Kimkim Trip Reviews

My family and I just got back from Norway few days back and we're currently nursing on our severe jet lag. But despite the lack of sleep, we all had an amazing time there. The itinerary planned by Ingrid was so much fun and many of her suggestions outside of our initial itinerary were even better!

We really want to thank Kimkim and Ingrid for this lovely and well planned trip. The hotels provided were comfortable and surpassed our expectations. Other than a minor issue with the train tickets (train station updated the schedule but didn't inform us), everything else went swimmingly well.

Would definitely use kimkim again for my future travels.

Sri Lanka lived up to our expectations and then some. The people, the places, the food. Incredible! The vast majority of accomodation selected by Shalindra was fantastic, whilst our guide Indika was knowledgable, friendly and kind. In spite of the horrible attrocities that occurred during our time in Sri Lanka our memories are treasured. Sure to be back one day!

We had a fabulous time in Columbia. Cami did a super job in setting up
the middle part of our week, which I think was so successful because of the several conversations we had on kimkim.

We were picked up promptly by our driver, Luis. I know he was called in late, as our our original driver was unable to. My one concern was that he had driven through the night to get us and we had a 6-7 hour drive ahead of us. In spite of that, he was a very cautious driver, talked with us, stopped when we needed to, or when we had to though out the construction zone. I learned much from him about Columbia and never felt in danger.

We arrived late to Hacienda Venecia, but still took lunch and had a very informative tour of the coffee farm by Johan. Again, we learned a lot and he was most generous with his time.

We loved this place and wished we would have had more time there, if only to watch the birds! Just beautiful and the accommodations and staff very nice.

Milton and Victor picked us up promptly in the morning for our trip up to Nevada. Milton gets an A+ in my book. He has a broad and deep knowledge of the region and was eager to share that with us. The paramo was awe inspiring, but I think he felt that way about it too. I did not expect him to stay with us long when we returned to Manizales, but he did and we enjoyed our tour there as well.

The one place I had mixed feelings about was the place we had lunch at. We decided not to take in the hot springs, so enjoyed watching and feeding the hummingbirds in the garden. I also enjoyed talking to one of the employees about the hummingbirds, who obviously was quite taken by them as well.

Milton had asked if we could have lunch in the warmer room, and it seemed that they agreed to it, but when we returned they had put our food in the colder room (we had just come down from the paramo) even though there were no other guests. Two of us had also wanted the traditional soup and lunch, and our driver I think wanted something off the menu, but we were told we could only order off the menu and that Milton and our driver had to have the traditional food. It did not seem quite right, but I do not know if that is culturally accepted. If not, I feel the treatment would have been enough for me to not want to use this place (which is too bad because the hummingbirds were such a treat). By the way, the little cafe we stopped at on the way to the paramo was a treat where we had the traditional cane soup and cheese. Perfect!

After touring Manizales, we were dropped off at the Quo hotel. Very modern and nice-much more than we needed, but very comfortable.

Victor picked us up the next morning and promptly delivered us to the Pereira airport. It was fun to talk to him about the area.

Thank you SO much for putting together a package that so perfectly suited our needs. We loved Columbia! Everyone we met was so friendly, kind and helpful. I hope we get back someday, but in the meantime will highly recommend it to friends (and kimkim). We wish the country and its people well.

With much gratitude,
Cindy

Our Costa Rica trip was amazing! We had such a great time. The activities were well spaced out giving us time to explore in our downtime. The rides were perfectly structured so traveling was a breeze. The activities were so much fun.

The kayak was really fun. We really enjoy sport activities and it was so nice to get out on the water and view the volcano from another view. It was a bit windy that day but we were up to the challenge. Our guide Pedro was awesome. He showed us different birds and stories of the Volcano. Seeing all the birds in their environment was exciting. We even saw a beautiful macaw. After the kayak we had some fresh delicious fruit. Some of the best fruit we have ever eaten. Along the drive back they stopped on the side of the road to show us some animals. It was very exciting keeping our eyes up and looking for nature.

