Kimkim Trip Reviews

We loved Morocco… and KimKim made it the best it could be.

Ilyace was our guide: Extremely professional and truly catered to all of our needs. Whenever we needed something, he would punctually help us. (E.g. going to the pharmacy right away when one of us got slightly ill). Truly cared about us and felt like a good friend.

Our daily guides were amazing! Especially these individuals: Muhammad in Fes, Osama in Marrakech, and Amed in Merzouga Also Mohammed in The Dades Valley was the best. Very funny and really welcomed us into his house for an unforgettable lunch and time with his family.

The visits with the Berbers in two different locations was amazing. Really got to understand the culture and their seemingly difficult life.

Riads: All were extremely beautiful and in great locations with excellent services! The best way we could have experienced Morocco.

Cecilia was amazing and very helpful. Me and my wife had an amazing time. We needed to make multiple adjustments due to the heat and other things and Cecilia made it all happen. Thank you so much!!!

Activity Review

Morning Colosseum, Roman Forums and Palatine Hill

Rome

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Carl did a great job of balancing out city sightseeing opportunities with outdoor adventures around Vancouver. The best part was trying out things like cycling around the sea wall and city, something I wouldn’t normally think about doing. The accommodations were in fantastic locations. I appreciate the thoughtfulness into my itinerary since it was so last minute.
I will definitely use this company again. Thank you!

Hotel Reviews

Sunset Inn and Suites

Vancouver

The location was close to so many places like the ferry to Granville or Kipsilano and the beach. They did a great job letting guests know about the fireworks shows and other activities going on around the area. The staff were so nice. The bag to go option for breakfast is nice, but having a hot breakfast was a wait.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Every staff member I encountered were helpful and nice with a greeting.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Embassy Inn Hotel

Victoria

The hotel was close to downtown Victoria, and I block from the harbor. It was a good location to everything. The breakfast buffet was good since it lasted until 10:30 and there was plenty of room for sitting.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Review

Capilano Suspension Bridge Park

Vancouver

The bridge was busy, but the walk after the bridge was quiet and worth the trip.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

It was a free courtesy bus from Vancouver to the Bridge.

Morocco was a trip that I will truly never forget. I was in Morocco for 9 days with my boyfriend and Karim was our personal driver. Not only was he our driver, but he is also very knowledgeable with the rich history and culture of Morocco! Throughout our trip with Karim, he would explain to us interesting facts about Morocco and the Berber life which made this trip a truly unforgettable cultural experience.

Karim is extremely reliable, trustworthy, personable, communicative and also very funny. He speaks perfect English, Arabic and Berber. He was also our personal translator. Karim is also Berber so he shared his knowledge to us about the Berber culture and the language. It was extremely interesting and intriguing to learn about his childhood in the High Atlas Mountains. We felt very lucky to have a driver like Karim.

On the night of our arrival to Casablanca, Karim messaged us to double check our flight times. Despite our flight being delayed and us arriving a little bit later than what we expected, he was already waiting patiently at the airport. We got out of the airport at almost midnight and was greeted by a very friendly and welcoming smile :). This was when we knew that we were going to have a wonderful trip.

Karim is a very experienced driver. His driving is very relaxing and calming (I had a few naps along some of the drives). He also knew a lot of places for great photo opportunities (my boyfriend and I have a gallery full of amazing photos thanks to Karim) and he was also a great personal photographer too!

Whenever we had activities planned that required Karim to pick us up from our hotel, he would always be punctual and wait at least 15 minutes before. Karim is extremely reliable. Whenever we finshed a tour or activity with a private guide, Karim would already be there waiting for us to finish and pick us up for the next activity. He assisted us with all of our hotel check ins, luggage and lunches, dinners, everything!

Thank you so much Karim for making our trip in Morocco an unforgettable experience. We were so lucky to have a driver like Karim, who not only drove us to places but who was also very informative about the Berber life, Moroccan culture and someone who felt like a friend.

Hotel Reviews

Palais Amani

Fès

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Tiziri Luxury Camp

Merzouga

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Odyssee Center

Casablanca

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Lina Ryad & Spa

Chefchaouen

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Ksar El Kabbaba

Skoura

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

La Maison Arabe Hotel

Marrakech

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Architectural Elegance: A Journey through the Hassan II Mosque

Morocco

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Casablanca to Chefchaouen via Rabat

Morocco

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Chefchaoeun to Fez via Volubilis, Moulay Idriss & Meknes

Morocco

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Guided Tour of Fez Medina

Fes

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Dine with a local family

Morocco

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Transfer from Fes to Merzouga via Erfoud & Camel Ride

Morocco

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Skoura to Marrakech via Ouarzazate & Aït Benhaddou

Morocco

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Half-Day Guided Tour of Marrakech

Marrakesh

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Guided Tour of Majorelle Garden

Marrakesh

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

The trip was very well organized. Thank you Johanna!

