Kyoto City sightseeing Trips

The entire Trip was much more than I had expected. The hotels were great and pj's?? in every room? Some with Onsens! The activities planned were really special. The sites we visited was like a tour book/calendar that came to life. I am so sorry I came home as I wanted to see more. Our tour manager was fantastic. He was a wealth of knowledge and very engaging. I would highly recommend this tour! and so far Collette has no disappointed me, this was my 6th trip with them.

The Shogun’s palace, Nijo Castle, was a memorable experience. The tea ceremony and the traditional Japanese dinner were great examples of Japanese culture. Loved the visit to the Orange Tori and the bamboo forest (an extra experience added by our tour manager).

The tour was nice but one thing that needs to be tweaked is the visit to the thousand tori gates. We were given just a little over an hour at this site and would have loved to walked the whole loop. This is a famous site and even just 1.5 hrs would have given those who wanted to do the whole loop enough time. Also, when talking about Hiroshima, you have to mention the horrible things that happen at Pearl Harbor also. If we are going to recount historical events, we need to be balanced and paint a complete picture. When discussing the bombing, it was as if the Japanese Emperor had done nothing. It was an odd conversation and awkward.

The overall tour was very enjoyable and memorable. The tour guide we had (Tomoe Namihisa) was wonderful. Very informative, knowledgeable, courteous, and very well organized. She made the tour so enjoyable. Also the bus driver Hide was also very courteous and drove us safely to each destination. His driving skills was impeccable. Overall, we all enjoyed this tour and would definitely refer our friends and family to take this tour. We liked it so much we are planning on a return trip to Japan.

A very memorable trip! What made the trip so great was all of the hands on experiences: sushi making, origami, tea ceremony, stencil making, gold leaf making. The Kanazawa Tokyu Hotel's restroom was filthy. The toilet, sink, and tub were nasty. The other hotels' restrooms were very clean. The Grand Nikko Tokyo Daiba, Odakyu Hotel de Yama had stains in the carpets.

This was our first visit to Japan. The small group tour, led by an excellent guide as all that we hoped for. Cultural experiences, history, exploring cities, and some countryside, and architecture. This is a wonderful tour, especially for people visiting this amazing country for the first time