Reviews

This tour was exceptional. Our group of 18 were impressed with the experiences we were able to enjoy, the amazing scenery and the insight gained through our knowledgeable tour guide. Mari was a delight, going out of her way to ensure that we had all the information we needed every day so that we could relax and enjoy the varied experiences.
Hotels were of a high standard, food was delicious and I would thoroughly recommend a Wendy Wu tour to Japan.

Great hotels, good variety of places that we visited, good tour guide but awful food. This is the reason that I would not recommend this tour, very little variety in food, no choice apart from breakfast buffet, hot pot nearly every day, sometimes for lunch and evening meals on the same day. Sometimes pork for lunch and dinner on the same day. Meals were beautifully presented but very bland and for us this meant that we skipped many meals and went off and brought our own food. We have travelled all over the world and not particularly fussy eaters but the food provided by Wendy wu was not applicable to the high cost of the tour. Definitely needed more options and choice to fully enjoy the tour . Also there is very little free time which can be tiresome. Needed at least half a day free time in Kyoto and Osaka and wasted time in filler activities such as visiting a miso factory, a wasabi farm and a chair museum which were all incredibly boring. We booked our own activities in Tokyo in order to get more of what we found interesting, such as a sumo experience and night walk. The tour overall was good but awful food had a very negative impact on the overall experience.

Appreciated the range of experiences and it was a great selection of places to visit. Our tour guide, Yuka, was excellent. Very considerate and helpful, answering all questions and keeping people entertained on the long bus journeys. Communication was good throughout. Not all of the people on the tour used the Whisper audios, because of hearing aids, which meant they did not always follow the information. It was a very busy tour. Sometimes with one too many activities per day. We would have preferred one fewer temple visits and the visit to the fish market in Hakkodate was not the best. A bit more time at leisure would have been preferred and we were disappointed not to be closer to Tokyo centre and Osaka centre. However, the dinner that we had in the neighbouring hotel in Tokyo was the highlight meal of the whole tour.

Our first escorted tour and probably the best holiday we had! From being greeted off our delayed flight in Osaka with a big smile from our Wendy Wu greeter, ensured we were on our way to our hotel. A big smile and greeting from our guide, Taichi Imamura at the hotel although late, made us feel "at home" and he ensured that we had our bentobox dinner.
Words cannot describe how Taichi made sure that everyone knew what was happening at each place we stopped at, where the best rest rooms were, places to pick up snacks. Even taking photos for everyone with their cameras and phones to ensure all memories were saved of the magnificent sights we saw. All the coach drivers were fantastic throughout the tour, hotels were very good and generally spacious and the places we were taken to for lunch and dinner had excellent facilities and good quality food. I can safely say that all the people on the tour, which comprised Australians, New Zealanders, Tasmanians and English, from the very first evening to the last all got on and mixed amongst each other and some great fun times were had by all.
We even found time to locate a few "Irish hubs"(pub) on the evenings and had some great laughs with Brian and Brenda from New Zealand, Tom and Kim and Stella/Julia in them. There were so many places we saw including Mount Fuji, Hiroshima dome and museum (which brought the heartache of suffering to mind), so many beautiful shrines and temples, finishing with seeing Sumo wrestling and the gorgeous Imperial East gardens and Shabuya scramble crossing.The views from the Sky Tree Tower were unbelievable too!
So clean, so cultural, so friendly, so beautiful. That was Japan uncovered for us!
Thank you Wendy Wu Tours

Adviser listened very well, answered all questions fully, was pleasant and understanding.
It appears that all information is detailed and transparent.

A very enjoyable holiday that took in the major attractions in Japan. There was a full programme of visits and activities and we especially enjoyed Kyoto, Tokyo and Himeji Castle. The food was enjoyable, especially the Authentic Japanese cuisine. There is never too much free time on these tours, but we would have appreciated a bit more free time to shop or explore independently.
Add on days at the beginning in Tokyo and at the end in Osaka to get the most out of your trip.
Great bunch of fellow travellers with the majority from Australia and New Zealand. Our guide was excellent and kept us organised.

Fantastic tour of Japan. Excellent tour guide and organisation amazing. Hotels good, transport good, coaches, boats and bullet train. Very hectic schedule but well worth it. Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka and Hiroshima all excellent cities to visit with all meals included at authentic local restaurants and hotels. Japanese tea ceremony, origami and noodle making all excellent experiences. Mount Fuji amazing to see from hotel as cloud lifted especially for us. Lots of temples and museums as part of tour. Food takes some getting used to as lots of raw produce, especially fish. Lovely group of mostly Australians and all got on really well and have made some new friends who we will hopefully keep in contact wil via oyr holiday whatsapp group.

