Kimkim Trip Reviews

Our trip to Peru was unique and authentic! Our guide Aldo really contributed to make our trip enrichful by sharing with us his knowledge and taking care of us. The itinerary was great, we enjoyed everything. Our most memorable moment was our stay in Amaru where we could experience the authentic village life by being hosted by an amazing Peruvian family. We strongly recommend this destination.

We just returned from our amazing trip to Iceland. Preeti planned a great itinerary for us, with the perfect mix of activities and sightseeing for a family of 3 with a 10-year-old. Highlights included a glacier hike, horseback riding through the hot springs, exploring lava caves and soaking in the hot baths at Krauma. The waterfalls and glaciers were epic. Each one, unique and awe-inspiring. We covered a lot of ground over the course of our 9-day trip and were blown away by the natural wonder of Iceland and its varied, other-worldly landscapes.

Our local specialist, Katy from Aspiring Adventures, arranged our local experience carefully, based on our preferences as a party of 6 adults with various levels of fitness ability and 2 active children. She got us a trip to experience Peru from the Pacific coast to the Andean mountains to the Amazon jungle. She arranged for us to taste Peruvian local cuisine at luxurious restaurants, a farmer's house, an Amaru village house, a boat picnic setting, and a set-menu dining in a jungle lodge. She got us to experience local lifestyle by having us to stay at hostels, Amaru village house, and a jungle lodge. The Muresan family also appreciated our 'green' experience in Peru.

Aldo Sanchez was our ultimate BEST guide! He was patient, quietly listening to our needs, courteously adjusting our trip based on our requests, happily taking our pictures as a group in 'Instagram-worthy' places :), and most importantly, very passionate and knowledgeable about his mountains! He did not push us to buy anything from any merchants. He did not force us to do anything we were not comfortable with. He also made all those hiking and walking a pleasure because he carried a book with him and he kept on stopping to tell stories about the places we passed as we were walking. He was like an audiobook. No suggestion to improve for Aldo. Keep up your great work and service, Aldo! Thank you for your service to our family.

The Muresan family found Wilhen, the cyclist guide, fun, and careful with ensuring our safety on the trails and road. He went as far as we wanted to, as fast as our kids pedaled, and was willing to take several breaks to give Elisa a break because she was running out of gas from not eating proper breakfast. Her fault totally. Luckily, Aldo got a piece of Amaru potato for Elisa to munch and get a little more energy. Thank you, Wilhen.

The Muresan family enjoyed paddleboarding with David at Lake Piuray. He was competent, patient, and more than happy to have fun with my extremely happy kids. Our kids are fish in disguise. I thought they were goofing around a little too much, but David encouraged them to have serious fun. The kids ended up feeling ecstatic, I ended up relaxing, and the car ended up being quiet because both of them fell asleep after our water activity. Thank you, David. Stay safe, keep traveling, and carry on.

The Muresan family had a great time in Amaru. We loved the welcome 'ceremony' when we arrived. We enjoyed working the field for Fredy's family, using the tools that the Inca farmers had been using for centuries. We loved the cooking in the ground procedure that we witnessed and graciously devoured. We admired the camaraderie amongst Fredy's neighbors, who came to help and showed us how devoted the women were to care for their children. We adored the view from hiking 4000 m hill near Fredy's house. BUT the chill was down to every single tiniest bone in our bodies. It was extremely cold during the night that when we had to pee, we almost decided to pee on ourselves to warm our bodies up. But no, we walked down to the toilets, like proper ladies and gentlemen, to release ourselves. What a reward we got. We looked up the sky and saw what the Inca people saw many centuries ago, with our naked eyes, the clear sky with beautiful formation of the stars and the milky way. It was one of our moments of: man, we were glad we had to pee in the middle of the night. Thank you for your hospitality, Fredy. I will send you the printed picture, as I promised.

We loved the Amazon jungle that we got to experience from Puerto Maldonado. Oscar's lodge was pleasantly clean, rustic, and relaxing. The architecture and landscape looked to be carefully designed for ultimate enjoyment of the city people like us. (Juan) Carlos the chef was strict with dining timetable, but we loved his creations, every single time! Oscar's staff members were courteous and very honest. Perhaps, at the bar, for people who don't drink, Oscar can add selling chips, candies, or small muncheries. We enjoyed the common rooms very much, playing games and getting to know other guests, while swinging at the strong hammocks and imagining a leopard or a snake or a monkey or even a sloth peeking to watch us, humans.

