Japan Trip Review: Tokyo, Hakone, Nara, Hiroshima, Itsukushima Shrine, Ryokan, Go-Karting, 2-Week Vacation

Review by traveler

Whitney S.

2.27.2023

General Info

Traveler Review

Which Country (Countries) did you visit on this trip?

Japan

Your overall comments on the trip and the travel company:

Alex and the travel agency were an absolute pleasure to work with! Extremely responsive both in terms of responding quickly, but (perhaps more importantly) being flexible and customizing trip to our unique requests.
For our trip we had 4 adults in our 30s traveling for 2 weeks. The hotels we stayed in throughout the trip were all very nice. We requested a busy trip to see as much as we can, and that was absolutely delivered.

We've traveled fairly broadly and would definitely put Japan at the top of the list to return to. Nicest people we've ever experienced!
The history and beauty of Japan cannot be oversold. My only regret is not having more time to enjoy a longer trip!

What were the most enjoyable or memorable parts of your trip?

We loved Go-Karting the streets of Tokyo. So much fun!! We also enjoyed the Otter and Owl cafes for a unique experience you definitely couldn't get in the States.
Hakone was so relaxing and we absolutely loved our ryokan. Wish we'd had more time we could have spent there! Tokyo hotel also very nice-- good location and nice breakfast options.
We had great, very kind tour guides throughout, but we especially loved our Tokyo guide.
Nara was outstanding! Unexpectedly beautiful + wonderful guide.
Glad we did a train stop to enjoy Himeji-Jo. Gorgeous castle and likely that it felt more 'authentic' than Osaka's.
Hiroshima was very moving. Glad we had a chance to visit. Itsukushima shrine day-trip from Hiroshima was one of our favorite shrines and just beautiful with lots of fun shops nearby for good tourtist-ing.
Throughout the trip the different Gardens throughout were a surprise highlight. Absolutely stunning. Wish we'd had time to explore more of them!

If you could take your trip again, what would you do differently?

We requested a jam packed trip, visiting lots of different cities to see as much of Japan as we could in 2 weeks. If we could do it again, we'd probably visit less cities and see more of each one. We switched hotels almost every other night and that felt a little stressful-- esp in areas where we needed to ship our luggage ahead.
We'd skip the day trip to Kobe. Unfortunately, the sake brewery would not give us a real tour (Covid), so we felt like we wasted a whole day and a lot of time in the car for basically a tasting.
We selected to go to Shirakawa-Go and Gokyama to see the UNESCO World Heritage villages. They were interesting, but probably not worth the time.
Wish we'd had time to see Matsumoto Castle.

Photos

Japan Trip Review: Tokyo, Hakone, Nara, Hiroshima, Itsukushima Shrine, Ryokan, Go-Karting, 2-Week Vacation

General Info

Which Country (Countries) did you visit on this trip?

Your overall comments on the trip and the travel company:

What were the most enjoyable or memorable parts of your trip?

If you could take your trip again, what would you do differently?

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