Kimkim Trip Reviews for Romania

Responsive and thoughtful planning process by Florin - we were in constant communication and the details were ironed out very quickly. The local guide Mircea Maftei was one of the best we've had in all our experience with kimkim - very knowledgeable, great english, and above and beyond service.

We just returned from a 2-week tour of Romania and Bulgaria with kimkim. We have traveled to many countries; our favorite style is a private tour with a driver/guide. I contacted a friend from Ukraine (owner of a travel company we used a few years ago), as she has now joined the kimkim team. She directed us to Florin, an expert on Romania. Florin put together a fantastic program for us. We saw most of the highlights of Romania, including. UNESCO World Heritage sites, Transylvania, the Black Sea. The Transfaragarsan Road (and seeing the bears along the way) was also a highlight. Then on to Bulgaria to the "island" of Nessebar, to historic Plovdiv, and Sofia.
Florin is one of the best guides we've ever had! When you are with someone for many hours a day, you want someone who is personable. That is his #1 quality. He was flexible with the program. I can't overstate this enough. When weather appeared to spoil a part of the trip, at Florin's suggestion, we re-molded the entire trip to better fit our needs. This involved quite a bit of replanning and taking on additional expense on his part. Our trip continued without a hitch! He was also very perceptive of our needs, funny, an excellent driver (very comfortable vehicle), knowledgable of the history of the countries, and up on current events. He also has great taste in music for the rides!
The tour was a good value, as well. We asked for 4-star accommodations and received a combination of larger facilities along with boutique hotels, all in perfect locations; walking distance to sites, restaurants, etc.
We are so fortunate to have discovered kimkim. Most of all, Florin, who is very professional and passionate about Romania and his work.

Florin was great. We went on a 9 day tour. Bucharest, Brasov, Sibiu, Sighisoara, Gura Humorului, Sighetu Marmatiei and Cluj. Saw amazing castles and 14/15th century churches. Florin also had a few surprises…we took a cable car up the mountain as it snowed, went in an ice house,stopped at a family owned pottery shop and had an amazing lunch. All the hotels were great and the dinners were delicious. Florin is very knowledgeable in Romanian history…we learned a lot. When we had an unexpected event,our van broke down on a holiday he managed to to get us a brand new van within a couple of hours against all odds,
I would highly recommend Florin to anyone who wants to visit Romania and learn about the countries history and culture and see it’s beautiful sights.

Hotel Reviews

Ibis Styles Bucharest City Center

Bucharest

We stayed two nights at the Ibis Styles Bucharest City Center, which offered comfortable accommodations and a convenient location for exploring Bucharest.

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Bella Muzica

Brasov

Our one-night stay at Bella Muzica in Brasov was lovely, as the hotel had a charming atmosphere and was centrally located.

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Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Sighisoara

Sighisoara

Our one-night stay at Hotel Sighisoara in Sighisoara allowed us to experience the town's unique character, as the hotel was situated within the Citadel.

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Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Bucharest city tour

Bucharest

The Bucharest city tour was informative and interesting as we visited the Parliament and learned about the history of the city. Although we enjoyed our tour, we preferred the smaller towns to Bucharest.

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Guides, Drivers and Staff

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Bucharest to Brasov with Peles Castle, Bran Castle and Brasov walking tour

Romania

Our journey from Bucharest to Brasov included visits to the stunning Peles Castle and the famous Bran Castle, also known as Dracula's Castle. The Brasov walking tour allowed us to explore the charming town. Pels Castle was a highlight of the trip.

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Brasov to Sibiu with Fagaras Citadel

Romania

Bucovina to Maramures with the Merry Cemetery and the Wooden Churches of Maramures

Romania

We toured the beautifully painted monasteries and unique cemeteries. There were wooden tombstones that were hand-painted.

