I mean I'm not sure you can rank things in terms of their intimacy. Any activity like that is only as intimate as you make it.
I personally find kissing a real turn on, and I think you can tell a lot about someone from the way they kiss.
That said, I've had good sex that didn't involve kissing, and bad sex that did, so go figure.
What I will say though is that it's harder to 'fake it' with kissing. Anyone can do some mechanical sex act (some better than others, admittedly), even if you're not 100% in the mood for it. But with kissing, if you're not feeling it, I'll know.