Flor Zuniga was our guide for Machu Picchu and the Sacred Valley. She is very knowledgeable, friendly, patient, a great person overall and an excellent guide.

Lima Gourmet (Kimberly) and Berrios Travel (Juan) were our operators for the food tour and the day trip to Huachachina. Both were excellent and made the trips memorable.

Our honeymoon was a trip I will truly never forget! Ina and the KimKim team picked all great hotels, transfers and excursions. It is very much worth having a local person to help you book the best things as there are endless options of choices in Greece. Our favorite highlights we Super Paradise Beach in Mykonos, hiking and cooking in Naxos (Spiros with Naxos Sun was an amazing guide and we learned so much about the island), and our Santorini highlights and wine tasting excursion with Gina and Constantinos with Argyos (such an amazing tour and wonderful tour guides that I will always remember). Thank you KimKim for making our honeymoon seamless and unforgettable!

Everything went well the canyoning was a very good and the best experience , the whale watching was not so good as the boat got broken in middle of ocean and needed to wait for 40 min for someone to tow the boat back which took more than an hour , the boat was basic and old compared to the other boat you see in the marina doing the same service

I hope this helps thanks a lot

Hotel Review

Octant Ponta Delgada

Ponta Delgada

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Review

Epic Canyoning Adventure

São Miguel Island

The staff was amazing they really were great and was the best we had in Azores

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

My husband and I are just home from a fabulous holiday in Zambia. We stayed 5 nights in the marvellous South Luangwa National Park – 3 at Kafunta Lodge and two at Three Rivers Camp. The accommodation was fabulous, especially the star beds at Three Rivers and the deck, infinity pool and hot tub at Kafunta! The fine dining was an unexpected pleasure too, along with a different and stunning dining location for every meal. Our guides Solomon and David were marvellous – skilful drivers, experts on the extensive bird life and other animals and strategic in their decision making to optimise the experience for us with our cameras always clicking. Highlights here were the frequent leopard and lion sightings. We were very impressed by the strong environmental focus at Kafunta. No plastic water bottles for instance. And the network of social enterprise partnerships they have, engaging with the local community around them. Congratulations to the founders Ron and Anke Cowan for their ethical and responsible approach to tourism.

We flew from the brilliant town of Mfuwe to the Royal airstrip, where we were picked up by wonderful Weston who was our guide on the Lower Zambezi, based at Baines River Camp. The pace here was less cracking, which was just what we needed by now! We chilled as we watched the mighty Zambezi flow from the verandah of our sumptuous room. We enjoyed several interesting game drives here as well as relaxing cruises on the river. Lots of crocodiles, elephants and hippos.

We finished with three nights at the beautiful River Club, out of Livingstone. A helicopter flight to view the Victoria Falls is an absolute must –after circling the falls several times we flew low over the water zig zagging our way downstream in the fantastic gorges! Paul, Mack, Davies, Chloe and Costa ensured we had a great stay here too. Terrific food served at a different location every meal, sensational setting and lovely cruises on the upper Zambezi.

The animal of the trip would have to be the hippo. Closely followed by the terribly shy warthog. We did not see any rhinos so will definitely be back to Africa in the near future to address this omission!

Marina planned the most amazing trip to Portugal! The hotels and all the tours/excursions were amazing! Will 100% use her and KimKim again for future travel!!

We reviewed the guides, the hotels, and the itineraries every day with Pedro so refer to him. Generally speaking, the guides were very good and professional and spoke English quite well. The drivers were always punctual, well dressed, spoke English well and drove us to our destinations in E- class Mercedes. Certainly, kudos to the drivers. Although we had 4-star hotels, a couple of hotels were a little disappointing. They didn't have wash cloths, they didn't have tissues, the final hotel, the Villa Galé Cascais, didn't have an iron or an ironing board, suggesting we use their laundry service and they wanted to charge for the safety deposit box. Power went out in the room, but was corrected within 10 minutes. The hotel in Porto was good, but the safe deposit instructions were confusing. They need to get a simpler safe deposit box like other hotels. All in all, the hotels were good and the breakfasts were great! The itinerary that Pedro did for us was comprehensive and we saw a lot of the important cities and places of Portugal. Pedro acceded to our requests to change the times of pickup by the drivers to modify our itinerary and is trying to get us a refund for the Pena Palace which we paid for twice due to the Palace not honoring our tickets on a day when the palace was closed due to fires raging in Portugal. That was stupid. They wanted us to go online to request a refund instead of simply replacing our tickets with new tickets. There was constant contact from Pedro to confirm what each upcoming activity was, the driver's name and WhatsApp # and the time of pickup at our hotels. We had constant communication texting both ways. This was excellent. We reviewed everything from each day's activities for him. The walking tour in Porto was a bit redundant and and we could have done without the honey and chocolate tasting tour. It fell short and felt like a time filler. Yet, we loved Porto. In contrast to all the churches, monasteries, palaces, and other historical places, we loved the nature hiking tour in Serra da Estrela and the follow up picnic. The walking tour in Évora was also quite good.

