Kimkim Trip Reviews

It was a great trip. Ingrid was so thorough and available to us via email at any time. She was very prompt in responding to any inquiries we made and changes we requested.

We thoroughly enjoyed the tour with her in Bergen as we were able to see areas we never would have discovered on our own. The hotels were lovely and centrally located which was so helpful to us. We are still raving about the wonderful breakfasts we enjoyed. Bergen was certainly a favorite.

Balestrand was a real treat because of its size and location. We loved the kayaking and the trip up the fjord. It was a beautiful ferry ride up the Geiranger Fjord but it was spoiled a bit by the town, the cruise ships and the crowds. Of course, we were tourists just like all those people but we liked Balestrand better. Such a pretty town.

Alesund was another favorite. The architecture, the small size of the city, the food, the hotel. All of it was great.

Lofoten was unbelievable from start to finish. The looming wall as we arrived, the fisherman's cottages, the Viking Longhouse, the beaches. I think it was our favorite place. The Hurtigruten gave us a chance to relax for a couple of days but cruising is not really our thing. We preferred the ferries. But it was worth it to get to Lofoten.

Even though we'd been warned, we had a little bit of a hard time getting adjusted to the prices in Norway. Overall, a wonderful trip and Ingrid was wonderful to work with.

Karen and Bill Berkeley

My two weeks in Bulgaria was thoroughly enjoyable.

Thanks to the fantastic planning and organization by Simeon I was able to see many of the historical landmarks that this fascinating country has to offer. I had chosen the option to travel the country by train and I did not regret it. The train services were punctual and the folder/dossier of travel information provided by Simeon made all transfers quick and easy.

Hotels were aesthetically pleasing, clean, had friendly staff and provided tasty breakfasts, but best of all were the hosts at the Boyana Guesthouse and Deshhka guesthouse. Never have I felt so welcome in all of my life and despite the language barriers the nights I spent in the guesthouses were the best nights of the trip.

I highly recommend a trip to Bulgaria to anyone and I will certainly return soon.

We had a wonderful visit to the Botanical Gardens on Bali with Susan the bird guide who accompanied us was impressive with her knowledge of the bird song enabling us to have some really wonderful views of the birds.
The arrangements worked very well, we were collected promptly from our hotel by the taxi, had a lovely lunch in a local restuarant and enjoyed our visit to the local fruit amd vegetable market.
Overall it was a very enjoyable day.

Keith Gooday

We had a fantastic trip, trip of a lifetime really. Everyone was super helpful from the early stages of planning, a number of changes in dates and people right down to the actual trip where everything was organized well and worked out pretty much exactly how I imagined it. Northern Peru was amazing, super interesting and off the beaten path. The guides were amazing and we learned so much. English guides were hard to come by in the North, but all the Peruvians we met were super friendly and patient with us. The Inca Trail was just a fantastic experience all around. Zac and crew were amazing and we felt like we had the Andes to ourselves. Highly recommended.

So happy to meet Preeti, Halldor and their family! The itinerary was exactly what we wanted to do! Though some days were packed and we had to skip some things. But we got in plenty of hiking and excursions. We were very please with the hotels and guesthouses too! For the very few issues we had, they were so responsive and gave great service!

We loved all of the hotel choices except for FossHotel Lind. The shower smelled like sulphur and the room was too small to open your luggage anywhere.

Our favorite hotels were:
>Tungulending; loved the location and the novelty of it! We could have stayed here awhile!
>Hotel Hellnar was wonderful and we loved the costal walk to Arnarstapi
>Hotel Heydalur - we loved this place! It would be a great place to stay for a couple of nights! Nice pool, hot pots, horseback riding, hiking, and we loved the animals! (dogs and an arctic fox!)
Heydalur was hard to find.  The gps to a dilapidated building with broken windows! We were driving on a narrow dirt road. We went back to a sign for Heydalur. The only sign was “restaurant “ so we went in to ask and that was the place.
>Hotel Bork - we loved the large rooms and the location right by the small harbor with an easy walk to dinner on the harbor at KAFFI DUUS. The food was great!
>Glacier World hotel, loved the little glacier museum with the video explaining how the community built the walls to save their town from the melting glaciers

