Berat Ornek

Earlier this year, I had read an article about how İstanbul, Türkiye was the world’s most visited city last year in 2023 and it got me very intrigued! I started watching videos and did some research as to what there is to see and do. Both my hubby and I love to travel but have not ventured towards this part of the world yet so we thought we’d give it a go. We immediately turned our attention to KimKim for guidance. We were assigned with Berat who has been such a troOper for helping us plan the perfect itinerary. She was able to tweak the details in a timely manner and made the planning process so seamless. Our hotels were all centrally located with so much history and amazing architecture. Once our trip was finalized, she assigned us our drivers and guides, and then the fun begins!

Since we had some very early and long travel days, we were either yawning or dozing off in the car, our tireless drivers were able to get us from point A to point B safely and on time, not to mention the crazy terrain they had to endure. Hubby and I don’t like to drive and so we tend to take ride share more than necessary. Please note your efforts were most certainly not unnoticed.

We have a lot of praise for our guides. We had a handful of days when we were on our own and would tell each other how nice it was not having to wait in line for anything.

Our first guide was Mr. Şafak Emre Kılıç. He was able to squeeze all the major attractions in one day even tho we ran into some major downpour. He was very considerate and only proceeded with the tour once we were comfortable so that we wouldn’t get sick from the rain. It was a great balance of time with him as well as giving us space to stroll around on our own. What a great introduction to our trip.

Our next guide was Mr. İrfan Olmez. He was super helpful and offered additional sightseeing options during our road trip. We didn’t partake at the time because we were still pretty jet lagged but I think it’s important to point out his thoughtfulness on sharing new sights with us. Whenever we take road trips ourselves, we do enjoy making multiple stops to break up the drive so we do appreciate him for sharing those options. We really enjoyed talking with him during our rest stops. Learned a new perspective regarding the industry of tourism which was very eye-opening. It was so wholesome when he pointed out his village home where he grew up. We were trying to squeeze another activity into our two-day trip at the last minute and he was very accommodating in helping us make it happen.

Our last guide was Mr. Ozan Tokcan. We were with him for three days so you can only imagine I have quite a bit to share. He started off by mentioning we should get a hat and I’m so glad I did because hubby was a mess by the end of each day, haha. He also reminded us the importance of staying hydrated before each tour which we didn’t always follow; we really go to town on our beverages at the end. He was also very caring in making sure we were standing in shade since it can be brutally hot during the summer season. He shared with us local cuisine which is something we strongly support back home. At one point, the restaurant owners even asked my hubby to try making the foOd with them. Can’t beat that. I noticed he will sometimes touch the historical sights to be in sync with history which is just such a fun idea as I found myself (and my hubby) doing it as well. My hubby would ask a question and then he would check if his question was answered which I found very appreciative. You can tell he’s passionate about his career and loves his home. He’s willing to learn from us as well, such as finding out the water in a Şirince town can be drinkable. His upbeat personality is infectious and we feel truly honored to have crossed paths with him. Such a beam of light. He will go far in life.

This has been the trip of a lifetime. We only visited for two weeks and still got to see so much and yet have barely scratched the surface of what this country can offer. There are excavations still ongoing which means future generations can see even more. The people of Türkiye are insanely hospitable and we want to thank each and every one of them for making this trip a success. Hoping more and more people can take time to visit this beautiful country and experience the wonderful culture <3

Hotel Reviews

The Marmara Pera

Istanbul

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Doğa Thermal Hotel & Spa

Denizli

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Nisanyan Houses

Selçuk

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Kale Konak Hotel

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Armada Hotel

Istanbul

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Pamukkale and Hierapolis

Pamukkale

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Discover Priene: A beautiful ancient Ionian town

Turkey

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Şirince: A Guided Stroll in a beautiful Aegean Village

Şirince

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Visit to Ephesus Archaeological Museum

Turkey

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Explore the Ancient City of Ephesus

Turkey

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Sightseeing Around Uçhisar and Discovering the Cappadocian Valleys

Cappadocia

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Flight from Istanbul to Ankara + Road trip to Cappadocia via Lake Tuz

Turkey

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Public Boat Tour on the Bosphorus

İstanbul

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Discover Byzantine + Ottoman Istanbul

İstanbul

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

This is a review of our trip to Turkey, May 24, 2024 to June 5 2024.

First we would like to say that our guide for 8 days, Ms. Sebnem Altin was truly exceptional (5 stars!!). She was friendly, knowledgable, and fun to be with. We would definitely want any future travel by us to this region to involve her friendly services and expertise.