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In regard to our tour to Romania and Bulgaria : February 27 to March 20 2023. It was a most wonderful experience. I enjoyed a lot been able to know in depth two spectacular countries with so many varied activities including views to palaces and castles, roman architecture, spectacular art paintings in orthodox churches, citadels, walking in the snow in the Carpathian Mountains ( for my first time ), rural houses in an amazing life museum, a supper in the home of a Romanian rural family, Romanian wine tastings and even two days in an amazing Black Sea resort ( massages included ) in Constanta. All the credit for the success of this trip was due to Florin Preda, our travel guide ( with the useful attendance of travel guide Bogdan Pistritu ), not only for his excellent selection and modification of activities (due to weather problems), but also for the remarkable sensitivity he always showed to attend our special needs during the tour. You shall always keep his services as a remarkable guide to guarantee the success of KimKim in Romania.
I know this feeling is shared with all group members : Ivonne, Edward, Gabriel and my wife Maria.
My apologies for this late call.

Francisco J. García
[email protected]

We will like to thank our guide Florin for making this trip a fantastic experience. His knowledge, patience, experience, good humor, complacency , punctuality were few of his assets. Everything he planned for us was amazing: Peles Castle, Bran Castle, Brasov City, Curtea de Arges Monastery, the Turda Salt Mine, the wooden churches, the happy cementery, the painted egg museum, Constata and the black sea, Nessebar and the beautiful city of Sofia.
We also appreciate the guide and company of Bogdan Pistritu thanks for together with Florin make this trip inmemorable.
Florin the best guide you can get!!!

Activity Reviews

Day trip to Peles Castel, Bran Castle and Brasov Medieval City

Romania

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Guides, Drivers and Staff

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Bucharest to Sibiu with Curtea de Arges Monastery

Romania

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Guides, Drivers and Staff

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Day-trip to Sighisoara & Biertan

Sibiu

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Guides, Drivers and Staff

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Turda salt mine and Cluj

Romania

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Guides, Drivers and Staff

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See Wooden Churches & Merry Cemetery

Romania

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Guides, Drivers and Staff

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From Maramures to Bucovina

Romania

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Guides, Drivers and Staff

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Bucharest city tour

Bucharest

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Guides, Drivers and Staff

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Discover Bucovina

Gura Humorului

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Guides, Drivers and Staff

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Enjoy a day at the SPA and walking on the beach

Mamaia

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Guides, Drivers and Staff

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Experience the Magic of Nessebar

Romania

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Tour Historic Sofia

Sofia

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Free day in Sofia

Sofia

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See the Roman Amphitheater in Plovdiv

Romania

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Day-trip to Rila Monastery

Sofia

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Marvel at the Citadel of Veliko Tarnovo

Romania

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Transport

Raluca, was outstanding she took care of all are needs. She was always there if we needed her. there are really no words to describe how wonderful she is. She made our trip so enjoyable. Our guides where great so knowledgeable, friendly and pleasant to be with. it was a wonderful memorable trip.

Raluca was amazing!!!! She worked so hard for us every step of the way! She put everything I wanted in the itinerary! She helped us when we had a couple of bumps in the road. She took very good care of us and made us felt safe and taken care of! The guides she picked for our tours, Christi and Alexandru were outstanding! They were so knowledgeable and kind! I can’t imagine anyone better!! It was a wonderful, wonderful trip of a life time!!!! LOVED every bit!!

I wish that I could give more stars. Florin is extremely knowledgeable about the area and the history and he takes care of his people. I got very immersed in the culture and met people and we danced with groups of locals and had an amazing trip. Floin literally goes out of his way to show you things that you would not ordinarily see and or do. Second to none experience. Bravo Florin! Bravo!

Our trip to Romania has been a beautiful surprise. We had no expectations but we were totally blown away by the beauty and diversity of Romania. Our guide Bogdan was exceptional in his knowledge and enthusiasm for what has become his dream job. Nothing was too much trouble for him and he strove to fit in so much more than we had anticipated . From Bucharest to the painted monasteries in the north it was an ever changing landscape. Romania should be on everyone’s bucket list. Thank you Florin for organizing our itinerary and our great guide Bogdan

What was supposed to be a one-week hiking trip in Transylvania in the spring of 2020 ended up to be a great multifaceted three week trip through the entire country. Raluca was extremely helpful with the booking of the original trip, and managing the following Covid troubles.