Yuri is a passionate and competent guide. We appreciated that even with his stomach problem, he still stayed upbeat and strong to help us enjoy our time in the jungle. He spotted many animals for us when we couldn't even see the creatures! He found the best place (spots) for us to enjoy the clay-licking birds of Peru, had a picnic breakfast, and walked to another spot to enjoy those beauties! He skillfully took us for long day and night walk through the Amazon jungle and to Condenado Lake. He caught 3 piranha fish with ease and graciously shared 1 with us at the lodge. We 4 are still jealous at Yuri for catching those piranha, because none of us could do that! We appreciated Yuri taking us to try to find an Anaconda (or two or a few) at Tres Chimbadas Lake. Yuri knew Reserva Nacional Tambopata very well and was always being green and environmentally conscious, at all times. Thank you, Yuri. Keep up your great service!

The Muresan family would also like to acknowledge the super boat driver Carlo! Carlo drove very smoothly on Tambopata River, without light, at 4 in the morning!, maneuvering through deep and shallow spots, and avoiding fallen trees! WOW! Carlo also managed to stop his boat, to show us a small monkey hanging on the top of a tree, and several families of Capibara, cleverly camouflaged amongst the mudbanks of the river. To top it all of, Carlo ALWAYS kept his boat clean and tidy, every time we got on board of it. You are the man, Carlo! Thank you for showing us a great time at your Tambopata River.

The Muresan family enjoyed the kayaking down the Tambopata River on the last day at the jungle. Next time, please consider arranging this activity to NOT be on the last day, so that we could dry our wet clothes and not bringing those wet clothes back to the US, in our suitcases, for 2 days.

The Muresan family had a glitch with Mayli. She was not able to answer any of my questions during our trip in Peru. She was not helpful and was incompetent at Cusco airport, prior to our departure to Puerto Maldonado. She needed more training to help clients with their airport experience. I wish we had Aldo sending us off from Cusco to Puerto Maldonado. He would have known what to do!

In conclusion, our trip to Peru was a blast! Thankfully, Mayli is just a little insignificant glitch. Our family had a once in a lifetime experience and will be sharing our reviews (minus Mayli) in Social Media, to promote Peru, Kimkim Travel, and Aspiring Adventures. Thank you.

My India trip was everything I hoped it would be and more! So grateful to the KimKim team, especially Jay and my driver Kierin; Kierin was so much fun and taught me the most as we drove from location to location exploring beautiful exotic places in South India like Munnar, Alleppy, and Kochi. My guides were all knowledgeable, friendly, and professional: special thanks to Glen (Kochi), Junis (Munnar) and Shreedevi (incredible hostess at hotel UDS in Trivandrum) - these wonderful people, among others, made my experience extra special. My goal in India was to really immerse myself in the culture, try new foods, see wildlife, and interact with local people - coming from a large metro city in California, I also wanted to get off the beaten path a bit and unplug - KimKim made the whole thing seamless and fulfilled my desire to go a bit beyond regular “tourist” type experiences - the most memorable moment, perhaps, was waking up at The Leaf in Munnar and listening to the birds while I drank my coffee and talked to a family visiting from Saudi Arabia. I will also never forget the seeing the tea plantations and the mountains in Munnar; the best smelling place in the world! Alleppy houseboating was also incredible; I had a meal I’ll probably never top! When it was time to say goodbye to Kierin, I realized I had truly made a friend, and will always remember our conversations and the laughs we shared - so thank you AGAIN KimKim for finding me the perfect road companion and for setting up my dream travel in India! I will be back and I will use KimKim again, no doubt.

The overall experience is ok,but I wonder if something urgent happens and I need some help,who should I turn to? There were several times I failed to contact the travel agent and when I turned to Kimkim I find the contact person and number is the same number I have and have failed to get in touch.Besides the quality of some local guides needs improving. Everyone seems to tell his own stories. We don’t know who to believe.
Thank you!

My wife and I decided to use KimKim to assist with planning our 3 week trip to Norway. Ingrid was our local specialist.
We wanted to travel to Norway with several family members and everyone had different ideas of what they wanted to do and see in Norway. Plus, some of our party were going only be with us for part of the vacation. So, our needs seemed to be a little complicated, and things did change during the planning phase.
I was impressed by Ingrid's ability to structure an approach to our visit to Norway that was uncomplicated, yet still offered excitement, and adventure. Ingrid's insight and recommendations were the difference between a confusing/challenging visit and a visit that we will remember for the rest of our lives - - - simply stated, Ingrid was amazing. At no point did she rush us into any quick decisions, she provided options and was able to accommodate the changes we had as we got closer to our departure dates. In addition, Ingrid stayed in communication during our entire planning process. All details were sent to us in advance and this was of great assistance. We discovered during our visit to Norway that Ingrid was constantly confirming our reservations and therefore we did not encounter any unexpected disruptions. I was also impressed with the quality of the recommended hotels, local guides (in Oslo we particularly enjoyed Stig, he was knowledgeable, friendly and fun), travel suggestions (for trains, buses, etc).
I am now a KimKim fan, and I highly recommend Ingrid as the local travel specialist.
If you have ever wondered if Norway is someplace you would like to visit, our experience leads us to say "Just Go, You Will Be Amazed and You Will Have Fun!" And if you want your planning to be easy, trustful and provide peace-of-mind, consider KimKim and especially, Ingrid.
Wes