Our favorite Restaurants:
>Tjoruhusid in Isafjordur was fabulous! We talked about the food there the entire rest of the trip! We actually enjoyed going there for lunch when the price was cheaper and it wasn't so crowed.
>Sjavaborg restaurant in Hvammstangi - the lamb shank and cheese cake was fabulous
> Cafe Vogafjos in Mytvatn, food was great and it was neat it was attached to the cow barn
> Pakkhusid in Hornafjordur; the langoustine was soooo good! It was neat to see the boat that brought them in right out the window
>Efsti-Dalur, found this on our own on the way to the Secret Lagoon. A wonderful cow farm that makes their own ice cream. We stopped back here for dinner after the Secret Lagoon

Favorite Hikes:
>Hellnar costal walk to Arnarstapi
>Dynjandi waterfall - it took our breath away!
> Landmannalaugur! Quite a crazy road to get there, but that was my favorite place. It was so beautiful!
>Valagil gorge; loved the beautiful grass land, the blue berries and the "surprise" gorge and waterfall
> Dimmuborgir - Beautiful hiking trails through lava rock formations. The plants interspersed in the rocks were so pretty, they look like a garden.
>Seydisfjordur; we loved this little harbor town... so picturesque. We did a small hike to to the man made structure called the singing concrete.  It was a great view of the town from up there!
> westman island Heimeny

We loved this place! There were still some Puffins and the desk clerk at the hotel told us how to find them. We hiked around the cliffs near the golf course where we got a picture of some. We also enjoyed the aquarium and the volcano museum. We heard about the kids rescuing pufflings and ran across some caring a big box. Sure enough they had a puffling they were getting ready to release. It was so cool to share this experience with them.

Excursions:
>Hellulaug hot pot
We loved this little remote hot pot! The view was fabulous! We had a little trouble finding it. It was further up the road than we could figure out. Found someone walking down the road that helped us find it. Also, it would have been nice to know there was a restaurant right there. Based on the itinerary, the only place we saw for dinner was on the car ferry and that food was not good.
>Kayaying in Isafjordur
We loved the kayak excursion in Isafjordur. It would have helped to know a little more about the gear they were going to provide, but it worked out okay. It was also confusing on where to meet. The voucher was not correct.
> Inside the Volcano!!! We LOVED this! It might be helpful to warn people that it is about a 2 mile walk to the base camp and 1/4 mile up the side of the volcano. But it was so worth it! It would have been helpful to know they were going to feed us meat soup (or vegetarian version) afterward. It was so good, but didn't know and had brought sandwiches to eat.
> Husavik Whale tour was a bust, but I guess you can't always count on seeing whales. There was a beautiful sunset that evening and we would have rather eaten at Tungulending and enjoyed the sunset.
>Jokulsarlon Glacier Lagoon 
our kayak trip was cancelled because of wind and rain, but the lagoon was well worth seeing the beautiful blue ice

Helpful hints:
> 100Kr coins needed for many of the WC we stopped at along the way.
> The Driving plan link on Day 12 had the wrong starting point. We couldn't use it, but we loved the Driving plan links provided to us for the entire trip! FYI, you might let the customer know that link is in the itinerary, I didn't realize it was there until right before we left.

We had an absolutely wonderful time. The itinerary was perfect for us! Thank you!

This was a trip of a lifetime!! Linda was amazing in planning and coordinating for our group of 6 in all differing age ranges. She was great in getting everything on our wish and things to do and see and most of all giving us the opportunity to stay at the family farm. Staying at the farm was the most memorable part of the trip for all of us and getting to meet some new family. We had great tour guides in both Bergen and Oslo! They were super friendly, enthusiastic, and knowledgeable and made us feel welcomed in a strange new place.

Valde our guide in Bergen was amazing and super friendly. She had our updated itinerary ready for us when we arrived and tons of great recommendations of places to eat and things to see and do in Bergen! Thank you Valde!!

Miriam was our guide in Oslo and truly gave us a local insight to Oslo. She was very accommodating to our group and my 77 year old mother who kept right up with our 3 hr tour. Thank you Miriam!!

All of our transports from trains, ferries, buses and rental cars were flawless and made it easy to get to all of our destinations. I would highly recommend Linda and Kimkim to anyone for their next adventure and will be booking with them again in the furture.

Our Croatian trip was excellent. Booking through KimKim went without a hiccup and was very easy, however, the best part of the planning was the impeccable service that Robi and his team offered. Robi was very attentive at our requests and made sure we got what we wanted, for example, hotels and activities away from children.

Goran, our guide and driver was very knowledgeable and kind. He was flexible with the itinerary and accommodating to our requests. He took us to a small, family-owned restaurant next to a mussel farm and it was the best meal we had during the trip.

Robi was always available and happy to help with any issues along the way.