Once it became clear that it was possible to travel to Romania in the summer of 2021, I wanted to extend my trip to see more of the country. Once again, Raluca was very helpful and in record time my 8 day trip became a 21 day trip (1 week hiking, followed with a 2 week roadtrip). Basically it was a combination of the self-guided walking tour in the Carpathian mountains and some of the other tours, exactly tailored to my wishes. The accommodations, both guesthouses and hotels, were good. Everything was perfectly planned out, with detailed descriptions and maps for the hiking part of the trip, extensive list of all possible sightseeing options for the roadtrip and lots of other useful information. I seriously can't think of a way my trip could have been prepared better, highly recommended!

Raluca and her team arranged a perfect trip for my wife and I.

We spent 16 days driving through the Transylvania and Maramures regions. Raluca organized a great itinerary for us; we would drive about 3 or 4 hours on beautiful, scenic roads and then spend a few days at each destination. This made for a very pleasant and varied trip and we had time to really experience each new location. (Side note: the roads in Romania are very good).

We stayed in a variety of places from city hotels to country guest houses, all very nice. We found great food, great sights, and lots of nice outdoor hikes along the way. The old cities of Transylvania are very well preserved and are great for meandering around. There is some amazing scenery in the mountains and forests, especially when you get to Maramures.

October was a great time of year for this trip: we had great weather, beautiful foliage, and no crowds.

I would highly recommend visiting Romania and having Raluca help you out.

Silviu set us up with great road bikes and some great routes for our self guided biking week.. Romanian drivers drive fast and with aggression, so the quieter routes were much more enjoyable. With hindsight we would have requested that Silviu keep us off extended rides on major highways with no shoulder, as riding those roads can be frightening and dangerous. Silviu’s selected hotels and guest houses were excellent, as were his restaurant recommendations which we requested. We would have liked to see more detail in our itinerary for restaurants, points of interest, rest spots, etc.
Silviu also set up a driving week for us. Again excellent lodgings and restaurant recommendations, when requested. We rented the car ourselves, through a major international rental agency, and were shocked to learn at pick up that an international drivers licence was required. We were able to switch last minute to a local rental agency that didn’t required the international licence, which was a godsend, although our vehicle was smaller and cost more.
Romania is a very interesting country to visit, with many buildings and fortifications, dating from the 15th century, which blend seamlessly into modern life. Food is excellent, as is wine and beer, and all very reasonably priced. We highly recommend Romania, and Transylvania in particular, as a great place to visit.

The KimKim portal turned out to be an excellent tool to work with Silviu during the planning stages of the trip. It is easy to navigate and by keeping and allowing full access to the running dialogue, I found it a very good repository for reference and sharing with the rest of our group.

Silviu was responsive and very willing to tailor the trip to our requirements. He included everything that we had set out for him as our "wish list" for the trip and offered some options for our consideration as we planned the journey which was very helpful landing on our final itineray.

Silviu was very accommodating during the planning phase as well as throughout the trip. He was knowledgeable about the countryside while sharing history of the various towns, villages and regions while we were on tour. The accommodations were well appointed, comfortable with great amenities and the food was beyond our expectations. The bicycles that Silviu provided and maintained were very good quality road bikes that performed excellent.

His transport vehicle was comfortable for the transfers that we made between cities.

My husband and I are retired school teachers and usually plan our own trips, however because Romania is brand new to us, I checked online. When I read reviews of Raluca I was convinced to give it a try. I was not the easiest client, because first I said we like to hike. When Raluca offered us a complete hiking vacation, I saw that would be too much. So she changed our itinerary to include one all day hike in Craiului National Park and the rest exploring old Saxon villages, going in a rental car. Our nine day road trip included quaint hotels and guest houses in the old town section of each village. If you want first class lodging, I suggest booking it yourself and keep to the big city hotels. But if you really want an authentic experience where you meet real people, go with Raluca. A couple of times we felt stuck and had questions. Both times Raluca answered our call right away and got us answers.

Our most memorable night was our “night in a museum” where our guest house was a farm house in the small village of Viscri, a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site. We have visited a couple of museum villages in Europe where they have houses set up to show how people lived 100 to 300 years ago. The beds were fine and the food very good, down home cooking, the sense of community among the other boarders was very welcoming.

