Kyoto Explorer Trips

The tour was fabulous and our tour leader, Zilola, was fantastic. The pace is full on and definitely delivers the highlights of Japan. Zilola added optional activities to get the most out of our short stays at each destination. In addition, she was always available to address any questions or concerns the group may have had. As we were visiting sites, she provided extensive background information which enhanced the experience. As others commented, be prepared for lots of walking! This is my third trip with Explore my favorite to date. I added on days in Kyoto and Tokyo and recommend this there is limited time at in both places. Highly recommend!

This was an amazing trip to get off the beaten path in Japan. The local excursions on the islands were very unique and so much fun. The local guides all provided great service and worked to make sure everyone had a great experience.

We had a truly special trip, during which we experienced so many firsts. The whole trip felt unique and off the beaten tourist track. Our time in Tokyo, surrounded by tourists, really highlighted just how special and intimate the time on the Okinawa and Ishigaki islands was. Our cultural excursions were of such a high quality compared with anything you can book yourself online. Having our CEO open the door into this amazing culture was invaluable to us and allowed us to access many experiences that would not have been available without a guide.

Excellent trip, full on but really well organised and perfect if you want to get a good sense of what Japan has to offer in a week. We absolutely loved it, Andrew our tour leader was knowledgeable, friendly, calm, and very organised. The group was a good mix of ages from 24-82. We all felt like we were in safe hands. Would highly recommend this trip.

Tour was excellent and our Group Leader/Guide, Andrew, was first class from start to finish. Our group varied in ages dramatically and everyone got on superbly well. A really great group! Tour was full on as was expected. It is quite fast paced and gives you a good taste of lots of amazing places to visit in Japan. Although you wish to have more time in each place it is only a highlights tour and it certainly produces a fantastic Japan experience which will make you want to come back and explore more of this amazing country again and again! I for one will be back asap!

This tour does not match the level of quality I experienced in the exceptional Peru Panorama or Morocco Kasbahs and Deserts. I will not be recommending Korea to Japan: Epic Eats & Bright City Lights to anyone as the best parts of our stay in South Korea and Japan was when we were not with the group. The hostels were subpar, the fact that there were no meals included in Japan is unacceptable when 'Epic Eats' is literally in the title of the tour we signed up for, and the included meals in South Korea did not showcase the best of the country's cuisine. My husband and I had three sushi restaurant experiences in Japan and the one that was selected by the tour was by far the worst of the three and it wasn't necessarily cheaper than the second best. In Jeju Island, we opted to leave the group potluck so that we could experience real local black pork and it was one of the best meals we had. During my time in Peru and Morocco, it would have been unthinkable to have preferred to leave the group meals but in this case, we had to seek out the culinary experience that the tour promised but did not deliver. There was so much free time during the tour that we might as well not have done the tour. We were so excited about this trip and the people we might meet but it was incredibly disappointing. Grouping people who sign up for different tours is a terrible idea. It created a great deal of discord as everyone had different expectations of the trip and no one was ever satisfied with the optional group activities. We also sped through many of the locations my husband and I had been dearly anticipating visiting. The group was entirely too large and on two occasions, I was made responsible for the safe travel transit of the group (once in South Korea and the second internationally having to guide my fellow group members from arrival in Gimpo, switching terminals, and arriving in Haneda Airport) which I did not sign up for nor receive compensation for. This tour was good enough for people who want a superficial cultural engagement with the countries they visit, who want to party, get drunk, and barely remember where they have been. This is not what a G Adventures experience is supposed to represent. The tour did not do justice to the countries we visited, I'm relieved that we had scheduled our own time in South Korea and Japan before and after the tour - that is when the true cultural engagement happened during our trip.