Kimkim Trip Reviews

We had an AMAZING time in Morocco and give all the thanks to KimKim and Brahim for the experience!! Everything was seamless and I never had to worry about anything from the moment we booked to when we left Morocco. Brahim had worked with me on all my asks, getting me everything I wanted in our itinerary and answering any random questions I came up with. Mohammad was our driver and we loved him! I was part of a group of 6 and he picked us up in a large van that was clean and had AC and fit us all great. He took us everywhere and anywhere we needed to be, made reservations for us at restaurants, called hotels to confirm our arrivals and have someone meet us to take us to our rooms, he was on call if we wanted to go anywhere special and was overall a joy to be around. We were so happy with all the riads we stayed in and the experiences Brahim had booked for us. We happened on one small hiccup in our last stop, and I was honestly so impressed with the customer service, as Brahim called me right away to make sure we were happy and set for the day. After the experience, I would definitely use KimKim again and already looked at other countries they have services in.

Our trip to Iceland was incredible. The places to stay were a wonderful and except for the last night way exceeded our expectations. The last night was fine it was just a smaller room than all the others we stayed at so had grown accustomed to the beautiful rooms and locations along the way. The hints of things to see and do were very helpful. The food was fabulous and enjoyed the breakfast offered at each hotel. Appreciated Caroline's suggestion to go clockwise around the island. It worked out perfectly and we saw the northern lights 6 nights. Fosshotel Nupier was the best for them and wish we could've stayed their 2 nights. Mostly wish we had more time and could've had more days to explore areas. Just gives a reason to come back. Fosshotel Siglo and Fosshotel Eastjords were my favorite hotels. Didn't get the opportunity to use the pool at Ork but so was planning on it just something came up that changed the plans. Since it was a self tour we could adjust our plans based on what happened each day. 4 of the hotels I would have like 2 nights to explore those areas more, included Siglufjdur, one more further north of Mytvan and also be able to take a whale tour, East Fjords, and Skafatfel. Highlights besides the countryside and drives with stops along the way, numerous waterfalls (breathtaking and each unique), sheep, and birds was the Diamond Beach, Petras stone museum, helping herd sheep, Vatnsnes cave tour, hiking in Dimmuborgir and Dynjandi falls. The people were friendly. The guide at the Cave people tour, Hermann was awesome as well as the guide Max at the into the glacier tour.

Our trip to Russia was amazing! What a beautiful and interesting country.
Our guide in Moscow, Sergei, was full of local knowledge and so friendly as were Darya(Vladimir Guide), Alexander (Suzdal Guide) and Irina (St Petersburg guide). The city of Moscow was very interesting and we were surprised by the beauty and splendour of the Kremlin. Vladimir was full of medieval history with beautiful churches. Suzdal was beautiful, had a very laid back vibe and some beautiful buildings/churches. St Petersburg was stunning in its grandeur with huge and beautiful palaces filled with paintings, statues and treasures. We would recommend the Faberge Museum and also taking a boat trip on the canal/river.
The WhatsApp group was also a stroke of genius and ensured we always had a point of contact.
We paid more for our personalised trip with guides and it was so worth it! We don't think we would have seen half as much without these wonderful guides. Thank you so much to everybody involved in organising our trip - it was truly amazing!

We had a great time! Our driver Mohammad was the best. Answered all the questions he could making stops at some very cool places for us to check out.

Our driver, Mohammed, was absolutely fantastic. He was one of the best parts of the trip. We had a great time in Morocco but wish our experience in Marrakech was a bit better. Our tour guide was okay but we walked for most of the tour instead of seeing places of interest. It would have been better if we hadn’t walked through the worst places of the city. When we left early, Brahim called to make sure we were happy. The customer service was unexpected and unprecedented. Overall, our favorite city was Chechaouen, the blue city. It was gorgeous and the people were super nice. Our experience with KimKim far exceeded our expectations and we will 100% use them again.

I had a really great trip with Kimkim. Everything was so easy all the way through and the team was always a phone call away if I had any questions or needed some help.
Dean was fantastic and even dropped in for a face to face half way through to check in. I received phone calls from the team during the trip which was really comforting as I was travelling alone.
Petrina was also always close by when I needed anything and responded very quickly to any questions I had.
The hosts at each of my BnBs we’re fantastic, and I’d really love for them to know I enjoyed my stay, particularly my stay with Kathleen at Finglas House in Camp. I was quite unwell during my night there and she was very accommodating.
The pack provided by Kimkim containing route notes, maps and dining recommendations was great! I actually enjoyed readying about the next day’s activities before bed each night. They were thorough and obviously put together by people who were familiar with each walk. My favourite I think would have to be the one from Dingle to Dunquin, absolutely stunning.
Overall, I’d definitely book another holiday with Kimkim, and I plan to return to travel the north next time!
Thanks team.

