Kimkim Trip Reviews

Preeti was fantastic! Each day was filled with great adventures and experiences! Preeti was available for quick questions and advice at any time , and was really interested in preparing a trip that fit our interests!

Sangita worked with me over the course of 2 weeks to help me plan my first visit to Nepal. She took all of my requests and suggestions into account, coming up with a fantastic itinerary. Unfortunately, I became ill with pneumonia shortly before my trip and ended up coming home early, having spent less time in Nepal than originally intended. However, I enjoyed the sightseeing that I was able to do, thanks to Sangita's extraordinary attention to detail and organization of every step of my journey (really white-glove service), as well as the friendless of all the staff and locals who I interacted with. Good people, lovely country. Thank you again, Sangita! I'll be back to complete Part 2 of my Nepal trip sometime soon!

Linda, Vilde, and Julie collaborated to create a wonderful experience for me in Norway for 5 days on a budget of $1000. I managed to see the sights without being overwhelmed by a packed schedule. I love relaxing for an afternoon in Flam and the ferry ride from there to Bergen was probably the highlight of my trip. The only downside to my trip was that the timing of transportation somewhat limited what I could do in terms of activities in each city. I would get to a city with limited time to explore in the evening and only have a little time in the morning before I had to be at a train station. That said, the amount I got in given that I only had 5 days was definitely enough. It also left me spending less than I expected on activities leaving me with a bigger-than-expected food budget, which was great, because I could spend more exploring all the great food in Norway!
Overall, my experience booking through KimKim took almost ALL the stress out of planning the trip. My guides were extremely helpful in providing detailed information, even helping me track down which buses to take, maps of routes to/from train stations, etc. All I had to do was show up in a city and find something fun to do! Next time I plan a trip I will probably be coming back to KimKim, and will just keep an eye to arrival/departure times (maybe see if I can't do overnight trains and such)

My wife, Renee, and I had a memorable and exciting 14 day trip driving an AWD vehicle all the way around Iceland in early July. Preeti at kimkim did a fantastic job taking into account what we wanted to do, working out the logistics of how much we would likely be able to drive/accomplish in a day and choosing hotels for us that were all 3+ star and met and, in many cases, exceeded our expectations. She also incorporated a variety of guided activities into our schedule. The final package was delivered to us as a pdf document with day-to-day instructions, Google driving maps and vouchers for hotels and activities that we had pre-paid for. All-in-all a very seamless experience and well worth the small percentage service fee included in the final reckoning. My only somewhat minor criticism was that it was hard to decide what to include and what not to, based simply on cost, as the car rental, activities and hotel bills were not itemized prior to payment. For those trying to budget, I would strongly recommend searching on the web in addition to working with Preeti for a better idea of itemized costs before committing.

The best things about Iceland are the incredible scenery, especially the volcanic landscapes, seascapes, waterfalls and turf-roofed houses and churches, and the flora and fauna, especially the Icelandic Horses, puffins and arctic foxes. All of it was wonderful, even if the weather was not always cooperative. Expect to have a backseat full of wet rain gear, as you get in and out at frequent intervals to explore roadside attractions and take photos! Places that I would highly recommend include ALL the waterfalls (including Gjain and Haifoss, two of our favorites which we added to Preeti's itinerary), the road to Landmannalaugur, the icebergs at Jokulsarlon, Petra's Stone Collection in Stodvarfjordur and Audunn's Mineral Collection in Djupivogur, Seydisfjordur (especially the sushi at Nord Austur), puffin viewing at Halmarholmstri, hiking around Lake Myvatn and Asbyrgi, the Whale Museum at Husavik, the Herring Museum at Siglufjordur, the Settlement Center at Borgarnes, Hornstrandir Nature Reserve, and the reconstructed fishing station at Osvor. Overall, I'm so glad we did not spend too much time in Reykjavik or waste our money on the Blue Lagoon, as the rest of Iceland has so much more to offer.

