Tokaido Trail Traveller Reviews

I had booked both a group tour and a custom package element of the holiday. The tour itself was great, the guide was amazing and was really good value for money, especially for solo travlers. However, my custom package was not. I was only given a fixed fee for the package, my requests for more of a breakdown were ignored on multiple occasions. The package included hotel, rail extension and a airport pickup. Whilst in Japan I was given both an invoice from the hotel and the rail company and was able to calculate that after these deductions I was charged nearly £200 for the airport transfer. Even if we take into consideration some currency fluxuation, there is no way the airport transfer was this much, and a high arrangement fee of something like 20 per cent appears to have been included. I wouldn't have minded, if this would have been honestly presented to me, but I feel "done over", particularly as I had no option but to use Inside Japan for these arrangements due to the Visa requirements at the time. Furthermore, when the Visa requirements became scrapped I tried to email Inside Japan on multiple occasions to cancel at least the airport transfer, excepting that I would have to pay some part of it under the cancellation terms, but no one responded to me.

Once again I am conflicted on my score as the operator put a lot of effort into the information packs, these were excellent and really were great at pulling my proposals together at a bust time. However, I felt a shift in communication once I had paid the holiday balance. I had to chase for visa information, and when my agent was on holiday, no one responded to my emails at the generic address. Furthermore, my agent did not respond to my request to cancel the airport transfer element of the package. The holiday booking outlined that I would receive my packs in the post 2 weeks before my holiday. I had not received anything 1 week before, and when I chased my agent they initially blamed the post office until it then became apparent it hadn't been sent at all. I wonder if I hadn't of chased, would I ever have received my pack, including the necessary train voucher? Furthermore, the welcome letter outlined that someone would reach out to me before, during and after my tour to check in with me, no one did. I appreciate Inside Japan are busy, but they should prioritise those travelling on tours within 2 weeks and manage expectations better.

It was the trip and the memory of a lifetime. Japan was amazing and so clean - no rubbish really seen whilst I was there. The people were great and friendly even with my limited japanese and sometimes, their limited English. The hotels, ryokan's and service was fabulous.

Inside Japan Tours could not have been more helpful, informative and supportive for a first time lone traveller. I cannot praise this company enough. They are simply excellent. Five stars!

This was my first vacation alone and i was in a foreign country. My whole experience was great. Make sure you read the booklet they provide and mapping your subway ride to the accommodation on the day of arrival was a big help for me! My tour was mainly public transportation. One day we used taxis. I think its the best way to get around new countries. Its much better to me than riding a bus or private car around. We had one meal included in the tour. It was decent but i think i like the random places we stopped to eat at better. I realized raveling in Japan alone is much easier than i originally believed as a English speaker. I think i would mostly need help with making reservation at hotels and restaurants. So if i travel again I might do an independent tour.

Thomas was reliable and knowledgeable. The tour i choose had many stops to temples and shrines. Thomas was able to provide me with much information about every shrine we went to. Our transitions from one city to the next went seamlessly. Thomas always knew the times of the next trains and how long it would take us to get there. Many times we were lucky to catch transportation as soon as we arrived.

The tour was excellent, a really lovely introduction to Japan. Hotel accommodation was good for 2 or 3 star and a couple of hotels would be 4 star. The included dinner was excellent. The experiences were varied and interesting. Gion district walking tour was also very good with the services of a local guide.

InsideJapanTours based in Brisbane provided us with a comprehensive and interesting trip of Japan. Our tour consultant was very thorough and always returned your calls to discuss any questions. He was very knowledgeable about Japan and the tours. Tour booklet given to customers could be updated and checked for changes to accommodation or tour. He also tried to accommodate any requests and gave helpful suggestions. Our tour leader was knowledgeable, articulate and conscious of our needs and safety. He took the time to map out individual itineraries for our free day which was a huge task. He had many interesting stories to tell about Japan and his own experiences. He was able to relate to our age group as well as the younger group. He would supply us with a detailed itinerary the day before which was very helpful. He also avoided the crowds at one site by going early. His knowledge of restaurants and cafes was very helpful also and we often enjoyed ourselves when eating together.

I had an amazing time in Japan, the food was good, the scenery attractive, the people friendly and the cities really interesting places to explore.

Inside Japan were incredibly helpful, and their advice before the tour as well as the tour itself was fantastic. Our guide really did his best to make sure we all had a great time.

Our family of five could not have asked for a better planned Japanese vacation. our communications with the tour company answered all of our questions and made sure that we were totally prepared for our time in Japan. We saw such a variety of Japanese life, from cities to the rural settings and back to ultra-Tokyo. Our tour guide, Richard Farmer, was well-prepared daily for not only the information that we needed to know to appreciate what we were seeing, but also, our many transport experiences which would have confounded foreigners. Our tour guide had the times, stations, switches down to a tee. We never missed any of our connections amazingly. Even the optional activities were shared with us so that we could personalize our visit if we wanted to do something on our own. The flexibility of this plus the amiability of our travelling companions made for such an excellent experience. Our tour guide was also very accessible and demonstrated his love for Japanese culture by giving us personal insights that you wouldn't find in a book. We came home exhausted but exhilarated with our small group tour to Japan.

Richard Farmer has to be one of the best planners and communicators of any travel agency working in Japan. He seemed to not only know book knowledge but also cultural insights. He spoke and read the language and aided the group with all language barriers that we might have had if we had travelled on our own. He wove humor naturally into his presentations and brought our diverse group from two different countries in such a way that we all left as friends.

I wanted to visit Japan for my round birthday as there is a special festival called Tanabata in Japan that falls on the day of my birthday. With my friend we added to the festival experience a small guided tour followed by a self guided experience. Basically we made a round trip of the main places of the Japan's main island (Honshu). InsideJapan Tours helped us with planning, arranging a variety of experiences, accommodation, travel in Japan and guided tours. In 19 days we have seen a lot of beauty, experienced all kinds of tastes, flavors, colors, festivals, super kind people as well as repeatedly being "lost in translation". :-) We had great fun and will never forget this special summer vacation!

As I said above, InsideJapan Tours was very helpful in making this trip a success! We especially liked that they were open and flexible to accommodate and adjust according to our needs and desires. At the same time they gave us some very helpful suggestions for our trip like luggage forwarding or with regards to travel arrangements, seat reservations in trains ....

Our 9-day tour started in Tokyo and moved on from there to the beach town of Kamakura. Following that, we moved on to the hot springs resort city of Hakone, then Kyoto, and finally back to Tokyo. All the destinations had amazing experiences associated with them.

Inside Japan Tours ran a professional tour with amazing experiences. Communication was fantastic, as was our tour leader. I would not hesitate to take another tour with the company.