Majestic Japan

Itinerary includes all the usual spots and some unusual ones as well.

The itinerary was a little to fast. The tour should be spread out to 10 or 11 days.

I liked the itinerary very much - although it did seem “rushed” at times.

Well organised tour with great attention to detail.

Just the start of car service to the airport and car service waiting for you on return is wonderful...car service waiting at arrival to take you to the hotel and when departing, car service back to the airport...there is a greeting dinner and a farewell dinner...and of course everything in between...the transportation to every city by bus or bullet train and the scheduling for arriving and departing hotels and meals is so easy to follow...touring the places that were of interest gave us a variety...food streets, temples, Hiroshima, making your own sushi, museums, tea ceremony, nature walks, mineral baths...and of course all my fellow travelers who were wonderful...

Selected cities in the itinerary are an excellent cross section of historical, cultural, and culinary Japan. Noteworthy were the Hiroshima Peace Museum; Kyoto maiko Kyo-kaiseki luncheon and performance; the Tokyo National Museum; and Oriase gorge nature walk and Onsen baths. Food options were excellent. Travel by Shinkansen was fun. Hotels were excellent.

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.

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!

Could be improved. Wasted time several days instead of seeing more iconic places.

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 itinerary covered the main parts of Honshu island. We had some unique experiences such as the talk from the Hiroshima Survivor and the lunch with the Maiko (apprentice Geisha). Our Guide was incredible. He looked after us so well and made everyone feel safe and cared for. The way the luggage was sent to the next Hotel was fantastic. We did not have to drag bags onto trains or buses, it was all done for us. The meals were amazing and the Hotel accommodation was top class. One other thing I loved was the flexibility. We stayed in places mostly for 2 nights and if you were too tired or unwell you could opt out of the days excursions and relax in the Hotel or do your own thing as long as you let the Guide know so he did not worry about you. I would highly recommend this tour.

Excellent and thoroughly enjoyable trip. Travel guide was outstanding.

This is a very good introduction to Japan. We visited many diverse locations from southern to northern areas. We were able to see rural Japan to see the lovely countryside as well as beautiful ancient temples, and skyscrapers in Tokyo. Hiroshima is saddening, but very educational and inspiring to see the recovery of the land and people. Listening to a survivor tell his story was a privilege.

The itinerary was very good. I partcularly liked the special experience of meeting the Hiroshima survivor after visiting the very moving museum. She was absolutely amazing. I just wish world leaders could also hear her presentation. In Kyoto I thoroughly enjoyed the Maiko's performance while we ate an excellent lunch. Another of my highlights was visiting the Kubota Icchiku Museum. The kimonos on dispaly were breathtaking and magnificent. The entire itinerary was very well planned.

The itinerary certainly covered a wide range of sights and experiences in Japan. From bustling cities to the quiet beauty of the mountains, this tour had it all. Our fantastic guide ensured that we had an amazing experience and I cannot recommend this tour highly enough. If you want an unparalleled experience of the many facets of Japan coupled with top notch food and accommodation, do yourself a favour and book this tour - you won’t regret it.

Very good tour, unique experiences, excellent food and hotels. Tour guide went out of his way to make our time in Japan special, he was informative and super organised.

Fantastic trip

good tour length

Wonderful trip in a small group and fantastic guide. Saw a variety of sites and had many local foods.

It was great. I was able to see and do most everything I wanted while I was in Japan. Excellent hotels and good service at the hotels.

We were able to see many sites throughout Japan, and we did not feel rushed on most days. A couple of last minute changes were made in regard to our activity choices which were a bit disappointing, but we still had a wonderful time and would definitely recommend this trip.

Very much worth it! By far the best of many insight tours I've take. Small suggestion -- please consider including a Kabuki and/or sumo wrestling experience.

It’s a good itinerary but made great by the special experiences and fabulous tour director.

Well planned tour and our tour director was fabulous.

Tour guide was great, the rest was underwhelming. Too many rooms with 2 small beds instead of one large bed, too many dinners on our own, and too much travel (should have cut out the visit to the north and spent more time in Kyoto).

We got to see and experience Japan in a very calm and organised manner, saw everything we expected and more. We had ample free time which was very good to. Our tour guide was just wonderful and worked very hard to ensure that everyone on the tour was happy. She was professional and very knowledgeable, she made the tour very enjoyable.

It was not up to your other luxury gold travel. The Director was not as strong, you did have the local guides which would give deep local history. This tour only gave modern history - which we know. There were some power elements, but the guide was not strong and I got tired of only hearing her voice for almost 2 weeks. She was very kind and organized. Makes me think I might need to consider other travel companies.

Two main points. Firstly, we think the itinerary tour should be reversed - start from the north Hirosaki and move south to Hiroshima. It is cold in the north of Honshu and hot in the south but also this would take members from the country side of traditional Japan down to the cities and dense urban areas of Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka and Hiroshima. The second point is that too much time was allowed for free time/shopping instead of spending more time at historic and religious sites and museums.

Full on, very interesting.

Your guide was incredible and made the trip so special for everyone!