Japan Eco Tours

Japan has been on my bucket list for the longest time. This is my third Contiki trip. I’m still very happy and grateful that I had the opportunity to do this trip, because it’s proven to be the best one I’ve done so far. Shout out to Renee for being an incredible tour guide manager, as well as the amazing group of people I traveled with that made this trip impactful.

I’m 57 years old and travel a great deal, both domestically and internationally. Best guided tour I’ve ever taken and Ken was by far the most engaging tour guide I’ve seen!

Great trip - the important places are covered at every major city and you also have enough of free time to do your own. All the hotels were great (the one in Takayama was a stand-out though). However, I would suggest you skip the optionals offered and opt for the ones offered in Klook as they are way cheaper. As my trip took place in late December, the weather was pretty cold with occasional rain so it's best that you avoid the winter period for maximum enjoyment. This trip also takes you to try the various local cuisine so that is a real plus.

My husband and I joined a group of 14 for the Simply Japan tour in November and enjoyed a really fabulous memorable trip. We were very lucky with mostly sunny dry weather for the entire trip allowing us to enjoy the autumn colours. Our group got on well. We were guided by an outstanding multilingual guide, Raya, who was passionate and knowledgeable about Japan, particularly Japanese history and customs. The itinerary was a great introduction to the country, a full on whistlestop tour, so expect lots of daily walking through stations, markets and shrines and temples. Nice contrast between modern and traditional Japan. All accommodation was of a good standard. Recommend to top or tail the trip with a longer city stay to see more of Tokyo/Kyoto or Osaka (we had 3 extra nights in Tokyo at the beginning) as the real highlights of the tour are the bits in between - the magnificent Matsumoto Castle, stunning Zenkoji Temple in Nagano and the beautiful Miyaijma Island were my favourites, and the Shinkansen trains of course. The Hiroshima memorial museum was unpleasantly crammed full of people and school kids, too busy to appreciate the significance, although the peace park surrounding it was worth visiting and right next to our hotel. The Explore guide Raya helped to make the trip for us - so motivating and caring, and keen to navigate to help everyone enjoy this varied tour even on the free days.

Itinerary The trip was really great--I loved the diversity of going to smaller, traditional places as well as the modern cities. There were times when I thought we would have more free time than we did--Kyoto (tour activities ended at approx. 3:30), Kobe (arrived 1 hr before the gardens closed so didn't go), and Hiroshima (tour activities ended at approx 4 pm). I loved all of the places that we went too--in retrospect I would have added additional days in Kyoto (I arrived a day in advance) and benefitted greatly from my flight home being delayed giving me a full extra day in Toyko that I hadn't planned for. The tour is very fast pace and you do walk alot--so just bring a really good pair of running shoes with you! Hotels All were good--my favourite was Hotel Toyko in Takayama. I rented a private onsen for an hour which was very nice and enjoyed the unique art they had on each floor. I really appreciated the washer/dryer in the hotel room--while I had enough clothes it was nice to wash them and be able to go out for dinner at the same time and not feel in a rush to get back to the room (it was free and they did provide soap if you don't have any). The hotels in Kyoto and Tokyo were nice as well--the first modern and the last traditional. All of the hotels were really clean, provided great breakfasts, and had toiletries if you forget any (and if you wanted pjs to wear). Transportation The bullet trains were very cool as were all of the trains. They are very prompt! The subway system is easy to manoever--I used Google Maps to tell me what stop to get off and where to walk and never got lost (even in Toyko). The trains are very quiet and clean--getting onto and off public transit is done in lines so there never is a rush and in most cases the train/subway cars were empty. The bus system in Kyoto makes getting between places slow so factor that in. Also, the connection from Osaka to Kyoto was pretty easy to do but made harder with getting off a transatlantic flight. Doing this again, I would fly direct into Tokyo and then get to Kyoto the next day. Felt very safe and comfortable walking around by myself--even in the evening. The locals are very helpful if you want to confirm directions. Food I am normally a very fussy eater and I didn't have a problem finding things to eat. In fact, I wish I had more time in Kyoto in the traditional area to have some of the different food options the shops offered. I also didn't have time to get a hot drink from a dispensing machine! I found breakfast made me full and then we would go somewhere at dinner that would fill me up (I often had noodle dishes). I would have been ok finding my own dinner in Takayama instead of group meals--the different styles of eating were good to experience. While I liked going out to eat with the group, it was tough having to have the bill together--it would have been easier to be able to pay for my own food.

Although busy, the itinerary gave us an excellent overview of all that Japan has to offer - history, shrines/temples, gardens and the contrast between traditional and modern Japan. At the same time there were opportunities to follow up our own interests and explore by ourselves. Our guide, Henrik, was brilliant - nothing was too much trouble, he cared for our welfare and was very knowledgeable about history, customs etc. He always offered options for our free time and/or made suggestions and guided us to find our own way when that was our preference. Explore made a point of using public transport wherever possible so we experienced a range of different types - Henrik was always on hand to lead or guide us so that we navigated the system and ticketing with ease.