Unison Travel & Events

It was an absolute pleasure having Burcu coordinate our trip from Istanbul to Ephesus. She was incredibly responsive to all our questions and consistently went above and beyond to find the best options for us. When one of the hotels did not meet our expectations, Burcu immediately arranged a great alternative. As an extra special gesture, she even treated us to dinner with our excellent guide and his wife. Her thoughtfulness, attention to detail and dedication made our trip truly memorable. Thank you, Burcu, for everything.

Polat was the perfect guide for our journey from Istanbul to Ephesus, He was knowledgeable, attentive to our needs and very personable. We thoroughly enjoyed spending time with him and appreciated the insight, warmth and enthusiasm he brought to our experience. We would recommend him without hesitation to anyone visiting the region. It was also a pleasure meeting his wife and sharing a lovely dinner together. Thank you, Polat, for making our trip so enjoyable and memorable.

We had very good one week trip to Turkey. Our local guides were knowledgable and spoke excellent English. Polat and Gigi were excellent. Both had some good suggestions for maximizing our trip enjoyment. For the most part the trip plan was very good. We did have one very long day (Canakale to Kusadasi) that included three stops that was very long and the visits to the sites seemed a bit rushed but otherwise the itinerary was very good. The hotels were also very good. especically the hotel in Cappadocia. We especially enjoyed the balloon flight in Cappadocia. This was our fourth trip planned by Kimkim and we would use them again. Zehra was very accomodating with regards to our interests and timing.

Hotel Reviews

Yunak Cave Hotel

Ürgüp/Nevşehir

This was a fantastic hotel! As the name implies the rooms are in caves yet are very comfortable. Excellent breakfast.

Authenticity & Character

Rooms set in caves.

Location

Nice area to walk around. Lots of nearby restaurants.

Staff

Very helpful.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Doubletree by Hilton Kusadasi

Kusadasi

Excellent hotel in a good location. Very comfortable and with a good breakfast. Nice spa area.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

DoubleTree by Hilton Çanakkale

Çanakkale

Very comfortable hotel. Good location and excellent breakfast.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Review

Canakkale to Kusadasi via Troy & Pergamum

Turkey

This was a long day of driving and siteseeing. Troy, a legendary location, was very interesting but the ruins there are not spectacular. Pergamum is a fascinating site with an interesting history. The Pergamum Altar is an important site in Berlin but it was very interesting to see the town from where it was removed.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Emre was very knowledgeable.

Transport

Very good driver.

Polat and Gigi (their preferred nicknames with us) were wonderful guides. I feel lucky to have been shepherded around by them. Both helped us avoid huge tourist mobs; big cruise liners and large travel groups. They both were extremely knowledgeable and helped us eat at superb restaurants. Maybe it’s easier to suggest restaurants for only 6 people.
Our guide for Gallipoli and Troy would clearly be an excellent guide for large groups. He insisted on not answering questions, but rather for everyone to wait until we were at a site, listening to his information. This strategy would work well for large groups. However, our group was small and wanted more in depth information and discussion. In fact, our guide, forgot to get back to us about a question regarding viaducts we saw from the road.

Hotel Reviews

Yunak Cave Hotel

Ürgüp/Nevşehir

For such a unique experience, I was happy to overlook some uncomfortable mattresses. I don’t think the scorpion that stung my roommate is something that could be avoided; just bad luck.

Authenticity & Character

Location

I’m very glad we were in the smaller town and not in the midst of a crowded intense tourist city.

Staff

Very attentive when my roommate was stung by the scorpion. Plus, the cleaning staff were just plain friendly.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Except for the scorpion sting

Doubletree by Hilton Kusadasi

Kusadasi

Well located near the water and excellent restaurants. It was a bit generic. I prefer smaller and more character. We had to have a breakfast to go because we left for the airport before breakfast was served. There is a lot of room for improvement if they are going to give out takeout breakfast.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

DoubleTree by Hilton Çanakkale

Çanakkale

Had all the amenities but I prefer less generic, smaller places with more character and personality. The steam room was nice and the Turkish bath interesting. The buffet breakfast was very nice, except cappuccino had to be paid for. I went to the restaurant for dinner. The food was good, but it took an hour to get served. It seems that someone had to go catch the fish. Or the cook went home thinking there was no one else to serve.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Visit to Derinkuyu Underground City

Cappadocia

We couldn’t go, primarily due to the fact our KimKim contact didn’t get us on a direct flight to Cappadocia.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

A direct flight to Cappadocia so we could go

Visit to Kaymakli Underground City & Explore area

Cappadocia

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Our guide knew exactly when to take us so the underground city wasn’t mobbed with large tour groups. There isn’t much space down there and it would have been difficult to navigate it it was full of people.