I highly highly recommend booking a trip with Robi and his team. They really do care about your wishes, your needs and they do so with a smile.
Thanks, Robi and Goran

We started planning our trip several months before coming to South Africa. Carla was extremely responsive, she worked with us on itinerary to accommodate our interests. She worked through small issues and we had a wonderful informative tour with our guide Mark. Highly recommend.

My partner and I had the most amazing trip to Jordan and Israel. Everything was seamless... from meet and greet at the borders to great accommodation to wonderful private guides at all the key sites. We had looked at doing a group tour and decided to book a completely private tour on the Jordan side, and a mix of day tours and group tours in Israel. You get the peace of mind of a perfectly organised trip created by a local expert, great local guides, and with the independence of a private tour, and very reasonably priced compared to group options. A great way to spend time one on one too with the lovely Jordanian people who were so welcoming and lovely. A special thanks to Tamara who organised our trip and was very easy to contact before and during the trip, and Hashim our lovely driver.

Amazing trip! Have not done much traveling outside the U.S., so was a bit nervous. Our travel specialist was James Mackender, and he made us feel very at easy with traveling abroad in Peru. Everything was perfectly planned--flights, pick-ups and drop-offs. Our guide for the Treehouse Lodge/Iquitos was Guido. Very knowledgeable, spoke excellent english, friendly, very personable. The Treehouse Lodge was beautiful, and the day and night excursions were once in a lifetime. Our next part of our Journey in Peru was seamless--the guide from the Treehouse took us directly to the river boat. The 7 man crew on the Spondias was amazing. They were so attentive, knowledgable about the amazon and Peru. My favorite part of this portion of the trip was when we spent time with a local family at the river village. They invited us into their home, we shared some food, and discussed the commonalty and differences of our daily lives. Our guide on the Spondias was Charlie, and he likes birds and was very knowledgeable about the different species of birds. Our chef, Francisco, was wonderful and his creations were excellent. Our waiter/purser was Jairo, he was a friendly young man, full of knowledge and we practiced english and spanish together. The only flaw was that we missed our connecting flight in Lima to Cusco. After an hour of being sent to 5 different desks to get our flight rescheduled, one phone call to James and in 10 minutes the whole situation was remedied. It relieved so much stress to know that James was looking after us. The last stretch of our trip was to Cusco and Machu picchu, and Zac was our guide. Zac was, hands down, the best guide I have ever had. He was so knowledgeable about Peru, Cusco, Incan history, Machu Picchu. The way he introduced us to Machu Picchu was perfect, and he even took video of our initial reaction to seeing this Wonder of the World. He was so kind, so enthusiastic, I definitely would do another trip with him as our guide.

This trip was just perfect. James did an amazing job listening to what we wanted to do, and making all of those wishes come true. Will definitely be using James and/or KimKim again when we travel!!

Erin, our local specialist, was really great helping us prepare for the trip, to the point that she helped us booking bus tickets between Kathmandu and Pokhara as well as researching various other things that we were asking about prior to arrival.

We initially booked a 5 day trek in the Annapurna range, but as our prior travels went on we realised that a 4 day trek suited our schedule better - Erin sorted this for us as well, and put together a more compact plan with our guide Naresh that meant we could cover the same trek in a day less.

The specific trek was the Mulde/Muldai/Muldei Peak and Poon Hill trek, with a maximum altitude of about 3600m, starting at around 1700m and ending at around 1500m. Apart from the unfortunate cloudy weather due to monsoon season, we got two clear magnificent sunrises, and if the weather had been clear on the second evening; a sunset as well at 3600m. We really had some great views, and an overall great experience, and just the view the first morning made our 6 week travel in India and Nepal worth it. Naresh, our guide, was incredibly nice, helpful and considerate, and helped us with everything from pointing out the mountain peak names to leech-protection, getting drinking water, and drying clothes in the tea houses.

I unfortunately reacted badly to the rapid increase in altitude and didn't feel too well the second and third day, but Naresh did everything in his power, including swapping backpacks with me, to take some of the strain off, as well as put the tempo down. This trek should be doable without any significant prevention of altitude sickness, and my partner was fine apart from slight loss of appetite, but some tablets for AMS could be useful, and make sure to communicate with you guide so he/she is aware, as well as be aware of the symptoms and react early if possible if any symptoms develop.

I would definitely do this trek again - next, maybe a slightly longer one to the Annapurna Base Camp. If you are inexperienced or new to the trekking aspects, or other aspects such as navigation etc (or just wanna enjoy doing the trek without planning it yourself), I would definitely recommend this way of booking.