Horseback riding was really fun! It was a rainy day but we didn't mind. It was fun trotting along through nature. Along the ride to the waterfall we encountered some howler monkeys. That was quite the experience. The waterfall was huge and beautiful. So cool to feel the power of the water at the bottom.

The cooking class was so great! We learned a lot about the different plants that they grew on the farm. Drank some guaro and had a great time. The family that hosted it was so friendly and informative. The food we made was delicious along with the different meats they provided. When we left they even let us have some guaro for the rest of our trip. We enjoyed that every day until we left.

Our trip to Monte Verde Cloud Forrest was amazing! I have never had so much fun in my life. Despite me being scared of heights, the zip lining was exhilarating! Would 100% do it again! We felt safe the entire time and enjoyed meeting the people around us. We even ran into people that were from the same part of New York that I grew up in. Small world.

One thing we hadn't anticipated was all the animals that walked around. We must have fell in love with 5 different cats and dogs. They just roam around and are mostly ignored by the locals, but we couldn't help but give the little animals some love.

Would def book through kim kim again. We had so much fun and it was nice that everything was scheduled for us and all the hard work of the trip was taken care of.

Karin was so easy to work with. Booking the trip could not have been easier.

The trip to Cuba was really seamless and eye opening. Everything went off without a hitch and was well paced. We loved all of our guides. Fernando was waiting for us at the airport in Havana and was with us both days in Havana. He was knowledge, fun and accommodating. His love for Cuba was evident.

He drove us to Trinidad where we stayed at the Casa de Mi y Osi. It was in a perfect location and we could not have asked for two better hosts.

Kirenia promptly met us for an interesting and educational walking tour. We not only saw the tourist spots but also the neighborhoods where many locals lived. We also went to a fantastic pottery making studio.

Luis picked us up the following day for a tour to the mountains. We went to a small coffee farm and hiked to some beautiful waterfalls. Luis was an exceptional guide - so knowledgeable, informative, and a great conversationalist.

The trip ended with Fernando picking us up to travel to Santa Clara. We flew back to the US from Santa Clara. Thank you to all the hosts and guides - we are so happy to have met you all!

We have decided to break our review down into a review of Kimkim.com and Travel12, our local agent in Greece.

Kimkim.com

Pros: feeling of security from an American company and guarantee; beautiful itinerary provided free of charge; great communication platform.

Cons: no breakdown of cost provided; chance of being arranged with a bad travel agent; some judgment when questioning the cost.

Booked and completed a 10-day tour in Greece. Overall happy with the service. They put us in touch with a local agent. Kimkim reached out in our first few days to see how things were going. Our first agent was not helpful in explaining the price break down or in getting the price cheaper. The Kimkim agency helped us get a new agent. I did feel a little judged by the Kimkim agent when we explained we were not happy with the cost estimate provided. When you first start you take a short survey to provide the local agent with an idea of what you want. We chose the “mid-budget” option (other options budget and luxury). I forget the exact amount but around 100-150 a day. So we were expecting/hoping for around $1250 but we were provided a cost of $2000 and only 8 days of activities. This was a bit of a shock; when we tried to get a cost break down to see where the money was going to so that we could cut cost, we were told this would not be provided. When kimkim reached out we told them we were not happy with this. They at first tried to see if we could work with our first agent but we wanted to switch after some negative exchanges and unwanted/unauthorized changes to our itinerary. The kimkim rep was okay but they did make us feel a little judged by emphasizing that this was a custom tour but they did switch for us. We ended up paying around $1800 with 7 days of activities and 10 nights of hotel (3 travel days to different islands). The next travel agent provided a better breakdown but we never got a complete breakdown. We had a lovely vacation. Unsure if the travel agent treated us better because of kimkim but overall happy and will use the service again because of the guarantee and the assistance in finding a new agent.

Travel 12.

Pros: Responsive, cost-conscious, and flexible.

