Kimkim Trip Reviews

Our trip to Morocco was absolutely AMAZING!! All thanks to Abdullah!! He sent me a couple of itineraries to look over and we pick one that suited us. He made sure he was always available to me. If i needed anything he was very quick to respond. He also paired us up with our driver Karim. I honestly can’t say more good things about Karim. He definitely took great care of us and went beyond his duty for us. I will forever be grateful to him ❤️ He showed us his beautiful country and culture. I wished we had more time in this beautiful country. 5 days was not enough. Thanks to KimKim travel I left my heart in Morocco!! 😉 I will definitely come back, and when I do I will be contacting Abdullah and KARIM. Thank you.

Yassine and his team planned an absolutely remarkable Morocco experience for us - exceeded all of my expectations! Our driver Mohammed was wonderful - very safe driver and very helpful with recommendations and places to go. We did a lot of car traveling across the country so we really enjoyed our time with him. All of our Riads were fabulous, so ornate and beautiful with the owners beyond attentive to our needs. We felt completely safe and had many dinner recommendations by our Riad hosts that were amazing. All tours planned by Yassine and his team were wonderful, tour guides were very informed and funny - we really felt we got a the full experience in a short amount of time. I highly recommend working with Yassine's team!!

The KimKim concept works fine. It's very handy to plan your trip, communicate and have your (personal) information integrated in one platform. We like the focus on sustainability and the transparent fee structure.

Our trip in India was great. The contact with Gaurav was friendly and he was very helpful in planning the trip we had in mind.
During our stay in India we had regular contact and he always informed us when needed.

What we also liked was the fact that his organization had an eye for social issues. In Delhi our transportation was arranged by Women on Wheels (http://azadfoundation.com/our-programmes/women-on-wheels/). When we arrived in Delhi we received a LifeStraw bottle (https://www.lifestraw.com/products/lifestraw-go). We calculated that by using this bottle we saved appr. 150 PET bottles.

The most important: we had a great trip and enjoyed our stay in India very much.

So we absolute recommend Gaurav / The Folk Tales when you want to plan a trip to India!

Dimitris was excellent. Despite the fact that we had some misunderstandings, he responded quickly and fully. We did not have the same options as given by the Croatia/Venice leg, but then this is a different company.
We are grateful Dimitris put us in Kamari instead of Fira. Less crowded. Also his suggestion to dine at Strofi was super.
Tassos the driver was just what we needed. Calm and pleasant.
The highlight for both of us was definitely Meteora, both our accommodation and the monasteries. Only downside was that we hoped for a Guided tour of the Monasteries, but what we got was a tour. Not quite the same.
The Acropolis/Parthenon tour was marvelous as was the Food Tour of Athens.
Athens was good, and the hotel he chose was very good. A good location, breakfast all night, PC and printer for boarding passes. The male receptionists were all a trifle brusque, but the ladies were very helpful. We also visited the Cathedral on Sunday for services and really lucked out. It happened to be a big commemoration of the war with Turkey. (At least I think so)

I can’t say enough good things about our recent trip to Croatia with the help from Robi at Kimkim.
I’m afraid it was a bit like the movie “If it’s Tuesday it must be Belgium”, but that was only due to our limited time of 8 days. Everything was flawless, I’ve been on previous trips with an escort guide, but Kimkim’s remote guide system was better than having one present. Our day with Gabor on the Peljesac peninsula stopping at wineries on our way to Ston, was a highlight!
Next time we promise to stay longer and we wouldn’t hesitate in using Kimkim again.
Don

Harris, our specialist through Travel 12, was outstanding and very helpful at every point in planning our trip and answering every tedious question.

We started the trip in Athens at the PiAthens Hotel, which was alright. We knew we weren't getting the best hotel because we had previously asked our representative to book a medium-level hotel to cut costs. The hotel was still decent and clean, and the location was stellar. We were easily able to walk to the Acropolis. We had a "welcome dinner" at Mauro Provato in Athens, which was utterly amazing food.

The next leg on the trip was a ferry ride to Santorini. We stayed at Kasimatis Suites in Imerovigli. The hotel had breathtaking views everywhere you looked, a great breakfast and a jacuzzi. Harris picked a fabulous location because it was within walking distance of Fira (Thira) but didn't have all of the traffic and tourists who come off the cruise ships that dock on the island for a day. There were tons of great restaurants (Vigla, Pearl on the Sea and many more), markets and shops to visit in Imerovigli.