There were too many high points of our trip to review them all here. We would like to focus on a couple of things:

1. Hotels: Our favorite was Nisanyan Hotel in Sirinje. It was pretty much perfect in atmosphere, location, and charm. It had excellent service, and good food.
Bank Hotel in Istanbul was good, it was very well located the City, and had good things to do within walking distance. It was a little bit on the "high end" for us, in terms of luxury, but still OK. One note about this Hotel (if you communicate with them) regards the in room electrical set-up (e.g., lights). They were very difficult to use.
The Hotel in Pammukale was billed as a "Spa resort". It was just a Ramada franchise, and was our least favorite. All of the "Spa" water facilities there were closed. It was full of bus loads of tourists, and had cafeteria-style food in a large common room. We would have been much better off to skip this and drive on to the Hotel Anatolia (Sebnem knew this place and took us there for lunch), and stay there (the restaurant Anatolia there was excellent).
Swissotel Bodrum : This was comfortable and nice, and the location on the sea was good. However the atmosphere was veery high end and exclusive. The restaurant in this hotel had a limited menu, and there was nothing else within walking distance. We did discover on our own a town near Bodrum, called Yalikavak. In Yalikavak there is a region called the "old city", this had a very nice atmosphere with small shops and cafes in a charming pedestrian zone. This would probably have been a better location for us.
2. As for the daily tours with Ms. Sebnem, everything was great. She was very knowledgable, helpful, friendly, and we saw and learned a great deal. If we were to change anything, (knowing what we know now), would probably leave Pamukkale out altogether. It was crowded and touristy, and the hotel was a letdown. In retrospect we would consider replacing it with Cappadocia, or possibly just visiting Hieropolis, and then going on to hotel Anatolia.

Thanks for helping us make this trip so memorable!
Best regards,
Walt and Marilyn Madsen

Hotel Reviews

Swissôtel Resort Bodrum Beach

The atmosphere is high end and very exclusive.

Authenticity & Character

Very quiet, with great ocean views.

Location

The beach setting was great, however there is nothing accessible on foot nearby.

Staff

Very courteous and helpful

Cleanliness & Comfort

Nisanyan Houses

Selçuk

Very charming location with multiple quiet, beautiful terraces. on the side of a mountain overlooking the town. The room was very nice.

Authenticity & Character

The interiors were all charming and comfortable. The food was great, and there were many quiet, leafy terraces with nice views. It had the feel of a nice older house.

Location

Lovely views over the town and valley

Staff

Great service, everyone was very considerate and friendly.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Signature Hotel & Spa

Authenticity & Character

All "spa" facilities were closed. Loud bar music we could hear from the room. Very crowded with bus tourist groups. Cafeteria style dining.

Location

Isolated. No neighborhood.

Staff

Everyone was courteous and helpful

Cleanliness & Comfort

The Bank Hotel

Istanbul

Great location in the city. Walking distance from many good shops and cafes.

Authenticity & Character

Quiet and comfortable.

Location

Close to interesting things to see on foot.

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Visit to Ephesus Archaeological Museum

Turkey

Really good to see so much up so close.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Our driver (Etam, sp?) was great.

Discover the ancient sites of Miletus and Didyma

Turkey

Miletus has a fantastic Roman colosseum. Didyma has spectacular huge columns.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Discover Priene: A beautiful ancient Ionian town

Turkey

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Guided Tour + Lunch in Kusadasi

Turkey

Kusadasi is a busy metropolis with high end euro boutique shops. The restaurant was excellent. The best fish of the whole trip.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Şirince: A Guided Stroll in a beautiful Aegean Village

Şirince

The town is nice. The shops are pretty geared for tourists.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Explore the Ancient City of Ephesus

Turkey

This site is truly impressive, just magnificent.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Trip to beautiful Aphrodisias

Turkey

The quality of the restorations are remarkable, giving this site a remarkable feel of somehow being there when it was thriving.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Discover the ancient city of Laodikeia

Pamukkale

The site is large and very interesting. The ongoing restorations are amazing. We were lucky to be there when it was not at all crowded, so it was relaxing and felt very special.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Sebnem Altin was great on this site, its history and character.

Transport

Pamukkale and Hierapolis

Pamukkale

Hierapolis was really good. It is worth strolling the ruins, and particularly the necropolis (largest in the ancient world). Pamukkale was very crowded and touristy.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Urban Hiking Tour: Strolling around Old City Walls, Fener + Balat

İstanbul

The neighborhoods Fener and Balat were well worth visiting. This brought home many of the more interesting aspects of life in Istanbul, seeing interesting small shops and everyday houses and buildings.

Quality of Experience

Again, our guide Ms. Senem Altin was really good, with helping get a feel for what we were seeing.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Private Boat Tour on the Bosphorus

İstanbul

The views of the city from the water are spectacular and worth seeing.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Eminönü Heritage Tour: Explore the Historical Bazaars and Ottoman Architectural Sites of Istanbul

İstanbul

Another good day with our guide. Seeing and learning so much. We are not sure if this was the day we took a side trip to the restaurant Ciya Sofrasi on the Asian side for lunch, but that was one of the more special things we did in all of Istanbul.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Discover Byzantine + Ottoman Istanbul

İstanbul

Very informative walking tour with a great guide (Sebnem Altin).