Tasos, was very responsive to our needs. He took the time to call us from Greece so we can understand what we were looking for and met us in person on our first day. One of the greatest benefit with Tasos is that you get access to the whole Travel 12 team. We could send them a What’s Up message or an email with any questions, double check tour times, and they did the same.

Tasos created a great itinerary that was customized to us. One of the experiences we were looking for were local Easter celebrations, and Tasos arranged for a private driver to take us to ancient Monastery in Pyrgos were the most beautiful celebrations were taking place.

Tasos was very cost conscious and took into consideration how much we wanted to spend on certain activities. On top of that, Travel 12 assumed all costs for any changes in the itinerary that were beyond our control (like a local protect that required Tasos to cancel our ferry ride and book a flight instead at no cost to us).

Travel 12’s professional driver Lampros was very nice, dressed very well, gave us a bunch of tips and local info, and even made a detour on our last day to show us a beautiful view of Athens. The whole team of Travel 12 was very caring and it was a great feeling of comfort.

Cons: The only con we could think of was that not all possibilities for upgrades were not communicated to us. We would have upgraded our ferry ride from Athens to Santorini if we knew that was an option.

On the whole, a very nice trip. The guides put a real lot of insight into the places we visited which made the trip extra special and their local knowledge helped us find our way around as well as find some really good places to eat. I especially appreciated Max's efforts in speedily resolving some of the issues we had along the way.

A couple of small things I didn’t like .
1) the train trip from Xi’an to Bejing was too long and would have preferred to have been booked either on the express train or taken a flight.
2) didn’t like being dropped off at the domestic airport or train station 3 hours before our flight.

All of the guides were good but thought Rocky (Beijing) and Kevin(Zhangjiajie) were the 2 standouts for going that bit extra in flexibility and providing extra activities outside of the itinerary which we were interested in. Angela(Beijing) was also a great guide too and gave us a full day of activities.

Lastly, all of the hotels you suggested were fantastic .

We would love to come back one day to see the Li River and visit Shanghai.
I would definitely book again through Kim Kim and would not hesitate in recommending it to any of my friends and family.

Fantastic experience! Petra, Jarash, WadiRum, Dead Sea, Madaba and rides along all places and King's Hwy are unforgettable. My driver Haytham was the best I could get, by sharing his own stories he presented Jordan in very friendly and attractive way. Highly recommended trip.

Our guide Milton was absolutely fabulous. A wealth of knowledge, and a great human being. In my opinion, the day we spent with him was the best day of our trip. Visiting the paramo and the volcano was an experience of a lifetime. Being introduced to this beautiful country and unique ecosystem, while at the same time talking about social and contextual issues was quite meaningful. While everything worked out quite fine, I do want to raise one personal concern. Our driver from Medellin to the coffee region, Luis, was quite fine. There was lots of road constructions o we were forced to go very slowly. I was concerned, however, that he had driven through the night to get to Medellin to pick us up, and then drove us at least 6-7 hours back, with still 2 more hours of driving to get home, all without any sleep. Not only is this a safety concern, but I hope KimKim does not expect this of its drivers. Our entire experience was fabulous, but I wanted to make sure to mention this.

It was wonderful well organized and everything we had asked for was there I would especially like to mention and thank Nicky, Mr Lampros and Mr Tasso for going out of their way to come pick us up from the port when the ferry got canceled (due to bad weather) and putting us on a flight to Naxos so that we would not miss any part of our tour. I would certainly use them again and have recommended them to all my friends and family

Spent an amazing and memorable 10 days in Myanmar thanks to Kim Kim and Pergus Tours. The Kim Kim app Is easy to use and eases communication between you and the tour operator they put you in touch with. Hsu Hlaing made me feel that her main concern was for my trip to meet expectations in every aspect. A free call at the planning stage with an international consultant helped set expectations, flexibility on the itinerary was offered along the way, the guides were informative and hotels well chosen. It’s a real personalized service. It may be cheaper to organise everything yourself or directly with a tour operator, but if you have a busy life and little time to sit and plan going through Kim Kim and having the reassurance of a recommended agency to help you plan and execute your trip is a definite advantage and one I would recommend.