Transport

Explore The Landmarks of Cappadocia

Cappadocia

The experience would have been fantastic- and our guide was exceptional. But, there is no excuse for us having to get up at the crack of dawn to fly to Istanbul and then Cappadocia. The second flight was late and we were exhausted. Therefore, we couldn’t get the maximum enjoyment. Our itinerary had us going directly to Cappadocia (until the day before we were given our flights- a communication came that direct flights were only on some days and we might need to go through Istanbul). It was unbelievably insulting to say the that a direct flight to Cappadocia might not happen well before the flight due to weather. As a pilot, I can tell you that flights will not be cancelled a week before a flight because of weather. I think your local specialist didn’t book our flights until the direct flights were full. We knew the schedule well in advance. She should have booked us promptly so we could get a direct flight. If, indeed the direct flights didn’t go that day, we should have been informed well in advance so we could have choice to make itinerary changes. After all the grueling driving, having a grueling day of flights was particularly unwelcome

Enjoy a Hot Air Balloon Ride in Cappadocia

Cappadocia

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Full Day Tour to Pamukkale & Hierapolis

Turkey

Full Day Tour of Ephesus and Region

Turkey

Tour of the frescos, living sites and tile mosaics was a highlight. We almost missed it because it wasn’t offered. The small museum was also a highlight and could have been easily missed. The drive to the hotel from which we embarked to Ephesus, was another long agonizing drive. Without knowing the degree of time spent in vans, we were robbed of choice to change the itinerary

Quality of Experience

I would have loved our guide for the entire Turkey excursion. Once he understood our groups likes and interests, he responded. But by the time he understood us, he wasn’t our guide any longer

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Drivers were all skilled. But the time in vans was a definite minus.

Canakkale to Kusadasi via Troy & Pergamum

Turkey

The driving was formidable and certainly cut into a more leisurely and thorough experience. It was sad to have such a short, rushed time at the museum at Troy. A drive from the top of Gallipoli was unnecessarily, aggressive, causing much motion sickness in the van. After the driver was asked to tone it down, the next day we went very slowly, uphill being passed by all other vehicles on the road. This was either passive aggressive, or the van was underpowered – making the voyage longer.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

A better powered van and less aggressive, driving down the long, steep windy road from the top of the Gallipoli war site.

Our agent, Zehra, did a wonderful job helping us plan our 3 days in Istanbul. We were picked up and taken to the airport. Our hotel was charming and in a wonderful location. The staff and breakfast were great. We did two days of walking tours with a lovely guide named Eda. She was very knowledgeable and very helpful. We had such fun with her- we invited her to visit us in America.

This was my second trip with Kim Kim- and both were flawlessly executed! I plan to travel with them again in the future.

Guide and driver were excellent. Hotel in Tiiblisi (Rooms Hotel Tblisi) was also excellent

We've taken several trips with KimKim and this one had more hiccups. Dislikes:
1. Zehra's company subcontracted the work to another company and that caused too many issues. That was also not disclosed to us. That ended up being a big deal, contributing to my low star ranking
2. Guidance and the FAQs in our travel packet were all about Turkey, but our trip was to Georgia so that was a huge miss. I wanted the same guidance but for the location we were visiting...
3. The hotel in Kutaisi was TERRIBLE. there was mold in the showers, the food was sub par. Our entire group could not wait to check out of that dump.
4. While we enjoy full, busy days, it was often too rushed - too hard to get to things on time and we didn't have any space to linger longer when we wanted to.
5. No beach club was booked for us despite the back and forth with Zehra. This could have been a miscommunication but we really thought we'd asked her to book the beach club for us. This was in Batumi
6. Two of the hotels didn't have the correct bed set up for some of our party which was VERY explicitly discussed up front. While it was resolved, it was incredibly unfortunate that we had any issues at all. This was unacceptable and honestly I still don't understand how/why it happened.

Likes:
Overall, we had a great trip and I think KimKim did a much better job resolving the issues with our travelers. Unlike our Sicily trip which I'm still mad about the lack of resolution for one of our travelers.

