Reviews

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.

I really enjoyed the tour. I traveled as a solo person so there are some concerns over how good a deal it was financially. It was an expensive holiday overall Our guide Miyuki was fabulous However I was aware that some in our group were wanting more details/information on some days. But I have nothing to compare the experience with and was happy to enjoy what was presented.
Flights were booked by WW through Heathrow, which I ran with as I wasn’t aware of options. In hindsight Gatwick would have been better as Guernsey flights don’t go to Heathrow. As a result this incurred additional expense travelling across London. And hassle too!
I was happy with the level of exercise required but several in the group were critical of expectations. This held things up at times as some were less able which was unfortunate.
A huge positive was the actual group as we got on and everyone interacted very well. So this was a great relief but a concern prior to the trip. in reality you have to run with this.
I thought the Japanese were very kind and helpful and I felt very safe during the visit. And I’m now not eating my breakfast with chopsticks
The question now is where to go next. And what good deals are available with WW or possibly other organisations. But I did enjoy paying for the whole trip in one go!!

Our guide Kumiko was excellent. Vert knowledgeable, very friendly and great fun. The schedule was a bit hectic but we saw so much of Japan.the lovely countryside and gardens, the castles, temples and shrines as well as the cities. Kumi helped to bring the history alive.
We also went to a miss brewery., a was wasabi farm, a paper making factory and watched a tea ceremony and made and drank our own macha tea! We travelled on the bullet train and also had several boat trips. There are so many marvellous memories. Our group of 28 got on very well aided by the lively Australians.
It was my first experience of Japanese food which I thoroughly enjoyed. Everyone was so friendly and courteous and everywhere was so clean. My granddaughter didn't want to leave and wants to return to Japan in the future.

A super introduction to a fascinating country.
Well organised, good visits and the all-inclusive aspect was very much appreciated. I have organised many long trips abroad, but for our first time in Japan we preferred the escorted and organised tour and it worked well. A full itinerary with the occasional long day, but now that we are back home we very much appreciate how much we were able to pack in. Interesting visits.

The tour included many of the highlights of Japan. The pace was quick so someone less able might struggle to keep up. The guide was very informative about what we were about to visit and also about life generally in Japan.

Fantastic tour of a beautiful country. Japan is a beautiful clean country and the people are so friendly. Our guide was excellent.

A terrific, curated tour from Wendy Wu. A very long time since travelling abroad and never outside Europe so was very much in the hands of the travel company who delivered in every aspect. A classic tour that took you to the sort of places and experiences you might expect with an obvious leaning towards history and culture set in a modern enthralling country. Accommodation was top notch and an open mind to the food choices is essential. I enjoy Japanese food so I had a head start. It's a busy place, so expect crowds in some of the places visited. This did not affect our enjoyment. Our tour guide was brilliant with an exceptional knowledge of a breadth of subjects and kept us on track. An occasional lengthy coach ride however just look out of the window and take in views.
Clean, safe and welcoming, confident I will visit again or use Wendy Wu for the next adventure.

Wendy Wu 2460 Japan Uncovered tour. September 2024.
Excellent tour, great food and exceptional tour guide.
Faultless in every possible way.
Too many pictures to upload, just a few to sample.

We chose this tour as it visited virtually all the places we wanted to visit. We always go for Escorted Tours with all meals included and everything organised for us. This was our first tour with Wendy Wu and it really was worth paying a little more for the quality of service we received, particularly from our National Guide (Coco) who was professional, friendly and worked incredibly hard. As for Jaoan, we loved the country especially the culture (organised, quiet, polite, clean) and the highlights were: Hiroshima, Kyoto, Tokyo and the Snow Monkeys. Mention also should be made of the gardens, castles, temples, shrines, mountains, wooded hillsides, bullet train, rice fields and Sumo Wrestling. Lastly, we enjoyed the variety of food on offer including around 35% Western - we were able to try the whole range of Japanese cuisine including having to cook our own food on occasions - fortunately we were always provided alternative cutlery as well as chopsticks. Hotels were all of a high standard as were the toilets!

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.

We really enjoyed our tour of Japan. It was a very good group and Shioji was one of the best guides we've ever had - warm, confident, knowledgeable, encouraging, amusing and always helpful. Nothing was too much trouble for her. It was full-on but we expected that and, being retired, we could recover once home. There were a large number of temples/shrines but, again, we knew that from the itinerary. However, although we have travelled widely, we weren’t keen on most of the Japanese food!

Throughout the booking process and run up to the holiday the Wendy Wu team were extremely helpful and patient. We joined this tour during the first week in May in Osaka. We flew out a day early and would highly recommend this. It is a very comprehensive, fast moving tour and you need to know this before you go. We were aware as we had done our research prior to booking. You really do get a taste of many aspects of Japanese culture. Our tour was enhanced by the skill and knowledge of our guide KiKi (Ms Kazuyo Takatori) who was extremely knowledgeable and happy to share her knowledge and experiences.
The hotels were of mixed quality. Some were excellent, most were good but a couple were below the standard we expected. Saying that they were clean and comfortable and the beds were good.
Overall we came away highly impressed with Japan and the Japanese people.
The country is well organised, clean, efficient and if you are told something will be done or scheduled, it will be done and will run to time.
We were lucky to spend a wonderful afternoon at the Sumo tournament in Tokyo.
We saw complaints about the food before we went. You do need to be adventurous and adaptable. Hotels served 'European' style breakfast as well as Japanese. You can eat outside of the meal plan at your own expense however, we didn't find this necessary as the overall standard was good.
The only suggestion for improvement would be that optional name badges would have helped us get to know the names of our fellow travellers quicker!
We would definitely travel with WendyWu again.

This was a fantastic trip it was “full on” and extremely busy but we saw a lot of amazing places. Our Guide, Rui was extremely knowledgeable and spoke excellent English. He was kind, considerate and very helpful with a great sense of humour. Japan has an incredible culture and the Japanese people are lovely. I thoroughly enjoyed the trip and would certainly travel with Wendy Wu again.