Kimkim Trip Reviews

The trip was very well planned and thought out. Sites visited were generally all worthy of the time spent. The "Welcome" dinner was very enjoyable. I recall two visits that were much too long; Santorini especially, as we didn't get to our hotel until after dark; We could have stopped at a couple of the museum stores if there had been a little time after the guided tour.
We liked most of the guides. The first one at the Acropolis, Jason was not a top level guide, nor was Katia in Tinos. The others we liked, especially Penny at Delfi and Anna in Santorini, and Antonia at Olympia.
A down day at Nafplio with no tours would be a nice break.
Most of the hotels were fine. We did think that the Athens Pi Hotel was fine for us..modern, clean, elevators, nothing fancy but good location. Lodging at Tinos, and Santorini, and Kalabaka were very nice!
The lunch stops were well chosen. Tinos and Crete lunches were great!
The drivers all professional and on task. Great coordination of transportation will all vehicles on time!
We did like the catamaran ride also.
The manager at Kalimera Archanes Village was very helpful and accommodating; the breakfasts there were terrific.

Our trip to Paris was flawless and memorable thanks to Joel’s help from Kimkim. From airport pick-up to drop off, we didn’t have to worry about anything. Each guide we had was knowledgeable, helpful, and kind. We especially loved our guided trip to the Louvre, our pastry baking class, and our bike trip to Versailles. Our guide, Rachel, showed us where to get the best crepes and make the trip memorable and fun.

We loved the trip! Everything was pretty seamless except for locations for the last couple of pickups. Chris was great. Very responsive and patient with all our questions. We highly recommend him and kimKim

The team is very responsive and really listen to your requirement and tried to accommodate your demand . The response time is quick . When arrived in Mexico , the responsible person kept close contact to ensure things are on the correct track . The itinerary planned just fit our requirement .
It had included both the colorful culture and history of the country . Even with a last minute request to book a restaurant , the agent is willing and try her best to arrange for us ,

We absolutely loved our time in Greece. The hotels were great. We especially loved Hotel Adriani in Naxos and would recommend that place to anyone! Please continue to suggest this hotel to others. The staff there really made us feel welcome and a part of their family. We also really enjoyed our welcome dinner at Mavro Provato in Athens!
The pre-arranged driving and ferry services were extremely convenient. Being able to access our local contact when we had ferry delays was invaluable - Especially when our driver in Naxos did not come to pick us back up.
Overall, we had such a great time in Greece and hope one day to return. Thank you very much for a wonderful trip.

Our driver, Said, was very good, he was attentive, polite, and informative. He made us feel like friends, not just customers. Our guide in Fes, name? Was very informative, and took us to a lot of co operative shopping spots. Our guide in Marrakech, was very amusing, but didn't give us much time to browse the medina.

We had an absolutely fabulous trip to Peru! Kudos to Anne because all of our transfers went seamlessly and all of our accommodations exceeded expectations. We enjoyed Machu Picchu, the Sacred Valley, Lake Titicaca, and Cusco as anticipated, but were surprised by how much we loved Colca Canyon. The bus ride from Puno to Cusco also went faster and was much more entertaining than we had imagined. All of our guides taught us so much: Alecson (sp?), Willie, Daniel, and Primo. Primo also was so kind and encouraging to us when we struggled on the 1-day Inca Trail Hike. We had a wonderful adventure -- a lifelong dream come true!

Wow - our Portugal biking trip exceeded all our expectations. The biking logistics were excellent- top quality bikes, GPS to make the navigation easy and good local tips for dinners. All the tour guides were very helpful and knowledgeable. The taxi service for the luggage was always very prompt and Hugo was so friendly. We had booked this as a budget vacation and we were blown away by the accommodations. We stayed in a castle and several convents / monasteries. We felt very spoiled and loved the living history. The riding was all very beautiful and just the right amount of challenge. We did a self guided biking tour in Provence France, several years ago and did not think it could be topped. But this tour was much more organized and the accommodations really made it special. I would book another tour with this tour operator in a heart beat. Thanks for a fantastic vacation

Rose and I could not be more impressed with the attention to detail that we received from our Kim Kim contact - Julia . Her attention to detail could not have been better

The Trip Julia put together for us was the perfect way to start discovering Norway.

Excellent accommodation in the perfect position to see all the local sites along with the right adventures that suited our style of traveling. This allowed us the time and space to really enjoy the sheer beauty of Norway.

We will certainly be traveling with Kim Kim in future

Rod and Rose

Had an amazing trip planned thru KimKim and Julien as our local specialist. We had a group of 8 people and everyone had a great time, and loved the trip. The route had great diversity and stunning views. Julien was VERY responsive and we asked him a TON of questions. He did an amazing job on our 14 day trek thru the Dolomites.

The material (maps, roadbook, and app) provided were well organized, the guidance on what to bring , money necessary and buses was very helpful.

The app provided worked flawlessly and was a great help. The routes were all well marked and the app provided that extra confidence that we were travelling in the correct direction at all times. The pictures at the turning points also proved helpful at times.

The rifugios were clean, comfortable and accommodating to our meal requirements. Not all rifugios offer private baths so if you require this make sure you inquire what the facilities are that are available. The flexibility in the itinerary was also helpful for a couple people in our group and for the day we had bad weather. We did have a couple of issues with our accommodations being slightly incorrect in a couple of refugios, this may have been to the fact we added 2 people very late in the planning process.

Julien organized two via ferrata's for us which included equipment and guides. Highly recommend Monte Paterno via ferrata. The second via ferrata (Les Cordes) was VERY short and not really worth it. It was a new via ferrata this year so Julien was not aware of the route and distance. All the guides were awesome.

I would highly recommend a trip to the Dolomites, they are amazing. The hiking is not easy, but very beautiful. I will be going back and will use KimKim on future adventures.

1. We lost 2 hours from exploring Perito Merino because the company Erin
contracted us with forgot to pick us up. When we brought our concern to her attention, she didn’t seem to care about the anxiety I had to go through not knowing if I’ll ever see the glaciers that
I came for from far? And the little to no Spanish we spoke trying to figure out what happened? Thanks to a personal connection our hotel owner had with
the local companies, they figured out that we were forgotten and were able to get a hold of the company. Once the company showed up, the tour guide rushed us in the park so we don’t miss the last running boat in the
afternoon. When I called Laura via emergency line, she promised a full
refund for that day because of what we had to go through.

2. I hired KimKim to make sure my religious dietary restrictions were
respected and not to have us starve with the 22km hike to Torres Base Camp.

3. In Paine Grande, they didn’t have running water. So we weren't even able
to brush out teeth or take a shower during our stay. They told us
maintenance is working on the water. They charged us each 5 pesos for the
towel. They promised us warm warmer the morning after, which never
happened. How can you run a business with no running water? Or warm water
even in winter?

4. On our way to ElChalten, Walk Patagonia left us hanging yesterday in the
van in-front of the airport for over an hour waiting for passengers to
board. We were freezing in the car. Someone should have let us know about
this.

5. We missed our meals yesterday because we had red meat in our meal and we
were not sure if it was pork or not. The hotel tried to call Walk Patagonia
to check but no one was answering the call. We had no idea what time we
were supposed to be picked up. The hotel told us 8:30am, however it was not
until 9am that a car came to pick us up.

6. Walk Patagonia sent us a bottle of wine to apologize about their poor
service. I told the hotel receptionist that I have let you (Erin) know that
we don’t drink alcohol. I let her have it. However, she contacted the
company to let them know about the bottle of wine. They sent me a box of
sweet today.

Thanks!

It was a great 2 week adventure. It exceeded my expectations. The trip went flawlessly. The highlight for us was the hike up Wadi Mujib. There is no where else in the world quite like it. I rate the company A+, driver was great. Hotel in Dana was breathtaking. I didn't like the Dead Sea resort. They forbade bringing water on site, then charged 3 JD for water. The rooms were well worn.

Thanks again.

My wife and I recently took a trip to Spain and it was a trip of a lifetime in large part due to the creativity and attention to detail of Karin and the entire KimKim team.

Following a week on the Camino de Santiago from Sarria to Santiago de Compostela we did a driving tour of southern Spain including Salamanca, Caceres, Toledo, Seville, Córdoba and Granada. Kimkim’s support was top notch from start to finish.

Creative pre-trip planning based based on our likes/ dislikes and strong attention to detail led to an excellent experience. Karin arranged all the hotels, rental car and local guides in each city. It all cane together flawlessly. Each local guide was born, raised and still resides in their home city. Each brought an individuality to their tour and were passionate about their hometown and patient with our questions. We couldn’t help but be excited by their passion and knowledge.

We plan to work with KimKim again on our future trips.

We had an incredible custom trip to Peru, organized by Anne Godoy from Peruvian Soul. Our guide for the first 6 days (Cusco, Sacred Valley) was Julio Quispe and our guide for the Ausangate portion of our journey (though Andean Lodges) was Alfredo Zuniga. Both guides were incredible. Super knowledgable, friendly, helpful and made the trip an exceptional experience. Anne was very prompt and checked on us through the entire trip. This was my first time with KimKim and my first time organizing anything via a travel agency - and I was very pleased with the experience. Thanks Anne, Julio and Alfredo - for a wonderful trip.

Thanks Dean and Petrina! We had an amazing time in Ireland, and loved every moment of it! We would love to come back and see more of your beautiful country. All the work you put in for us, both in terms of making our bookings and planning our itinerary, is much appreciated. Almost everything worked like clockwork. We were also lucky to have great weather during our time there, and on the one day it wasn't great due to the rain, quite magically Dean showed up, and helped us plan our day!