I think overall KimKim did the best they could to service my group. They provided many options based on my request but our intentions were different. The KimKim service is best for those who are ok with someone taking care of everything and not worries about the additional cost. I think I was trying to learn more about the place and see various price options and activities lined up next to each other so I could get a good comparison and it’s not meant for that.

On that note Simon and Lucie did everything they could to service our group. We had a great time in Provence for the most part. The dinner we had the first night was delicious and I highly recommend the food tour/ cooking class we did with Mathilde. The wineries were less than pleasing and did not meet my expectations in terms of ambiance at the facilities. The wineries did not seem they were ready for visitors or meant for visitors. Maybe my comparison is to California wineries so there is a mismatch.

Overall, glad we went, we had a great time but I might go another route in the future due to my own personal reasons. More clarity around the cost breakdown would help the comfort level when booking for sure. The unknown makes it feel uncomfortable and I expect that we are paying a higher premium for the service but getting a rough idea would help.

My wife and I had a wonderful time touring four Greek Islands. Kim Kim was extremely helpful in arranging all the ferry/boat transportation and local transfers. This made the journey very easy. This was one error on a ferry ticket time and date; as soon as I contacted the local representative, it was immediately corrected. Overall, we were very happy with the hotels that were selected for us; they all had central locations and they had amazing views.

I've been to Spain several times and love this country so much. This time, I was taking my 74-year-old parents with me to Spain. It was their first time and I wanted them to have an amazing experience and fall in love with Spain as much as I did. Instead of planing the trip on my own, I decided to use KimKim to help me plan the trip to make sure my parents would have a smooth experience. KimKim connected me with Sam's team and it could not have been better. The entire trip was super smooth and Sam planned everything, especially the transportation that made the most differences. My parents are old and can't walk a lot. Sam planned private cars picking us up and dropping us off wherever we went and it was invaluable. The guided tours that Sam arranged for us were amazing as well, especially José in Seville. We learned so much about the culture and food in Andalusia and José made us felt like we were spending time with an old local friend! Throughout the entire trip, Rocio stood by and ready to help whenever we needed something. The hotel room Sam booked for us in Granada has the view of Alhambra! And the hotel in Barcelona on our last day was right in the shopping district, perfect for us to do some last-minute shopping before heading back home.

I couldn't have planned it myself like this and my parents' experience in Spain would not have been the same without KimKim and Sam's team.

I definitely recommend them if you ever find yourself heading out to Spain!

Muchas gracias

The entire team was great! Whenever we encountered any issues they were resolved very quickly. The paperwork was very thorough and made the driving experience go smoothly. We will definitely contact KimKim for travel in the future.

Highlights:
Fantastic walking food tour on Naxos
Great hotel in Santorini, 5 min walk to the black sand beaches
Informative walking tour in Athens
Kimkim hooked us up with a great personal driver in Athens!

Low points:
First hotel in Athens was just ok, but it had a great view
Probably should have flown to Santorini rather than take a 5 hour ferry. With getting there early to avoid rush hour, it ends up being a 7 hour trip with a 5am wakeup. Worth the extra $

Exceptional Service: When all of the ferries for the next day were going to be cancelled, which would have meant missing our international flight, kimkim and Harris were very proactive. They reached out to us to make sure we got on the last ferry that day and found us a fantastic hotel outside Athens.

This is the third time we have used Kimkim to plan a trip and it was, as usual, extremely helpful. We wouldn’t have had such an interesting and easy time of it without their assistance. The local agency, Iceland Offbeat, arranged for a rental car, provided us with route information and booked all our hotels/guest houses. They also gave us good recommendations for things to do/see and some places to eat. They booked some specific activities that we requested such as a glacier hike, whale watching, and horse back riding and we were impressed with the quality of the outfits they booked us with. In addition, we also made a reservation for the Viking Sushi Adventure that goes out of Stykkisholmur, which we really enjoyed. We loved being on our own schedule, traveling independently.