Among the organized activities Preeti set up for us, we particularly enjoyed horseback riding among the geothermal springs at Eldhestar, a glacier hike near Skaftafell, and eating uni (sea urchin) and scallop sashimi freshly bottom trawled from the floor of Breidafjordur on our Viking Sushi tour. While we did successfully track three humpback whales on our whale watch tour in Husavik, it was a very wet ride and we had hoped to see other species, so it was a bit disappointing. The weather (10 foot swells!) also caused our trip by boat to Hornbjarg, the bird cliffs on the north side of Hornstrandir Nature Resrve, to be cancelled, but Preeti and her husband came to the rescue and arranged for us to go instead to Hesteyri on the south side of the Reserve, where we had an enjoyable hike to an old whaling station. We had booked a kayaking tour in Isafjordur the next day, but we were too tired to contemplate it and the weather looked foreboding still. Luckily, Preeti was able to cancel at no charge for us and we received a refund for this and the shortened Hornstrandir trip very promptly on our credit card. Finally, on our last day in Iceland, we were booked for the Inside the Volcano tour near Reykjavik. When we got there, the weather was really ghastly and we called Preeti to ask if we should/could cancel. She persuaded us to go, despite the weather, as she revealed that it was the most expensive tour we had booked on the whole trip. So we bravely marched two and a half miles across the lava in our yellow slickers and had an incredible experience descending more than 200 meters inside an extinct volcano, something I'm sure we'll never get the chance to do again. On top of that, we got to see an adorable baby arctic fox who had taken up residence under the trailer for the base camp at the volcano. So, THANK YOU Preeti for persuading us to persevere and for organizing such a great trip. Thank you also for going above and beyond to retrieve Renee's expensive Swarovski binoculars that she left at Hesteyri and ship them efficiently for us to Reykjavik's domestic airport, where we could pick them up before our departure back to the US. You get the highest recommendation from us!

Raisa did an amazing job planning our trip for us! We were driven around the country in cool comfort by Ahmad who provided interesting cultural and historical tidbits along the way. He also gave us some great restaurant recommendations for when we got back into Amman. Mohammad, our guide in Petra, was extremely knowledgable and funny. Petra was amazing to experience for the history and beauty of the place. The Dead Sea at the Kempinski resort was a highlight. Floating in the water is such a unique, unforgettable sensation... wish I could do it for hours on end!!! And the service at the resort is some of the best I've ever had in all my travels. Wish I'd had more time everywhere!!!

The best part of the trip was Magura - a magical village in the mountains. We were lucky in that the rain stopped while we did the planned hike- but it could have otherwise meant 2 days in a small place being cold and wet. The hike was very challenging- about 6 hours ( not 4 hours as written). We did it, but I would suggest doing it with a guide or small group. The food and staff at the lodge were warm and friendly- even through the language barrier.
The car was dependable,and the driver was punctual and drove us to the airport. It would have been good to be picked up after our midnight flight as we missed the transfer bus and had to wait an hour for the 2 km trip to the RIN hotel. An all wheel drive would be more suited to the country roads. The RIN hotel staff was helpful, letting us leave our bags and then giving us a room to change on the way back from the trip.
We only had 3 days, so we devised our route after Magura via Rasnov fortress and then continuing over the mountain into Brasnov. Bran and Peles Castle were full of tour buses, so hard to enjoy these visits.
I would suggest going to a city first to get used to the language, roads etc and then to Magura.
We saw a lot in the 4 night stay- thank you!

Anura was amazing!

She's the best!

This trip was a good experience. I'm glad we chose the northwest of Argentina because it has many beautiful things. I would have preferred to be told how long it was to get to the Parque del Rey. It was about 4 hrs just together and once there even more time in the truck to go to different places where we actually did not see the animals that are typical of the area. Few birds and a type of Dorado fish. Just that for such a long trip back and forth. I would not recommend it to anybody. The best parts of the trip were Salta, Purmamarca, Humahuaca, salinas grandes.

I am extremely thankful to Alex, who was exceptionally experienced and created an intenarary which was perfect. She helped and advised all along. I will definitely be recommending Kim Kim to my family and friends .
I will also be contacting alex to arrange a trip for me to Cambodia
Once again thanks for making my journey memorable

Great trip organised and coordinated by Miha Gantar everything was well thought out and coordinated. The standard of service and accommodation was excellent. The country is open welcoming and not yet over crowded and pretty much everyone spoke english so we had no trouble getting around and being understood. Our guide Aliaz for our 5 day hike was fantastic and took all the worry out of navigating some challenging terrain. By far the best organised trip we have done

