Reviews

This is a truly fantastic rail service, I can't fault it,

A very busy and interesting trip taking in the full range of sightseeing possibilities..
The urban sprawl of Tokyo contrasted with the peaceful monastery in the mountains . We saw monkeys and Mount Fuji under blue skies so felt very privileged.
Our guide Shioji was brilliant.

The hotels were all excellent . The guide was outstanding . The details I received prior to the trip were all relevant.
The food was excellent . The coach and the different drivers were all very good .

Visited many amazing places. The local guide was excellent. Food and Hotels very good. Would. have ped a smaller group size but I suppose that would increase the price.

A great trip, all the activities were wonderful, the guide was great snd all the logistics were perfect.

The Jewels of Japan tour was made enjoyable by our guide Arch who did an excellent job. I am a vegetarian so I expected difficulty getting food in Japan. Arch ensured everywhere we went vegetarian food was available for me which I really appreciated. Arch was attentive, well informed and patient with all the tour members. The tour itinerary provided a great overview of Japan. The tour visited all the sites I wanted and some extras beside. The only negative comment I have is the final hotel we stayed in Osaka. The Hotel Monteray was very dirty, shabby and the breakfast was poor. I would not recommend it. Also, perhaps some time could be scheduled for personal exploration, relaxing and shopping during the tour.
Overall. I had a great time and would recommend our tour guide Arch (who was fantastic) and the Jewels of Japan tour.

A lot of places covered in a short period of time. It was a busy and hectic tour- could have done with spending more time at some places and less time at others. The guide was excellent. The meals were included which was a plus point , however for those with dietary restrictions or allergies the food could have been catered for better. The ingredients were not labelled and often we were not informed of what was being served .

Very disappointed with food
You did warn it could be room temperature but mostly it was really cold. The places we went to were also disappointing.
We were shown thro’ what seemed attractive restaurants .often to be led upstairs to a large room devoid of appropriate decor lacking a hint of Japanese style. Bare walls. Having seen downstairs waitresses in very attractive kimono style uniforms ours were very basic black. The tables fully loaded with food not surprising that it was cold.
The dishes were repeated over and over. Cooked by ourselves on mini bbq style pts often burning the food.
Cold noodles in cold miso soup
I actually lost 6lbs in weight during this holiday.
Then the hotels we were taken to for lunch :dining staged in obviously conference rooms again devoid of atmosphere or character.
With too much cold food.Too
Much raw fish which our rep eagerly ate .
Terrible waste. Maybe our party was too big for managing decent attractive venues with tasty food
I might add I have often eaten
Japanese food in London and in the USA. Really delicious.
The trip to geisha house was also a huge disappointment.
Just a large empty house
With a very elderly man banging a drum He invited a couple of the group to play. Not a sign of geishas. Their room settings.
Not even any photographs..
Our rep was amiable but his pronunciation of English was really poor and often difficult to understand. After doing this work for 8 years, he said, it should have been much clearer.
On trip he accompanied us for a very short time leaving us to wander round without the benefit of “ his experience”
He arranged very hurriedly a meeting place. With such a large group people had to get info from each other.
Not one evening event arranged
was also disappointing.
We weren’t given a contact Tel no by our rep Rio until I think
The 7th day to the Japanese village which was really enjoyable. This was where a woman in the group “ Helen”
got lost and we sat on the coach waiting for 30 mins
until a member of the group got off the coach to find her. Only then did Rio get off the coach also to look for her. After that we asked for his Tel no
So it was good to see lots of different parts of Japan it could have been so much better
The group were mostly very friendly and good company
However I couldn’t say this was
an outstanding holiday and not good value for money
Linda Campos

Great holiday, packed a lot in, so inevitably early starts in the morning.
Our guide, Rumiko, was excellent.
The food was very good, and beautifully presented. I found the meals very rushed, particularly dinner. Everything was laid out when you sat down, and as there are no””courses” often all finished in about 45 minutes. I suppose this is the Japanese way but I usually consider dinner a highlight of the evening when on holiday and would prefer a more leisurely meal.

Very interesting holiday busy itinerary.
Saw lots excellent guide.

First class from start to finish.
Attention to detail superb from pickup to the return home.
Our tour guide was exceptional, from history lessons ,to her attention to detail, nothing escaped her! She really was great, had a great sense of humour, even though at times it must have felt like she was herding cats!!,,
Would not hesitate to use Wendy Wu tours in future.

Very helpful and checked around to find best flights. Changed name to correct one immediately when informed it was incorrect.

The itinerary is very good. Just what we wanted. The pace is quick at the start but more free time at the end. Perhaps doing the tour in reverse would help with jet lag. Good guide and coach throughout. BUT low score due to some very poor hotel choices and poor food selection. Given the premium price you might expect premium food and hotels. But not so. This is not about local vs western food. It is about the quality and value for money. Japan is cheaper than the UK so at a loss to understand penny pinching We have complained and await a response. I would give Wendy Wu a miss as the other well travelled companions told us of great experiences with other companies

Wendy Wu Japan Undercover - October 2024


This was my 5th holiday booked with Wendy Wu over the past 14 years and found some aspects of the Japanese holiday disappointing.

