Moonika Apart

Moonika was readily available whenever we had a last moment question - - this was wonderful! Hotel Kamp was excellent....perfect location, our suite was fabulous...we loved access to the lounge on the 2nd floor, too! Our guides were excellent, but a special shout-out and A++++ to Felipe, who was energetic, professional, delightful, knowledgeable, easy going, well organized, and fun - such an impressive young man; we so enjoyed spending time with Felipe! We felt like we made a new friend! A highlight was the Sunset Cycle and Sauna tour! My heritage is (50%) Finnish, so I was over the moon to have this truly special experience. Porvoo is a precious town, and we also loved Turku. Our guide in Turku was professional, well-informed, and gave us some awesome restaurant recommendations, which we enjoyed very, very much (Nooa and Mami). Every single driver we had was on time or early! Also professional, clean/nice vehicle, etc., The Taste of Suomenlinna Tour was a little different than what we had expected - - - in other European cities, we have had more extensive culinary tours (e.g., more opportunities to taste/try, guides in less of a "hurry")....we still enjoyed the salmon, but e.g., my husband really wanted to experience tasting reindeer and this particular guide just said "this is not possible" and moved on to what was on his agenda....On another note, I LOVED the market in Helsinki and was able to purchase some interesting jewelry to bring home with us - - the artisans were on site and friendly....I took myself on the Ferris Wheel ride and it was fun to see Helsinki from that height! We definitely felt like we maximized our time in Finland - - we also incorporated one day (on our own, rented a car and visited a distant cousin in Archipelago . . . how gorgeous - - stunning views and fun to travel on small ferries with our rented volvo! Everything was excellent! The ONLY small thing I would change: the "Taste of Helsinki" tour did not exactly include a taste other than some salmon on rye bread - - we had really thought we would have more of a culinary experience, and again, that particular guide seemed rushed and not so interested in what we were interested in. He did not allow time for questions, and seemed to be verbalizing a "script" and did not want to stray from that? That being said, he was on time.

Hotel Reviews

Hotel Kamp

Helsinki

LOVE LOVE LOVE this hotel! Everything was beautiful and perfect! Our suite, the breakfasts, access to special lounge in afternoons, location to restaurants, shops, market, sightseeing, etc., - - everything was wonderful. We would definitely choose to stay here again! Lovely hotel.

Authenticity & Character

Just stunning! Fun to learn that many extremely well known musical artists (and other famous people) have also stayed in this hotel over the years - -

Location

Walking distance to many sights, restaurants, good shopping, history, culture, etc.,

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Our room, lounge areas, restaurants/bars - everything was wonderful!

Solo Sokos Hotel Turun Seurahuone

Turku

Hotel Kamp is a tough act to follow! As you would imagine! But this place suited us just fine for our needs while in Turku. The staff was very friendly, warm, helpful. Plus they place chocolate everywhere! I may have eaten more than my share! We enjoyed the location very much...we were able to easily walk to the river and to some excellent restaurants (which were recommended by our very helpful guide in Turku - sorry, can't recall her name but she was lovely. A professional educator (special education teacher) with a very pleasing personality, native Finn, which was great.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Comfort Hotel® Xpress Helsinki Airport Terminal

Vantaa

Well, it suited our purpose - which was to be close to the airport the night prior to our early flight to Amsterdam! For its purpose, it was fine! We did have some laughs (from Hotel Kamp to this?!?!)!!! Haha! We were essentially sleeping in a box, sort of like sleeping in a pod? or a tiny berth in a boat? or a camper!? But as I said, we were not there for long. It seemed clean and the staff was nice. And it served our need of a few hours sleep before a long day of travel back to the USA.

Authenticity & Character

we chose to take it for what it is, and we had some laughs! We walked across the street (to the Hilton) to eat an actual meal, as this place only has a small bar with limited drinks and very limited pre-packaged food! But it was fine and we laughed about it! We slept fine. It is certainly quiet! And the wake up call involves the TV getting turned on at the time you want to be awakened!!!

Location

haha! well, it is actually in, and I mean IN the airport.

Staff

the staff was very nice.

Cleanliness & Comfort

seemed clean. Bed OK, but what do you expect for this type of place!? As I said, it suited our needs!!!!

Activity Reviews

Taste of Helsinki & Tour of Suomenlinna

Helsinki

Our guide was on time. His name was Al...? something. He was not a Finnish native, and had only recently moved to Finland, we believe. He had a script. No time/room for questions, input, etc., He seemed in a rush. It was definitely not a "food" or "taste" tour. He rattled as many facts as he could, very quickly, and seemed in a hurry.

Quality of Experience

Overall, everything was excellent! Moonika was attentive, responsive, and planned our time according to our requests, etc.,

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Overall everyone was exceptional (one exception, the rushed "taste of" tour in Helsinki, first day there, which was a little disappointing). Otherwise, guides excellent, and we especially loved Felipe!

