As a first-time visitor, the trip was well paced, with memorable highlights. The hotels that we stayed at were luxurious and had amazing, wonderful meals with buffet, traditional show stopping sit down dinners and street food crawl. We were exposed to cultural events like meeting and watching a performance by a geisha in training, hearing a special performance by an expert master champion play a traditional guitar like instrument, sushi making and a tea ceremony. Riding the bullet trains was a definite unforgettable highlight. The Japanese people are so courteous, friendly and disciplined. Every place was so clean with no graffiti or trash abandoned all over the place. The sights of Mount Fuji, shrines, temples castles and sky towers were awesome. We loved the visit to the Sake factory, enjoyed the tasting and their generosity in giving us a bottle of sake and sake cup blew us away. We did have time for souvenir shopping but wished for more. The best part of the trip was meeting and being in the company of Ms Natsuko Ide our guide. She was the most hardworking, conscientious, patient, knowledgeable and understanding lady. We loved her daily handwritten itineraries with plans and descriptions of the day ahead. We were impressed with her beautiful communication skills and excellent English. She taught us a few words of Japanese daily that I hope to remember always. She led us through several short cuts and back doors in the stations and parks. She made sure to check the buses so nothing was accidently left behind. She was there to make sure that the earliest guest leaving at 3am was put safely into their transport to the airport and continued till the last one left, many hours later.

From the cities, shrines, and food to the beauty of the north it was an experience that revealed the essence of Japan.

Great tour of a fascinating country. Our amazing concierge made every destination exciting and educational. Great travel companions, nice mix of warm and friendly people. Overall a great experience

The varied itinerary included a variety of interests and provided an overview of cultural and historical heritage as well as a variety of activities. The movement from large cities to the beauty Japan in the north of the home island was exceptional. Our travel expert () was a delight!

As first time visitors to Italy, this was an excellent tour. We were able to cover a lot of ground and visit the major iconic sites during this trip. It was great knowing that all of the details of tickets to the sites, transportation, and transfers between hotels and locations was cared for so that we didn't need to worry about a thing. Our travel concierge, Anna, was excellent and extremely knowledgable and organized which made our trip even more enjoyable. We also felt that the small group size of 24 travelers made for a more intimate experience and enabled us to access sites and experiences with greater ease.

Anna was the perfect concierge operator for our Ultimate Italy tour: highly professional, experienced and knowledgeable, kind and thoughtful, and completely fluent in English and Italian. The itinerary was excellent in providing a diverse and well-balanced exposure to the key locations in Italy and important site-seeing, art, culture, museums, churches, food, beverages (and the best gelato anywhere). Luxury Gold was very good about some issues with one hotel. We really enjoyed our fellow travelers. Just one caveat. This tour, in order to provide a comprehensive experience, includes some early morning starts, pretty full daily schedules, and some later dinners (as well as some independent times). That pace didn't seem like a problem for our group and our average age was probably about 55 or 60. But for anyone seeking a more leisurely experience, you might consider a resort. On the other hand, if you really want to know Italy, this tour is an excellent choice!

Anna is a great tour concierge! Very professional, caring, thoughtful, and detailed. You will be lucky to have Anna as your tour operator. I enjoyed the other people traveling on the tour and I have many wonderful memories.

This was a wonderful trip, your tour concierge, Anna, was terrific - very knowledgeable about the destinations and local tours, attentive to the group and each individual. On the whole, the locations and hotels were well-selected. I was disappointed that we didn't go to Sorrento and the Amalfi coast, however Capri was lovely. The hotel in Florence, while conveniently located and with lovely public areas, had poor guestroom accommodations for the level of this tour. We were disappointed that we could not experience Cinque Terra,, however, the Excelsior in Rapallo was exceptional and Anna did more to made up for the change in plans. A second night in the Excelsior and one less in Florence would be nice. In all a memorable trip!

We were taken care of from beginning to end. Every day brought new and amazing experiences. We loved visiting local people and learning about their lives. We ate delicious food every day and stayed at amazing hotels. The highlight was Machu Picchu and we are grateful to our travel concierge, who worked tirelessly to make sure that our group made it despite industrial action.