Best of Japan - 8 day tour

Loved the tour. Both guides were terrific but a special thank you to Masa who helped us to organise our luggage transfer and our transport to Osaka when we left the tour. The guides were incredibly knowledgeable and all round delightful people.

The only small negative (and please it is a small thing) was the hotel in Tokyo. It was in a fabulous location but the rooms were tiny (which we accept is part of the vibe) but on the whole it was a bit run down. The hotel restaurant did not have an English menu which was a bit strange.”

The tour was well paced, with hotels in great locations. I liked that it focused on the cultural aspects of the cities we visited. Masa has amazing knowledge and skill”

Masa was an excellent guide. He went above and beyond to help everyone on the tour. He answered a question I had after hours and he even took me to the Shinkansen station after the tour finished, helped me buy a Shinkansen ticket, and explained how to find the correct train platform.

His history lessons, drawn on a small whiteboard at every historical site were very interesting and he explained the complicated history of Japan in an easy to understand manner.

I do think there are a few areas that could be improved though. There was too much time spent at Senso-Ji temple, we probably could’ve halved the time spent at Senso-ji and fit in another destination that day.

Also, I personally would have swapped the visit to Sanjusangen-do temple for Fushimi Inari. I think Fushimi Inari is probably a better place to take a tourist. Sanjusangen-do is not as well known as Fushimi Inari.

But apart from these two things, I really enjoyed the tour. It was a great experience and I think the overall itinerary was very well prepared. And of course Masa was a very friendly and very helpful tour guide. Give him a pay rise!”

The Best of Japan tour was absolutely fantastic! Masa, our tour guide for the duration, was extremely helpful, knowledgeable, and made the entire group feel welcome. He is worth his weight in gold. Masa knew the best restaurants to eat at and the sights outside our itinerary to get the proper Japanese experience. Having said that, the only downside is a week isn't enough. I'll be going back again next year for a few weeks!! A special thanks to Samantha for all the help given prior to the trip. ”

Kaori was an amazing guide. She is very knowledgeable on her country & shared a lot with us. Any questions asked were answered with much detail. Any information given was given with notes and/or maps. We left a tip & thank you note as well as a small soft toy for Kaori in Kyoto and we just hope she got it.

The lady who took us from the airport to our hotel was also extremely helpful & we have a few hours to spare before we could book in so she took us around and showed us places of interest. Unfortunately I lost her information but would like to thank her for her help.

Public transport was an issue in Kyoto & this made some of the time unpleasant. Both my husband & myself have come back extremely ill. It may have been good to pass this info on and suggest masks etc.

Luggage was not addressed very well & some on the trip had oversized suitcases & struggled.

It was lovely to see the temples and shrines but that was pretty much all that was offered really (yes we saw this when booking the tour) but some variety would be nicer. The two highlights for us were the Shibuya Crossing and 1001 Kannon in Tokyo, Mount Fuji was awesome, except I cannot sleep on the floor & stayed awake the entire night, a few extra mattresses would have been nice. The meals in Kyoto & Kawaguchiko were really good too.

The stairs at stations were not mentioned anywhere. Kaori was good and found lifts and/or escalators where necessary but even a wheeelchair ramp would work (it was just so hectic there was not always time to find alternative routes).

Having said all this, the trip was amazing & we would recommend it to anyone. The tour group was not too big which was also nice. We are looking at booking other tours with your company if they are similar with regards to guides & value.”

Yumi could have made the tour more enjoyable. In fairness we had a large group, but she struggled to communicate (both instructions and information) to the group. We were constantly asking each other what she had said as only the people closest to her heard what she said. Perhaps choosing quieter places to address the group mould have worked. Also she seemed to get quite irritated when people asked for clarification. Having said that she was pleasant and knowledgeable about the sights we went to.

Public transport required a lot of walking and in some cases a private bus would have made more sense.

The hotels were of a good standard but rooms were exceptionally small in some cases”

I absolutely loved this tour! This is my second tour with On the Go and I really liked this one. I loved the "local's perspective" and affordability of using public transit instead of a coach bus, the variety of things we did, the downtime and special, hidden extras that our guide Toshi took us too (including surprises not included on the tour itinerary, that Toshi took time out of his day to take us to), and the fantastic opportunities to do things I would have never done on my own, like the onsen and traditional inn.

I will say though that this tour needs to be marked as Highly Physical. The amount of walking (10+ miles on every single day of the tour), plus loads of stairs and hours of standing thanks to the subway system, made this tour quite a challenge!”

There was nothing wrong with the tour but comparing it to other tours we have done with OTG ie Egypt, Turkey, Morrocco which were out of this world. I didnt feel overall I learnt as much about Japan as I learnt about other countries. I dont eat Asian food but that is my preference and no reflection on the tour. Yumi was not in any way bad, but I'm comparing her to Momo, Lale and Yunis who were brilliant. She did help us with information we asked about extra things to do in our spare time that we had planned. The accommodation overall was okay but the Tokyo accommodation (i think it was Yaesu hotel) was terrible (room was so small) we paid for an upgrade. We stayed before and after the tour in Ryumeikan Hotel in Tokyo - one of the choices you guys offer and this was much better. I think taking ppl to the museum in Tokyo on day 4 was a waste. It should be something they can do on their own in spare time. Just a waste of a day. so many other things that could have been done. I love museums btw this was just flat though. Lake Kawaguchiko was awsum and a very authentic experience. ”

Great tour and fantastic guide! All round five stars. ”

Hello, my husband and I absolutely loved our tour of Japan. The guide was great and very helpful in letting us know where to go for meals, attractions not included in the tour and shopping. The guide was very knowledgeable about all the sites we visited and was very easy to get along with.

We really enjoyed the tour, accommodation and service provided by On The Go Tours and will be booking other tours with On the Go Tours for our future holidays. ”