Thank for a great time, kimkim, Erin and Naresh!

Van was wonderful- very well versed in Japan, gave us good advice about what we could do realistically with 3 kids in tow! He was very helpful in getting us to scale back on some of the more expensive things we thought about doing (like some pricey restaurants) that really would not have been fun when we were jet lagged or for the kids in general.

All our guides were very informative and great with engaging our kids.

We loved all the destinations Van chose for us- we got just the right mix of urban Tokyo fun and rural/seaside experience. All the accommodations were wonderful, we really felt like we traveled to a foreign country, not just staying in generic hotels. We did not rent a car and felt that the train and bus travel was all fairly easy.

The only event (and this was such a minor thing) we did not really enjoy was the Monster Cafe in Tokyo- our 13 and 15 year olds thought it was kind of silly, and our 9 year old was amused for a few mintues but then bored. The food was really average and overpriced. Would not rec this.

It feels like my wife, Roxanne, and I have developed a personal relationship with Ingrid. Her "front end" or "pre-trip" communication with me was excellent and incredibly responsive (timely). We communicated back & forth so she could understand what we liked, which enabled Ingrid to tailor a trip to our desires.
Once the trip began, I was shocked how she was monitoring our trip daily and checking in on us to ensure we were fine and that the trip was going well. She even sent me her cell phone #, in the event, we needed anything and I did have to call her once for clarity on a hotel billing item. She was all over it. We texted each other and again.......she was all over it. I love this girl!
I believe KimKim does work in other countries and, if all of your agents are even 1/2 as effective as Ingrid, I will be using KimKim again. Our next scheduled trip in most likely Italy next year (2019) and I could use local help again.

Ingrid.........you are outstanding "young lady" and you deserve and have earned our felt heart accolades. We hope to return to Norway for a tour of the North someday!

Thank you KimKim but all praise goes to Ingrid!

Dave Amrhein

Miha was wonderful to work with. His description of our trip from start to finish was very well organized, accurate and so helpful. The added plus was the use of a cell phone which guided us to each of our hotels and sight seeing spots in Slovenia through the use of its GPS. Miha answered all of our questions, and eased our fears or doubts about any part of the trip that we weren't sure about. We loved all of our hotels, they were centrally located and all of the hosts of each hotel were very accommodating and friendly. All the hotels were wonderful, but there were some that really stood out; Pension Berc,(one of the best restaurants we have been to) and loved the free use of their
E bikes, the manager of the hotel 44, in Dubrovnik Damir was also outstanding. He gave us a lot of tips as to where to go and what to do and carried our suitcase up the flight of stairs. We loved that Miha gave us a lot of flexibility in the planning and our trip was a perfect balance of activities and relaxation time. There were so many favorite spots that we wouldn't have the time to list them all. However I wouldn't hesitate for a moment to recommend Miha for your Slovenia and Croatia trip. All the guides spoke great English and were very friendly, and very knowledgeable. Kim Kim and their travel planners are the perfect way to go if you don't like to be in big groups and want to have the freedom and flexibility and most of all independence from a strict schedule.

This was a 5 Star trip, very well organised by Clara, it all went so well it even surprised us. All drivers were there on time, every step was very well sorted out.
Just to give a small suggestion for the next time, I would leave a bit more free time as we couldn't relax or have some more time off to just enjoy the places such as Cusco. The tour including Pisac, Urubamba and Ollantaytambo was like a rally...we had 7 minutes to explore Pisac- it was either walking around or going to the toilet...one choice...and Urubamba was really a road restaurant only. Whereas for Ollantaytambo which was an amazing place, both the ruins and the town we just had some time with the guide and no time to explore and feel the beautiful town. We had to rush to the station to go to Aguas Calientes. It maybe too much for one day...maybe just Ollantaytambo is such a rich experience that there was no need to see the others and to have a lunch at a road restaurant.
Apart from this suggestion, I must say I had a great time, Clara booked us Cicciolina, wich was a great choice of restaurant in Cusco, and also was there for all we needed. I will certainly reccommend the agency and Kim Kim.
Do you have a Brazilian version of the site?
Many thanks
Lorena

