Reviews

Excellent tour by train but non-stop. The hotels were of a high standard as it would appear they catered for the business people sector. The guide was very knowledgeable and very caring. My main criticism is that we were too far from the centre of town on many occasions and the hotels didn’t have a bar or social area where the group could meet and relax after a full on day. I am aware that Japan doesn’t have a drinking culture but there wasn’t even a coffee shop in the hotels where we could meet up. Our group was from three different countries and got on very well. I believe the tour could have stopped in Tokyo with some trips out so that we could have immersed ourselves in the art galleries and museums and the funky eating places at night, plus some serious shopping. The last few days travel didn’t enhance the tour but made it exhausting for limited sightseeing. We had to live with belongings for three days and nights whilst our main luggage was taken separately ahead, with no toiletries allowed in this main baggage. We were extremely disappointed with the last meal in the Brewery in Soppora. It was smokey, loud and the average age of the group hadn’t been considered for its appropriateness as a venue and didn’t offer us the opportunity to relax together as a group to say our farewells.
The trip ran like clockwork, stepping off one train and walking seven steps across the platform to catch the connecting one.
The trip could have been cheaper if we had finished our tour in Tokyo as we wouldn’t have had to fly from Soppora to Tokyo to get back to the UK.
All in all I enjoyed this tour very much but the points I have made could have turned a good trip into an outstanding one.

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

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.

This full-on tour visited many of the main tourist points in Japan during October 2024. There were early starts and some long journeys across three of the islands visited - Kyushu, Honshu and Hokkaido. The group comprised 28 people, plus the tour guide, and was too big for the guide to keep together, especially when travelling on trains in the peak hours.
As lunchtimes varied according to the visit programme, and could be anytime between 1100 and 1330, it would have been helpful if the group had been advised the previous evening of the next day's planned time of lunch. This would have helped us organise our food intake at breakfast to match an early or late lunch as appropriate.
A lovely boat cruise of Tokyo Bay with evening meal was arranged on our last night in the Capital, which left us late(ish) back to our hotel. On arrival back, we had to pack our cases for despatch by road to avoid the Shinkansen restrictions and then to prepare an overnight bag for a two night stay, all whilst having to be up for a 6 am start the following morning.
There was a farewell dinner arranged for the last night of the tour that was held in a very large cook-it-yourself type restaurant. The air was thick with the smoke of meat being cooked on the griddles at the numerous tables, which left our clothes impregnated with the smell of the experience. These were the clothes in which we would be travelling home from Japan the following day.
The horrors of the A Bomb were seen at the museums in Nagasaki and Hiroshima, which portray graphically the events to the full, and really test one's emotions. Our guide was so moved, even though she must have seen the material many times, that she took to a quiet corner away from the displays to recover her composure.
The tour visited a number of gardens, Temples and Shrines, many crowded with tourists. At Matsumoto Castle, the stairs to reach the upper floors are very narrow and steep, with people ascending having to compete with the large numbers descending. Some of our group could not make the ascent. Due to the long hot summer, we were told that autumn in Japan had been delayed, with little sign of trees changing their colours in the two south islands.
The tour included hands-on experience of making Momiji-Manju (a type of maple leaf shaped cake), sushi, a sake drinking cup, fan painting, and a calligraphy lesson. These were lighter moments much liked by the group. We also enjoyed a tea ceremony and the art of Zen meditation conducted by a Monk. The tour itinerary was followed to the letter apart from one departure, when we were unable to ride the Komagatake cable car at Lake Ashi, closed due to poor visibility.
Overall, the tour was enjoyed very much by my wife and I, but it would have been more practical to have a smaller tour group. This would have made it easier for the guide to negotiate the busy places we visited and to keep the group together. Over the 21 days of the tour, we had three separate tour guides, all of whom were well prepared, and provided information on the venues to be visited and gave us other interesting facts.
The Japanese culture is much to be enjoyed. The people are unbelievably polite (less so in Tokyo, perhaps) and appear to behave within a set of unwritten rules, to which they all comply. In short, they work as a team and have a country that is devoid of litter, graffiti and, interestingly, dirty road vehicles. The trains do run on time, well almost, as we saw a sign for cancellations on one line. But, all across Japan we saw evidence of the effort and dedication being applied by workers, many in white gloves, who seem totally enthused by their individual roles, however basic. Well done Japan and its people, I would love to visit you again.

I’m recommending it because it covers so much of Japan. However it is a full on holiday with little or no time to explore yourself independently. There are early starts and times you will be without your luggage and need to pack for one or two days. You are also reliant on a good guide. Ours was Japanese so gave us some insights into the country but had little or no personal skills. Hotels are good. Meals mainly Japanese which can get a bit boring if not totally into the culture.

Helpful staff, we decided to book

Excellent

Great holiday delivery and their tour reps cover every eventuality

Excellent trip with first rate guide.

However, the last 3 days travel ending in Sapporo were probably too much for us. A lot of travelling for no real difference to what we had seen & enjoyed earlier in the trip.

This is an epic way to get to see Japan, but more accurately it was a tour by road and rail. Please be aware that it should be rated as a level 2 tour in terms of physical exertion. You should be able to walk 2 miles on rough ground and climb some steep, narrow stairs to fully enjoy every aspect of this trip.

Well travelled, as I am, I expected a well run and pleasant journey through Japan on this 21 day tour. Seeing it's highlights and emersing myself into the Japanese culture. Unfortunately, having 5 couriers during the tour, one of whom read from prewritten notes, rather spoilt the idea of getting into the culture. The hotels were adequate, but for the money, rather a poor choice. The transport, as always in Japan, was very good.
The food was quite poor, and speaking to some Japanese friends who live in Tokyo, the dinning experiences, although varied, was of poor quality throughout.
The experiences on the tour were extremely rushed and there was little time to stand and stare.
I honestly could not recommend this tour.

The website was very informative and easy to navigate.The itinerary for the tour I booked is the best I’ve seen.

Adding more vouchers to reduce the cost of the trip.

We paid £22,000 (includes £2000 flight upgrade) for both of us. But the 20 Australians and 2 New Zealanders in our group had only paid half of that. The tour was completely overpriced. We had to carry all our suitcases to and from the coaches every day, although it did say that in your brochure. However, when we travelled by train we had to carry our overnight bags through the streets to walk to the train station and up and down hundreds of stairs and escalators. Sometimes. A lot of people in our group struggled. One of the worst things was the tour being graded as 1. Without doubt it was a grade 3. So many people on our group just could not cope with the miles of walking every day and up and down hundreds of stairs visiting temples and forts. It was absolutely ridiculous to have the tour graded as 1. Most of the food was horrendous, bento box after bento box. The food was usually on the table when we got there and there was no choice. Although my fish was always taken care of. We went to a restaurant for dinner once where we were able to choose our food. Apart from that we just ate whatever was in the box, occasionally we did go to restaurants where we cooked our own food, but again no choice. Overall the lack of choice of food was one of the worst things. Japan is renowned for good quality varied food and we didn’t see it.

Good Advice and all explained well.