Though my trip in though intro with Anna and Andrew. I had a fantastic time in Japan, hearing about Japans history with everyone in the group, getting to meet the locals while learning about the different religions and culture! From getting to sleep at a Buddhist temple, to getting to experience a onsen bath, going to Osaka castle and finally to the samurai lesson. I had the best time in Japan and would recommend it to anyone. Thank you Anna and Andrew
I really enjoyed the whole experience of being in Japan and the variety of everything we did was great. I did struggle with the amount of walking and stairs to negotiate as this was far more than was stated in the brochure. However, the tour was very organised and many thanks to Jamie. Joshi and our driver.
My wife and I really wanted to see the snow monkeys but never expected that our reason for travelling to Japan could be so overshadowed by everything else this trip has to offer. The shrines, temples, cities and sights are excellent. The people are friendly, helpful and interested in knowing what you think about their country and whilst english is rarely spoken, the locals don't allow this small detail get in the way of the conversation. The cities are spotless, buzzing yet incredibly safe and we never felt intimidated or felt the need to worry about keeping wallets and the like hidden from view when in crowds. Travelling around Japan on this trip is extensive but never a chore, dull or a waste of valuable time as there is so much to see en-route and even more to see at each destination. Travelling independently is simple with instructions in english everywhere and a refreshingly simple set up in the train and underground stations. Food is amazing with so much choice on the days where self catering required but the food included in the trip is as good if not better than what could be found on the the self catering days. In the ryokan's we could dress in traditional dress for group dinners which was a giggle and of course there was the relaxing in the hot spring onsen to look forward to as well. The pace of the trip is fast because of the amount of things to see and do but it suits all age groups as could be seen by the group we travelled with. Our group I would guess spanned four decades, got on superbly with each other and to a person we understand everyone had an incredible time. A wise man on the trip (who hopefully will recognise himself if he reads this review) summed it all up by saying "There are not enough superlatives to describe the trip and the time had by all". Oh, and the snow monkeys were brilliant by the way.