Kimkim Trip Reviews

We had a wonderful trip to Iceland. All of the logistics and reservations were great, and seamless throughout the trip. Really appreciated some of the locals favorites recommendations. All of the excursions were great. The daily itinerary was great and well planned. We had one snafu in that an activity was cancelled due to weather, but they were quick to recommend an alternate plan. Would have liked bigger rooms in a few of the places.

I had a great experience with kimkim. The chat is great and made it very easy to book everything. Imke was extremely helpful since the first contact. She accommodated all our changes and answered all my questions. I was quite happy with the support and overall service.

Drive Albania (Ed Reeves and Company) planned this two week trip faboulously. Our personal guide, Ernest Markeci, was top notch professional and knowledgeable as well as personalable. He became our family for the two weeks. I would highly recommend Drive Albania to anyone who wants to see this wonderful country in the manner in which we did. A true treasure.

Pre-Trip: Fast reply to questions. Flexible arrangements.

Trek: Well organised, great team, great people - which could be hard as you live with them day after day .

One of us had never flown long haul and the other was on their fourth trip to Nepal, the service provided exceeded both our expectations.

So in summary I would highly recommend for both novice or experienced travellers alike.

I was extremely impressed with NMMT and would happily travel with them again. Of particular note were the consistently speedy responses by Ngima to all pre-trip correspondence and our endless queries, all dealt with with great courtesy and infinite patience, plus the helpful explanations and suggestions made in the planning and lead-up to our trip (5 people). The impression was of an efficient, experienced team who can deal with anything that crops up. We were not disappointed. Tashi and our guide Pemba welcomed us and personally I felt in good hands from the word Go. Our endearingly cheeky, lively, careful guide Pemba Sherpa and warm-natured assistant guide Dendi Sherpa took assiduous care of us on our fabulous 7-day trek, always observing how we were coping and adjusting pace or route accordingly and with respectful grace, shown clearly when one of our group unfortunately had a gastric reaction early on in the trip. They were always there, endlessly good-humoured and supportive. Pemba had to make some considered decisions on our return route, given road closure times due to the current massive Chinese road construction. Our two excellent, nimble porters were smiling and good-natured. We also appreciated the extra time Pemba took to guide us on our "free" day in Kathmandu at the end, when we were lucky enough to visit sites on Buddha's birthday. Although we were sad not to meet Ngima after all our communications with him, he had ensured we were well cared for in his absence (doing good works in his home village). Many thanks, NMMT.

We had a great vacation in Norway! Ingrid was very helpful throughout the entire planning process and also during our trip.

Very easy to book and easy to deal with. Well organised everything went smoothly hotel was nice and the tour was fine. Will reccomended services

Thank you Linda Verasdal, our trip planned by you was amazing, so well organised for us, so easy to follow.
Highlights for us was Flam Railway breathtakingly beautiful. We loved Balestrand enjoyed the kayaking and hiking amazing views to town. Cruise on Naeroyfjord was surreal.
Accommodation was easy walking distance from train.

Trip was fantastic - I never could have planned this without Halldor / Wild Westfjords. I have no idea what premium I paid to have this trip planned but it doesn't matter - I could never have put something like this together on my own.

I would definitely refer Halldor - and KimKim - to anyone looking to visit Iceland.

We are a family of 3 adults that with the help of Ed from the Kim Kim team created a 2 week trip through Albania, Kosovo and Macedonia. I let him know that we liked hiking, culture and time to relax.
Ed put together a trip working with Outdoor Kosovo and Drive Albania to nicely cover everything. We hiked for 3 days in the Accursed Mountains then switched to culture and relaxation. Hiking and lake Ohrid were highlights. Our guides Mentor and Fatos were excellent for hiking. Ardie our guide/driver through Macedonia and Albania was great and highly entertaining 😉.
Overall we rate our quality of service as excellent.
We had previously used Kim Kim for a trip to Colombia last year with similar results.
Ralph

Hi we began from Corte, Hotel was in great location but rude staff on reception. Walk next day was excellent. Directions usually clear. Very friendly lady in Calacuccia with fresh roses in room. Tough to carry cases without a lift. Lovely walk to Castell Verghiu and great views from room. Very good meal. Another great walk though some of our party didn’t make the waterfall. The bridge isn’t there which should be more explicit in directions. Night in Evisa. The walk to Ota was beautiful and we had one of our best meals at Chez Felix. We walked down the road to Porto. Shame about overgrown path - could that be cleared? Hotel was great with stunning pool in eucalyptus forest. We took a boat trip after a tip from fellow walker - perhaps you should suggest that in the notes or even get a discount? Corse Adrenaline was good company in small boat. We didn’t find anywhere good to eat. Recommendations would have been helpful. The walk to Piana was tough in heavy rain. Les Roches Rouges was stunning with a very kind Patronne Mady. It is a way from the beach so a hire car might have been handy. We did another walk by ourselves to Capu Rossu. We ate at wonderful Italian called Le Hospiton about 6km away and then the hotel restaurant which was great. Overall we would have enjoyed more background detail in the directions eg date of the Genoese bridges, more on wildlife, possible diversions eg Ruines of Dispensa, restaurant tips. But this was a great trip.