Overall, I used to be very high on using and recommending KimKim. Now, i'm on the fence.

Our local guide company, Visit Georgia, was great and we loved our guide and driver. There seemed to be many miscommunications between KimKim and the local company which impacted overall ease throughout the trip. This was unfortunate. Areas impacted included: the itinerary on Kim Kim did not exactly match our local guide’s plans for our day. The hotel in Kutaisi was below our standards. Two out of three hotels did not have the room accommodations requested. Our local guide was not aware of our dinner reservations or the itinerary provided to us by Kim Kim. Overall, using Kim Kim felt like more of a hassle and we would have been better off just booking directly with Visit Georgia.

A friend and I had a very enjoyable time during our visit to Turkey. We were both surprised by the modernity of the country as a whole, but in particular Istanbul. The people we met on the street were always very friendly. we felt safe. Kimkim and Unison did not let us down. Our local specialist, Burcu, could not have been nicer or more helpful. She promptly answered many questions from us, made reservations and was just very responsive and helpful no matter what the issue was. We had three guides that were all very knowledgeable of their areas and were with us the whole time each day. Our favorite place that we spent time in was Cappadocia. It was fascinating to see how people created by hand their cave homes and lived successfully for millennia in the area. My overall impression of the trip was that it was enjoyable well executed and memorable. Highly recommend Kimkim and Unison for travel to Turkey.

Our experience booking through KimKim was exceptional from start to finish. The initial planning process was highly collaborative, and our coordinator, Zehra, was incredibly experienced, providing fantastic tips and suggestions. She went above and beyond by staying in constant communication throughout our trip, even checking in at odd hours to ensure everything was seamless. Zehra knew exactly how to structure our days to avoid the heavy crowds, and she ensured our family's allergen requirements were completely taken care of at every step.

The on-the-ground execution was flawless. We were met in person by a representative right at the airport when we landed, which made our arrival stress-free. Our daily guides—Eda in Istanbul and Kezban in Cappadocia—were absolutely fantastic. They knew wonderful tricks to keep our young children engaged throughout the tours, and they generously offered to let us contact them with questions even when they were off the clock. We highly recommend this team for anyone planning a family adventure!

KimKim travel and their local specialist Burcu helped me make the most of my short time in Istanbul. They crafted an itinerary that combined traditional sight seeing with hands on experience ( mosaic lamp making, cooking class, food tour). The food tour with Bhari was outstanding. Not only did we taste local flavors he shared stories about the buildings and neighborhoods while we wandered. And unexpected bonus, everyone in the group left with tips for places to try that were in the neighborhoods they were staying. The lamp mosaic experience was also pleasant surprise and resulted in a souvenir on my desk. This is my 3rd experience with KimKim Travel. They consistently help me make the most out of my time and budget. Their support is amazing and they add that extra level of confidence while travelling knowing they are there. This trip I had to postpone, but KimKim and Burcu helped me rebook everything when I had the new dates. I can't say enough about the care they put into helping travellers get the most put out of their trips whatever the length.

Hotel Review

Dosso Dossi Hotel Old City

Well located. Easy walk to sites and restaurants. Staff is friendly. Breakfast has a lot of options.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Bosphorus & Two Continents Tour - Full Day

İstanbul

My knowledgeable guide Furkan showed me the spice market, provided a histical back drop as we toured the Bosphorus by boat and then we went to the Asian side of Istanbul including stops fir wonderful vistas. Oir lunch break even included trying a local snack.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Cooking Class in Kurtuluş, Istanbul

İstanbul

A great way to taste local flavors andtake some recipes back with you. The chefs were funny and made every step feel easy. It was interesting to see and use some special knives. And the reward at the end is a lovely meal.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Turkish Mosaic Lamp Workshop

İstanbul

The team presenting the workshop we're terrific. They explained each step of the process. They're we're lots of colors to choose from and they provided guided patterns as well. Plus they offered tea.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Day Trip to the Princes' Islands

İstanbul

On the boat ride out to the islands the guide shared a lot of history about Istanbul, the islands and various sites usable from the water. We went to 2 islands and had free time at each to explore.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Istanbul Street Food Discovery: Istiklal & Galata

Turkey

Bhari was amazing. As we wandered tasting local flavors we also learned about the neighborhoods. An amazing bonus we all left with notes about places to try in the neighborhoods where our hotels were.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff