am. We had someone still available and respnded promptly when we reached out. We ended up needing a cab that the hotel scheduled, and Marina and her team will be refunding us accordingly. Amazing service. Will certainly use KimKim for future travels. So happy with the outcome!

We really enjoyed our experience planning our trip with KimKim and our rep Simon. We were thrilled with the collaboration to set up the trip and how Simon accomodated our requests and questions especially as it related to suitability for our children. It wasn’t a one time correspondence, but a good back and forth of ideas, suggestions and then a final plan.

Once we arrived it was such a breeze. Everything happened as it should and made our trip so enjoyable. Standout tours were Cedric with Normandy Excursions (he was really amazing keeping our children's attention!), Manuel at the Eiffel Tower, chocolate and pastry tours of Le Marias and Loire Valley wine.

We have already recommended kimkim to friends and will certainly use them again.

Our trip was INCREDIBLE! Adriana and Yuliana were BEYOND helpful and had wonderful suggestions to make our holiday even more special! As a single
mom this was a very special trip and we felt safe and participated in EVERY adventure possible from ziplining to rafting to animal walks, a volcano hike, hot springs, surfing, parasailing, whale and dolphin watching to suspension bridges….
THANK YOU!
Carolyn

Two weeks in Iceland and it was an incredible journey! Our agent, Rinolda created a fantastic trip plan for us. We had one phone call with her and she understood everything we wanted for our travel. All the arrangements were great! The driving routes were well planned with numerous site seeing suggestions. We had no problems with hotel reservations and they were all very nice!

There is so much to explore in this beautiful country! The waterfalls were all gorgeous! Dynjandi is the most beautiful falls I have ever seen! Latrabjarg Cliffs was magnificant with puffins and seabirds! Blue Lagoon was therapeutic with its spa! We took a two day South Coast tour and our tour guide Luba was wonderful! We love our trip so much that we are already planning to go back.
KikKim will definitely be our agent again!

We had a great time in Ecuador! It’s a wonderful place to visit and the people are very friendly. Our trip was about 2 weeks and we stayed in the mountains between Quito and Cuenca. Our driver Christobal was great and Isabel with Kim Kim did a great job at making all of the arrangements at the hotels and coordinating all of the activities. I would highly recommend using both Isabel with KimKim and Christobal if you want to have a nice time in Ecuador! Thanks again! 😃

Bea and Karin were fantastic, especially their response time to all our messages. Really made a difference in our trip.

It is impossible to sum up in just a few words how AMAZING our trip was to Morocco!!! From the very beginning of planning Sharon was so easy to work with and planned an absolutely wonderful trip. Once we arrive in Morocco our guide Yassine made sure that our trip was everything we wanted and more. We immediately felt comfortable with Yassine and knew he would be a great guide. Traveling with young kids (5 and 6) can be challenging at times but Yassine has the patience of a saint and a true love for children. By the end of our trip we were all sad to have to say good bye and my kids ask daily, when are we going back to Morocco to see Yassine!

Activity Review

Guided Tour of Marrakech

Marrakesh

The guide was great and showed us the beautiful Bahia Palace. He was wonderful with the kids when they got too hot and needed to take a break.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Michael was very helpful with any small or big issue. He was available on whatsup within minutes and found a solution to every problem very effectively. We liked all guides but the most helpful and knowledgeable was Alex. We loved our trip and the only thing we wish was is to stay few more days in Colombia. We would also probably choose a different hotel in Cartagena.

Thoughtful and cool plan considering I made the decision to travel to Iceland only 2 months before

Hotel Review

Arnarstapi Hotel

Snæfellsbær

Cool place. Ask for room w sea view

Location

View

Activity Reviews

Langjokull Glacier Snowmobiling

Iceland

Great to do. Ideally group not too large as then you will go as slow as the slowest in the group