The highlight of Santorini was a catamaran tour through Oia where we saw many sites and got to swim in the hot springs and had a fabulous dinner and unlimited wine and drinks. Despite a mixup during the pickup Santoline Tours made everything work and got us to the boat in time. They were very nice.

We took another ferry to Crete where we stayed at Olive Green Hotel, the best hotel we stayed at. Fabulous, modern facility with a great breakfast and great location. Heraklion has great shopping all around the city square. We had a guide through Let's Crete who took us through the Palace of Knossos and the Archaeological Museum. This is a must.

Our last part of the trip was in Chania, which was absolutely beautiful. The Old Harbour had a million cool shops and great restaurants. We stayed at the Mosaic hotel, which was decent but not the absolute greatest. We rented a very cheap car for a day at Tellus car rental and drove to Elafonissi Beach, which was unforgettable gorgeous if you're brave enough to make the drive.

The last highlight (ALSO A MUST) was a cooking lesson at a home on the White Mountain through GS Tours. I would have done this five more times.

The tours and tour guides were above and beyond what we had hoped. We were wowed at every turn. Thank you Tasos and the whole crew!!

Oh my, what an amazing experience. Susan was just absolutely fabulous. Answered all my questions promptly and just truly arranged an amazing trip for my 50th birthday. Zanzibar was incredible, Stone Town a delight. The hotels we stayed in were to die for. Truly works of art. The highlight of my trip was climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro. Our guides Sinaí and Amsi were amazing, kept my daughter and I entertained and safe. They were so knowledgeable of the área, plants, animals, everything. They took our oxygen level and heart rate every night to make sure we were safe. Our cook made the most amazing meals, I wish I could take him home with me, and I miss the banana stew, I want the recipe for that, I was so good!! He even made me a cake on my birthday! I couldn't have asked for better porters, they sang and danced for us, and at the end of every day they would meet us on the trail and carry our packs to camp for us. On day 7, summit day, they met us 2 hours from camp and brought hot tea and juice! I miss the crew so much. Our hotel in Arusha had the nicest staff and most beautiful grounds. Albert from DiscoverTZ arranged for an Arusha city tour on our free day and we got to go to the Women's Market and a true highlight for me - see Masaai medicine (I'm an ER nurse in the states) My daughter's favorite part was the safari (which I loved too). Albert was also our guide for the safari and was knowledgeable and took us to out of the way places so we weren't competing with other drivers. He has the best philosophy - its all about the experience, and it was!!! We saw lions, elephants, lion cubs, cheetahs and cheetah cubs - even saw cheetahs in a tree which is unheard of! Our accommodations for the safari were amazing - tent camps where the animals came right up to the tenis. I looked out at one point to see a zebra eating the grass right next to my tent and then walked next to the monkeys cavorting on the pathway. You don't get a better experience than that! I truly miss Sinaí, Amsi and Albert as I have made new friends. A perfect 50th birthday.

Our guide, Dean M was super brillant. We had the best time. He made sure we had the history of each place we stopped. And he added a few along the way he found after getting to know us better. We felt like we had first class service the entire trip. If I had to pick, the Aran Island trip was my favorite.
The food was exceptional. Every meal delicious. Saying good by to Dean at the end of our week together was like saying good bye to an old friend. Thank you for a great trip.

We (Siva & Spouse) returned back to India last night after a great trip to Morocco. We are realize that we would have missed a great opportunity, had we not made this visit to Morocco.

The planning and suggestions were SUPERB. Well coordinated. Service support has been excellent.

The vehicle, driver and the accommodation suggestions were simply great.

Overall, we have returned back with lot of satisfaction and great feelings about the country and people of the country.

Hats Off to Mohammad! Great Human Being and We established a fantastic relationship with him.

Thanks Brahim.

