Travel Review: Multi-Generational Family Vacation to Japan, Tokyo, Kyoto, Hakone, Food & Sake Tour, Cooking Lesson, Markets

The whole trip was amazing from the guides to the itinerary.  All of the local guides were very informative, respectful, and fun.   I should say we were not an easy group travelling with 3 generations of family members.  The guides were very flexible and allowed us to alter the daily plan if we were hungry, tired or just wanted to see something not included in the original plan.  Also, the private van service was amazing with snacks and cold beverages!  It was wonderful to have a separate guide and driver in the big cities as it really allowed us to see so much more in a short period of time.

We especially loved our driver in Kyoto who was so much fun and informative.   We were visiting during a typhoon rainstorm and our driver did not let that stop us from visiting all of the sites and more.  He took us to an authentic Japanese family restaurant where the royal family dined.  Our agent booked us an amazing ramen food tour in Tokyo with an incredible (famous) guide.  He also booked us a sake tour where we were very fortunate to have the tour guided by the owner of a brewery in business since 1675, 4th generation!  Our guide mentioned that it was extremely rare to have a tour guided by the owner as one of his last tours was with the Coppola family.   We also loved the recommendation our guide made to stay in the lovely Ryokan in Hakone.  The experience at the traditional Japanese inn with our own private hot spring bath and futons was a memory we will never forget.  The children especially loved it.

All in all we had an amazing time and hope we are able to go back to Japan again with this travel company and Zicasso planning the trip.