Hotel Reviews

Octant Hotels Palácio da Lousã

Lousã

This hotel was beautiful. The reception was great. The hotel was designed beautifully. The rooms were comfortable and the breakfast was amazing. The manager greeted everyone personally in the dining area during breakfast. And, they gave us hats to take away with us. What a nice touch. The only thing that out tour planner didn't anticipate was to arrange a dinner reservation when we arrived. They were fully booked for reservations and we would have loved to have dined there.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Évora Olive Hotel

Évora

Very good location, great breakfasts!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Lagos Avenida Hotel

Lagos

Great location, excellent breakfast, very attentive reception and staff, rooftop pool w/bar.

Authenticity & Character

Authenticity & Character

Location

Location

Staff

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Unveil the Fairytale Villa of Sintra with a Private Driver Service

Portugal

Driver was excellent with knowledge of the area. He pointed to things we should try. Not his fault, the Pena Palace was closed due to fires in the area.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Seamless Discovery - The Ultimate Douro Valley Experience with Private Driver Service

Portugal

The driver added personal history to enhance the trip. He grew up here and related what he did on his family's farm.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Hike & Bite with Peaks, Paths, and a Delicious Picnic in Serra da Estrela

Serra da Estrela Nature Park

Our guide was well versed in the terrain, pointing out vegetation as well as geological formations. He spoke well in English and made the hike go smoothly. He topped it off with a "picnic" which was a full lunch. This activity, in contrast to the churches and other historical places, was a highlight of the trip.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Our trip to Iceland was well planned and we had a great time! Jenny was responsive and made sure her recommendations were consistent with our needs. We completed the entire Ring Road in a week and really enjoyed the Blue Lagoon, whale watching, and the Reykjavik Food Tour. The South of the island has more sights to explore than the North and you could easily spend a week only in the South. I recommend kimkim’s service. It made planning easy!

Activity Reviews

Whale Watching from Akureyri

Akureyri

Great tour with knowledgeable guides. We were lucky enough to see whales breach, dive, breathe, and slap their tales!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Myvatn Nature Baths

Lake Mývatn

Ok experience. The hot springs were Luke warm. The Blue Lagoon is better.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Reykjavik Food Walk

Reykjavík

Great, knowledgeable guide. Interesting Iceland history and a sampling of foods you wouldn’t have tried otherwise. Highly recommended.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Blue Lagoon

Iceland

Amazing experience. The best hot spring I’ve been to. Worth the time and money

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

My trip to Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands was very pleasant and enjoyable. Thanks to Daniel, my travel details were ironed out before , during and after the trip. I had issues with my covid test result being delayed and had a mild panic, anxious situation, but with Daniel help I was able to enjoy the rest of my trip, During the trip, Daniel was very easy and fast to reach when I had questions . He helped me speak to one of the receptionist over the phone because I couldn't communicate in Spanish . Daniel is very thorough when booking tours , he would follow through with the tour guides and made sure they were there on time and explained what I would expect on the tours. I also felt safe knowing that Daniel was only a call away via whatsapp. I'm using kimkim again for my next trip because my experience with Daniel's help made a huge difference.

Samir was AMAZING to work with: super responsive, endlessly helpful, and made our trip seamless. My husband and I are picky travelers (we know exactly what we want!) so we went through several rounds of revisions with Samir - but he was *so* patient, and always delivered answers and changes really quickly. I can't emphasize on awesome he was at this!

Our trip went off without a hitch, in part because of the private driver, Mohammed, that Samir set up for us for our whole vacation. He made changes with us along the way as we changed our minds about small details, and we always enjoyed his company and felt taken care of and safe.

Regarding our itinerary, my husband and I spent a total of two weeks in Jordan and we really did *everything*. I'd recommend taking that much time making sure you make the most of this beautiful historic place!

Here's some of things we did
- Historic sites (Jerash, Petra, Umm Qais, often with private guides)
- Outdoor adventuring (Make sure you do Wadi Al-Mujib!)
- Desert (desert castles, Wadi Rum)
- cultural experiences (cooking class, museums)

Thanks again for the perfect trip to Jordan, Samir!