Salam!
Siva

We were initially reluctant to reach out to a travel agent to help with this trip (as we never have) but work and life got in the way and we needed local assistance navigating hotels and transportation. We knew from the start, we wanted to see as much of Croatia as possible in a week and did not want to only rely on a car or the ferry service, which complicated things. From the start, Robi was very responsive and patient in providing feedback on various itineraries, as we reached out prior to purchasing our plane tickets. We ended up flying in and out of Dubrovnik, as there was a direct flight from teh United States, which is a somewhat unusual route for traveling. He listened to feedback and easily incorporated suggestions of upgrades and locations of accommodations, when we asked. He also provided reasonably priced accommodations and budget ensuring we had a nice room at each hotel, which we appreciated. Robi also suggested things like private drivers and guides for Split and Dubrovnik, which we had not specifically requested, but made our trip much more enjoyable and relaxing. All drivers and guides showed up as promised and were easy to identify, friendly, and knowledgeable. While we were in Croatia, Robi personally drove from Zagreb to Dubrovnik to meet us our second day and drive us to Korkula. Along the way, he drove us along a scenic route to Ston and provided us an introduction to Korkula, and a history or Croatia. He also provided many local recommendations including use of pinpoint google map sites of where to rent an electric bike, where to eat, how to get to local beaches, where to pick up a rental car in Split, and even where to park at Plitvice Lakes. Robi really went above and beyond what we expected in a travel guide. He was always thinking about how we could get more out of our trip, calling ahead to accommodations with information on when they should expect us, and communicated well with us throughout our trip. We would recommend him to anyone! As this was our first experience with KimKim, we intend to come back for help with future vacations.

We started in Prague and first meet with Sasha our contact. Sasha reviewed our trip and had several suggestions. Our guides in Prague were all outstanding, being willing to answer all our questions. In all cases our transfers to the next city was seamless, thank you so much.
Budapest was the same, a great experience.
In Ljubljana we met Lidija who again reviewed our plans and made suggestions. We are so glad that we followed through with suggestions given to us throughout this trip. Guides were great and travel connections were seamless.
If we have to put a negative into this section, the only thing is the five day walk around the three lakes. This is so minor but here we go. Day two had us walking through very muddy trails which really were unsuitable, we should have returned to our hotel by the way we came. Day four had us walking along a path covered by fallen trees which really needed clearing. At times we thought we would have to turn back.
Thanks for a great experience in Central Europe.

My two sons (19 & 21) and I wanted to visit Norway but due to my work schedule I left everything to the last minute. I found Kim Kim per chance on the Internet and decided based on their excellent reviews for Norway to give them a try. I completed the questionnaire and Fridur quickly contacted me. She was extremely helpful, knowledgeable and patient in helping us to plan our Itinerary. She focused on basing it on our own special requests - active with multiple hiking days in Bergen and Balestrand plus white water rafting near Geilo. We even squeezed in visits and morning tours of both Bergen and Oslo. The local guides, Fartein in Bergen and Stig in Oslo, were informative and fun to discuss the history of their cities and country. I had never been on a personal local guided tour before and they have convinced me that this is the way to go. We saw so much and learned a great deal in our three hours together.
Fridur sent details on how to travel to the airports and tips on saving money by purchasing the day passes, etc. She responded to all of my 1,000 questions. I also must comment that I had braced myself for sticker shock but was pleasantly surprised that Fridur kept the cost down in our price range while booking us into comfortable 4 star hotels that were well located.
There is so much to see in beautiful Norway, I hope that we are able to return soon. I definitely would love to work with Fridur again.

Wow what a trip we have just had! Firstly, a huge thank you to Vishal and Sonam at Trophel Tours, and to Thinley (our guide) and Migmar (our driver) who made our 2-week trip so memorable, informative, fun, with seamless travel connections and full of chilli cheese!
From the start, organising this trip was made easy with the communication, advice and support provided by Vishal. Ric was on an invite working visa with the Ministry of Health and Vishal went out of his way to navigate the complexities of the various itineraries and different visa types Ric and I had to have in place.
The hikes that Thinley and I undertook together (while Ric was working) around Paro were fabulous, walking through pine forests and we hardly saw another soul on any of them, apart from a few local farmers, monks and friendly dogs! Thinley has a wealth of knowledge about his country, Buddhism, the history of the various monasteries, Dzongs, temples we visited and of Bhutan’s flora and fauna. He could even talk with the birds! And our very respectful driver, Migmar, was a delight to be around and we always felt in safe hands on the mountainous roads.
In the second half of our trip, Ric joined us for hikes and sightseeing in and around Punakha and Thimphu. We loved watching the national sport of archery, and even came back to Australia with a traditional bow and arrows!!
We were also lucky enough to be in Thimphu to watch the Tour of the Dragon – one of the World’s toughest mountain bike races which sees cyclists covering 268 kms, up and down 4 mountains all in one day! Even the Prime Minister of Bhutan took part.
We stayed in the 3-star Tourist hotels organised by Vishal and all were of a high standard, with scenic views of dzongs, temples or the breathtakingly beautiful countryside. All the hotels were clean and comfortable, and we were certainly well fed!
The only thing that we got wrong was the weather! Bhutan is on the same latitude as Cairo and Miami and at high altitudes and at the time of year we went (end of August/September), it was hotter and more humid than we had planned for! Be prepared to wear long sleeves to enter the zdongs and temples and also not every hotel, restaurant and/or shop takes credit cards so take in some hard currency (preferably US$).
We loved our time in Bhutan, with its proud people and strong national identify and it seems decades before its time in terms of the environment – at the Paris Climate talks, Bhutan didn’t commit to becoming carbon neutral – they committed to staying carbon negative (i.e. their forests absorb more carbon than the country emits)! It really is a special country.
We plan to come back with our family to do a 6-day hike and will certainly, without a doubt, be in touch with Vishal and Sonam and go through Trophel Tours again.

