Kimkim Trip Reviews

We had an amazing trip thanks to Vilde. The for day hiking trip was not something we could have planned on our own (unless we did a LOT more research) and it was exactly what I was looking for!

Vilde was super responsive throughout the trip and helped us make changes along the way. It would have been even more perfect if she had suggested DMT membership for discounts and packing a thermos for teas during the hikes :-)

Our trip to The Philippines was incredible! We appreciated how much Dan guided us from the very beginning with our price range, desired activities and our other wishes for the trip. He was super responsive, and we loved all of our private tours. The package deal was customized for us, and I have yet to find another company who does this with such attention to detail. While we were on our trip, we received texts (loved that) from Gazle who was also super helpful and responsive. We absolutely loved The Guerrera Resort (Camiguin)! Amarela (Bohol) was a beautiful place, and we could not have been happier with the service and amenities. The snorkeling in Balicasag should not be missed and neither should the boat cruise on the Loboc River (both in Bohol).There is no question that I will use Kimkim again for my future travel plans, and if you are looking for the best specialist for your trip to The Philippines, you have to use Dan Barmatz!

Olivier and Julien were great. They were responsive and informative. Awesome trip!

- Organization and preparation was really excellent
- The trek was amazing and our guide very helpful and had a very broad culture on Buddhism
- Our driver (Ladakh) was excellent also, super kind , drove well and also very helpful
- The home stays were overall good, we were almost always alone with the families since not too many tourists so could enjoy cocking with them an choosing our rooms. The bathrooms were very irregular, some excellent and clean other really less. Not a big deal but worst to mention. Food was fresh and good, totally veg though which we were not expecting.
- Good surprise was that we did not need to carry our backpacks during the treks except for water and some basic stuff. I did not ask before but it would be important to let people know in advance, would not have bought so techy brand new backpacks
- Very disappointed with Singge Palace. First room we had was in the annex and very basic, second was nicer but we had a mouse in it. We claimed with management and they did not even bother to apologize. Buffet was good though. Overall people were not kind nor helpful specially at reception
- For all the Delhi connections, drives, Manish, keeping our bags,,, was really flawless (except the guy who asked me how recognize me but we already talked about it and by the way he ended being super nice)
I definitely would recommend the agency !

We met up with 2 guides Stig in Oslo and Ingrid in Bergen. We thoroughly enjoyed there company and both took us to places we would not have seen otherwise. Ingrid also arranged our itinerary which was amazing. We did give her some feedback which she has taken on board. We were very fortunate the weather was kind to us bar a couple of days which drizzled but that did not deter us. We were pleasantly surprised with the Hurtigruten and the fit out and food and Artic superior room were really nice. We had a variety of things to do and we really enjoyed all of them. I would highly recommend you arrange your Norway trip with Ingrid she was great.

Who knew Sicily was so amazing?

We did Ischia, Procida, Palermo, Ortigia, Taormina and Valletta.
Also had some other highlights en route to those locations.
All in all--amazing cities, each with their own personalities.
I would recommend Taormina and Ortigia the most--since they were most authentic, less touristy (except Taormina does have a cruise ship terminal which makes the city swell at midday.)

Our guides were all terrific. Salvatore showed us around a gorge that is north of the Noto area, as well as Taormina, and was incredibly knowledgeable and personable.
Francesco was our guide for a boat tour around the islands of Ischia and Procida and he was amazing. Friendly, down to earth, un-rushed.

We did have some miscommunications with one of our drivers being late to pick us up from airport, but Mario from BellaRoma Vacations made up for it and comped us the value. Mario was also always available via Whatsapp/phone, so that helped as well to keep things running smoothly.

Would recommend and return to Sicily in a heartbeat--who needs to go to the overcrowded Rome, Venice, Florence when you've got Sicilia!

We highly recommend KimKim (with Nepal Myths & Mountain Trails) for trekking in Nepal. Our guides, Tashi and Ang Gelu, did a top-notch job in safely and comfortably guiding us on our 5-day family trek to Ghorepani and Poon Hill. These two guides were personable and complemented each other well (Ang Gelu knew the villages and trek a little better, but Tashi knew more English). It was clear that they had much experience hiking in Nepal and in the Annapurna region. We felt secure in their hands.

Our original plan had been Pikey Peak, but a mudslide on the road forced us to change plans before we even arrived at the trailhead. Ngima's team (Nepal Myths & Mountain Trails) correctly assessed the situation, discussed options with us, and recommended the alternate plan (Ghorepani + rafting) that we agreed with.