Transport

professional, always arrived on time or early, clean and safe vehicles

Helsinki Sauna Tour

Helsinki

This was absolutely AMAZING! We love riding bikes, and it was a beautiful evening! Felipe allowed us to select our sauna; we chose the more authentic/older one - - WHAT an incredible experience! We loved never feeling in a rush, and Felipe always answering our questions, interacting, very professional yet friendly and open - - - we cannot say enough positive things about this experience!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Hanging out with Felipe was the best!

Transport

we love biking as much as possible. We felt very safe.

Porvoo Private Day Tour

Helsinki

It was perfectly lovely.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Turku Walking and Boating Tour

Turku

Our guide was lovely, professional, informative, open! We thoroughly enjoyed. What a beautiful town! Our guide provided us with some awesome restaurant recommendations, which were all five star perfection!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

We hadn’t booked with KimKim before but our experience has been excellent. Moonika booked us a week’s trip in Finland with hotels, transport, transfers and tours in each place we visited. The hotels were very comfortable and the tour guides, Alvaro, Karri, Andy, Leesa, Chris and Justine were all very interesting, professional and charming. Moonika was very supportive during our trip and checked with us to see all was going well. She responded to all our queries promptly and efficiently. We would definitely use KimKim again and recommend them to others.

The entire trip was very well organized. Moonika created the ideal itinerary based on our specific requests. We stayed in nice hotels and had wonderful guides who really personalized our experience throughout.

Hotel Reviews

Solo Sokos Hotel Turun Seurahuone

Turku

Lovely hotel in Turku. Walking distance from most tourist hot spots.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Haven

Helsinki

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

GLO Hotel Art

Helsinki

Interesting layout as the hotel is spread across two buildings. Based in the Design district with lots of Art galleries within walking distance. Great breakfast buffet. Walking distance from the waterfront and tourist spots.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Helsinki Sauna Tour

Helsinki

Was hesitant about trying the sauna experience but it turned out to be a high point of the trip.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Turku Gourmet Tour

Turku

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Helsinki and Suomenlinna Private Tour

Helsinki

Lots of walking but a lovely full day with lots of immersive experiences.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Porvoo Private Day Tour

Helsinki

Small town - probably could discover on your own.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Turku Walking and Boating Tour

Turku

Wonderful boat ride - best way to see the city!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Our trip to Finland was wonderful! A large part of it had to do with Moonika our KimKim travel agent who helped with all our arrangements. She was terrific as far as communicating with us in a timely manner and, I especially appreciated her flexibility with plan changes and help at the very end. We had booked a final trip on our own to Estonia and it got mistakenly cancelled. She booked a new trip for us just a day in advance! We were a group of nine and so there were multiple rooms in each town and transfers and one couple went to the airport early and one group of three had their plane pickup and drop off changed. She made all these changes successfully!
Our guides in each city were great, but I loved Sari, our guide in Helsinki! Her English was great and her insight and love for Finland made her tour personal and very informative!
The hotels we terrific, especially Glo in Helsinki and the Lapland Hotel Arena! They were more than comfortable and yes, the breakfasts were truly amazing!!
My most memorable trip was our sailing trip on the Archipelago to a small island where we hiked. Our captain built the boat which was impressive and the trip on the sea was beautiful! We also had a lovely simple lunch that he provided.
It was a trip of a lifetime! We loved Finland!

Hotel Review

GLO Hotel Art

Helsinki

Loved the uniqueness of the hotel along with the comfortable beds and rooms. The breakfast was amazing as advertised!! Rooms were quiet. The location was walkable and seemed very safe. The front desk was helpful with several good ideas for restaurants. We stayed several nights. The only small complaint was that the AC did not seem to be adjustable. The first nights we were there it seemed warm, and they did bring a fan in for us. At the end of our trip we stayed again and the temperature was better.

Authenticity & Character

Breakfast! Unusual architecture.

Location

Restaurants and grocery store close by. Walkable to downtown.

Staff

Very helpful! Polite.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Rooms were very clean and was the rest of the hotel! Everything was in good repair. The beds were very comfortable!

Activity Review

Boat Trip from Nauvo

Turku

This was the primary trip I was interested in and it didn't disappoint! It was a long trip to get to the boat, but the travel there was comfortable in our own large van or small bus. We sailed on a sailboat built by the captain, just our party, to a small island in the Archipelago. The boat was built in the fashion of a traditional work boat from the past. The captain was interesting, informative and friendly. I loved being on the sea and seeing the multiple islands! It was a treat! We were also served a delicious lunch of fish stew!

Quality of Experience

The beautiful land and sea made this special and being on such a unique boat with my family.

Food

The captain's fish stew!

Guides, Drivers and Staff

The vehicles were more than comfortable. One was a Mercedes van.

Transport

Nice vehicle. Nice to not have to figure out the driving! Everything was on time.