Andrea Gambino

We would give 10 stars to Andrea if we could! Using kimkim for the first time and not really knowing what to expect, Andrea listened to our various wishes and constraints, and proceeded to design a super incredible itinerary for us. He was super patient and detailed, and gave us various options, and their pros/cons as well. We had some last minute changes even during the trip, and Andrea was immediately responsive, sorting out our issues for us (like a sudden diversion to retrieve left behind items!), saving us so much worry.

Andrea is also very experienced around the Dolomiti area, so he knew the best hikes, how hard they were, and gave us detailed instructions to go on the public transport to go around and visit different areas around there (since we didn't self-drive).

We highly recommend Andrea and are very grateful for his advice on this trip of a lifetime!

So many wonderful things to write about! We loved each of our tour guides, and appreciated their knowledge and friendliness. Of all the tours, the e-bike tour in Florence was our favorite. Cecelia was so fun! We loved getting a glimpse of areas outside of the city center. We also really enjoyed our cooking class and wine sampling at the vineyard! Our only regret was not spending enough time in each location. The hotels that were chosen for us were top-notch and exceeded our expectations. We did have an issue with the train from Milan to Cinque Terre. However, Andrea was quick to remedy the situation and on a Sunday no less. Much appreciated! We loved our time spent in your beautiful country, and look forward to visiting again in the future. Thank you so much for planning a wonderful family trip for us!

Hotel Reviews

Hotel Gran Duca Di York Milan

Milan

Absolutely gorgeous hotel with friendly staff, beautiful rooms, and delicious food. The location was very convenient to city interests.

Authenticity & Character

Beautiful! We wish we stayed at this hotel for more than just one night.

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

We loved the extra treat of chocolate in the room!

Hotel Il Guelfo Bianco

Florence

Beautiful hotel with extremely large rooms. The location is wonderful with close proximity to city interests. The staff was very friendly and helpful.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Albergo Degli Amici

Monterosso al Mare, Italy

Beautiful location and amazing view from the garden. We are so happy that we took advantage of the garden! There was ample seating and private nooks to enjoy. The rooms were lovely and the breakfast was delicious. The location was also wonderful. The only thing that may cause an issue are the steps into the hotel, which was a challenge when carrying heavy suitcases.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Very close to restaurants and beach. View from gardens is beautiful.

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Antica Locanda Leonardo

Milan

Beautiful hotel with friendly personnel and wonderful breakfast.

Authenticity & Character

Beautiful rooms and common areas, especially the courtyard

Location

Centrally located in the city, but private and quiet location.

Staff

Very friendly

Cleanliness & Comfort

The most comfortable beds on our trip. Very clean and well furnished

Activity Reviews

Milan Duomo Entrance ticket

Italy

We enjoyed not having to stand in line because of purchasing tickets in advance, especially in the high temperatures of July,

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Accademia Gallery visit (Private Guide)

Florence

This was an amazing experience! Our guide was very knowledgeable and friendly.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Winery visit with wine tasting and cooking class

Italy

We highly recommend this activity! It was fun to learn how to properly prepare all the dishes on the menu. It was easy and fun way to learn these skills. Everything was delicious! We also enjoyed the wine tasting coupled with our food creations. All of the staff were very knowledgeable and friendly.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Thanks also to Marco, our driver for the day. He talked about different highlights along our journey, and pulled over for photo opportunities.

Florence bike tour (small group)

Florence

Amazing experience and our favorite part of our trip to Italy. Cecilia was very knowledgeable, friendly, and fun. We highly recommend this activity for the chance to see Florence outside of city center.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Cecilia is a wonderful guide! She is very knowledgeable and happy to answer all of our questions.

Transport

The bikes are easy to operate and provided a very fun way to tour Florence.

Lake Como Guided Visit (Varenna, Bellagio and Villa Melzi Gardens)

Italy

Extremely friendly and knowledgeable guide. We felt like she was showing us her home.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Our driver to Milan was clearly not feeling well and the most aggressive at driving than other drivers on our trip.

Milan guided walk, including Duomo - Private guide

Italy

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Andrea was fantastic! He helped us navigate a local train delay on a Sunday and kept our trip running smoothly! It was a fantastic experience! We will definitely use Kim Kim to plan our next international trip.

Hotel Reviews

Hotel Gran Duca Di York Milan

Milan

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Il Guelfo Bianco

Florence

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Albergo Degli Amici

Monterosso al Mare, Italy

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Antica Locanda Leonardo

Milan

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Milan guided walk, including Duomo - Private guide

Italy

Accademia Gallery visit (Private Guide)

Florence

Lake Como Guided Visit (Varenna, Bellagio and Villa Melzi Gardens)

Italy

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Winery visit with wine tasting and cooking class

Italy

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Florence bike tour (small group)

Florence

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Normally I don't write reviews, but I felt that the service I received made my trip 100% more enjoyable.