Activity Reviews

Trekking from Dana to Feynan lodge

Jordan

One of the favorite days of our trip! Even though it was a long hot day, it really helped that the trail was all downhill. And our guide, a local Bedouin, was excellent! He was patient, funny, and cooked us a perfect meal on a campfire along the trail

Quality of Experience

Food

Self Cooking Meal in Amman

Amman

We LOVED this and plan to add an experience like this to all our future trips! This was a great way to meet new friends, have a great meal, and learn more about the local culture.

Quality of Experience

Petra By Candle Light

Jordan

This is a great thing to do *IF* it's your very first view of Petra and the Treasury. The candlelight effect is really nice, and we got lucky enough to see the moon over the canyon, too. However, I wouldn't add this if you've already been to Petra :) all it is is a walk to the Treasury by candlelight, sitting on carpets and drinking a little tea, some local musicians, then shining floodlights on the Treasury building

Quality of Experience

We only dealt with Giustono in the beginning, but then were being expertly managed by Andrea, whom we cannot say enough about. He answered our calls, texts, questions in a timely manner and KILLED IT every time!!! I loved the experience so much, I’m working with another KimKim referral for next year’s trip to Argentina. 😊

Tour guide and bus driver was very good

We had a terrific 9-day driving tour through Western Slovenia, focusing on beautiful Triglav National Park. Domen Strle, our virtual tour guide and travel agent, chose excellent places for us to stay and activities including hiking, fly-fishing and touring. Without his intimate knowledge of the area and his responsiveness to our questions, we would have had a difficult time planning such a trip (our first to Slovenia). He quickly accommodated last-minute changes to our schedule (e.g., an unplanned but very worthwhile stop in Lubljana; changing the day of our fishing trip), and provided feedback on activities we discovered en route. Altogether, the trip was planned just enough to avoid the stress of finding places to stay and eat, but with enough flexibility to allow spontaneous, spur-of-the-moment activities. The ability to switch digitally from places on the overall trip plan to Google maps driving instructions made navigation easy and painless. It made for a very diverse and fascinating trip, which we enjoyed immensely.

Emanuela did an incredible job organizing our trip to Iceland, from start to finish! Her itinerary was perfect for our family, easy to follow and we appreciated her checking in with us periodically as well. We couldn’t have asked for a better experience!

Emanuela was great in planning our trip. The provided itinerary was highly detailed, easy to follow and very helpful. We appreciated all her dining recommendations and places to stop off the beaten path. Emanuela was very responsive and communicated with us during the planning process and checked in with us throughout the trip! Thanks for a great adventure

Activity Review

A Day at the Westmann islands

Iceland

Enjoyed seeing the puffins! Less busy than other places. It was nice to get away from the crowds. The island was beautiful!

Galápagos Islands trip review

This is the second time we worked with Mathias for our trip. The first trip was Ecuador adventure tour including Quito, Banos, and Amazon. It was a great trip.

This time we worked with Mathias for our Galapagos island trip and it was amazing. Mathias is super thoughtful, he made sure that every single detail of the trip was taken care of. He is very patient and is so accommodating with our requests and needs. When we first arrived at the Quito hotel, Mathias met us in person with a gift of wine, chocolate, coffee, and soap. This is such a wonderful personal touch that made us feel so welcome.

During the trip, Mathias was available any time we needed any assistance and fixed any issues. On one our trips that they put us on a tour without kayaking, Mathias made sure to put us on another kayaking tour—complimentary from him. In the morning we left for Galápagos Islands the hotel forgot to pack us breakfast, Mathias offered us free breakfast after we checked in at the airport. In addition, we got an upgrade for our flight back to Quito from Santa Cruz. All these gestures made us feel super welcome and taken care of.

All the day tours we were on were amazing: with awesome tour guides and on time pick up and drop off—not a worry at all from our part. We were confident that we were well taken care of.

I would work with Mathias in the future again. He is truly an incredible person to work with and I give him the highest recommendations!

Our trip to Costa Rica was excellent in every way. Olman did an outstanding job of putting together an itinerary geared to our interests and we were so happy with every part of it. We started with white water rafting on the Pacuare River which was unforgettable and exhilarating. And the Exploradores Outdoors guides were exceptional in their instruction, support, and unwavering vigilance. It was an experience of a lifetime for us . And our hikes near the Arenal Volcano and the Fortuna Waterfall were also unforgettable in their quieter way. I was very impressed with our guide, Randall, from Amazilla Travel, who was very engaging and remarkably knowledgeable about the volcano and the plants and animals of the jungle. We learned so much and I have brought back home with me the memory of the magical quiet of the rainforest. Every place we went we were pleasantly surprised with the quality of the accommodations, the food (which we will miss), the warmth and hospitality of the people we met, and the beauty of Costa Rica. Kimkim was the way to go for us.