I cannot do this review without mentioning a place we were fortunate to stay two nights; that was at Casa Dobre, in the village of Madura, in the Carpathian Alps. This couple were so nice, they made our stay outstanding. Most places serve you breakfast. They served dinner as well, with home made plum schnapps on the side, plus whatever beverage you wanted, including beer or wine. And both mornings they sent us off with a sack lunch, because they wouldn’t want us to starve! And the views all around them were Sound-of-Music BEAUTIFUL!

Every time we thought we might have a problem, such as with parking in the pedestrian zone of little old downtowns, where we were always booked, things were fine when we got there. We have no regrets at booking with Kimkim and Raluca at Romania Active.

Raluca is a smart, friendly and meticulous planner who really came through for us. When we had to cut our trip short due to a death in the family, she helped us immensely and we are very grateful to her for her assistance.

Raluca was very knowledgeable and responsive during the planning of our trip. We were comparing a few different tour otions and Raluca’s route seemed the best. Our bikes were great. The logistics were seamless. The route was fantastic. Wonderful country roads. No traffic. Beautiful. For the most part the acommodation was quite good. The food was standard fare for Romania. I would recommend Romania Active without hesitation. Trip of a lifetime. Translyvania is undiscovered. It was refreshing to be in Europe and not be surrounded by tourists and to experience the traditional Romanian lifestyle.

We enjoyed a wonderful Romanian experience thanks to Raluca’s excellent planning and organisational skills. She was always quick to reply to our questions and it was great to finally meet her in person when we picked up our road book, vouchers and itinerary in Bucharest. We enjoyed the variety in our itinerary which included a visit to the Bear sanctuary, visits to beautiful Medieval towns and castles and a steam train ride through the scenic Vaser valley. Our Romanian experience has left us with beautiful memories.
Thank you Raluca and the Kimkim team.

Sue & Kerry Walker
Melbourne Australia.

We have given detailed feedback to Raluca face-to-face so I won't be writing it all down again.

The Saxon villages of Transylvania sounded to me like an intriguing place to visit on a bike. it is marketed as a region full of history, social upheaval and change, all set to a backdrop of stunning scenery. it is all of these things and more, the little medieval villages inhabited by industrious saxon farmers for over eight hundred years lie in amongst the pretty wooded meadows and valleys.
Due to economic deprivation over many years, these once prosperous villages are now set in a time freeze. unchanged in over a century. beautiful castles and fortified churches sit beside well constructed houses set out in the neat linear fashion of the Saxon village.
Since the communist era many of the Saxon people left their houses and businesses and returned to Germany . much of the land is common ground, grazed by the romany shepherds with their flocks of sheep, usually assisted by half a dozen big dogs helping to guard against the bears and wolves also living in the area!
Poverty is evident in this area, the villages and churches are very run down, though there are signs of funding and investment to repair and maintain.

It is a fabulous place to tour on a gravel bike, in fact just made for gravel bike touring! some of the roads are well surfaced, but many are either really badly potholed or just clay and rubble surfaces. there are many footpaths throughout the region which make great cycling in dry weather, beware though, when it rains the mud becomes a tenacious sticky clay that will stop any bike in its tracks! The topography is gently rolling hills with some steep but short climbs. all the while travelling through open meadows, woods and forests.

So its a great place to cycle tour, but if like me you prefer to stay in bed and breakfasts rather than camp then logistically its very difficult to make a plan. I was unable to confirm any bookings until I contacted Silviu Martin of Martin Adventures. Silviu was terrific, he arranged all the accommodation along the way , no mean feat as even with use of the native language tying down bookings was difficult. Silvui is the consummate professional, he is conscientious, and really cares that his clients get a good experience. We were a self guided group, but Silvui kept in touch to ensure everything went smoothly. I would highly recommend Martin Adventures

Thanks for a well organised holiday Raluca!

I really enjoyed travelling in Transylvania. The infrastructure is good even if not top rate. The people were friendly and helpful. Communication was quite good as most young people spoke some English and non-speakers were keen to try to understand and help. Speaking a bit of German and Hungarian was useful.

Accommodation was reasonable in price. At times I felt that I would rather look at history than live in it. However every place was spotlessly clean and inviting.

I enjoyed walking through old villages where the old pace of life was still visible. Seeing storks nests on top of electricity poles was amusing.

The food was mostly good quality if not very varied.

I would like to return and explore other parts of Romania.