Even though we chose to go during monsoon season, we were lucky in that the weather was good enough for us to get great views of the Annapurna range from multiple locations, including Ghorepani, Poon Hill, Tadapani, and Ghandruk!

Trekking in the Himalayas was more physically challenging than I expected, primarily due to the prolonged steepness, and when my knees and thighs were not quite up to the task, Tashi and Ang Gelu were there to help carry my backpack, which made a huge difference. However, our group did get separated once when some of us got too far ahead, but it ended up being a merely temporary inconvenience due to the skills and knowledge of our guides.

Ngima and his team were very flexible in letting us stay an extra day in Pokhara so that we could see some of the sights there before heading back to Kathmandu. They also arranged a white-water rafting trip after we had to turn back from Pikey Peak in just a single day, which was definitely a highlight. Their ability to set up this whole trip for us was impressive.

We had fun playing cards with our guides during the evenings in the tea houses, as well as meeting other travelers from around the world. The trek was very comfortable, and we had ample time in the evenings to relax.

Such an amazing trip - my guide Sonam was wonderful. He thought of everything and went out of his way to make sure I enjoyed the trip. He took me to see some breathtaking sights and gave me the exact trip I wanted. I would recommend KimKim and Responsible Treks and Sonam to anyone I know.

Thank you!

Andre did a great job helping me coordinate logistics. Vilde and John were great hiking and walking guides in Bergen. Really enjoyed the entire trip and experience. Will work through KimKim again on future trips.

I had a nice time in Salerno. My drivers were on time and helpful, my guide Anna in Salerno was excellent - she new her history and showed me the old part which I found interesting and even showed me street art which I love to see. It was nice to try some local fare as well and the host was lovely. Everything went well without a problem. The accommodation in Salerno was great - a small boutique hotel next to the train station and not too far from the ferry was perfect.
Well done Emi you did your job as requested. I'll use you again.

Overall the trip was great. Anne put together a great agenda and her team of guides and drivers delivered, giving my son and I a very memorable experience. The one down event was a ATM owned by KBZ. Bank it took money from my bank account but did not dispense cash to me. I opened an investigation that day but The money has still not been returned. I advise against using KBZ ATM,s.

We started to try planning on our own, but all the choices seemed a tad overwhelming! Preeti was great in helping plan a trip that really hit the areas we wanted to see. We enjoyed the places we stayed and saw the beautiful Eastern fjords. We really enjoyed the adventures of the going on the glacier hike and the ice cave tour. We unfortunately weren't able to hit all the recommended stops just due to time but I feel we hit the majority of them. We were able to cram quite a bit into our week there. We really hope to go back to Iceland when our kids are older and try to do a longer trip on the ring road. Thanks for helping plan our amazing trip!

Our personal guide, Chen, was absolutely wonderful! He was kind, considerate of our acclimation needs, and he had a terrific ability to motivate all of us to achieve our full potential on the rigorous hikes. We thoroughly appreciated Cheo’s sense of humor, as well as the detail of his cultural presentation of the sights throughout the entire trip.

Katy and KimKim were wonderful with the timely updates of our travel plans, payment schedule, and perfect packing list.

Thank you!

Nuestro conductor el señor Eider Zuleta fue la mejor compañía que nos pudieron ofrecer. Siempre estuvo muy atento de nuestras necesidades. En Neyva nos encontramos conque no tenían planeado el hecho de que pedimos guías que hablaron inglés pues mi esposo no habla español. Nos pusieron una traductora que en realidad no manejaba mucho el idioma.
En San Agustin los guías el hotel y todo el servicio en general fue excelente al igual que en Popayán.
En Cali nada de lo que estaba establecido en el plan se cumplió. El hotel excelente pero nada más. los guías son personas poco preparadas. El tour de la ciudad fue bastante limitado y no nos llevaron a ver las mariposas u otros lugares emblemáticos que estaban planeados.
La clase de salsa no la vimos y el club al que nos deberían de llevar fue cambiado por otro lugar horrible en el nos tocó a nosotros pagar la entrada pues según el guía está no estaba incluida. La verdad este tipo de cambios no deberían de hacerse y mucho menos el llevar turistas a un sitio que da miedo.
Al siguiente día en cali fue igual nos llevaron a la hacienda y después nos dejaron en el aeropuerto tres horas antes de nuestro vuelo. En el plan dice que ese día el almuerzo estaba incluido pero Natalia que era la organizadora en Cali dijo que ella no estaba informada de esto así que al final nadie respondió.

