The most disappointing part of this trip was the value for money. I’ve been on plenty of group tours in the past and considering the cost of this particular one, I was expecting SO much more.
The accommodation we stayed in (with the exception of 2 or 3 places) was not great; in particular the traditional Ryokan in Takayama as it was very untidy, run down and in serious need of renovations and repairs. There was black mould on the walls and ceilings, buckets up the hallways to catch leaking water, bugs and roaches crawling around, and stains all over on the blankets and floors. There’s no insulation so it’s absolutely freezing and the heaters in the room did not seem safe to use (blowing smoke, dust and sparks when you turned them on). Some of the lights in our room didn’t even work and although we communicated this with our guide, they were never replaced during our stay. The food served at breakfast (although traditional and lovely to witness) was not nice and caused my roommate and I to become quite ill. We were so looking forward to a traditional ryokan experience but unfortunately this particular one did not live up to the hype. It’s difficult to comprehend how this place was even approved by Topdeck given the state and condition it was in. On a positive note the accommodation in Kyoto and Osaka were nice. Most of the hotels had good breakfast options and were well located.
The optional activities on this tour were not even an option with nearly every single one of them being completely unavailable (such as the Mt Fuji tour, cooking classes, etc). We all selected what we wanted to do and paid cash on the first day, however we were told that night that everything was booked out. We did not receive our refunds until many days later and some of the group not even until the end of the tour (despite next to nothing being available and therefore our cash not being used?!) This was very inconvenient and confusing. I would strongly suggest Topdeck gather guest’s preferences and payment prior to the tour commencing and booking these things in beforehand or at least assist their customers in doing so, to ensure that they don’t miss out.
The tour guide Claire was quite unfriendly and unapproachable. She seemed very irritated, to the point where we felt uncomfortable asking her anything and often didn’t to avoid a rude interaction. We constantly felt rushed and pressured for time nearly everywhere we went which was difficult in popular areas due to the overwhelming crowds. She was frustrated when one of the girls was a couple of minutes late, and whilst I completely understand and respect the importance of being on time, on another occasion she made the group wait 35 minutes for a man that was late and I believe he was not given the same treatment. She raised her voice and rolled her eyes at me and a few members of the group even when we asked her simple questions such as where the nearest bathroom was, or whether or not they should buy an umbrella, etc. She would often pretend to laugh at the end of her aggressive comments, perhaps to deter us from thinking she was rude but her behaviour didn’t go unnoticed, with many people on the tour feeling the exact same way in regards to how we were being treated. We would often do our own research to prevent negative interactions with her from occurring. I often felt as if it was her job to just quickly walk us places and then leave us there. There was very limited engagement and interaction and it became quite obvious that she didn’t really want to be around us. Almost everywhere we went it felt as if she couldn’t wait to get rid of us and when we did try to approach her, it was like we were bothering her. There was no “group atmosphere” or a feeling of togetherness, which is what these tours are meant to be all about, essentially with the assistance of the guide. The only positives I can take away from the trip leader was that she was able to communicate in Japanese (which helped with the language barrier at restaurants and other places) and that she helped us walk to the train stations and informed us where to get off (however with a working phone and internet connection, these things were easily achieved when on our own as well!)
The destinations were great but there is so much more that should have been highlighted in this tour. I’m glad that I extended my trip and was able to explore a lot more of the beautiful country but unfortunately other members of the group didn’t have the same opportunity and felt as if they missed out. Overall it was poorly organised and some of the included activities were underwhelming and brief, adding to the disappointment regarding the value for money. The trip didn’t include many major attractions or highlights in some of the popular areas and we really didn’t learn much. Considering this was a ‘Delve Deep’ tour, I felt as if we weren’t immersed in the culture or history at all and our guide didn’t share a whole lot with us either. We had a lot of bursts of free time but during these moments we were usually scrambling to quickly find something to do within the given time frame and didn’t have a great deal of help with suggestions other than some links in the group chat. I suppose it would have made a difference if we had a guide that was actually willing to assist us too.
It was beneficial to be given pre-loaded Suica cards at the start of the tour as you catch a lot of public transport. The bullet trains are also an effective way to travel between each destination; although it’s worth keeping in mind for anyone planning on doing this tour that you do NOT have access to your luggage for days at a time, on multiple occasions, which was very inconvenient. This was poorly communicated prior to the trip. We were only made aware of one occasion where we wouldn’t have access to our main luggage but it turns out for almost majority of the trip you’re living out of an overnight bag while your suitcase gets transported to the next city. This was obviously doable but the constant packing and unpacking became tedious. I would suggest Topdeck properly advise travelers more about this and indicate where they’ll be without their luggage on the itinerary so that they can be better prepared and pack accordingly.
There were some enjoyable moments throughout the tour but sadly they were overshadowed by the negative components. I am so upset that it was so disappointing. I have always been the biggest advocate for group tours (with this being my 6th one) but unfortunately after this incredibly dissatisfying experience, I would honestly recommend people do their own thing when traveling to Japan and book it themselves.