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

We had a wonderful guide, Ms. Şebnem Altın, who show us about the beautiful sites of Istanbul. I really appreciate an experienced private tour guides who can pivot and modify the tour, as needed. Ms. Şebnem Altın was excellent at this technique and gave an efficient access to the sites and an informative backstory and context to each site.

We had a great time.

Hotel Review

Sirkeci Mansion Hotel

Istanbul

It was a clean and comfortable hotel room. The moring breakfast was satisfying and the concierge service was very helpful. It is also centrally located.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Review

Turkish Bath and Spa at Hürrem Sultan Hammam

İstanbul

Spoil yourself. You will not regret it.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

From Cave Houses, Hot Air ballooning and underground cities in Cappadocia, to the Grand Bazaar and spectacular Mosques and Palaces of Istanbul to Troy and the Trojan Horse and finally the incredibly moving Gallipoli Peninsula where we experienced both the ANZAC and Turkish Memorials, I can’t say enough about this amazing country.
Our local specialist Berat put together ouritinerary with lots of consultation. Her communication was excellent and the guides and transport we had were 5 star. Special mention to Emrie in Istambul and Gallipoli. He was fantastic.
Thank you Berat and all tbe team at kimkim. We hope to come back one day and will definitely use your services again.

Berat organised a wonderful holiday for my daughter and I in May 2024. The trip design was great capturing lots of major sites from the extraordinary landscape and cave dwellings in Cappadocia to Greco-Roman sites at Ephesus, Aphrodisias and Hieropolis to the thermal waters and travertine terraces at Pamukkale. We ended our trip in Istanbul exploring Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque, the Cisterns, a boat tour of the Bosphorus and the Bazaar. The tour was exceptionally well designed with a full itinerary, great hotels ranging from 5 star to small characterful boutique hotels in lovely places. All transfers and travel arrangements were sorted for us so our trip was completely hassle free and seamless. But what made the trip was our wonderful guide Volkan who guided us every step of the way. He was a superb professional, immensely knowledgeable and helpful, thoughtfully managing every part of our tour. He filled us in on all of the amazing history of the region and made it all fascinatingly accessible to us. He finely balanced his guiding, warmth and support with giving us time to explore and spend time to ourselves. I’ve travelled extensively and this was my best holiday ever. We loved it and were very sad for it to end. I couldn’t recommend it more.

Excellent experience with Kim Kim. Our planner, Berat, was very helpful and responsive. All the transfers and bookings were planned without glitches. Our guides, Volkan and Hatice were most knowledgeable and accommodating. Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate with us while in Kapadokya and could not fly the balloons but nevertheless the visit to Türkiye was most interesting and enjoyable! Kudos to everyone!! Jose ( Tito)

Hotel Reviews

Millstone Cave Suites

Authenticity & Character

Very unique hotel. Really captures the character if Kapadokya.

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

There was a little bit of mal odor coming from what I believe was the sanitary sewer vent. Also, for some reason, the last night there was a string smell of burning wood coming into the room. This was room 106.

Nisanyan Houses

Selçuk

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

The Bank Hotel

Istanbul

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Visiting Göreme Open Air Museum (UNESCO World Heritage)

Cappadocia

Amazing place!!!!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Cooking Workshop at Nisanyan Houses

Şirince

Lots of fun!!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Discover Priene: A beautiful ancient Ionian town

Turkey

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Şirince: A Guided Stroll in a beautiful Aegean Village

Şirince

Lovely little village.

Wine Pairing Menu at Yedi Bilgeler Vineyard

Turkey

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Explore the Ancient City of Ephesus

Turkey

Amazing historical place!

Eminönü Heritage Tour: Explore the Historical Bazaars and Ottoman Architectural Sites of Istanbul

İstanbul

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Private Boat Tour on the Bosphorus

İstanbul

Very nice boat! Excellent Service.

Discover Byzantine + Ottoman Istanbul

İstanbul

Do not schedule this activity on International Workers Day.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Food Tour in Istanbul

İstanbul

Thought we would go on a “tour” but Volkan took us to just one place to try different dishes.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

lo

Transport

Such an extraordinary trip made possible by our local specialist, Berat - who was exceptionally flexible to our changing needs. Thank you Berat.

Our guides Betul, Ozan and Sumer were knowledgeable of the areas, with interesting suggestions and anecdote stories to delight. They ensured the trip was comfortable, exciting and catered to our needs. Thank you.