Tailor-made Holidays in Japan Traveller Reviews

We traveled in central Japan in both cities and country, did some hiking in the mountains, and stayed in both traditional and Western/business accommodations. This was our first trip to Japan.

She was articulate, a good listener who paid attention to our particular requests, and was very timely in communicating information and helping us to develop a good itinerary based on our particular requests and scheduling constraints.

I traveled with my 77 year old mother. It was the first time either of us had been to Japan. The holiday exceeded our expectations.

She was a pleasure to work with and promptly answered all my questions. The book she provided with directions for the trip worked perfectly.

My husband and I had one of our best holidays in Japan, booked through InsideJapan Tours. They really are leading the market in providing tailored holidays at excellent value for money. We enjoyed it so much, from the food to the culture, that we’re already considering our next trip!

InsideJapan Tours were brilliant. From start to finish. Helping us to put together a holiday on a tight budget that certainly surpassed our expectations whilst we were there. I would definitely recommend this tour operator to friends/family/colleagues.

Our focus was contemporary Japanese ceramics and we found a number of independent galleries, especially in Kyoto where we viewed these, plus a couple of side trips to Mashiko (Hamada museum) and Bizen - one of the “ancient kiln sites”. But we loved Kyoto for its fascinating little shops selling paper and ideogram stamps, for Nishiki market - a highlight: street theatre! And its more modest scale & warmth - we found Tokyo a bit hard-edge, though the Kite museum (if you can find it) is fun. I’d go back in a heartbeat. We did find a disjunction between the beauty and finesse of the culture of beautiful design of objects and packaging and the urban industrial sprawl we saw between Kyoto and Osaka from the train; and the apparent poverty of some rural areas.

They provided us with a lot of useful general and specific information on our chosen venues, sorted out our accommodation, our flights and airport transfers, which we found very reassuring, plus our individual train journeys, info on the museums and galleries that were specific to our interests.

Our focus was contemporary Japanese ceramics and we found a number of independent galleries, especially in Kyoto where we viewed these, plus a couple of side trips to Mashiko (Hamada museum) and Bizen - one of the “ancient kiln sites”. But we loved Kyoto for its fascinating little shops selling paper and ideogram stamps, for Nishiki market - a highlight: street theatre! And its more modest scale & warmth - we found Tokyo a bit hard-edge, though the Kite museum (if you can find it) is fun. I’d go back in a heartbeat. We did find a disjunction between the beauty and finesse of the culture of beautiful design of objects and packaging and the urban industrial sprawl we saw between Kyoto and Osaka from the train; and the apparent poverty of some rural areas.

They provided us with a lot of useful general and specific information on our chosen venues, sorted out our accommodation, our flights and airport transfers, which we found very reassuring, plus our individual train journeys, info on the museums and galleries that were specific to our interests.

Japan is a cultural sensation and I think UK is about 20 years out of date with how we regard Japan. It is about as expensive as travelling in the UK. It's the kind of place you can keep going back to and find news things. Our children (12 & 14) were wowed by the place as were we.

Inside Japan asked us what motivated us as a family, which is the right approach. Good comm's and ideal itinerary put together. A guide for a couple of days is key.

InsideJapan tours planned an excpetional tour for us that covered the major sites, as well as some more 'off the beaten track' options. We saw a good mix of castles, shrines, temples, gardens, as well as other sites of interest. It was a great introduction to this enthralling country.

The assistance and planning beforehand was excellent and communication was always very responive and polite. The tour they made up for us was perfect for our requirements and their enthusiasm and attention made us feel valued. We are using them for another tour already and would recommend them to anyone looking to travel to Japan.

A really well laid out holiday which was spread all across Japan. Plenty of unforgettable experiences, great food and great encounters with the people of Japan.

I have used InsideJapan tours twice now and would happily use them again! They really know their stuff and will tailor a holiday for you based on your interests and budget.

This was a 2 week trip to Japan, the second trip I had booked with InsideJapan Tours. The first trip was very impressive due to the care taken with details, but the second time just did not have the same impact. Japan itself is an amazing country, and I loved being there and exploring its beauty and history for a second time. However, from start to finish with IJT, I did not feel as though I was a valued customer. Simple details that should have been included were not, which left me scrambling to figure some things out on my own. This should not have happened with the itinerary they provide. I would overwhelmingly recommend IJT for a first trip to Japan, but I would not recommend them after that. You would be better off tapping other resources and planning the trip yourself.

IJT is commendable as a resource for a first trip to Japan, but the service level seems to drop as a repeat customer. It’s frustrating because I was so impressed with them with the first trip I booked with them.

A three week holiday in Japan isn't long enough to see everything, but we did see some highlights and some wonderful places.

We travelled to Japan using InsideJapan as our tour operator. We normally travel completely independently but decide that Japan was a challenge to far for us. InsideJapan provide the tailor made tour for us so that we could be independent by with back up from their Japanese team. This was so successful we are now considering choosing them to organise our Vietnamese holiday.