We had two weeks to drive the entire ring road around the coast and I can’t imagine doing it in less time although some people do. The roads are narrow and windy and the scenery is spectacular so you have to take your time. Also, we were on dirt roads at times that had a lot of potholes. If you rent a car be sure to get something with good suspension and tires. They originally reserved an economy car for us but we upgraded to an SUV with 4x4 and all season tires and we were glad of it - the extra expense was worth it. The wi-fi coverage throughout the country is amazing. We had one of those wi-fi gizmos that plug into the car and were able to follow the google map directions they provided quite easily. Although, I do recommend that you also purchase a full road map of Iceland so you can cross check names and numbers of the roads - the signage is sometimes confusing.

The only glitches we ran into were because we had a couple of changes in our itinerary during the planning process. Two of the guest houses that were originally reserved didn’t provide breakfast so the reservations were changed for us. We got a revised itinerary with the new locations and vouchers, however, the changes didn’t get made in the google map directions so one night we drove up to the wrong place. Fortunately, the correct guest house was only a few km away and we were alert to that problem for the future and didn’t make that mistake again. Also, at one place, there was some confusion about payment but they were able to phone the contact number on the voucher and it got worked out fairly quickly.

All in all, we had a fantastic trip to a unique and amazing country thanks to the kimkim team.

David was very attentive to our requests and needs from the start. We wanted a hut experience in the Dolomites and he suggested a beautiful trip. We had a wonderful accommodation at Hotel Pider in Wengen, and then two days hiking to and back from Rufugio Fanes. The hikes had a lot of variety in addition to the beauty that is the Dolomites. The food was delicious and the hosts were welcoming in both places. We had several questions for David before the trip, which he answered promptly and graciously. We found his service very professional yet friendly.

I can't speak highly enough of my 9 day Spanish experience. From the drivers, the hotel service and Rocio, who made time to check in how my trip was going.

My tour guide Delia in Sevilla was great company and her knowledge was fantastic. She really made me feel welcomed. I can't recommend her enough. Kudos to La Azotea on Calle Zaragoza, some great tapas!

Both Madrid and Barcelona were great urban escapes. My tour guide Sandra in Barcelona was an absolute joy. She was quite taken back by young I was compared to her usual tourists but this worked in my favour as I was taken off the beaten track! Like Delia, I can't recommend her enough.

Overall, the tour was top notch. Special thanks to James who really crafted a great itinerary. His correspondence was of the highest order. Cheers for taking the pressure of planning off my shoulders!

We recently visited Slovenia to celebrate our 10 year anniversary. We wanted a trip that was active but one that would also highlight the history and beauty of Slovenia. Katja helped to plan an adventure that exceeded all of our expectations. Every last detail was well thought out; we were able to explore the immense beauty of the country by foot, bike, and boat almost completely independently with the preset arrangements of gps directions and luggage transfers. After big days of adventure we were able to rest comfortably at night in wonderful accommodations. We would recommend Slotrips to everyone. We certainly fell in love with sLOVEnia and hope to work with Katja again in the future to plan an adventure for our whole family!

It was an absolute pleasure working with Mathias:

1. He listened carefully to our special areas of interest (birding photography) and designed a fantastic itinerary for us.
2. The accommodation and guides that he set up for us exceeded our expectations.
3. His personal input and support when we needed urgent medical assistance was invaluable.
4. He was always available and responsive throughout the whole 4 week trip

In Mindo, Mathias set us up with Edison from http://www.swordbilledexpeditions.com/about-us/ . Ed’s bird knowledge was remarkable, his photographic skills superb, he was able to get us into unusual and remote locations, he introduced us to fascinating people and was just a wonderful person to spend time with. We stayed at the Septimo Paraiso and the Bellavista Cloudforest Lodge, both of which were stunning

My research showed very mixed feedback between Cuyabeno and Yasuni, and so based on Mathias’s recommendation we did both – and in hindsight he was completely correct. They are very different, unique and special in their own distinct ways. In Cuyabeno we stayed at the Nicki Lodge for 5 nights and I loved it. We met a couple of travelers who had had bad experiences at some of the other local lodges, but the service and friendliness from our staff was fantastic. The lodge is more casual and low key but I felt closer to the environment and with the narrower rivers the forest seemed to be more intimate. We had a young guide called Jefferson who was from Quito - he had fallen in love with the natural environment and was passionate about sharing it with us. Through his share dedication we managed to see a young family of endangered otters, the beautiful fresh water dolphins, birds, insects, caiman, spiders and flora (as well as lots of very muddy walks – well worth the effort). The lovely lodge chef cooked up tasty local meals shared at one long table which allowed us to meet backpackers through to seasoned international travelers.

