Basquelands Way

This is my second trip with Kimkim - and I am about to book a third trip for my entire family. We were traveling as a party of five retired university professors. As such, we research our destinations and look for knowledgeable, competent guides. Kimkim took our site preferences and made them one of my best trips. Alfonso (their agent in Spain) provided extraordinary detail about guides, meeting points, excursions and accommodations. I cannot say enough about the quality of most of our guides or the excursions themselves (especially our cooking class)! When our party of five (and Kimkim) was surprised by ubiquitous construction at one of our hotels, Kimkim immediately arranged a substitute accommodation that was among our best. By the time we returned from our excursion, our luggage had been moved and we were already checked in. Transfers in particular were seamless. If I had to do this trip again, I would rely on Kimkim to book all transfers - especially with a group of women who may find it difficult to manage larger pieces of luggage. I could not be more satisfied.

Activity Reviews

Private City Walk & Royal Palace Experience

Madrid

Our guide Leyre, in particular, was knowledgeable and flexible. She knew every historic detail about this venue and made this particular site one of the highlights of our visit.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Cooking Class in Seville

Seville

I have attended several cooking classes - and this is one of my favorites. Our chef (Maria) and sous chef (Gaia) were knowledgeable and friendly. They interacted with guests and explained the uniqueness of Spanish cooking. I am a seasoned and knowledgeable cook myself, but I would return to attend this school as a student!

Prado Museum Private Visit with an Art Historian

Madrid

Once again, our guide Leyre was the “secret” to the success of this tour. She discerningly covered the principal exhibits and galleries with thorough explanations. The Prado is not to be missed!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Cruise Seville's Río Guadalquivir

Seville

We were booked on a river cruise in Seville, but unfortunately, the directions to the launch site were not clear, especially since the cruise was under a bridge. We arrived on time but missed the boat because of this confusion. Attempts to get help from other boat operators were unsuccessful as they were rude and unhelpful. The proprietors tried to rebook us, but it was a holiday weekend and everything was fully booked, so we lost out on this activity.

Small group - Guided Visit of the Sagrada Família

Barcelona

The small group guided visit of the Sagrada Família was very informative and enjoyable, although the ongoing construction was a bit of a distraction. Still, the guide did a great job explaining the history and architecture - allowing plenty of time for photographs and additional private time.

Flamenco Experience

Spain

Kimkim and Alfonso arranged front-row seats for our party of five. The experience (and my photographs) were amazing!

Quality of Experience

Overall, this was a wonderful vacation and please don’t take the superlatives in the following description lightly as they are all well deserved. To begin, the quality of the exhibits at the Altamira Museum was very high; the recreated cave itself, however, was a disappointment compared to other caves we’ve visited. We did, however, appreciate the authenticity of our experiences at the La Moneda Cave and the El Castillo Cave. Our guide in Santander, Daniel, was excellent and despite the poor weather made our time there very enjoyable. We were particularly impressed by the Centro Botin (designed by Renzo Piano) and the Paseo de Pereda. The history and insights provided by our guide, Nicolas, in the fishing village of Santona made that visit special as well. The tour of the Conservas Emilia anchovy & tuna processing plant gave us a unique window into the local economy and we enjoyed the tasting afterwards. Of course, the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao was fantastic and Sokorri was an excellent guide to both the museum and the city. The next day another lovely and well-informed guide, Susana, showed us the Itsas Museum of cultural and maritime history. She also went with us to the Casa de Juntas and Peace Museum in Guernica - which is a “Can’t Miss” experience. Our next knowledgeable guide, Alfonso, led us on a tour of San Sebastian’s Old Town and supplemented the visual interest with his deep understanding of local history. Both the San Telmo Museum and the Aquarium are also well worth a visit. Our final days were spent in French Basque Country and Etienne was, again, a most knowledgeable and considerate guide. We particularly enjoyed the time spent with him in Sare. In sum, while all of the places visited were memorable, the guides elevated the quality of the experience with their knowledge and congenial personalities. They were the embodied expression of the place and the culture which we appreciated very much. In addition, all the drivers were excellent and we felt very safe.

