Inside Travel Group Traveller Reviews

We booked our honeymoon with Inside Japan and it was without a doubt the best trip we have ever been on. Over 2.5 weeks we visited 5 different locations, all absolutely brilliant in their own way. Our self guided itinerary was full of brilliant experiences - sumo wrestling championships, tea ceremony, kayaking, canyoning, guided tour round the Gion district, sushi breakfast. We also had plenty of time in our itinerary to relax and see the local sights. From traditional ryakons to hotel rooms on the 35th floor overlooking Tokyo, all of our accommodation was fantastic and really exceeded our expectations. Everything was so well organised for us, we didn't have to think about a thing and we could just enjoy our first trip as a married couple!! Thank you so much Inside Japan!

We received exceptional service from Inside Japan. From our first phone call, our travel consultant took the time to understand the types of holiday we like, and what we wanted from our honeymoon. She really understood this and pulled together the perfect itinerary for us. Everything was incredibly well organised with a step by step itinerary, vouchers for all of our experiences, and great guide books giving tips on each location we were visiting. We couldn't have wished for a better tour company and we are so pleased we picked Inside Japan to arrange our honeymoon - not having to think about the trip whilst we were planning The wedding was an absolute blessing!!

My mum and I went to Japan for 2 weeks. We started from Tokyo and then went to Hakone, Kyoto, Osaka and then back to Tokyo. It was so amazing! Words cannot describe how amazing it was. The food was so interesting; half the stuff we didn't know what it was but we tried everything). The bullet train was so fast! It was exciting! Tokyo was so big. 4 days wasn't enough to explore it. We first stayed in Asakusa and in our second stay Shinjuku. We both preferred Asakusa as it was a bit more quiet and our hotel was surrounded my shrines. I had no idea here was so many! The market places were astonishing! I went to Akihabara a few times as I'm a huge anime fan! So much anime!!! You can't go there for a few hours, you have to explore for like a day, there's always something new around every corner and every floor of the shops. Hakone was our favourite place. We stayed in a ryokan (traditional Japanese inn) it was beautiful! We were surrounded by the forests and next to a river. Enjoying the view on our private hotspring after a long day of exploring Hakone (including finding Mt. Fuji) I felt so content and at peace. Kyoto was suprisingly massive! Parts of it was modern and some it hasn't been touched for hundreds of years. It was amazing to explore it. Osaka was bizzare! There were so many commercial signs all bright and big and the city became more alive at night! The takoyaki was perfect! I loved everything about our trip and I'm already planning the next one!

Simona was excellent! Any questions or worries we had she put us at ease. She was very reassuring and helpful. My mum was very nervous about going as she's diabetic and had to bring her medication with her. Simona was very helpful explaining to us about what forms she had to fill in and what to do once we got to places. We couldn't of ask for a better person. When I book my next trip I'm definitely going to ask for Simona.

12 days in Japan, with both modern and ancient sights.

The value of the tour was excellent and the content was just what we were looking for.

this company is very well organised. we did not have to think of anything! I would recommend this great company.

She knew what we wanted and did everyting for us!

My son had always want to visit Japan and it is such a diffent holiday from anything we had experienced before, I researched on line a little and came across Inside Japan . A quick email was all it took to start the ball rolling. I set the budget and said what was a must see for us and the lovely Lily did the rest. The suggested itinary was just what we were looking for coming in on budget. The trip went trouble free and from the moment we received our pre travel info pack we knew we were in safe hands. We travelled independently and did our touring alone, but everything Lily has planned and booked went so smoothly and we were able to refer to our travel pack for info through the holiday. she had booked excellent guides for our first day in Tokyo and our first day in Kyoto so we could find our way around, see all the important sights and then return where we wished on the days we had nothing planned. all in all a first class company to book a great holiday in Japan with. I wouldn't consider using any other company should we return to Japan.

First class.

Our family party of three included a teenage boy and the ideal holiday was therefore going to encompass a wide range of experiences - tranquil temple gardens, neon cityscapes, cool fashion and architecture, exciting food - and Inside Japan delivered this in spades. Our itinerary took us from Askakusa in Tokyo to Kyoto to the mountain retreat of a ryokan in Hakone and back to the Shinjuku district of Tokyo. The hotels were without exception excellent, and far exceeded my expectations of what we would get on a holiday billed as 'budget'. Breakfasts were generous and delicious and included in the cost, and the ryokan gave us an opportunity to sample classical Japanese cuisine and regional specialties which we otherwise would not have tried. Travel was easy and enjoyable, whether within metropolitan Tokyo, on the Shinkansen or in the tiny mountain railways and pleasure boats of Hakone. We had private guides for a half-day in Toyko and Kyoto, who were knowledgeable, charming company and helped us see and understand sights which we wouldn't have found for ourselves. Tokyo is amazing! - like a city invented on another planet and placed on Earth to teach us what urban living could be. Clean, efficient, stunning scale and beauty, considerate polite inhabitants - and a lot more English around on public transport and in restaurants and shops than I'd imagined, which made life easy. Longing to go back and see more.