Our guide/driver for our short 3 day trip to Slovenia, Domen, was knowledgeable about all aspects of his lovely country. History, geography, economy, traditions, folklore, and food are just a few areas of his expertise. We were able to experience the traditional tourist sites that Slovenia is best known for (Ljubljana, Lake Bled, the Skocjan caves) and also many less traveled sites. Hiking in the Julian Alps, rafting the Soca River, the WWI bunker tour with our very own reenactor ( a retired teacher who is passionate about WWI history), and our private tour of a family owned winery, followed by a home cooked lunch were some of our highlights. The accommodations provided were fabulous, especially our stay at Kekec Homestead, Soca valley: http://www.kekceva-domacija.si/. A gem in the middle of nowhere with great wine, food, and scenery at the beginnings of the Soca River. a fabulous tour in every way.

Our recent trip to Scandinavia was wonderful! Ingrid, from Ethical Travel Portal, did a great job of helping us find the right balance between city and rural travel in our trip to Norway, Sweden and Finland. Before we found kimkim, all the options we were provided by travel agents were "canned tours" which were really just packages to save money on air/hotel travel with bus-type sight-seeing tours. In comparison, Ingrid helped us figure out a plan of cities and villages that let us explore a few countries in Scandinavia over 17 days without feeling rushed.

She was clear up front that her expertise was mostly in Norway, but she still helped us find well-located hotels in Helsinki and Stockholm. We were happy with both choices in those cities.

We typically don't like tours in cities, preferring to explore on our own. However, we had such a great morning tour in Bergen with Ingrid herself, that we arranged one with Stig in Oslo that we enjoyed very much. These tours were informal discussions while we walked around parts of the city we'd never find on our own.

I also really liked the process with kimkim, where we could chat on the site as we honed in our schedule and different choices for each place. Ingrid was very patient with all our changes as we made our plans and helped us while we were in Norway to make some last-minute adjustments.

We couldn't have been happier with kimkim and Ingrid at Ethical Travel Portal and would use both for future vacations, if they serve the country we'll be visiting.

I just got back from Bergen, Norway. Ingrid Thornes arranged my excursions. She was knowledgeable and kept in constant contact as we were planning the trip. She guided my hike and city tour. The kayaking tour was very easy to do. Don't miss it. Also recommend the Fjords boat rips.
I had a very pleasant stay in Bergen.
Kimkim is a reliable company. I felt safe and relaxed, especially since I was travelling solo.
I will definitely use them again.

We had a fantastic time during our time in Sri Lanka. Nuwan was an excellent tour guide. We did a five day tour and enjoyed the sights of Sigirya and Kandy and surrounding areas. The Dambulla Caves, Lion Rock, Minneriya National Park Safari and Temple of the Tooth were highlights. We also enjoyed the trek over the Hanthana range above Kandy, Kandyan dancers, visits to a Herb Farm and Tea Factory. Nuwan was very obliging and added other places of interest that weren't in our itinerary. Would definitely recommend kimkim.

This was our first trip to Iceland so we depended upon KimKim to advise us on appropriate tours and day trips. While the weather was not ideal, we still had a great time, and are very satisfied with our guide and the itinerary. Highly recommend, particularly if you’re not familiar with Iceland.

Our experience with kimkim was smooth and easy right from the start. We filled out some simple questions with regards to what we were looking for in our trip, our travel dates, budget, etc. and they hooked us up with a local specialist that worked with us to plan our trip down to the minute! All the accommodations were beautiful, convenient and exactly what we had asked for, and we were even able to stay in some traditional lodgings including a Buddhist temple which was super cool! The whole time, we felt like we were getting to see places and experience aspects of the culture we might not have if we were planning the trip ourselves. The most amazing part though was their crisis management- while we were there, Japan had a catastrophic amount of rain, with landslides and flooding of rivers and even loss of life, it was a real tragedy. We couldn't take some of the transportation that had been planned because of the flooding, so we called Inside Japan, our kimkim specialist, and they handled EVERYTHING- they switched all our accommodations, rerouting us to different places, telling us exactly how to get there and what to do so that we could bypass any areas that were inaccessible and still have a great trip! We didn't end up feeling like we missed out on anything, which was amazing. We can't wait to take our next trip! Thanks kimkim!