We met Raluca after the visit and gave feedback. Overall the trip was exactly what we asked for. We are pleased.
Every host did well albeit very differently from UK! To UK travellers I'd say it's like France in the 80's; no facilities for making hot drinks in your room except at hotels, and take bags of tea with you with travel kettle! After meals that you bought as part of the trip, you still have to pay for coffee as extra. Learn some Romanian - you'll need it. Driving there isn't hard if you're calm, but country roads can be unmetalled and deep potholes make for slow progress. Host-provided picnics can be clumsy chunks - and remember always you provide your own drink. Watch out for impulse stops; we were scammed by nuns! Do not use any yellow car at airport. I made a mistake and thought I would solve it using one and was overcharged and dumped away from target. If you use Bogdan in the Delta, rest assured he is an excellent boatman. He also speaks English excellently but don't expect him to be a nature guide too. We wanted to be self guiding and are happy, but for some people I'd suggest considering hiring guides for the mountain walks.

We had the most amazing trip and a great time with Elina and Gareth. Visits to nature center, raindeer farm and husky farm were interesting and educational. The day-long hike was incredibly enjoyable! Overall our whole group was very happy with the experience, especially living in the cabins, going to sauna and making pancakes on the open fire!

Our trip to Croatia was amazing, what a beautiful country. We have been wanting to make this trip for years but never got around to planning, mostly because of the complicated itinerary we wanted. Thanks to Veselka the planning was easy. She made sure we got to do everything we wanted and booked the perfect hotels and apartments, all in the best locations. She also made sure that someone was there at every point to take us to our accommodation making this a very stress free and relaxing vacation. Our family travels a lot and we all agree this was one of our favorite trips.

Our trip to Petra and Wadi Rum was one of the most memorable, and it was very much thanks to outstanding planning by Andy. I was trying to communicate with local tour operators to schedule a very specific, customized private tour and was not very successful doing so. I ran into the KimKim team and gave it a shot, best thing I could have possibly done.

Our trip was surprisingly smooth, everything was scheduled impeccably and the itinerary executed flawlessly. Andy captured my vision, and delivered exactly what I was looking for. We started our day in Tel Aviv, visited Petra, and spent the night under the stars in Wadi Rum in a beautiful camp. The following morning we admired Wadi Rum and all it has to offer during the day. I also want to thank our Jordan-based driver, Ali, who was nothing short of amazing. He really made us feel very welcome and was accommodating to our needs throughout the trip. I was amazed at this hospitality and professionalism.

To Andy, Ali and the other local operators: thank you!

Our Croatia tour came at the end of a longer trip. Our time was limited so we wanted to ensure we made the most of the time we had in Croatia. Veselka worked with us up front to determine what kind of experience we were looking for. Our goal was to see and experience Croatia, not only the highly touristed areas, which of course are beautiful, but also Croatia beyond that. We wanted a taste of the Croatia that required a bit of exploration.

Veselka paired us up with some fabulous guides for our Dalmatian Coast trek. In Dubrovnik, Darko was our escort on a countryside cycling trip and cooking class adventure. He made the day so much fun for us. He was very knowledgeable about the region and could answer the endless stream of questions with patience and thankfully, a great sense of humor. It was a fabulous day and we were so sad to see it end.

Our next guide was Vedran in Hvar, who was tasked with taking us on a trek through a beautiful valley where we explored abandoned villages and saw incredible mountain scenery. A stop for lunch with a colorful character was a nice addition to the hike. Vedran also gave us the option of extending our hike from its planned end point, up the coast back to Hvar town. It was not a requirement for him but he volunteered to extend our hike by several hours to give us an incredible experience and access to views otherwise unobtainable... and he also suffered the endless barrage of questions gladly... and we had many great laughs along the way. We were sad to see the day end and bid farewell to Vedran.

