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.

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.

This was an interesting tour that was well organised, with a good range of activities, opportunity to enjoy all sorts of Japanese food, using good hotels and with a very good guide. There are just a couple of things that stop me awarding it 5 stars

Excellent trip very well organised.
Would never have been able to cover so much in such a short time

An amazing and comprehensive itinerary - don’t think we could possibly have seen any more of Japan. So well organised and looked after by our guide Hannah (Haruko) who was so knowledgeable and went above and beyond what could have been expected to make sure we got the most out of our trip.

Some of the sites visited were extremely busy which is due to over tourism, not the fault of WendyWu. This may however be an opportunity for Wendywu to find some less visited sites in the country for a more off the beaten track experience (a more rural or seaside area added for a couple of nights would be great). The tour guide, Mari, was excellent and the trip went very smoothly, due to her great organisational skills and knowledge of the country. It was a full on tour and a little more free time might have been useful. In hind sight I think that a bit more time in the south/middle of the country would have been better with the trip finishing in Tokyo. Travelling up to Sapporo was a lot of time on the trains with only single nights in hotels (rather than 2 nights for most of the rest of the trip) and the weather was worse in the north with shorter days at this time of year. Overall, an excellent trip.

Tour guide Kumi was the best we've had - very knowledgeable with , helpful and professional - even helping members of the group with transport once the tour had finished. This is a very full on tour with lots of walking and traversing across the whole of Japan - some older members of the group struggled to keep up with the pace, so I would suggest this is upgraded to a 2 level in future. Lunch locations could have been closer to some of the sights, or even bento boxes being provided as a picnic, enabling longer visiting times at some sights, as we were restricted timewise at some castles such as Himeji Castle. Also, a dinner with a show option could be added to the itinerary, rather than just dinners each evening. I would also recommend changing the dinner start times to 7.30 pm, as 45 minutes to collect luggage, check into the hotel, shower, change and get out again on a repetitive basis is challenging.

I would give 4.5 if I could…….. I never give 5 as there is always room for improvement. I should, however, mention that our holiday was cut short due to an accident. The tour manager, Mina, was brilliant, she managed to produce wheelchairs as if by magic and also assisted us in finding a doctor who spoke English. I have already recommended you to friends who are looking to book a Vietnam tour with you.

It is a very expensive holiday, but on the whole worth it. The all inclusive 3 meals a day caused quite a lot of wasted food as it became just a bit too much. I also felt a bit aggrieved for not being given the included breakfast on the day of departure. Admittedly it was early (6.45 am) but I thought the hotel could provide a small take-away croissant and a coffee.
Very much enjoyed the train journeys and the special evening meals and locations, a lot of variety. Very well organised itinerary, however, our guide was somewhat overwhelmed with looking after a group of 28 people and relied heavily on group members to help. For this size of group I thought she should have been given a Wendy Wu assistant. However, she did an excellent job and was always cheerful and helpful.

The tour was very well organised, the guide Miuchi was superb, so patient and good humoured.l did find the itenary a bit busy on some days
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