Starting with the planning of the trip, Andrea was really easy to work with. We went over our price range, the ideal trip (walking tours, food tours, both smaller and larger cities, incorporating some relaxation, experiencing true Italian experiences). We booked 4-5 months in advance of our trip. The booklet we received that outlined the trip had all the details, and went over where to meet each guide at what time, and how long it would take. It had every train, event, and other travel tickets were provided timely. Every hotel they booked was in a really good location in our opinion. Every guide was great and would text us the day before letting us know who they were and where to expect to meet them. The most important aspect of the trip was how they handled our transportation issues that arose.

During our trip, the Italian train companies went on strike midway through our trip. The team at Kimkim communicated that this was going to be an issue the minute they knew and went to work on finding a solution. Within 24 hours they had booked a private transport service that would take us away from the regional trains and booked us on a different train in a different city that was hopefully guaranteed. Everything ended up working out great, the train they booked was not cancelled, and they stayed in constant communication with us the entire time. It truly felt that we were not alone and allowed my wife and I to enjoy our honeymoon instead of stressing about this issue. I will definitely be using Kimkim in the future and recommend their services to any individual.

First of all Andrea was very knowledgeable and available at anytime I require assistance during the trip and while planning the trip… I could tell through the guided tours that he planned he is well experienced in this issue…
However, I would have liked it better if I was with same guide for all the tours at the same city. Becuase some guides were amazing while other did not seam to know what to do. I especially liked Martina our first guide in Rome .. on the other hand, the guide we had for the walking tour in Venice for three hours was not really sure what to talk about we were supposed to get the Jewish ghettos .. but we’re not able becuase we did it have enough time and it started to rain heavily .. the guide can see that we are a slow group but he did not try to take a shortcut or alter the route to get us there faster… we actually when through the same streets twice … and holestly I was not sure if the guide knew what to talk about .. he was knowledgeable but I had to ask question to get some answers. I feel that this tour was unnecessary at the end .. Also, the Murano Burano tour felt like a sales pitch .. our tour guide was great but really we did lot need him becuase all what he did is ride with us to the glass factory and then a representative from that company took over and was trying to get us to buy glass .. yes the experience was great but I felt it was unnecessary for a tour guide to be provided .. because we took a little bit longer at the glass factory .. our guide has to hand us over to another one since he has another tour planned . He was great at rearranging our water taxi ride and getting us another tour guide to take us to Burano.. however, in Burano we met with a person who worked at the lace shop and she was only there to take to the lace shop to buy from there .. did not explain anything about the island and it’s colorful houses and it history .. all what we did at the island is spend our time in the lace shop. I did not like the fact that this tour was just to take us to specific shop to buy we saw nothing of the islands.. I would definitely advice my friends not to take this tour in Venice …

When I decided to use a tour company to plan my trip is becuase I neede this to
Be tailored to our specific needs . we are bigger group of six and a person in our group can’t walk a long distance and I explained this to Andrea in the beginning..,I also explained to him that we would like to take our time in the morning and not be rushed .. however most of our tours required walking and were quite early in the morning .. even our train rides we always before 10:00… and I neglected to ask for that but I feel that Andrea should have confirmed with me about the shower option in the hotel rooms .. most of the hotel rooms had tubs and I have to request a walk shower room at check in ..
the hotel choices were great.. the location was amazing and they were all high class and clean ..
so to summarize… I feel that booking the hotels and arranging the transfers were arranged great with Kim Kim .. however, the prices are not disclosed so I feel that I over paid for some of the unnecessary tours ..

Hotel Reviews

Palazzo Veneziano Venice

Venice

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

The room was not throughly cleaned during our stay and sheets were never changed for three days. Lacks many aminities expected for 4 stars hotel

Park Hotel Argento

Levanto

Authenticity & Character

Very clean but the decor is a little bit too simple for 4 stars hotel

Location

You have to take the shuttle to go anywhere

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Santa Maria Novella

Florence

Authenticity & Character

Location

Right in the center and close to everything

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

It is very clean however a little bit old and needs some updating

Palazzo Navona Rome

Rome

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Exclusive Murano & Burano islands visit (private service)

Venice

It is just visit to a glass making factory and a lace shop no tour do the island did lot learn anything about the islands