The amount of attention to detail and care that Travel team 12 and Tasos put towards my customized trip was outstanding! I loved the experiences that they put together for me since I love learning about culture through food- the gastronomic tours, wine tours, and a cooking class allowed me to learn about Greece in such a special way that I will never forget. The boutique hotels that were chosen were such great options that I would have never known of without the help from this team. I have nothing but good memories from this trip and now a part of my heart remains in Greece.

This was our 2nd time using Kim Kim for international travel & we were very satisfied again. Milenka was very helpful in building the itinerary we requested & was also very flexible when we needed to make modifications mid trip.
The local guides were all exceptional, bringing their expertise & knowledge of the area, as well as warm & welcoming personalities. The accommodations & activities all met or exceeded our expectations. We would definitely consider using Kim Kim again for a unique travel experience.
Regards, Darina & Tim Bellman

Morocco for me will be one of my most memorable trips. Yassine was amazing and was so efficient, professional and friendly in organising our fantastic trip.
We had a wonderful driver Nabil who was so obliging and nothing was too much trouble also not forgetting that he is an excellent driver.
Hakim our guide in Fes was exceptional as was our guide Hassam in Ouarzazate and our guide in Essaouira. They were all so interesting and we loved learning about the history of Morocco.....
Josef in Marrakesh was a little disappointing but very nice and friendly .
I personally loved the whole trip but the drive through the Atlas Mountains was spectacular and the night in Camp Chebbi in Merzouga and riad Caravane in Ouarzazate.
Overall all accommodation was excellent and the Moroccans are such lovely, helpful and very friendly people.
Also the cooking class in Fes was fun and the chef an absolute delight.
I would highly recommend Off the beaten track as an excellent well organised company.

We had a fantastic time in Upper Mustang thanks to our guide Chhongba who did his very best to make sure we have a memorable experience. Especially the fact that we were able to alter travel plans half way through the trip has been much appreciated. We can without hesitation recommend the KimKim team to anyone who is looking for a well organised trip that is tailored to individual preferences.

Amazing experience in Jordan.
SAFE, friendly and clean.
Lena from KimKim did amazing job for us. Very helpful and professional at all times.
Five stars to Lena. Lena you created amazing Jordan memories for us.

Driver Walid was very friendly, accommodating and safe driver. He had even demeanor at ALL times. Spoke very little but did a lot. Treated all of us with respect.
Five stars and kudos.

Guide Nassar was also friendly and very knowledgeable, responsible and helpful throughout the trip. Five stars.

Donncha is a fantastic guide! We couldn’t have been in better hands. Louise needs to get some experience in scheduling tours. Very aggressive timeline. BUT, we loved our Ireland experience!

All the guides were first rate , the gentleman who walked us round Palermo and the guide at Syracuse we’re particularly good , the latter was very knowledgeable on horticultural matters as well as history and archaeology. We had a series of excellent drivers who took us around the island. They were immensely helpful anddrovewithgreat care.

Carmelo, our tour organiser was excellent , we were delighted to meet up with him in Catania where we could thank him in person. He had enormous patience especially when our friend who was going to drive us had to dropout. He rearranged transport quite brilliantly. His command of English and his care and attention to detail as well as his kindness and thoughtfulness were remarkable. When he was engaged in examinations his supervisorMarianne was equally helpful.

As to memorable places , there really are too many to list ! Sicily is a treasurehouse of history and Archaeology with so many groups and civilisations leaving their mark. I was particularly interested in the Norman influence but theGreek , Roman and Arab civilisations were also very special and remarkable.

The best thing about the tour was the guides. Thy were all very knowledgeable, generous, fun to be with and willing to be flexible.
The organization was great and worked like clockwork - we got the mix of experiences we were looking for.

We have given detailed feedback to Raluca face-to-face so I won't be writing it all down again.