Reviews

There was a few issues with hotels and room which could have been better. However had brilliant time. I have booked another holiday with them

re Japan Uncovered #16 27 March - 11 April 24

Having toured Vietnam, Laos & Cambodia with Wendy Wu a few years ago we were confident in booking this tour with Wendy Wu and we were not disappointed.
The tour is a busy one and a lot of walking is involved. In some of the castles we visited stairways were steep and slippery due to having to take our shoes off. We would say that the physical rating of 1 is misleading. During the 14 days that we toured we walked 141 kms (87.5 miles) about 10 kms (6 miles) per day which is tough on someone who is not very mobile and indeed some of our party missed out seeing some places as they could not manage the distance.
Hotels were all very good. some with lovely views over the coast and Mount Fuji. Only the 2 European chain hotels had bars (Sheraton & Mercure) but there were vending machines everywhere to purchase drinks when required.
The food was Japanese apart from a few buffets which included more European dishes. I will say that we found the meals very samey. On occasions we had the same for lunch and evening meal but there was always plenty of it and a selection of different items so you could pick out what you liked.
We enjoyed the Castles, Temples, Gardens, Bullet Train, Snow Monkeys and of course the cherry blossoms.
Our guides English was a little slow and he had the habit of repeating instructions over and over making it longer to get anywhere ie into our hotel rooms but was flexible when he needed to be.
Not a lot of free time on the tour. We were lucky to arrive at lunchtime in Osaka and so had free time until the evening meal so we took the train to Osaka Castle where we wandered the gardens. We were glad that we did as we saw more than when we returned the following day. At the end of the tour we had 2 free afternoons which again enabled us to take the train back into Tokyo Centre to wander around.
All in all a great time seeing everything that you should when visiting Japan.

Fantastic trip. Great national guide. Highly recommend.

An excellent tour but very ‘full on’!
A good overview of Japan with very good guides, very knowledgeable and helpful ladies. However the last day was too much as after a long day, arriving at a hotel at 6.45 pm, out at 7pm to catch a train to a restaurant and up at 4am for a 5am airport pickup left us needing another holiday! We saw all the sites we wanted to see, met the people, who were lovely and ate the food! Would recommend!

My first call with Hannah have me all the information I needed, unfortunately the date I wanted was sold out. I reassessed the situation and rang back, Hannah was busy but my number was passed on to her and she rang me back within a few minutes. I was then able to book the new date. Helpful, pleasant and patient..thanks Hannah.😊

Well travelled, as I am, I expected a well run and pleasant journey through Japan on this 21 day tour. Seeing it's highlights and emersing myself into the Japanese culture. Unfortunately, having 5 couriers during the tour, one of whom read from prewritten notes, rather spoilt the idea of getting into the culture. The hotels were adequate, but for the money, rather a poor choice. The transport, as always in Japan, was very good.
The food was quite poor, and speaking to some Japanese friends who live in Tokyo, the dinning experiences, although varied, was of poor quality throughout.
The experiences on the tour were extremely rushed and there was little time to stand and stare.
I honestly could not recommend this tour.

We had a great time and the concept of group tours was new. In hindsight we should have spent some time at the welcome meal for people to introduce themselves.
For our taste there were too many “western style dinners”, particularly as they were of low quality. We loved the Japanese food and realized that it must have been a challenge to serve 27 people quickly.
The schedule was kept to, despite some folks returning late to meeting points, there was no contingency for this,
Our tour leader did an amazing job juggling the schedule and some special requests.

I have waited a couple of weeks before responding as I wanted to express my views as clearly and articulately as possible.

In brief, this is the first time I have travelled with Wendy Wu - I was expecting it to be a 'higher level' of travel than other groups I've travelled with. Sadly I was disappointed.

Some of my feedback, on reflection, may be to do with my own expectations including:
Group size too large
No welcome meeting - opportunities for introduction
Itinery not reflective of 'real Japan' e.g. I was expecting a traditional Japanese tea ceremony, instead we were given a demonstration of a tea ceremony on the top floor of a shopping centre then left an hour to 'spend' money whilst waiting for the bus.

