Review

A lot to cover in two weeks but well organized and never \"too much\". We added three \"optional\" tours and were very happy we did, especially the Nara visit!

The Shinagawa Prince Hotel is a little bit of a \"mad house\" with the number of rooms/guests they have, but probably \"typical\" for Tokyo. The rest of the lodging, and hospitality, was great, with the very best being Miyajima, Takayama, Hakone and Koyasan.

Overall the food included was very good, even though we found some of it a bit \"bland\". The best food, and hospitality, were again Miyajima (outstanding!), Takayama and Hakone

We have travelled quite a bit using private/professional guides for small (max 4 people) groups and were a little bit concerned about the frequent changes of guides. No need to be concerned! Your guides were all excellent and their attention to detail and the way they communicated with each other made the changes \"seamless\". The fact that our tour only had 4 participants also made it pretty much a \"private\" tour and the guides became our \"local friends\"!

The whole pre-tour process from first contact was very \"to the point\" and \"smooth\". Our questions and requests were dealt with in a timely and professional way. Documentation was detailed and very informative.

Overall the tour organization was top notch. There were a couple of occasions where we got \"stuck in the line\" and ended up with some long \"waiting times\". We would typically pay a bit extra for \"skip the line\" service but I don\'t know if that would be available where we got a bit \"stuck\".

The whole concept of using public transportation wherever possible was part of the attraction with the tour, and was also very effective most of the time. The key being the reliability and efficiency of public transportation in Japan! I wouldn\'t try it in North America!