As always service is good. Nothing is too much trouble. Have used you 3 times for our main holiday.

Excellent. Gary was very helpful and gave us lots of information. He didn’t rush us and he gave us good discounts. Booking was smooth and easy.

Brilliant tour guide . Evening meals and breakfast great .
Lunch meals too many and not worth having . Not enough time spent at sites, no free time. Lunches should be cut in 1/2 or scrapped and vouchers given .

Sapporo not worth going to . Time could have been better spent in Tokyo and Osaka .

Too much time on coaches , faster transport was available .

What we did see was very good , simply not enough time to explore.

Wendy Wu Discover Japan tour was interesting and it was good that all meals were found so we didn’t have to hunt for good restaurants. Food was very good and more than plentiful. Sometimes eating in the hotels where we stayed and sometimes our guide walked with us to nearby restaurants. The days were quite full on and the coach travel a bit difficult as seats were small and my (tall) husband struggled to get his knees into the seat space. It would have been better to travel a bit more by train. Our guide was knowledgeable about historical Japan and the many shrines and temples we visited. We did ask her for some more up to date information about how the Japanese live now as we felt this would have been more interesting and we got very little on this side of things. Our tour group was mixed with people from the UK, Australia and New Zealand which gave a great atmosphere and everyone got on really well. Hotels were mostly very good, modern style. One was down a side street so we had to trundle our cases uphill which was a challenge for some and we helped each other. We did some crafts like paper making and decorating chopsticks with gold leaf. Watched a tea ceremony, did some sake tasting and some origami. These were good activities making a change from touring round temples. The transfers were odd as on arrival in Tokyo we were taken by taxi to the hotel. On leaving Osaka we were taken by taxi to a bus stop then waited 90 minutes for a bus to the airport. We would have preferred to return to Tokyo for the last night then flown straight back rather than going from Osaka to Tokyo and then flying home - it made a very long day coming home.Overall we enjoyed the tour but found that admin from Wendy Wu was poor. We got different answers to questions we asked, sometimes no reply to emails with requests regarding transfers etc. We had to write many emails to get flight options to upgrade to premium economy. For this reason we would not book another tour with Wendy Wu as touring should come with reassurance to things we need to know before travelling without so much hard work on our side to gain information.

We booked our first Wendy Wu over the phone and the lovely Beau helped us with the booking process and answered any questions that we had. The booking process was extremely efficient and straightforward. Thank you Beau for all your help.

Great credit to Wendy Wu for a superb guided tour of Japan. Beginning in Osaka (good), Kyoto (better), Hiroshima (excellent), Kanazawa (excellent), Nagano (excellent) and Tokyo (super), the tour offered a fine variety of interesting vista and experiences.
They managed to pack a huge amount into each days sightseeing without putting undue pressure on any member of the group. Kudos here to a truly outstanding guide Taichi, whose English was faultless, attention to the group unwavering, had a great sense of humour and was a fountain of knowledge.
When travelling to Japan, you need to maintain an open mind about food. The dining experience is vastly different to our Western tastes, but the quality was very good at all times, even if our taste buds didn’t necessarily appreciate all that was put before us. My wife is coeliac, a condition unknown in Japan, yet her dietary needs were catered to better than any other trip we have done.
Is it worth the cost and jet lag?
A resounding YES.

EXCELLENT
Guide (Carrie)
Itinerary
Hotels
Restaurants
The group of 17 (from UK and Australia)
NOT SO GOOD
Initial welcome to Japan at Osaka Airport

We had a brilliant time filled with so many experiences- it fulfilled my lifetime dream to visit Japan and see the ancient sites whilst experiencing modern Japan too. Our guide, Kaori was great fun and very informative. Whilst it was a whistle stop tour with a lot of travelling included, we had a good balance of time spent at attractions, having experiences and eating out at restaurants, sampling local cuisine. Being vegetarian we were very well looked after wherever we ate. We enjoyed shopping in quality outlets to buy lovely souvenirs. Our colleagues were great company and the group gelled really well. We had some free time at the end of the tour to enjoy Osaka and our transfer was easily managed too. The only shame was that on arrival we had to wait a further 2 hours at the airport before the next transfer bus which meant that we missed our dinner and nothing was provided for us on that first night. Luckily we could pick up some snacks from the convenience store. We were issued a refund but that wasn’t much of a welcome after such a long journey. Given that Wendy Wu arranged the flights they must have known this would happen so this was disappointing but didn’t spoil our overall experience. We had a great time in Japan!