Sacha Lodge, on the other hand, was truly spectacular and upmarket. Mathias organized a “master” ornithologist for us (a local Kichwe called Osca) who managed to help us identify 130 bird species in 3 days (including a great sighting of a juvenile Harpy Eagle), over and above the 5 monkey species, stick insects, frogs, parrots at the clay lick, and quiet moments in the canoe simply enjoying the environment.

There is no way we could have put together a trip like this without the local knowledge, experience and expertise of Mathias and his team. Mathias provided us with a level of service, professionalism and personal input that I have never experienced before. Kudos to him and his team.

I have nothing but praise for Tasos and his team of local travel specialists who made our 30th anniversary trip to Greece a trip of a lifetime. It's not easy to put into words how incredible the trip was for us -- we have come home with fond memories of EVERY experience we had and we wish we could more easily reconnect with our guides and the locals we met during our visit. I am not exaggerating in saying every detail was taken care of for us with punctual transfers, delightful hotels, and fantastic activity choices.

I found Tasos via the Kimkim website because I honestly didn't know where to begin in the planning process. He had high reviews so I felt he was someone I could trust -- and he didn't disappoint. You pay a premium to use Kimkim, but our experience has been that we received a premium product. I told Tasos we like to travel using guides because we don't take international trips that often and have limited time. He knew we only had 10 days to "experience" Greece -- and I wanted it to include a few islands, authentic experiences, personal guides, lots of culinary experiences, and history. Via a few email exchanges, Tasos designed a PERFECT trip to make us completely fall in love with Greece.

We spent only 24 hours in Athens, which was just enough time to take in old city Athens and see the acropolis. Our hotel, Zillers Boutique Hotel, was conveniently located -- we could see the parthenon out our window and we were close enough to walk anywhere in old city, including to see the changing of the guard at the parliament building. Our two Athens guides were wonderful. With Panos of "Athens Insiders," we toured the fish, meat, produce, spice, and olive markets. We tasted MANY delicious local specialities along the way, including a gazillion olives, raki, lamb patties, gourmet gyros, Greek coffee (once was enough), and delicious Greek pastries. It was a wonderful introduction for us. We toured the acropolis in the late afternoon/evening with Dimitri who shared his extensive knowledge of the site's extensive history.

Early the next morning we were off to an early flight to Naxos, an island I wanted to visit because of a friend's recommendation. It's a laid back island with a low population. We were lucky to get there. Thankfully, Travel12 booked a flight for us -- the ferries were not running because of high winds. We stayed outside of Naxos Town at the Iria Beach Art Hotel. While the hotel is artfully decorated and comfortable, what made it truly wonderful was its staff -- and the kittens and turtle in the garden! The staff couldn't have been sweeter. What made Naxos MOST special was Katerina of Vioma Naxos, who spent a half day with us showing us "her" Naxos. Born and raised on the island, Katarina specializes in gastronomy and cooking tours, padded with lots of extra interesting information. With her driver, Alex, she took us through the Venetian Castle, introduced us to Naxos Citron, introduced us to Nicoletta, the delightful owner of Eggares Olive Museum, drove us all the way up to the quaint village of Apiranthos where we shared a tray of local cheeses and rose at a local Taverna, and finally to dinner at her parent's house in a tiny village of 35 or so people. It was an incredibly special day -- something we'll never forget. I've already experimented with the recipes she sent me via email.

Next on the itinerary were two and a half action-packed days on Santorini, made more interesting by my husband's crippling fear of heights -- and seven cruise ships invading the island at the same time. Needless to say, we had to make a few adaptations to avoid the crowds and to avoid certain site lines (ok, MOST site lines) -- not easy when you're staying on a cliff face! Another Tasos, a wonderful member of the Argyros travel group, was our driver for the better part of our visit. Highlights of our Santorini visit included the wonderful staff at PetitPalace Hotel (especially Victoria), a fabulous anniversary dinner in Fira at a gourmet restaurant called Mylos that was arranged by Travel12, a hike that was supposed to be along the caldera from Fira to Oia that had to be severely modified, (our hiking guide, George, did a wonderful job of finding areas to explore without the cliff site lines), dinner at Penelope's in Pyrgos (one of our BEST dinners of the entire trip), a visit to both black sand beaches and the red sand beach, a wine tasting at Estate Argyros, a visit to the village of Messa Gonia (where Santorini Tasos' grandfather lived before the 1956 earthquake) and the BEST of all, a visit to the Anydro Cherry Tomato Farm where we helped cook and eat a feast of local food with sisters Anna and Irena. There wasn't much we didn't see on Santorini!

