Review

Covered a good range of locations. Frequently frustrated that we didn\'t have more time in places but that\'s the nature of that kind of tour and we\'re planning to go back to particular areas. Finishing in Kyoto didn\'t feel like the ideal as the number of tourists left us feeling jaded and there was a level of overlap in the geiko/temple areas we visited with other towns. But in general a great introduction to the region.

Use of Japanese-style hotels added an extra cultural experience. We particularly liked the hotel in Hakone, which had a lovely feel. As we were a small group I thought we might have stayed in smaller ryokan hotels here and there, but equally I was quite happy with the facilities on offer in the large ones. I was surprised that many hotels didn\'t have a restaurant open for evening meals. There were times when we were tired where we would have happily stayed in to eat rather than have to go an find somewhere ourselves.

Assuming you mean the food provided as part of the trip, I think it was all pretty good. Some of the guides made better choices (in my opinion) than others, but they were all fine. The Hindu person on our tour had a few problems with her dietary requirements, so I\'m glad we were willing to eat anything!

Variable. We all loved Yuriko in Tokyo, who was exceptional, and were underwhelmed by William in Takayama, who didn\'t seem to care very much. The others were all good, attentive, well-organised. The guy in Hiroshima was unusual in that he was quite outspoken in his opinions. This started out quite refreshing but as he was quite negative in general it did become a little wearing.

All seemed thorough and informative.

In general it was all very smooth and we knew what to expect. There was a sense of the guides not always having the same information (or understanding) from Samurai, as we got told different things about arrangements a couple of times. Case in point being the subway charge cards, which different guides seemed to think were either ours to keep or to be returned to Samurai, and which we could have used more in Kyoto.

I was very happy to use public transportation rather than hopping on and off a tour bus as it makes the experience far more \"real\". Everything worked well. Japanese public transport is a revelation!