Adriana was absolutely great to work with! Our trip had a rocky start when a delay in our first flight caused us to miss our connecting flight to Costa Rica. That delay in turn made us miss our our first booked trip. Adriana and kimkim rearranged our whole schedule, rebooking hotels and tours. The following day when there was a nation wide truckers' strike, and we couldn't get to the east coast of the country, she rebooked everything all over again! I can't even imagine what we would have done with out her. just thinking about trying to deal with that mess on our own was daunting. The rest of our 18 day trip went flawlessly and we are so thankful that we had someone help us through it. Gracias y Pura Vida Adriana!

Incredible. That's the only word I have for it. This was, by far, the best vacation the family has ever had. Tasos and the team at Travel 12 did an outstanding job of customizing every step of the way to meet exactly what we were looking for. It's hard to call out the places that were most memorable because the entire trip was fantastic.

Thank you Kimkim and the team at Travel 12 for making this such an outstanding adventure through Greece.

Andre did an incredible job planning our trip from start to finish. Vilde was also very helpful once we got on the ground in answering a variety of questions as well. We really enjoyed all of our accommodations that Andre selected, especially the places we stayed in Aurland and Fjaerland. In hindsight, we wish we had made the decision to stay at each of those places another night each, as we realized we prefer little towns to larger cities. Alesund, and especially Hotel Brosundet, was very nice. But Alesund got a little old after 2 days. The food scene there was very disappointing. There was little variety and options were either on the high end (expensive) or on the low end (fast good). Big contrast to a city like Copenhagen, which is obviously much bigger, but has a lot more options, especially cheaper options when you think of a place like the Toverhallerne food market. Overall, we absolutely loved Norway. The country is incredible beautiful and picturesque, and many of the landscapes we saw left us speechless. We look forward to coming back in the future to visit and would definitely recommend kimkim and book through kimkim again. Also a shout out to Snorre, our guide in Bergen. We really enjoyed our walk around the city. Snorre took us to places and areas within the city that we definitely would've have seen ourselves. We were expecting a bit more of a history lesson on Bergen, based on Andre's description, but we really enjoyed getting to know Snorre and see the city through his eyes. Wish we had more time in Bergen!

The entire kimkim team was fantastic! We had several flight delays and changes and could not have been more impressed by the support provided by Mery, our drivers and our tour guides to quickly and seamlessly resolve any issues with the airlines. Knowing we had a team behind us we could depend on was an added bonus.

Our guide, Manuel, in Iguazu was terrific!

I cannot recommend kimkim enough and will reach out to the group first as we begin planning or next journey.

We loved our trip to Greece planned by Chris, especially our sea view hotels in both Naxos and Santorini and our hotel in Athens. We really appreciated having a driver to pick us up and drop us off at the airports, Lampros was exceptional he was professional, efficient, and well dressed. The Kimkim team was quick, professional, and responsive on WhatsApp when we had questions and or concerns. There were only a couple of hiccups: we were promised double beds in each hotel, this only happened at Athens Gate. And at the end of our trip, we were expected to take a hotel van but we’re expecting a private driver as planned. Because of this we ended up at the airport until after midnight and only spent 3 hours at our last hotel before an early morning flight. Chris was expedient in correcting the situation though and was able to reach Lampros who coordinated our pick up that night and drop off a couple of hours later. All and all in was a great trip, and for the most part smooth sailing. We are happy with the Kimkim team and services provided and would travel with them again! Many Thanks, and warm Regards, Janelle Miconi

We recently traveled to Zambia and I want to highly recommend Chloe and Off2Africa. Our trip was well planned and Chloe was very responsive to changes and adjustments that came up. We thoroughly enjoyed all of the activities she arranged for us; the hotel, Latitude15 in Lusaka, the Lilayi Elephant Rescue and Kafunta Lodge. The lodge at Lilayi was wonderful. Kafunta Lodge and Safari in Mfuwe was the highlight of the trip. Staff at Kafunta were amazing, our driver Cephus was an expert guide and he and John spotted lots and lots of sights for us to see, even at night. The accommodations for our entire trip were very pleasant and the food served at the lodges and hotel was top notch. Zambia is a trip in a lifetime, and we’ll definitely go again. I highly recommend Chloe, Off2Africa, Latitude 15 Hotel, Lilayi Elephant Sanctuary, and Kafunta Lodge and Safari.