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

The guide was great explained about the geography of the islands but really was not needed for the glass place .. he just waited outside .. the guide in Burano was not a tour guide but someone from the lace shop did not learn anything about the island

Transport

Water taxi was planned and altered time to accommodate us and dropped us at a different location because we aske to go to lido island

The Jewels of Venice (St. Mark & Doge Palace)

Venice

Enrique was The guide was great

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

The guide was great even though we were about 45 mi utes late .. he waited and altered the tour to let us see as much as we can in the time left

Transport

Hidden Venice and cicchetti experience

Italy

Did not see anything meaningful

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

The guide was knowledgeable but did not know how to guide the tour I had to ask the question and were did not get to the see the Jewish ghetto becuase we ran out of time

Transport

Walking around in cirlcle and had to pay 80 euro for a water taxi to take us back to the hotel

Guided walk at Piazza dei Miracoli and Leaning Tower in Pisa (2 hours)

Italy

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Pisa leaning tower and Piazza dei Miracoli monuments entrance

Italy

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Cooking Class *****

Italy

We loved this experience and the road trip was great

Quality of Experience

Food

Yummy

Guides, Drivers and Staff

The chef was great and the staff at The winery were amazing

Transport

The driver Sauler was great let us take picture a long the road The car is very comfortable

Uffizi Gallery Guided Visit (private guide)

Florence

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Uffizi - skip the line entrance

Florence

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Florence private guided walk including Accademia Gallery

Florence

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Accademia Gallery - skip the line entrance

Florence

Quality of Experience

The tour took long at the David statue

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel - private guide

Rome

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel skip the line ticket

Rome

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Colosseum and Roman Forum - Private guide

Rome

Our guide was knowledgeable and very accommodating

Quality of Experience

Quite a lot of walking

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

It was hard to figure out the meeting point

Rome Private Guided Walk

Rome

Martina was great

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Andrea planned the trip of a lifetime! Our guides, especially Lucia in Florence and Mariapaola in Rome were so knowledgeable and clearly had pride and love for their city! The winery and olive oil tour in Tuscany was fabulous, such a great experience. Our cooking class with Cecelia was so memorable, it was lovely to be warmly welcomed into her home to learn and share a meal. The boat to Capri, with Angelo as our captain, was lovely. He made sure we saw beautiful and interesting sites along the way.

Every transfer was seamless and on time. The detailed itinerary that Andrea provided ahead of time answered all our questions and was so accurate! We would recommend Kimkim highly!

Hotel Reviews

Martis Palace Hotel Rome

Rome

Friendly staff, beautiful room. Bathroom shower was a little difficult to figure out, as was the room temperature.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Residence

Amalfi

Staff was so friendly, and service was wonderful. Room was cleaned twice daily. Location was beautiful. With terrace overlooking the water

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Spadai Florence

Florence

Beautiful room, great location, breakfast buffet was lavish and delicious!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Palazzo Veneziano Venice

Venice

Staff was friendly, breakfast buffet is absolutely amazing!!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel - private guide

Rome

This was the most awe-inspiring visit ever. Our guide, Mariapaola, was so very knowledgeable, and took great care to make sure we got to see everything that was important to us. Truly a special visit

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Colosseum and Roman Forum - Private guide

Rome

So incredible to actually see and hear about these area that you’ve always heard about. Our guide was so knowledgeable

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Rome Private Guided Walk

Rome

Good way to start our time in Rome. The Parthenon especially was amazing. It gave us the sites before we really dug into the rest

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Day trip to Capri Island from The Amalfi Coast - small group

Italy

Absolutely the way to see Capri, rather than the regular ferry boat. It was fun with a small group, had the opportunity to swim, saw beautiful sites along the way.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Pompeii ruin visit with a private guide

Italy

Such an interesting side trip, definitely worth doing! It was a little tiring after the visit and lunch at the winery right before, but glad we did it

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Chianti Full Immersive Wine & Olive Oil Experience from Florence (small group)

Florence

Enjoyed this immensely! Our driver was excellent, and the wineries were beautiful, informative. Wine was delicious, as was the food. Small group was delightful!

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Cooking Class

Italy

This was so special as we were warmly welcomed into the instructor’s home and the cooking class was just for us. We loved every minute of it!

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Florence private guided walk including Accademia Gallery

Florence

Must do! Seeing the statue of David was truly awe-inspiring. Lucia was a wonderful guide, knowledgeable, friendly, a pleasure.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Hidden Venice and cicchetti experience

Italy

This was a fun activity to see the hidden streets and taste some local foods. Guide was a little difficult to understand.