In terms of guides and related feedback - here are a couple of things -

1. Hilltop Treks - Celts and Castles Tour. We had specifically requested a tour of Newgrange. Turns out this tour regularly does not enter Newgrange. That would have been a huge disappointment for us. As it turns out our tour started early since all the tourists got there in time, and the guide was able to eke out the time for us to see the inside of Newgrange which was amazing. I don't think the trip would have been worthwhile for us if we had not entered Newgrange. All's well that ends well - but I wanted to mention this, for future reference for you. In case there are others who specifically request a tour of Newgrange, it might be better to find a tour company that routinely goes inside the monument.
2. Lally Tours - Cliffs of Moher tour - In the interest of full disclosure, it would have been nice to know before that the money we paid earlier for the tour does not cover the cost of visiting the caves. Interestingly, they don't even mention it on their website. Also, we would have preferred a tour that covered Dunguaire castle vs the caves.

Overall, for us, I think it would have been better to have been given the option of a couple of tour companies before the bookings were made, so we could have checked out their itineraries and seen which ones worked the best with our interests.

Places that were most memorable - honestly, we enjoyed everything.
In Dublin - our favorites were the tour of Trinity college (the guide was really good), and the Book of Kells, and the Musical Pub Crawl.
Waterford - loved the tour of Waterford Factory
Cobh - loved the town and the beautiful St Colman's Cathedral
Ring of Kerry - loved the Derrynane Loop Walk. Your directions were perfect!
Dingle and Slea Head - were our absolute favorites! Absolutely stunningly gorgeous! Our favorite stop there was the Dunmore Head hike (which was not mentioned in your information - you may want to add it to your repertoire!).

Challenges - we had only one. We were unable to find the Old Head of Kinsale hike. I think we made some error in getting there and hence it took us for ever, and when we got there we were turned around. We parked at the Speckled Door, but were unable to find the start of the hike. It looked to us like you had to walk on a narrow road shared by cars which seemed risky. We asked the gentleman at the bar at the Specked Door, but he was too busy to help us. That's what delayed us in getting to Kenmare that night, and led to the problem at the B and B.
Everything else was really perfect.

I mention the above not as criticisms, but in the spirit of constructive feedback!

Overall, we ended up having a fantastic trip. our 2 private guides (Curtis from viking Biking in Oslo and Romain in Bergen) were both excellent and very informative. The Fjord cruise and Flåm railway were also highlights. On the flip side, we had some challenges along the way that could have been avoided with careful planning. For example, it took awhile for the hotel to find our reservation at the Thon hotel in Oslo because it was booked under Axel Garber, our guide. I also had to email Axel to find out where to go for our bike trip since it didn’t say in our detailed itinerary. In Flåm, we missed the ferry to Balestrand because our train was late. Had we known to look for the ferry to Bergen (which stopped in Balestrand) we would not have missed it as that ferry was held for a large tour group. That night, we had to stay in Flåm but also had a room booked in Balestrand which we were unable to cancel. Apparently, the kayaking tour we had booked in Balestrand was booked by the tour company in error so it was canceled. Finally, we had an issue checking out of our hotel in Bergen because the CC on file was from a name that we didn’t know and the hotel did not have authorization to charge the card. After quite awhile, Julia called back and straightened out the situation.

We enjoyed the route through the Snaefellsnes Penninsula and remote areas Westfjords, We were able to snag a reservation at Tjorhusid in Isafjordur which was a real treat. Driving through the snow in the mountains on a gravel road was a real adventure. We liked the Malarhorn guesthouse and suggest taking route 68 from beyond Holmavik on the way back to Reykjavík for wild beauty and staggering views. It was the only time we ventured off the route planned by Pauline and it was well worth it. Pauline was able to develop an amazing 7 day trip for us with very little lead time.

David and Heimdal Tours were excellent. Their service is personalized and they are dedicated to making your tour as smooth and convenient as possible. They will cater to your interests and are quick to respond to all inquiries and questions. They appear to be committed to highlighting and preserving local Faroese culture without exploiting local communities. We had a great time in the Faroe Islands and are very glad we experienced the islands with this tour group.

Planning and booking via kimkim was seamless and easy. The local specialist in Brazil, Luciana was excellent, responding to what we wanted to do, rescheduling, and providing required information promptly. Our trip went as planned by Luciana, and exceeded our expectations, in what we managed to do and see.

We were very pleased with the service provided by Dimitris. He answered all of our questions and made sure that all aspects of our trip ran smoothly. When we were concerned that weather conditions might lead to a cancellation of our ferry he was behind the scenes looking into that for us. He also listened to the specifics of what we were looking for and adjusted our itinerary accordingly. Overall we were very pleased with our trip and we enjoyed working with him.