Crete was the third and final island we visited and it was my favorite. In fact, if we're lucky enough to return to Greece, I will visit a couple other islands AND Crete. We spent two nights in Archanes and two nights in Chania (a 2-hour drive between the two locations). We truly fell in love with Archanes, a small picturesque village in Heraklion. We stayed at the Kalimera Archanes Village in a small house managed by Lefteris, one of the nicest humans we've ever met while traveling. I'm sure Lefteris befriends everyone who visits his village and everyone says the same thing, but he sure made us feel special. He personally drove us up to the top of Mount Juktas, walked us around the village showing us sites including its Minoan palace ruins and a building occupied by German officers during WWII. He also introduced us to George, proprietor of Bakaliko, a restaurant in the village square, who greatly added to our enjoyment with his knowledge of local wine, olive oil, and Cretan cuisine. A highlight of our Archanes visit was a trip to the Koronekis Olive Farm where we learned more about olive oil than we ever thought possible. George, the son-in-law of the proprietor, was a fantastic educator. In addition to what we purchased on vacation, I will be ordering more products from them in the future.

On our way out of Heraklion, we visited the Minoan Palace of Knossos and the Heraklion Archeological Museum -- two must sees if you're visiting that area of Crete. Every survey book of art history includes images of the palace and museum, including the bull fresco, the snake woman, and the octopus urns. We felt very fortunate to have Lena as our guide.

Chania was a beautiful place to end our visit -- a seaside village with lots of Venetian architecture, a slight Ottoman feel, an interesting maritime museum, and amazing restaurants -- all along the waterfront. Our hotel, the Ambassadors Residence, was AMAZING. A truly beautiful boutique hotel. We stayed in the Wood Room which was on the second floor and overlooked the harbor. Angie could not have been sweeter in welcoming us and securing our dinner reservations. We highly recommend Glossitses for a waterfront dinner. Our tour in Chania was to the Botanical Park and Gardens where we were treated to a cooking class (making briam, tzatziki, a Greek salad, and stuffed grape leaves) and a walking tour of the beautiful grounds of the garden. Learning the history of the park (formerly olive and orange groves before a devastating fire in the early 2000's) and seeing what the family has made from the ruins was very impressive.

Ibrahim did a great job for my wife and I, booking tours with Egypt Promotion. Zain, a manager, gave us a local sim to borrow and checked in with us each evening to ensure everything was to our expectations. The guides and drivers were exemplary - special thanks to our Egyptologist guide Ahmed who was amazing, Mohamed and driver Said.
Experiencing the pyramids and temples were obvious highlights - we had a good amount of time to explore these grand structures with so much detail and history. These sites were less crowded than we expected which contributed to how much we enjoyed exploring and taking photos. Scuba diving in Hurghada on the Red Sea was a great experience and we swam with dolphins. Alexandria was bustling and full of things to see and do.

Every phase of our trip was excellent. Starting with our excursion to Mycenae and Nafplio where we had both a driver and guides who were very personable and informative, to our hike and food tour on Naxos where our guides were outstanding, to our Cape Sounio and Athens Riviera sunset tour where our driver was terrific, we had an absolutely fabulous time. The only small glitch was that our dates for touring Mycenae and the Acropolis were switched from the original itinerary ( Mycenae was to be Day 3 and Acropolis Day 2)to the dates in the welcome booklet (Mycenae Day 2 and Acropolis Day3). We had the opportunity to interact with real artisans of Greece and witness their skills as well as interact with the true people of Greece and experience their warmth.

Carmen was very easy to communicate with.
She tailor made our package and accommodated our requests organising an itenary that we wanted.
Would recommend Carmen to others and would definitely use KimKim again.

Jordan was lovely, the locals and other people we met were very friendly and interesting to talk to.

Petra and Wadi Rum in particular are two places not to be missed.