Everyone was so accommodating in terms of what my family and I required! Our on-site planner greeted us with nothing but recommendations and the trip could not have gone better!

The trip was fantastic. It was our 1st time in Greece so we didn't know what to expect. This trip did not disappoint. We especially liked the Athens to are that was provided by Veronica. Full of history and lots of knowledge as well as being able to say see and get lots of good pictures. Our hotels that we say that were full of knowledgable friendly people and we had a great time talking with them. We had a great time at the beaches and all the restaurants. We can't wait to go back!

It's unfortunate that we didn't know that riads are not accessible by car. That is to some extent because I didn't do enough research, but it really should have been pointed out somewhere along the way. I had told Hajar explicitly that we were four elderly people aged 77 to 83 who were not up to extensive walking, but both our riads required a bit of a walk from where we unloaded our luggage. To make matters worse, the Palais Amani walk was through very unpleasant, not to say trashy, surroundings. and we were told not to go outside the riad on our own. This was far from what we were expecting!!!

Once inside, however, we found the riads very comfortable and lush, except that we were given rooms in La Maison Arabe that had no elevator, requiring two flights of stairs. And in the Palais Amani, our friends the Patels were given a suite in which the bedroom was upstairs but the bathroom was downstairs. Again, after telling Hajar our ages and conditions, I was disappointed that this was not communicated to the riads. The Palais Amani offered the Patels a swap to a single level room, which they accepted, but only on the second day; La Maison Arabe did likewise, again on the second day, which we declined rather than unpack and repack

The itinerary also was not constructed with reference to our elderly status. Our guide, Hammadi, apologized and said he had not been made aware of the problem; he adjusted our itinerary extensively, which we appreciated. Overall, he did a very good job for us, except that he spent far too much time taking us to shops from which I'm sure he was getting a commission. We were taken to one such shop each day, usually without warning that it was going to try to sell us merchandise. (The shop above the tanneries put on one of the hardest of hard sells I ever experienced!). I have been on many land tours and cruise-ship shore excursions but never have I felt so used.

I was also disappointed that Hammadi left us the final night at our hotel, leaving the driver to take us to the airport. The driver was fine, but we felt a bit insecure without our English-speaking guide lest there be some problem at the airport. There wasn't, fortunately, but I still feel he was derelict in leaving us early.

Thanks to KimKim I was able to arrange a bachelorette for 17 people within a month. It would not have been possible without the help, patience and cooperation of Karina (our local specialist). The tour was a perfect combination of planned moments and unplanned. It went above and beyond my expectations. Thank you so much!

It made things so much easier to be met and have our visits organised and explained, when in a foreign country and you don't speak the language it is often difficult to know shown how things work even train stations!

The guides Max arranged were helpful and welcoming, and keen to answer questions and give us a glimpse into life in China as well as just the 'sights'. The mountains in Zhangjajie and Guilin and the incredible Terracotta Warriors also played their parts!

The cooking class in Guilin was fun and the aubergine (eggplant) dish especially tasty, but the spread we had during the dumpling class in Xi'an was the biggest highlight, and the conversation (almost all translated by our guide) was fascinating.

We were in Jordan for 6 nights and seven days, and everything went perfectly. Carmen was very helpful throughout the planning process, she was very responsive and flexible with our schedule. Our favorite part of the trip has to be Wadi Rum! The desert was absolutely breathtaking! All the hotels we stayed were wonderful as well, particularly the Boutique hotel in Amman. The trip was planned very well because we did the intensive activities (Wadi Rum & Petra) on the first half of the trip and the second half was relaxing by the beach :) Our only comment is regarding driver changes. I wish we were communicated about the changes, especially the day that we landed. We weren't told that a different driver was picking us up. Other that this minor confusion, the trip was perfect. Shout out to Jamal, he was incredible!!