My husband and I are experienced, avid travelers who normally plan our trips on our own with great success. However, upon doing my own research for an upcoming trip to Morocco, I came across the kimkim site and made the decision to utilize their services. I had read positive reviews, and having no real knowledge of Morocco, I decided to give kimkim a shot. We had planned on staying 1 week in Morocco and wanted to cover as much as possible in our brief time there in order to wet our palates before our next return. Morocco is a country with lots to see and do, and I discovered that one can spend lots of time driving from destination to destination. For example, there is Marrakech, then there is the desert with the sand dunes, and then you also have the Atlas Mountains, as well as the coast. From a logistics point of view, I just thought it would be much easier to let someone with experience plan everything. That’s where kimkim stepped in and really delivered. From the beginning, speaking with Katherine was a breeze. She was helpful, very professional, easy to communicate with, and had a clear idea about the experience we were looking for. She also made good recommendations with regards to hotel and restaurant suggestions. When I explained that we wanted to go to Marrakech, the desert, and the Atlas Mountains, she suggested we book a short flight internally to reduce travel time. Highly worth flying between destinations as roads lack good infrastructure and trips can be very long! Katherine and kimkim planned everything for us, from booking beautiful hotels, to fabulous restaurants, to arranging private drivers, to wonderful tours and experiences. From the beginning, we discussed a budget, and Katherine and kimkim made it happen. Shout out to our private driver Abderrahim (Abdo) and our guide Hassan! Both could not have been more professional, hospitable, and courteous. Our driver Abdo was always on time, and when he arrived at the airport in Marrakech to collect us, his vehicle was very clean and spacious, and he had cold water in the car and all kinds of delicious snacks. He also gave us a local mobile phone and charger to use for the duration of our trip. In it, all important numbers were already saved, and the phone, while it was not a smart phone, was quite perfect as the battery lasted the whole week without charging, and it proved to be very useful. Whenever we needed our driver or needed more time at a destination, our driver was always a phone call away. They also let you use the phone to make free international calls! We were even given welcome satchels with our names painted in Arabic with adaptors and a bound program for our whole trip inside! The program was especially helpful as it included a detailed itinerary, information about the destinations we would be visiting, key contact names and numbers, as well as additional information about the country in general. For some reason, the adaptors would not work, but it was still a nice and thoughtful touch! When we encountered a problem at the airport in Marrakech causing us to miss our flight to the desert, I reached out to our driver and within a short period of time, Katherine reached out to us and found the best solution to our problem. They quickly arranged for a driver to take us to our next destination and while the trip was exhausting, kimkim nevertheless delivered and got us to our next destination the best way they could. In a world where travel agencies have become a bit obsolete, kimkim is changing all that and making it cool again. Their travel platform is quite seamless and efficient, really taking the headache out of planning a trip to a foreign locale. The best part of it all is that their services, while being as useful as they are, are quite inexpensive. Their fees are more than reasonable. Morocco is a beautiful country with warm, hospitable people with a great sense of humor. There is so much to explore and experience and never at one time did we feel unsafe. Their culture is so diverse, and there is something in it for everyone to enjoy, whether it be luxury riads, excellent dining options, spa services (hammams, yes please!), cultural activities, outdoor activities such as trekking, and lots of incredible shopping. I personally highly recommend a trip out to the desert with camel rides and sleeping under a sky filled with a trillion stars at a Berber camp! Kimkim helped us fall in love with Morocco, and we will be returning in the near future for certain. Thank you kimkim for this great experience!

Great experience in the Sacred Valley with Nicole and her team...they easily redirected a plan that turned out to be too ambitious, into one that was the highlight of our trip, a hike along an old Inka trail down the mountains through the Pisac ruins. the drivers and guides were wonderful. Scott

This is the first time I have used KimKim, and I am very happy with the booking process and the tour itself. The agent, Raisa, answered all of my questions quickly and in good details. Once we have started the tour, she kept me informed on the tour guide change. The tour itself was wonderful and my group really enjoyed our guides and our time in Jordan. Highly recommended for anyone who wants to travel to Jordan in he future.

The planning and help in curating the itinerary was a highlight and was very well done. Jordan is beautiful and I wish I had more time there. Wadi rum was a short stay but exceptional. I will have to return again to do justice to the sites and stars in the desert.

Thanks Carmen and Kim Kim.

Wish you guys the best in what you are trying to achieve. Experiential travel is the way to go!

Regards
Rish

Sean couldn’t have done anything more to make Our trip to the Ukraine more memorable, from the moment we stepped off the plane in Odessa to the moment we said good-bye to our driver at the airport in Lviv. The organization of the drivers, flights within the Ukraine, first class hotels, the tour guides in each city, the private tour to find my Grandparents birth village, meeting with relatives I had never met, Yuri our driver helping with translation of the language. Our private tour guides in Odessa and in Lviv had such passion for their country and cities, which make us want to come back to see more. Thank You Sean