Review

We were happy with the amount of visits to Shrines, Temples and other specialty tours.

Most of the lodgings were great. Clean and friendly. We felt in the Best of Japan, 8 years ago, we stayed in more family-owned Ryokans. This tour, we were in several resort-like accommodations. Maybe it\'s due to the location, but we didn\'t get the same \"hospitality\" of the smaller hotel/onsen.

Having the food already served was interesting a couple of times, but it became overwhelming for so many meals. The Ramen restaurants were a nice change. And the buffets were chaotic but interesting choices.

After the first guide left, Chiko was fabulous. She took us to fun places, explained lots of details and was an excellent, organized guide. She took the time to make sure she was answering our questions. I wish we had headsets. The headsets are so wonderful as you are roaming around and are not close enough to the guide to hear the question/answer. Also, we find most Japanese people are quiet, soft-spoken. I highly recommend headsets.

Excellent outline of the culture, what we should expect and how to act properly in Japan.

It appeared that all tickets were purchased, hotels reserved and everything was organized very well.

We would have preferred taking our carry-on bag on the train and using lockers. We found the overnight bag became too heavy, so you would leave out a sweater, walking stick, etc. Then, we would wish we had these items. Either take our bags, or use an overnight service for the luggage. I would have liked to wash clothes, but I didn\'t want to drag my dirty clothes in the overnight bag making it heavier.