Dimitris did an excellent job of combining my ideas with his knowledge of Greece. This was my
third time to Greece so there were areas I wanted to revisit and of course have new experiences. Dimitris incorporated some exciting adventures into our vacation. Meteora, Olympia & Monemvasia are a must see. To relax after two weeks of our cross country drive we relaxed at his suggestion in a wonderful Villa on Naxos. Dimitris was patient and always available for questions and quickly resolved any issues. We stayed in wonderful homes with gracious people and of course fabulous food!! We will definitely use KimKim and Dimitris again.

Thank you,

Alexis Savaros

Fridur put together a great trip for us from start to finish. She was always accommodating to us before our trip and even during our trip. She was also able to help us on our extended trip to Iceland as well. We would definitely use Kimkim and Fridur again on our next trip back.

Ingrid was fantastic and helped us each step of the way. Highly recommend Kim Kim. Fast response times, good eateries were recommended and good hotels!!

It was too much driving for the week, we wish we would’ve had more activities to do.

We just returned from an 11-day family vacation in Costa Rica and it was truly fantastic. We had a great balance of planned adventures and downtime that we used to explore on our own. The tours and hotels organized by Randall were all great, and I am so glad we decided to have an expert organize our itinerary instead of trying to figure it out ourselves. Below are the brief reviews of the major highlights of our trip:

Balsa River rafting with WAVE: 5/5. Fun river, great guide, great lunch. Wished it were longer!
Arenal Springs Resort: 5/5. Beautiful resort, nice rooms, nice hot springs, amazing breakfast.
Horseback/Waterfall: 5/5. Nice guide, great scenery, just the right length.
Arenal Hike + Tabacon Hot Springs: 5/5. Terrific guide, interesting history, saw red-eye leaf frog. Evening at hot springs was really relaxing, the buffet at Tabacon was just OK.
Sloth Tour: 3/5. Booked this on our own... seeing the first sloth was cool but after 2 hours they're kind of boring. Very nice restaurant stop at the end.
Car/Boat/Car trip to Monteverde: 5/5. Enjoyed practicing my Espanol with driver Hugo. Rough road, wouldn't want to drive this ourselves!
Hotel Ficus: 4/5. Nice room, lacked fan, restaurant was just OK, too pricey for dinner.
Twilight hike: 3/5. It was OK, but we got really wet and only saw bugs.
100% Aventura Ziplining: 5+/5. Whole family loved this! Tarzan swing at the end is a true test of courage.... just do it!
El Trapiche plantation tour: 5/5. Booked this on our own... very nice coffee/sugar farm tour with chocolate demo too, and tasty samples of everything.
Car trip to Manuel Antonio: 5/5. Private van, our driver Rafael was very friendly and took us to a great soda for lunch. And he stopped so we could see Croc Bridge - very cool!
Hotel Costa Verde: 5/5. Great location, spacious rooms, and plenty of monkeys!
Catamaran Cruise: 3/5. Nice day on the water, but the snorkeling is not really any good. Lots of hot, boring waiting before boarding the boat. We paid for the ship paparazzi photos and felt it was a ripoff for what we actually got. Lunch was decent, crew was friendly.
Espadilla Beach: 5/5. Great beach for relaxing and swimming. Rented cheap surfboards for the kids. Lots of monkeys here too!
Manuel Antonio National Park: 5/5. Beautiful, but prepare to get HOT and SWEATY. Lots of monkeys here.

Overall we had a great time and we could have never figured this all out without Randall. Thanks for the great adventures!

Just returned from a wonderful 4 day trip to Casablanca, specifically to attend a wedding, an amazing experience!
I arranged through Yassine a driver for the 4 days and guides for Rabat and Casablanca. Our driver and guides were truly fantastic throughout. We couldn’t have been happier with their service.
After a great half-day tour of Casablanca, our driver picked us up at 8.30 pm for the wedding and waited willingly and patiently until 3.00 am when we left. Above and beyond! It was our good luck that Yassine happened to be in Casablanca during our visit (he lives in Seattle) and he accompanied us on our tours. An added a pleasurable bonus.
Thank you all so much. We won’t hesitate to recommend Kimkim to friends.
Fiona Lohrisch, Sarasota, Florida.