InsideJapan really set the bar for excellent, knowledgeable service and support with the trip that the consultant, Kester Wright, designed for us. From the initial enquiry, Kester was focused on what we wanted to experience during our holiday, and the itinerary and all the supporting information was tailored to help us get absolutely the most out of our trip. From the choice of hotel for our first nights in Tokyo (the Dormy Inn in Asakusa - a relaxed and very pretty part of the city, perfect for wandering and sightseeing fresh off a long flight) to the provision of travel cards and detailed schedules for the Shinkansen, advice on how to take an onsen bath and where to go to please a teenage traveller in the party - everything was well-designed and thoughtful. Visiting Hakone and staying at the ryokan was a fabulous change of pace and scenery in the middle of the trip, and gave us an opportunity to sample classical Japanese cuisine such as sashimi and regional specialities which we probably wouldn't have tried otherwise. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend the company to anyone considering a trip to Japan, and we can't wait to visit again. - See more at: https://www.insidejapantours.com/customer-reviews/independent%20travel/1004083/?scroll=1#sth

The whistlestop tour of japan gave us a taste of the country, its' culture, cuisine and traditions. While it's possible that I could have organised this trip, the tour operator (InsideJapan) made it easy and offered services such as guides and experiences that I would never have been able to arrange.

InsideJapan, the name says it all.

We were a family of four traveling for business and vacation. We all had different things we wanted to do and a restricted travel schedule. We needed to be in Tokyo and Fukuoka and out to Beijing on specific dates. We traveled southern Japan via train and got everything done.

Since we were not on an official tour, our rating for the entire holiday is because of Clint at InsideAsia Tours. We gave Clint a list of things we wanted to do (Train, rabbit island, Tokyo, Hiroshima, Kyoto, Geisha Tea Service, Tradition Japanese Inn, other food options beside fish, baseball game) and he mapped a trip that meet every need and interest with in our budget. We could not have had such a wonderful experience without him.

This was our first visit to Japan or indeed any Asian country, and we have been completely blown away. Such a beautiful country, delightful people, amazing diverse food, incredibly efficient transport, clean, a fascinating mix of traditional and new culture. We loved all the temples and shrines, the ever changing landscapes, the personal service at the ryokans, the genuine welcome everywhere we went. Japan totally exceeded our expectations and it has been almost impossible to pick out a highlight. We can't wait to go back and will take a less well travelled route next time to really get under the skin of the country as it is so easy and safe to get around. LOVED IT, LOVED IT, LOVED IT and I can't recommend Inside Japan highly enough.

Inside Japan provided a lovey brochure at the start which got me hooked in to the idea of a self guided tour. They were extremely knowledgable from first hand experience and produced an incredibly detailed and accurate itinerary to follow. This made travelling around relaxed and simple so we could just enjoy the whole experience and soak up the culture without worrying about a language barrier, travel or accommodation arrangements.

We went to Japan to attend the wedding of our son to a girl who grew up in Tokyo. There was a wedding in the states but her grand-parents could not attend so another event was scheduled for Tokyo. Before the Japanese wedding we had the pleasure of visiting the culture. We had dinner with the brides family at her mother’s house sitting on the floor. We had what was called a binto box which is a collection of small plate Japanese foods. Although our communication was far from perfect and in some cases non-existent we did have some laughs and a great time.  The wedding was wonderful with only 18 people there. With the formal stuff out of the way we hit the road. Our son and daughter-in-law traveled with us for the first three days. First stop was Kyoto. It is a city with 1600 temples (Buddhist) and shrines (Shinto). We took a bike tour of part of the city riding 12 miles in order to see as much as possible. We saw shrines, maiko (geisha trainees), old neighborhoods, and ate lunch in a noodle bar. The next day took us to Nara, Japan’s first formal capital. Here was very different and it was an on our own walking tour. After Kyoto, we were on our own. We were off to Hiroshima. This was a city that I really wanted to visit just because I felt that I had to. We went out to Miyajima Island. This is an island with lots of tradition and a Shinto Shrine beside a Buddhist Temple. When we climbed the stairs to the temple I discovered a statue of Saint Michael; a strange place for such a statue. So I asked the guide. There is a relationship between this temple and the Mont Sainte Michel monastery off the coast of France. From Miyajima it was off to the Peace Park. We went to the spot over which the bomb exploded. It was an air burst so device never hit the ground. We saw the one building that was left standing and saw the twisted steel. We went to the museum. There was a case with thousands of paper cranes in it and learned the story of the cranes. Our guide’s grand-father was a member of the civil defense unit from outside the city who responded to help. After a quick stop in Osaka we were off to Hakone to stay in a ryokan, a Japanese B&B. It was interesting. We stayed two nights but one would have been good. Last stop was Tokyo again as part of the tour. We had a guide here and went to the Imperial Garden, the fish market, ate Japanese Italian pasta made with fish, and did a little shopping. Tokyo is wonderful city and would be a great place to explore even more. This is where the story must end or you will fall asleep, if you haven’t already. Trust me for the pessimist that I am, the only part of the journey that was bad was the jet lag. Thirteen hours is a lot of time difference and it was brutal.

We had a self guide tour that included tour guides, accommodations, and train passes. This worked out well because of the days that we could start and end the tour. I would certainly use this approach and tour operator again.