I went to Norway with my mother and we had a wonderful time there. Everything was perfectly planned by our extremely enthusiastic specialist Ingrid! She was very prompt when it comes to solving any queries I had regarding the itenary or the place itself! We loved how she planned the itenary in the given amount of time. We enjoyed Balestrand the most. We could barely see any tourists there and it was such a wonderful place to be! Truly an advantage of having a local tour specialist!
The other cities and the hotels were very decent as well. Their location was perfect. Right in the centre of the cities.
The other wonderful experience we had was the historical walk in Bergen by a colleague of Ingrid's - Vilde! We had never done that before, moving around in the city and getting to know about the culture and the history from a resident itself.
The glacier hike at Folgefonna and the midnight sun RIB tour were beautiful as well. We are in love with Norway! Thank you Ingrid! Thank you kimkim!

We had an exceptional experience in Greece! We were a group of 11, arriving in Athens and excursions to Mykonos and Santorini. Our travel to and from these islands was thoroughly enjoyable. Our hotels were exquisite, as well as our catamaran trip in Mykonos and wine tour in Santorini. Chris gave us the most memorable experience we could have imagined! Bravo Chris!
Cynthia and Grace Moriarty

It was a once in a lifetime trip! Our guide, Nawang, was extremely flexible which was very appreciated because we encountered unusually bad weather which forced us to change our itinerary en route. He was unflappable, upbeat, and listened to us about what we wanted to get the most out of our trip and helped us to meet some of the people we were interested in along the way.

Preeti was a great specialist, she planned a great route and every detail was organized perfectly. It was super easy to do the self-drive and we really enjoyed the trip she planned for us.
I really recommend kimkim and Preeti for an iceland trip.

Absolute first rate experience - used kimkim for the first time and was not disappointed. Sotiria is super helpful and planned a great itinerary for us, tailored to our interests and timeline while also highlighting the best that Iceland has to offer. Special thanks to her for adding my spouse to the trip just 8-10 days before I was scheduled to leave! It ended up being a very memorable trip, and I will most definitely use the site again and recommend it to others (have already been doing so!)

Golden Circle tour with Jacob (Arctic Adventures) was great, as was the 2-day South Coast Tour with Siggi (Troll). Also highly recommend the Inside the Volcano tour - expensive, but really worth it! Hotel Skuggi is a nice hotel with a good location, decent rooms and good breakfast. Would also suggest staying close to Laugavegur to maximize the sights and time locally, something to keep in mind for other travelers.

I also found Sotiria's recommendations for Reykjavik quite useful (places to eat, shop, etc.). The whole experience with Iceland Unlimited was fantastic.

Lucie helped us plan our time in Nice , being met at the airport and taken to our hotel, our quirky and lovely hotel and our absolutely wonderful guide Marion ( from The French Way) who guided us on our Gourmet walking Tour of the old city. It was a really enjoyable and happy stay.
We then travelled by rental car to Moustiers Saint Marie for 3 nights. It is the most beautiful village, wonderful restaurants and friendly people. Driving out to Valensole the huge lavender growing area was an incredible experience!

Thank you to Elise Duhem & kimkim team, we had a fabulous trip to France! Elise did a great job asking us questions and providing ideas for adventures so that we were able to get just the right mix for us! There was no pressure, we just chose what we wanted to do. Elise then set us up with quality well organized tours and businesses. We received a trip book guide to print the descriptions for each event including vouchers. There were not any surprises or extra money that we did not expect. The people at "Canoe Evasion, Sun E Bkies, Blacklane Chaffure, Paris City Vision" were all very professional, prompt and fun! We also loved our Hotel "Hotel Jeanne D'Arc" and the car rent went smoothly!

Elise provided us with all information in a timely manner and was always there whenever we needed her! Thank you!

We did an unguided tour of the Dolomites. In general, we felt the distances of the hikes did not match what my Garmin recorded. There was not enough time allotted meet up with our guided portion of the tour. Our luggage transfer service, Taxi Rizzo, was excellent and very complementary of Allibert Trekking. The accommodations, travel books, maps, bus/train information and phone app were good. The choice of destinations and accommodations were excellent. Tre Cime is breathtaking and all the alpine huts had spectacular views.