Silfra Snorkeling

Iceland

Must do. Make time

Snæfellsjökull Glacier Summit Hike

Iceland

Loved it. Cool especially as I had a sunny day

I am very grateful to Eduardo and his team for helping me plan my solo birthday trip to Guatemala and for sharing the food, customs and culture of this magical and historical place and also for encouraging me in my Spanish Language acquisition journey! It was wonderful, safe and I felt very supported. Thank you very much ☺️ I enjoyed my trip mostly because i fell in love with the people from Guatemala - friendly, gregarious, happy, creative, humorous, thoughtful souls with the most amazing history. If I am ever to return to Guatemala, el corazón del mundo Maya, I’ll pack an extra stomach for the food, an extra suitcase for the art and an extra heart chamber for the love…

Our experience with Kimkim was outstanding. The planning of our trip to Norway (primarily focused on Oslo and Bergen) went well, and we got quick responses to any questions. The itinerary turned out to be a good mix of planned activity and the chance to explore leisurely. The only day that was packed was our Norway in a Nutshell day, traveling between Oslo and Bergen, and we were pretty tired after that. The hotels where we stayed were excellent.

I always felt that if we needed help, we could get it right away from a call to Kimkim. As it turned out, we didn't need help.

We are older travelers and did this trip entirely by public transportation. We are glad we did it and will likely come back to Scandinavia again.

Hotel Reviews

Grand Hotel Oslo

Oslo

It is a very comfortable hotel in a great location. The service was outstanding. I would go back there again.

Authenticity & Character

The feeling of being in a grand old hotel

Location

In the city center close to the harbor (easy walking distance) and museums

Staff

Staff helped us get taxis when needed and were very efficient

Cleanliness & Comfort

It had the level of cleanliness I would have expected from a grand hotel

Hotel Norge by Scandic

Bergen

This renovated hotel is "hopping." There is a great deal of activity going on there, and it has a very contemporary vibe. I liked staying there except that the hallways are dark and the signage is a bit hard to read. Still, I liked staying there and the location is great. It is close to the train station, the KODE art museums, and the university. The harbor is not far away either.

Authenticity & Character

Like a modern international hotel

Location

Close to all the things we wanted to see

Staff

Good service, though our laundry order was mishandled because we weren't informed that there was no service on weekends.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Very good housekeeping service

Activity Reviews

Oslofjord Sightseeing Cruise

Oslo

Loved seeing the ships in the harbor and then the islands/peninsulas with houses on them!

Quality of Experience

Fun to talk with other people on the trip

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Nice older ship

Fjord Cruise to Rosendal

Bergen

We enjoyed the cruise and the trip to Rosendal. It was a pleasant day to experience the water and the scenery. We liked Rosendal as well.

Quality of Experience

We particularly liked the cruise on the water. It's fun to look at the houses and also the fisheries (salmon farms).

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Very professional

Transport

Very nice ship

This was our first time working with a travel agent, so we went into it with apprehensions. Taf and her team were exceptional at planning out our trip, giving us a unique mix of experiences, and they were always there when we needed them - literally day or night. We thoroughly enjoyed our experience and look forward to working with Taf again!

The trip Bryan planned was great. Overall, we had professional tour guides and felt like the locations we visited were the best for what we were looking for. Pablo, our driver and guide for our first day, was exceptional, had great energy, and left us with many tips that other tourists did not know about. (ie. Soda's are family owned restaurants!)

One room for improvement would be to communicate with local excursions/drivers/and us/tourist if there is a cancellation. For example, our driver picked us up and drove us to the excursion location (50 min away from Nosara to Samara) and back to the hotel upon learning of the cancellation of our diving excursion due to ocean conditions. We thankfully received a refund for the cancellation of the excursion.

Thank you to Bryan and the Serendipity Adventures team for the lovely holiday. Our wonderful trip leaves us with a want to return Costa Rica again in the future.

Our trip was amazing and we are very grateful for all the hard work that went into planning it! We were able to see all the sites that we wanted to and Francis, our tour guide, was spectacular throughout the trip. He was very friendly, knowledgeable, and resourceful in making sure that the trip went smoothly—even when we encountered car troubles. The trip went very well, and I have no major complaints.

The only recommendation I would have for future people taking this trip is that they be given a safari car instead of a regular Toyota 4x4 since many of the roads we drove on require a safari car. Thank you very much for all your help planning a great trip!