Reviews

Overall, this was an amazing experience. From the start, the booking process and arrangements were efficient and well executed.

Rather than try to detail all 16 days in Japan, I'll just summarise the key elements:
- the destinations were great. On a tour like this it will be difficult to cater for all needs, but we found that most locations were well worth visiting and that free time was catered for, allowing us to pursue our own interests to a degree. In terms of the top things to see in Japan, I couldn't pick a better list overall, and we came away with a genuine sense that we knew the country a lot better
- the weather. We travelled end-July - early August. We were lucky overall, with only a couple of spots of rain and mostly clear and sunny days. Bear in mind that stunning vistas of Mt Fuji are very unlikely this time of year, but the visit is still worth doing. It was very hot and humid, especially at the start, but as we traveled into the mountains it cooled and was more bearable. Air condition is ubiquitous, so it's only really the outdoor parts where this was a little uncomfortable.
- the food was generally excellent, with a wide variety of Japanese food and no shortage. A couple of choices of European style food (especially in the final Tokyo hotel) weren't as good, but still completely satisfactory
- our tour guide (Hiroko) was utterly incredible. She made the tour very special, with lots of insights into Japanese culture and history, and a calm efficiency that made sure that we kept on schedule but didn't feel too pressured.

We all had a wonderful time, and felt that the tour was extremely good value for money. With all excursions and entrance fees dealt with, and all the logistics completely sorted, we could just get on and enjoy the moment!

Very highly recommended, especially for a first trip to Japan.

The Experience Japan tour was a great introduction to Japan for a first time visitor.
The pace of the itinerary was fairly full-on and the group I travelled with were interesting people who seemed very open to enjoying the tour. There were occasions when I wondered if anyone from Wendy Wu had actually attempted to visit everything in the time allocated as we didn't have enough time to properly explore some of the sites (for example, the queues at Matsumoto castle meant we didn't all get chance to see inside). Our wonderful guide, Yu, was exceptional and as flexible as the itinerary allowed. He managed to get us all where we needed to be within the time allocated - not an easy task, but he accomplished it with tenacity and good humour.
Quite a lot of the travel was by coach, which was comfortable and spacious. There was a moderate amount of walking involved as we toured the various sites, but none of it was strenuous. The train journeys were very good and well organised. Yu's English was excellent and I really appreciated his knowledge of the areas we visited and his enthusiasm for sharing information about the Japanese language and culture, including providing tastes of local delicacies.
The hotels were quite varied and all were comfortable. Food options were mainly buffets. I did expect more Japanese menus, but on a group tour all tastes need to be accommodated and a buffet is probably the easiest way to do this.
Highlights for me were the train rides, beautiful clear views of Mt Fuji (we were so lucky with the weather these two days!), vending machines, the lovely mountain scenery, the onsen, and getting a small insight into a different culture to my own.
I could have happily dispensed with the river cruise in Osaka (underwhelming), the origami and fan painting. I realise these activities are optional and if I visited again I would prefer more free time to explore and immerse myself in the places we visited. The shrines were really interesting, but towards the end of the tour I did feel as though I'd probably seen enough for the time being.
The trip felt a bit like a whistle-stop tour of Japan at times, but it has provided me with a very good idea of what I'd like to do next time I visit - and I do think there will be a next time.