Reviews

A wonderful trip to Japan, This was a great way to experience Japan. The food, iconic places, culture. It was a busy agenda with so many new experiences. An open mind and good fitness is required to get the most from this holiday.

Fantastic experience. This tour had a variety of activities and covered a lot of places. There was a mix of local and western meals and the hotels used were of a good standard. Our guide (Michiko Doi) was excellent. She was knowledgable, spoke very good english, had a sense of humour and was passionate about Japan. She worked extremly hard to meet everyone's needs and made our trip. I would recommend this tour.

We have just returned from an excellent trip, Japan Uncovered. Blessed by outstanding weather, and in cherry blossom season this trip covered all the major sites that we most wanted to see in Japan. Our guide, Mina, was fabulous. Patient, knowledgeable and with a great sense of humour. Her English was excellent. Our group of 27 included English, Irish and Australian participants. A few of us had food requests and allergies which Mina took time to understand and to ensure that the restaurants were aware of.
Before embarking on a trip such as this though, I would urge people to do their homework. This is a trip designed to cover as many peoples interests as possible. Therefore, there will be occasions when you like certain activities more than others. This is not a personalised trip. This also applies to the food. Sometimes you will eat at fairly high end restaurants and sometimes the equivalent of a cafe. The food is predominantly Japanese because that is what people eat in Japan! I am not a huge fan of Japanese food but I tried everything and I was never hungry. The days are long and there is often quite a bit of walking. So when it is stated that a good level of fitness is required, that is what they mean. On the first day we walked over 20,000 steps as well as travelling by coach and boat; and recovering from jet lag. English is not widely spoken but with a smile and a sense of humour most things can be communicated. We were happy with all of the hotels that we stayed in but Japanese hotel rooms tend to be small and rather warm. There often isn’t a bar to relax in, in the evenings but the vending machines are excellent.
We will definitely be keeping our eyes peeled for other Wendy Wu tours but I think that this one will be hard to beat both in terms of cost and the amount of Japan that we were able to see. Just a couple of thousand photos to go through now.

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!

Reasonable amount of data online, but then Hanna so helpful and patient while answering queries and sorting options - and eventually getting us booked up. Can't wait!

It was amazing. Our courier Akiko was so helpful , nothing was too much trouble.

The tour was excellent from the beginning when it was first organised to the food and trips with our brilliant guide. We saw temples and shrines and learnt the history relating to them. We saw beautiful gardens and visited local restaurants as well as exemplary hotels.
It made me think again about the people and culture of Japan.

The actual tour was excellent and better than expected. The inclusive meals were varied and gave me a true taste of Japan.
The tour guide, Akiko, was knowledgeable and helpful throughout.
My only point of concern was the flight times. The first day I arrived at the hotel too late for dinner. This was quickly covered by giving me a refund for the meal. However, the last ‘day’ myself and another woman on the tour had to leave the hotel at 3am with no breakfast. Therefore, my advice would be to check the flights available and specify your wishes.

Very good holiday and enjoyed the southern island Kyushu especially. Excellent and sympathetic leading.
Full programme and good range of restaurants.
The first full day was perhaps a little heavy on sightseeing (given jet lag) perhaps some minor relancing of intineary. But overall very godd.

A fabulous holiday from start to finish. Excellent guide and very well organised. Would highly recommend

Enjoyed the tour!! Food was a little disappointing…..whilst there was plenty- it was very repetitive and the locations not as a I would like.

Fantastic experience visiting Japan with an excellent group touring together with another really well organised Wendy Wu holiday.

Fully packed itinerary with an excellent guide Matchy. Over the 16 days we got a real feel for all the Japan highlights. Mealtimes gave us a great selection of either Japanese or western menus. Interesting to eat out at different venues. Matchy on occasion took us on the subway and through the crowded streets downtown - gave a real feel for the city. Some hotel rooms a bit on the cramped side but you're not in them long.
Good group with 26 of us: 12 Brits; 10 Aussies; 4 Kiwis. All very manageable with this size of group.

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.