Activity Reviews

Private Museum & CityVisits

Bilbao

Private San Sebastián History & Culture Walk

San Sebastián

We enjoyed our time with Alfonso very much. It was lovely to meet him after working together to plan the trip.

Discovering Bizcay

Bilbao

Guided Bilbao Walk

Bilbao

San Telmo Museum & Aquarium

San Sebastián

Quality of Experience

There was something new and special to enjoy every day. We learned so much and each place was unique - never a dull moment.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

All the drivers were excellent, the cars were very comfortable and the guides were so nice and very well informed.

Transport

Comfortable cars, water provided, everyone was on time and made traveling very easy.

Private French Basque Day trip

San Sebastián

Quality of Experience

Beautiful countryside and Etienne was an excellent guide.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Etienne was very flexible and accommodated requests. He also took us to an excellent restaurant for lunch which we enjoyed very much.

Transport

Comfortable car with water and knowledgeable driver.

Visit Santander

Santillana del Mar

Daniel saved the day with his guided tour since the weather was quite bad. Despite the rain and the wind, we enjoyed walking around with him and learning about the city. Pilar was a pillar of strength since she had to drive through the hard rain yet she did a great job and we felt comfortable with her at the wheel.

Alfonso and Uhaina at Basquelands Way planned an perfect vacation for my husband and I. We hiked the camino and they got our bags moved to the next location flawlessly. They set up an amazing guided tour of the guggenheim bilbao. They responded to all questions and requests instantly. And Alfonso shared tons of knowledge about the region on a few guided activities. We even threw a few curveballs at them and they kindly accomodated us. I highly recommend their service.

This was not our first experience utilizing kimkim, but was different from previous trips in that Alfonso and his team were in communication with us frequently and were immediately responsive to any question or concern. That level of attention was new and very much appreciated.

The trip met our expectations for what we hoped to experience in Spain with attention to details. Thanks, Alfonso, for a great job!

Activity Reviews

Private City Walk & Royal Palace Experience

Madrid

Our guide was fabulous and the experience very educational.

Quality of Experience

Our guide was superb!

Flamenco Experience

Spain

The show was beautiful and much more entertaining than I was expecting!

Cooking Class in Seville

Seville

We have taken cooking classes on several trips. This one was excellent! Our paella and cold tomato soup were delicious!

Prado Museum Private Visit with an Art Historian

Madrid

Our guide made this experience more than enjoyable. Background info on the artists and paintings/sculptures made the tour rather fascinating!

Private Electric Tuk-Tuk Adventure

Madrid

We had a lot of fun zooming around city highlights and enjoying a beautiful evening on our tuk tuk tour. Not easy to get good pictures while on board the vehicle so the stops were much appreciated.

Alfonso did it all for us! Helped plan our whole trip, led us on a bike tour of San Sebastián, and served as tour guide on a driving trip to Biarritz!
He was an encyclopedia of historical facts about Basque country. We are just lucky to have found Alfonso thru KimKim. He made our visit truly memorable. And we couldn’t have asked for a more enjoyable person to spend time with.

A memorable trip, and as always with KimKim, every detail taken care of well before the start.
Alfonso interpreted what we were looking for extremely well, and the ever helpful daily programme complete with all necessary information is a godsend.
Hotels throughout the trip were as requested , and all very good.
Our 3 guides were all outstanding, pleasant individuals, answered our questions rather than overburdening us with facts, and fitted the tours exactly to our requests and physical ability.
I have recommended KimKim to several families in USA, and look forward to further trips with you.
PS do you have a representative for a trip we are considering to the Azores ( Portugal)?
Regards John Harrison.

Our guide in Madrid - Jose - was excellent. He really balanced telling the history of Madrid with his communicating his life experience as a local resident. He could tell when the jetlag was hitting us and it was time for a cappuccino!

Raquel is a very knowledgeable guide in Seville. She is very passionate about her city and Andalusia in general.

