Reviews

We were so lucky with the cherry blossom and a cloudless Mount Fuji but Wendy Wu did the rest. Our guide, Emico, was superb and the places we visited were fascinating and informative.
I’m ready to book my next holiday with Wendy Wu.

Great trip well worth the money.places visited where great.the cherry blossom was superb to see.the food was great.

Such an amazing tour of Japan with a fantastic guide.

Bullet trains, castles, cherry blossom 🌸 , shrines, temples, cities, coast and countryside. We really did see it all! Great experiences from fan painting to sushi making, carving sake cups and Japanese calligraphy.

What a wonderful adventure with a super group of fellow travellers.

We had a fantastic time - we arrived in Tokyo after spending 3 days in Hong Kong and met up with the group. The meal at the Tokyo Bay Shiomi Prince Hotel that evening was horrible - the chicken legs were undercooked and several people had to send their food back to the kitchen. However, after that meal everything was fantastic. Our guide was Hiro who was excellent. We saw some amazing things and Hiro was so informative and told us about so many things. Mount Fuji and Hiroshima were particularly memorable although everywhere we went to was worth visiting. We all had lanyards with cards with our names on and on the back was a message in Japanese for us to show someone in the event we got lost - which proved invaluable during a couple of incidents when we had free time and a couple of people asked someone to contact Hiro - who went to find them. Having said that, Hiro was always checking we were all there! The coaches taking us from A to B were comfortable, so were the bullet trains. We were all issued with “whispers” with headphones so we could hear what Hiro was telling us. We specifically chose to go on this trip during the cherry blossom season - I was expecting pinker and more blossom and so, if I were to go again, I wouldn’t choose to go at the same time as the blossom as it attracts crowds of people and I don’t think it’s worth visiting when there are extra people there. Making the soba noodles was fun as well as making an origami crane - and we enjoyed the tea ceremony. The food was amazing and a real mixture - forks were always available for people who struggled with chopsticks. Some of the food we cooked ourselves. I’m not sure the Japanese had grasped some of the dietary requirements but my only request was that I didn’t have anything too spicy and the food I was served with was perfect for me. There were a lot of steps but, the brochure did warn that there were a lot of steps so I was expecting this. There was a lot of walking but, again, the brochure did warn about this and the itinerary tells you how long to expect to be on your feet. There were 26 people in our group ages ranging from 40s to 80s - we all got on really well. Now, back at home, I’ve got the task of choosing the best photos from the ones my husband and I took to have a book printed to take and show all our friends!

I loved the range of activities, historical sites, beautiful gardens, natural landscapes that the tour provided. it was full on - with bullet trains, coach travel, hotel changes and food on the go but I really appreciated the easy access to sites, a good atmosphere in the group and the wide range of experiences provided.
and to go in cherry blossom season ( sakura) was an added bonus. my highlights were Kanazawa for the kenrokuen gardens, Matsumoto Castle ( amazing) and Nara , which was an amazingly stylish town with the Great Buddha Temple.

Sixteen days of exciting cultural experiences and exploring some of the most impressive natural beauty that Japan has to offer, including the magnificent Mt Fuji. It was cherry blossom season and, where they were out in full bloom, the views were breathtaking. Our guide was congenital and caring. Very calm. He shared historical information as well as educating us on the current customs of Japan. It was both fascinating and fun!

This was an extremely expensive holiday for what we got. We paid over £16,000 for 2 people for 15 days. Accommodation in Japan is not expensive and although the hotels were 3-4 stars and very nice, they did not have a bar or social lounge to relax in for us and chat to the others on our trip that we had met. None of the hotels were located in the centre of the towns that you could walk to a bar or explore either. Therefore we were off to our rooms at 8pm because the hotel restaurant would close at 8 or 9pm. In particular, the Hotel in Tokyo was badly located, very disappointing when we had 3 nights here and a free day! We chose Wendy Wu as we travelled with them in 2010 to China and had a fantastic trip and they were the only tour company that covered ALL meals. Not knowing the language we didn't want to try finding restaurants to eat and try to work out what the local food was. Having been to all the main towns many places are written in an English version or you can use a translater app. Having 3 meals a day was too much. The food was very similar, raw fish, 1 tempura prawn 2 veg tempura, rice, not many noodle dishes Ramen style. miso soup, some beef in a hot pot you cooked yourself. We wanted to experience Japanese meals, but 30 meals was just too much! If they cut out the lunch meal it would have been perfect as most of us left a lot of it, this would then allow more time at the temples, shrines, shops etc. Most of us just fancied a coffee and cake for lunch or even a burger!
Our guide was trully lovely, Chiyami, she was fun, knowledgeable and looked after our every need. If you have a food allergy you will struggle, not many restaurants cater. So a tour with less meals would be your option. We all thought the cherry blossom was a disappointment after all the hype in advertising. We were there in the height of blossom but the tours do not take you to the famous sights and most of it is white blossom. The UK have far more blossom!
Japan is a wonderful, safe country and the people have to be the nicest nation in the world. So care free, relaxed and all so friendly and helpful, despite the issues above we enjoyed the sights and the people we met.

We had a wonderful time in Japan where everything was taken care off and were especially lucky to have the fabulous guide Kay who made it even more special. We had one day of surprise snow followed by sunny warm weather what an experience. Got to see some cherry blossom on our travels. First time joining a group but what a fab group they were. Very happy.

Wonderful timing with cherry blossom time in full bloom and no clouds around Mount Fuji. The mixture of venues and experiences in the tour wasn’t bad either.

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.

Wow! Fabulous tour with the perfect guide! A great itinerary and we were blessed with great weather and the best of the cherry blossom but it was our guide, Kiki, who made the tour perfect with her knowledge, insights and the care she showed our group. Thank you all!

All the major sites I wanted to visit were covered, the cherry blossom was at its best and breath-taking, our guide, Take, was brilliant and, as ever with Wendy Wu, the organisation and attention to detail were exceptional. With all meals and entries costs included, as well as hotels, guide, international travel, additional experiences, coach and driver, train and boat trips, my only expenditure was on gifts and the occasional ice cream! The programme was busy and interesting, with no time wasted but enough unscheduled time to keep up with diary writing, camera charging and sleep! My 6th Wendy Wu tour with two more already booked. You are the best! Many thanks.

We had a fabulous time, and we were really lucky to catch the cherry blossom at its peak in Kanazawa. Very informative and well organised guide, and generally well paced itinerary.

This is a fantastic tour itinerary for the first timer to Japan. All meals are included and our tour guide Miko was fantastic. Best one ever.
This was our 4th Wendy Wu tour and we just love the attention to detail on these holidays. This Japan holiday was booked in 2019 but due to Covid only went ahead this year. Worth waiting for. The cherry blossom was exceptional.

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.