Reviews

Telephoned to make an appointment and was asked to email the request. Email responded to next day offering a date one week later. This took us beyond the cut-off date for a special offer. They kindly offered to extend the offer to the day of our meeting. We had done some homework so were fairly well prepared. We were disappointed to find the advertised offer of upgrade to business class flights one-way did not include the tour we were interested in (confusing advertising!). Nevertheless Julia helped us to choose flights and arrange for an extra night's stay. Our meeting was helpful.

The travel and tour were well organised and coordinated with a non-stop itinerary to a fascinating collection of places to see and experience. The hotels we stayed at were very adequate, with several having splendid views. The food was plentiful, if challenging at times, but that is the fun of exploring a different culture! The coaches were clean and comfortable. The guide, Tu, was pleasant and knowledgeable as well as being helpful and caring towards the group. Apart from dining out, there were no visits, experiences or entertainment arranged for the evenings. That, and the occasional cut short activity such as only going to the 350m deck rather than the 450m deck (perhaps even at night) of the Tokyo Skytree, resulted in a four rather than a 5 star rating. Overall I would highly recommend this tour as a great introduction to Japan and its incredible culture.

Mostly we enjoyed the holiday, but did feel pressured by the time constraints in several of the places we visited. e.g. Osaka Castle, where we would have liked more time.
Although we appreciate that efforts were made to accomodate our dietary needs, we would have liked more Western options at every meal because we found a lot of the Japanese dishes unpalatable.
The welcome dinner should have been in the hotel, not in a pokey little Japanese restaurant with barely enough space to sit, and they should have waited for all the group members to arrive, and be introduced to one another and to the guide.
Some of the group were unable to attend the Farewell dinner on board a boat because it was very awkward for them to get into the seats set into the floor, so they went to eat elsewhere. I feel this meal should also have been in the hotel.
The Sheraton in Osaka was excellent, but some of the other hotels were not on a par. Many of the group thought that the Tokyu Rei in Nagano was very poor: thin towels, no room safe, a step up to the bathroom, and very small room. On arriving at the hotel in Tokyo we had a very nice room, only to be told that for the one extra night that we had booked with you we had to change rooms. The new room allocated was vastly inferior and for the price we paid ( 148 pounds pp per night) was totally unacceptable. We should have been allowed to stay in the same room.
To end on a positive note, our guide, Kazuyo Takatori (Kiki) was excellent and went out of her way to help in all ways, and solve our problems. She was amazing.

Unfortunately was spoilt by 4hr security wait at Tokyo airport. Thought I had filled in all the required information from Wendy Wo but wasn’t good enough.

My husband and I thought this was one of the best holidays we have ever had. It was very well organized with us seeing the cherrry blossoms, riding the bullet train, seeing the macaque monkeys, Mount Fuji and making paper. We saw all three capital cities - Nara, Kyoto and Tokyo and learned all about the history. We even learned a little Japanese - all thanks to the excellent guide we had. We enjoyed the Japanese food and it suited my stomach, even though at times I was not sure what I was eating! I loved the heated toilet seats. Can't say I was very keen on matcha tea.

It was the perfect trip/tour of a country I have long wanted to visit. A little hiccough re our airline tickets but everything else was perfect. We were met and had the most amazing tour guide Yoko Odawara. Yoko kept us well informed - lots of toilet breaks should we need it. Any questions were always answered. There was a complication one evening due to a road accident in Tokyo bringing all traffic to a halt but Yoko found us another venue to eat. Rain or shine she made our holiday

Japan is an amazing country and so worth a visit. The people are friendly, the place is spotlessly clean, the scenery spectacular, the gardens breathtaking and the castles, the shrines with their history just fascinating.
The tour group was too large at 26 guests. This tour is given a physical rating of 1. The group included several guests with varying levels of mobility who found some of the excursions difficult. Anyone who has an issue with walking medium distances should not consider this particular tour. This means that with one guide it makes it difficult for them to control the party. Although our guides were very good there was some waiting around and some excursions had to be cut short. Nobody complained and we all helped each other and over the tour formed a close knit group of friends.
For our trip we had several guides all of whom were absolutely first class, all very knowledgeable, interesting, excellent English and all with a good sense of humour.
This tour covered a lot of miles visiting quite a few cities. The travel was very well organised. The coaches were spacious and comfortable. A bullet train experience was included.
All hotels were very good albeit with typical Japanese small rooms, no drawers or wardrobes so you live out of your suitcase. Japanese toilets have to be experienced to be believed. I would not recommend the Sunshine City Prince Hotel in Tokyo where it was overcrowded and the breakfast service was a shambles. Wendy Wu use other hotels in Tokyo.
The food was typical Japanese and we used both hotel and outside restaurants. The meals were varied and excellent.
We picked this tour for the variety of places to visit but mostly to see the snow monkeys. This was one of the highlights of our tour. The trip to the park was timed perfectly to be at the pools as the monkeys arrived.
I would definitely recommend Wendy Wu Japan Uncovered as a great way to see the amazing Japan. A busy time but late March, early April to experience the cherry blossom and colourful azaleas.

I'm in my 70s and a lady travelling alone. At no time was I concerned about anything. From the moment I was met at Tokyo airport to the final departure from Osaka, it was a wonderful holiday,with a lovely mix of people, and everything was well organised.

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Too much food overall; long breaks every day for heavy lunches were not needed, especially when the time could have been better spent seeing more sites.

Although the tour was called 'Cherry Blossom' there wasn't any dedicated item on any day's itinerary to actually see any trees, which resulted in many complaints during the tour. The tour guide seemed somewhat surprised that people went there just to see the blossom!

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Flight arrangements compared badly between the group as well as prices paid.

We had barely one day in Tokyo and were expecting to see more of the centre of town; local culture; people etc.stuff for which Tokyo is famous for. Three hours were wasted with a lunch that no one wanted and a trip to the presidential palace which was closed so all we got to see was a bridge from afar. Surely the travel company knew that the place would be closed on the day of our visit?

Once out of Tokyo, the countryside was amazing and the tour brilliant; but nevertheless some improvements are needed.

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Excellent guide throughout the tour.

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The dinner cruise in Tokyo was FAR too long. The meal was poor and cold. In fact it was a wasted evening with inedible food.

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Excellent tour covering all essentials. On one down side, the guide allocated to the tour should take more consideration of the group makeup as at times she was 50 to 100 yards in front talking about points of note when those left behind had no chance of seeing. This was especially so in Tokyo with large crowds.

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The guide Tomoyuki Shimooka was first class. All the transport arrangements were very smooth and efficient.

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The trip was very interesting and for the most part very varied. I would have appreciated visiting something more historical or botanical in Tokyo instead of having shopping opportunities.

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Lots of places packed in with the convenience of all meals and entrance fares included.

Arrived in Japan before check in time at Tokyo hotel, so had to wonder around for a couple of hours. Not good after a long flight.

The 2nd evening Tokyo dinner/river cruise was cancelled due to adverse conditions so we just ate a rather cold buffet on a berthed ship - disappointing.

The itinerary sent befire the trip was inaccurate in places.

Was really 8 full touring days, rather than 10, as the other days invloved travelling.

However this was a great tour to be introduced to Japan.

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Quite expensive and more so due to single supplement. But was fully inclusive.