Our trip to Spain was amazing, 19 months of planing with KimKim. This was the 2nd time using them, and would definitely use 7 refer them. From Seville, Madrid, Costa Brava to Barcelona and all the other excursions kayaking, wine tasting, royal palace taps stroll etc. All amazing. But there was a couple of bumps in the road which was not really a big deal. But I did I feel like Alfonso was more of pointing the issues at others, rather than understanding the issue. Or just take accountability.
*1st issue was every stop from destination to destination we had a private transfer from hotel to train station or vice versa. Except when leaving Madrid, we were required to take a taxi to the train station. Private transfer should have been included, and I will never be convinced it shouldn't have been. When asked about this, Alfonso immediately referenced a conversation we had in the trip chat about taxis. But that was in regards to taking taxis to our excursions(Costa Brava) not back to a train station
*2nd issue was at some point our train time changed leaving Madrid to Costa Brava back in May. But we were never notified, and we never noticed either. Originally scheduled to leave at 10:30 and arrive 13:15. New time was 12:27 and arrive 16:35. Not that big of deal, but what was never mentioned once was that it was an 1:15min ride to the hotel. So what originally was a day we thought we would be at the Hotel by at least 14:00, didn't arrive until almost 18:30. In addition to the time changes our train tickets had incorrect train # on it. Thankfully Renfe held the train for 20min to get us seats on the train
*3rd issue was not having clear instructions at the Sagrada Familia. Had instructions to meet for a guided tour at 17:00 at a certain point, we waited and waited. But eventually we didn't know who we were actually waiting for so we went inside. Where we waited there's hundreds of people, different tours with different groups, colored flags etc. Again this wasn't really a big deal for us, but when asked Alfonso seemed very frustrated with us, as if we were just asking to much. We just didn't know, we followed the specific instructions and just waited at the meeting. But didn't know who we were meeting.
*4th issue was Alfonso creating a WhatsApp group thread for communicating, and not actually including me. The group consisted of him, his associate and my wife Paula. This I didn't understand, as I just spent 19months planing this trip with him, and he set up this group chat without me. Wasn't until the 2nd to last day I was added to the chat. Again small issue, I just didn't understand why.
In summary our trip was amazing!! I spent 19 months planing this with Alfonso and everything he put together was amazing from top to bottom, the hotels, excursions food etc. Although I do know Alfonso was dealing with a family matter, and I hope everything is ok. My father passed away this past January, it was a very difficult time. With that said I feel Alfonso did a great job with everything, nothing is ever perfect. Would still give 4-4.5 stars. There was just a couple of things where the instructions weren't clear to us, and when we reached out. We sensed some frustration from Alfonso towards us. We've now been home for 12days, and I thought its very unusual for a traveler agent that you worked with for 19 months, and hasn't even reached out asking how the trip was. Or ask for a review? So I came on to check, and only saw the KimKim reply. Either way can't wait to plan the next trip

Activity Reviews

Private Visit to Seville’s Cathedral & Alcázar

Seville

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Visit to La Sagrada Família & Tower

Barcelona

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Cruise Seville's Río Guadalquivir

Seville

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Private Wine Experience

Spain

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Private City Walk & Royal Palace Experience

Madrid

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Kayaking & Snorkeling in Costa Brava

Spain

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Tapas Walk in Barcelona

Barcelona

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Private Evening Tapas Stroll with Locals

Madrid

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

The two week trip to Spain was well planned and managed. The price was reasonable, and included many museum entrance fee's. The hotels were well chosen and always followed our preferences. All of our guides were outstanding and knowledgable. Kim Kim kept in daily contact to ensure smooth transitions and transfers. Isa changed our eating habits forever. Miriam, Gabriel, and Jose taught us so much history and culture that I will be eternally grateful. Miguel drove us to/from Caminito del Rey and was a joy to be acquainted with.
This was our honeymoon, and was the best adventure of our lives.

My KimKim team in Spain — Alfonso & Uhaina — could not have been better. Immediately responsive to any and every question or need that I had. I was ill in Sevilla for several days. They coordinated with my hotel staff to ensure I had all the care and attention I needed. Being sick in a foreign land is uncomfortable to say the least. The help and reassurance they provided was invaluable. When my plans changed because of the illness, they rearranged everything with professionalism and kindness. I cannot recommend KimKim more highly. I will use KimKim for every trip f rom now on.