Feedback in relation to Wendy Wu organisation/quality of guide is however vital to ensure things can be improved - I'm hoping this is 'just' unfortunate and not the norm.
Examples of concerns I'd like to share:
Guide was inconsistent in using marker to recognise self - did not have any identifying marker in the busiest of places, including train stations/City Centres; he actually lost a member of the group (left behind at 2 road crossings).
Guide was inconsistent in sharing information e.g. telling group to meet back at a certain time and place then changing time and/or place but only telling some not others - this was particularly problematic for myself as a solo traveller.
Guide spent too long talking about 'maps' and procedural info. rather than sharing relevant info. about the site being visited - I was itening in to other guides from other groups to glean information.
Guide unsure of some directions - coach unable to locate hotel on 1 occasion, guide unable to locate restaurant on 1 occasion
Luggage was collected a day prior to being needed - not delivered at next hotel until almost 48hrs later
Time in some locations was so restricted that there wasn't time to access them eg. Himaji castle visit was recommended 1hr 30mins - we were given 50mins - this wasn't even enough time to join the queue to get in to the main keep. Zen Gardens - 40mins - barely had time to sit and enjoy them (restricted self to 10mins).

For the record - I have never provided a negative review for anything previously be that food, travel, accomodation, anything.

A lot of money spent on what was supposed to be my trip of a lifetime; it did not meet my expectation. If I had not already got another trip already booked (China 2025), I would not be booking again.

Kind regards
Pam Anderson

Thoroughly professional and welcoming

While Japan itself was wonderful, the mechanics of the tour left a lot to be desired. Fine if you are prepared to walk over 70 miles during the course of the tour, fine if you are prepared for a mix of good and mediocre hotels, many without bars, OK if you are prepared to accept repetitive meals, and be prepared to be rushed at the end of the day prior to the evening meal. Considering how much we paid, I would have expected consistently good hotels and food above average. Having said that Japan is a wonderful country and worth visiting.

Enjoyed this holiday very much. But I've been quite unwell since I got home.

overall lovely holiday and tour of Japan and I would use company again.
three main issues -
the tour size group was 28 in my view far too many for one tour guide despite the guide's best efforts.
she was outstanding
most of the hotels were outstanding but a couple were cramped and and some it was just impossible to get breakfast as the dining areas were just far too small compared to the number of people needing to come to breakfast
thirdly some of the restaurants chosen for the evening meal were not good while others outstanding.

this was not a cheap trip and my expectations were for a much more consistent standards in hotels restaurants and meals.
it did not seem the company was skimping more rather some poor choices

Excellent tour, well organised, brilliant guide that made everything so easy and enjoyable. The hotels were mostly good quality although some needed a bit of investment in staff training and fixtures. The only criticism we have is the talk by the farmer at the cookery demonstration- not relevant. The drivers were excellent.

A great trip maybe a bit rushed for a keen photographer in some places, otherwise a 5 star

We were expecting welcome meeting on the first evening, This didn't happen! we went straight to a restaurant for a meal after waiting for stragglers to arrive the only advice given was on the bus to our first visit.

Advice on Japan Pass should warn about including more than one passenger on the Japan Pass. QR code Generated by the App on PAPER is not Read by the Airport Scanners, even the QR on Phone is a trial to get in the right spot while holding passport with the other hand.

Breakfast was sometimes too close for lunch at noon some of our party skipped early lunches wasting food prep and products.
However occasionally we had a 7.00am start, lunch at 2.30pm then dinner 6.00pm. We had plenty of stopovers on the longer road trips but a Coffee Break mid morning built into local trips would be delightfully received.
Thanks to the efficiency of the Japanese VENDING MACHINES we got by on the Run!

Excellent mix of visits and activities well lead by guide free time came towards the end of the trip so souvenir purchases were possible.

The advice on quantity of cash to take was way over the top CC are taken in touristy places only food outlets where cash only but our trip was inclusive of all meals so cash only needed for vending machines and drinks with meals.

Excellent quality hotels some variation in room sizes sometimes difficult to find space to open suitcases. Busy times in the Hotels at Breakfast due to the number of Tourist Groups using the same hotels and leaving at the same time in the morning.

Our Shuttle Bus from our hotel to Tokyo Airport was arranged 2 hours before we needed to leave for our Flight. Therefore we had and 2 hour wait before our check-in DESK OPENED. The Transfer Ticket arrange by the TOKYO OFFICE was not transferable, we were told, so a shame to end an excellent trip with a disappointing wait before we could relax in the Business Lounge.

The group size of 25 was a good mix the programme relied on tight timings so as mentioned before the photographers were often last on the bus. The guide made rapid progress through crowded streets and locations with the group trailing behind, however time to regroup while collecting tickets before we could gain entry to the Location.

I would recommend this trip to any ambulant person there are many Changes of Altitude which taken at a steady pace is not an issue, even Snow underfoot was negotiated with care however Matsumoto Castle has Very Steep Wooden Stars and a challenge worth taking a rain check if it's crowded with other tourist but you would miss an excellent display of Black powder Musket's and Shot Manufacturing tools.

We are either side of 80 years old and enjoyed every aspect of the tour and made travelling friends on the way.

Well done Wendy Wu