The size of the Japan Undercover tour group was 27 travellers in total which was far too large for a very busy tourist place like Japan. Plus with some within the group finding it difficult to visit some of the planned places of interest listed in the Wendy Wu Japan itinerary, because a large proportion of the group were limited in physical ability or stamina in so many ways.

This had several repercussions when visiting sites of interest listed in the itinerary like the spectacular Kiyomizu Temple, which was cancelled at the last minute and the group was given the option of going shopping with the Tour Guide or going on their own to find places of interest for the next few hours until rejoining the group again. As a keen amateur photographer of over 55 years I was absolutely furious as this was meant to be one of my highlights to capture behind the lens. I did not pay all this money to be offered a shopping trip as some means to compensate! I was not alone in feeling this disappointment . I do not think on this occasion that the Tour Guide made the right decision.

The slow moving group of 27, generally had less time in visiting sites of interest listed in the itinerary and on one occasion with limited time when visiting the snow monkeys, a large proportion of the group walked to the entrance gates at an average walking pace and paid for their own admission fee’s instead of waiting for the Tour Guide bringing the slower members of the group to the entrance gates. This give me and others valuable time to take photos.

Visiting Mount Fuji was also very disappointing with only 30 minutes visiting time allocated from getting out of the coach and returning back to our seats. It was a cloudy day ( not in anyone’s control) and waiting for a break in the clouds to see the peak was near impossible with the time allocated, with only a very few of the group managing to see the summit. Again a major disappointment for me. I shared the same view with others on the Tour that Kiki had not planned our departure time adequately . We were told that morning that the evening meal at the hotel was booked early, “at 6 o’clock” which left little time to return to the hotel from Mount Fuji .The hotel evening meal was rushed with plates taken away before some had even finished their food. We had to leave the table before the next Wendy Wu Tour group was arriving at 7 o’clock. Why on earth was a meal at the hotel at such an early sitting even considered versus the opportunity to see Mount Fuji. The food and service weren’t even worth rushing back for. This was not acceptable and I was not alone with feeling so let down by Kiki’s poor planning.

Sometimes the itinerary felt like a tick box exercise without having adequate time given to enjoy the sites of interest. It was apparent that too much time was allocated for midday food (lunches) and shopping within tourist traps. As stated before why come all this way to Japan at such an expense to be offered such a poor rate itinerary on some days.

On a positive note it was wonderful having a Wendy Wu representative meeting me at Osaka airport with a friendly face and being very helpful by looking after me and my travel cases for an hour until the hotel coach came to collect me.
Also the professional friendly coach drivers with their clean and comfortable coaches was really welcomed .
Our Tour Guide Kiki was also very friendly, helpful and hard working with such a large group in a very busy environment. In my opinion it was unfair of Wendy Wu Tours to expect such a large group of diverse ability to be managed fairly and equally by Kiki. It was evident that although Kiki did her best to manage the dynamic of our group, she did on occasions struggle with the challenges presented to her, by this inequity of the group composition.

However, I would like to balance my feedback and share that Kiki’s spoken English on the odd occasion was a little confusing, but her knowledge of the sites we visited and information provided to us was very good.
At this point I would like to point out that Wendy Wu Tours had promised that for groups larger than 10 people , the group would automatically be provide with both an international guide ( Kiki) and a local guide. We were not provided with a local guide for this Tour and an explanation was not given. This was not acceptable and once again this Tour was not cheap.

For our last night, the river and dining cruise was well received by my group with everyone had a wonderful time.

In summary, overall the contents of the itinerary was good but had we been given more time at the dedicated sites would have made the trip more memorable.

The hotels chosen, with their locations were generally of a high standard.

The lunches provided were not of a good standard, however on most evenings the hotel meals provided were good.

I believe for me this is now the right time to say goodbye to Wendy Wu Tours and to find an alternative travel company that better suits my needs and expectations .

It is sad that this last tour has not lived up to my expectations as the last four tours were great when I visited China, Vietnam & Cambodia, Myanmar and India . These were memorable for all the right reasons.

With sincere feedback I close with these comments… I truly believe that if Wendy Wu plan to maintain their status in this highly competitive worldwide travel industry ,that you need to seriously consider the size and make up of the dynamic , ability and age of the groups . Putting profit before quality is not in my opinion the way forward,

Thank you for taking the time and trouble to read my feedback.

Excellent and interesting holiday.
The itinerary starts at Kyushu island in the south, through the main island of Honshu, up to Hokkaido, the largest island in the north.
Many first class sites are visited: including temples, shrines, castles, gardens and a beauty spot- some of the best examples in Japan.
The hotels are all good, with a couple of them really first class, the one in Tokyo being 5 star rated.
All meals are included, being a mixture of Japanese and western style - I enjoyed them all. You need to like rice, fish, and seafood as these feature in Japanese cuisine :-) ... but various other meats are frequently met, as well as protein dishes including tofu and mushrooms / fungus.
The transport is by both trains and (very good) coaches, and all travel arrangements went smoothly.
Highly recommended, especially for those who have not visited Japan before.