Kimkim Trip Reviews

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!

We had an amazing trip which was organised with such care and attention to detail, in exceeded our expectations! Our driver, all guides and support during the trip were excellent. Everyone was there to ensure we had a lovely time and the trip was running smoothly from logistical point of view. True 5*, VIP experience I can't recommend enough!

My experience in Ethiopia was great. Our guide, Tadele Molla, was very accommodating and tried his best to to meet our needs. Since we did not eat all the meals we asked for our laundry to be paid for instead which worked our great.

There were a few miscommunications which were frustrating. When corresponding with Marco I asked about tipping and how much money I should bring. He said everything was covered and all we needed was for things I wanted to buy. Tadele had us tip the daily guides, of which there were 3 different ones. That needs to be made clearer. Two of the hotels did not have working toilets or showers so we asked for a change of rooms/hotels.

We had hoped to get into the Jewish village in Addis Ababa but that did not work out either. Our entire purpose in going to Ethiopia was to see our roots so it would have been nice to be told ahead of time that that excursion might be difficult. We talked to so Israeli volunteers that said they had no difficulty and all that needed to be done was contact the local rabbi of the village.

I know language can be an issue in communication so I am willing to take on some of the responsibility and tried to be clear in my questions and concerns.

We are a family of 4 who travelled to Provence in July 2018. Our children are aged 4 and 6. All our accommodation was superb and the guided tours excellent. The tour of the calenques with skipper Laurence was one of the most unique and memorable experiences of our travels so far - we traveled quickly to some magnificent swimming locations and saw a really different side of Marseille.

The tour of an Olive mill was delicious and fascinating. The family were really welcoming and involved the children in cooking and touring.

The children also had an amazing time on Olivier’s carriage ride - what a great way to tour the countryside!

We would definitely engage Simon Hardy and KimKim again for our next holiday. Many thanks.

From start to finish, Ingrid provided exceptional service. She carefully listened to my list of criteria and dutifully created an itinerary that suited all my needs. We worked collaboratively to refine the trip as my interests shifted, and I ended up with the trip of a lifetime: 4 days of kayaking and camping in the Lofoten Islands of Norway. For anyone looking for travel guidance in Norway, I highly recommend Ingrid.

Lofoten Aktiv -- the company that led the kayaking trip -- was equally outstanding. My guide, Christian, was absolutely phenomenal. His passion and skill for outdoor tripping were immediately apparent as he showed us the local area. He thoughtfully took the group's goals into consideration when planning the trip to make it a resounding success. Jann, who owns the company, has been a pioneer in this industry and takes pride in providing high quality experiences for all his quests. He is a native of the Lofoten Islands and possesses a deep knowledge of the area. For those adventurers looking for a rustic experience in the most beautiful environment, I highly recommend booking with Christian, Jann, and Lofoten Aktiv.

The hotels we stayed in were fine - but directions to them were sorely lacking.

In general directions were poor.