The last parts of the organized trip were the most intimidating for two prairie girls from Canada. Sea Kayaking was our first taste of being on the open water. We adapted quickly and were amazed to find that we were able to kayak across open water to islands just off the coast. It was a glorious day and Edi was the perfect guide for the sport. He knew his stuff, and he was so much fun! Again, we didn't want to say good bye.

The big event was the 3 day sailing trip in the islands. Land girls on a sail boat... there were a lot of things that could have gone wrong for us. Captain Bartul was a wonderful guide and ensured we got the most from our sailing experience. The evenings moored in little, out-of-the way marinas located in tiny villages, nestled in beautiful, secluded bays were so much more than we expected.

Both of us were so pleased with the experience from start to finish. We have traveled extensively for a lot of years and this trip lands at the very top of our list of highlights. Croatia is magnificent, but what took the experience beyond that was the planning on the part of Veselka and the wonderful guides we had the privilege of spending our time with. They made us feel like we were hanging with friends and we brought home some truly special memories as a result. Just can't say enough about it!

Jennifer and Kelly from Canada

Dear Ingrid and kimkim, Tom and I appreciated your planning of our Scandinavian trip this year. Ingrid, your suggestions and fine-tuning help to structure our trip so we were able to enjoy new experiences and culture that was absolutely fresh to us. Ingrid, From structuring the best way for us to travel to numerous contacts with Tom to polish our itinerary to prompt responses whenever we had a question you were patient, friendly, kind and reliable.

We were happy, well fed, and well housed. We could get around very well using public transportation. Ingrid, your warm welcoming tour of Bergen was just what we needed to help us get our feet on the ground and learn so many new things about amazing beautiful Bergen. We loved our fjord cruise and were happy to stay in Aurland, which was gorgeous. We were relieved that we hadn’t pushed to stay in Flam which was essentially a group of souvenir shops punctuated by bakeries. Really good bakeries.

While in Aurland, the prices were very high in the restaurant which had no competition and served badly cooked food. We thoroughly enjoyed the magical train ride from Flam to Oslo. ( Such Beauty!) Sarah was a splendid guide in Oslo, kind and so well informed. She was very responsive to our specific interests and was so knowledgeable about Oslo; its history and present. The ferry to Denmark and our stay in Copenhagen was also excellent. Stockholm was a total surprise for its amazing city square and museums.

After being home for one week, we can appreciate the cultural aspects at a deeper level: near-universal English being spoken, often with no discernable accent, the tolerance of people in all countries to any need we might have. I loved especially that atmosphere of reverence toward the past and the sense of history that seemed to co-exist with the present.

We highly recommend Ingrid Thornes as a trip planner and guide. Sarah in Oslo was an excellent, personable guide. We were very satisfied kimkim is a terrific travel service. We will happily return for future travel.

In Gratitude and Satisfaction,
Best,
Tom and Susan

AMAZING is the word I have been using. I didn’t feel at all like I was on one of your typical tourist Trips. Ed was great and determined to make it an adventure which he did. Our guide Nesti was as some of us Americans say “The Cats Meow “. Just wonderful. So caring, so knowledgeable, on time, a complete joy to be with and like Ed out to give us adventurous . Good ones at that. We met Ardi another one of their guides. Great guide. Guess I can’t say enough about the team (including Boobie, Ed’s dog) and the trip. Would recommend them to anyone. The lodges and all the people running them were so nice as were ALL the people I came across in Albania. I have my Albanian bracelet that I wear all the time because it has now become a special place to me.

Overall the trip was great and all of us think that Petra was the highlight. It was a rush, but that's because we had time constraints and entirely our doing. Carmen is a great planner and was in constant contact & communication before and during the trip. My thanks to her. The guides were good and knowledgeable. Najeeb may have been a little overbearing but overall no complaints. They were punctual and helpful.

The Art Hotel (Downtown) was a great location and good place to stay and get a feel of life of the ordinary people in Amman. The Bedouin camp in Wadi Rum was below our expectations in terms of accommodation. However, the staff were excellent and the jeep tour in the desert was good. (Again I am not pointing any fingers as it was my choice for a 3 star accommodation, but if I may suggest a little more information about the accommodation during the planning stages would have helped).

We were not aware that we had to pay for towels & lockers at the Dead Sea Resort - an alert/info on this matter would have helped.

Overall, we were happy. Cheers.

Thanks for a memorable vacation,as your itinerary was perfect; the car correct, the sights wonderful and the accommodations superb. We appreciate your work and suggestions as we relive the week with friends and relatives. Your help--even with the weather! is appreciated. thanks again.
Terry