Once again, another amazing trip with Quechua Treks. Their attention to detail is just amazing. Haley and James did a fabulous job planning the trip. Zac offered a great alternative route to our like that was spot on. Daniel, our guide, is a gem, took us around the Sacred Valley showing us some of the amazing locations in the Sacred Valley. Our hotel in Lamay, Nunu, was one of the best I have ever stayed at. Hiking Lares was a real joy with Daniel leading the way. The food Quechua Treks served us was worthy of a 5 star restaurant. I'm not sure how they managed to bake a cake at 14,000 feet without an oven, but that cake was one of the best I've ever had. Hot water bottles for our sleeping bags on the cold night was a great touch! Daniel also took us up to the Sun Gate at Machu Picchu, with amazing views of Machu Picchu. Many, many thanks to Haley, James, Zac, Daniel, Salvadore, Leo our chef, and the porters for making this such an amazing trip. I love to hike, and brought a friend with me that is a newbie hiker. Because this was such a great experience she wants to hike more and will be returning next year to Peru with her husband! And I'm bringing another friend to hike next July!

It was great to have Preeti's help once we were in Iceland. We encountered a few problems as we went, due to weather and cancellations, and she had to do some reshuffling and re-booking. It was nice to continue on our vacation while she handled the headaches- I don't know what we would have done without her help. The driving plan had lots of suggestions for stops and optional detours that were wonderful. We were very glad to have her to turn to during our stay. I wish that we had been given more choice and explanation during the planning process- particularly around accommodations. The hotels were always clean and located near the next day's activities, but we would have liked a higher class of accommodation and hotels with more personality. We had booked two nights on our own before enlisting help, and the places we booked were much nicer than what we got through Kimkim. Preeti really never asked what we were looking for or what price range we were looking for- we gave her some ideas for activities we'd like and she gave us back a fully planned trip and price for the trip without an explanation about how the price was set. In the end, we had a wonderful vacation and were glad that we went through Kimkim/Preeti, I just wish we'd felt a little more in control of and aware of the vacation we were embarking on. One thing that we came to appreciate during our trip was how Preeti had tried to steer us away from the Golden Circle- we felt obligated to see some of the sights there, and ultimately insisted on including it in the itinerary. She obliged and squeezed it in. We enjoyed the rest of Iceland much more than the Golden Circle. It was a zoo. We were glad we spent the majority of our trip elsewhere, where there are just as many beautiful and unique spots but a third of the people.

David was an excellent guide, however; for the cost of this tour, there was ample time to stop for lunch at a local restaurant for a complimentary hot meal, in lieu of a sandwich from a convenient store with one bottle of water for the day. The van was a beautiful new vehicle, seating 4 comfortably (with room for two more in the rear seat). David is soft spoken so a wireless headset with speakers in the 2nd and 3rd row in his roomy VW van, is highly recommended. David listened to our suggestions - buy a step stool for short/petite guests, always have a trash bag on board and a roll of paper towels or napkins (we ate in his van because it was too cold/windy to eat at a outdoor picnic table). The tour itself was EXCELLENT....the island is so beautiful and seeing the local villages, getting a photo of a man on top of his roof mowing, breathtaking waterfalls, local dogs entertaining us with a game of fetch....priceless. Thanks David for sharing your knowledge and lovely island.

Nancy

We had a wonderful trip to Mongolia! I had contacted several different agencies before I discovered Enguerran with Horseback Mongolia and decided to work with him through kimkim. He was able to provide excellent advice and put together a custom itinerary for us that combined different elements during the exact dates we needed. We really wanted to combine an autonomous hike in the Khangai Mountains as well as seeing the Gobi desert. Enguerran designed the perfect trip to include 4 days/nights hiking/camping, several nights staying with yak or camel breeding families and several nights in ger camps. We were a bit apprehensive about staying with the families, but that turned out to be a great experience. The hiking and camping with yaks carrying our belongings was amazing. The Gobi desert was bigger than ever imagined. Our driver and guide were helpful and always made us feel safe and well taken care of. We only regretted not being able to communicate better with our driver and the yak men. Now that we have been home for a while, we have been able to reflect on our experiences. Mongolia truly is a country of wide open spaces, few roads and very friendly people. We felt honored to be able to see the places we did and get a peak into a nomad's life, before these lifestyles vanish. Enguerran was always responsive to my questions and all details had been taken care of to allow for a very smooth trip. He was able to combine our requests with our available dates for the perfect, custom trip. Highly recommend!