Reviews

Noriko our tour guide was excellent and went above and beyond

Very informative and helpful advice. Will contact me again in due course to book the flights. Felt

The best tour ever! Many cultural activities such as gold leaf with chopsticks, origami, washi paper making and a tea ceremony, make this tour even more interesting. Private coach to each destination makes for convenience and comfort during some 2 or 3 hours drive along the tour route and through the Japanese Alps. Public baths in each hotel is a welcome experience to soak those aching muscles in readiness for the next day of walking. Wearing kimonos, yukatas and slippers makes you feel you are in Japan.

What a great tour of Japan. Very interesting including many of the must see sights with a detailed explanation of the culture, and many samples of the extensive range of food.
Very well organised.

Extremely well thought-out and organised tour. Just the right mix of activity, travel, sightseeing. Excellent hotels, good meals. Our guide was excellent too - helpful, knowledgeable, responsive to requests. Especially appreciate your ability to change flights at short notice because of war in the Middle East.

We had a very enjoyable time. All the group members had many opportunities to gel with each other.

Our guide Noriko was outstanding. She was very kind, had a great sense of humour, was knowledgeable and briefed participants adequately about the intended visits to the various venues each day. She was very professional, well informed, intuitive and treated everyone with respect often accommodating small requests that arose from time to time. She enforced a disciplined approach to the day's schedule, by giving explicit instructions about reporting on time both verbally and by using a flip chart with the correct time written on it using it as a visual guide. By repeating her instructions firmly as well as in a friendly tone she ensured that the message was communicated effectively.

Considering the participants weren't school children but adults and of a mature age, she had to be flexible in her approach if some members were not particularly keen on visiting certain venues and being there full time. She didn't hesitate to offer them their preferred choice of not being present full time and having a coffee break instead, nevertheless insisting that reporting time to be adhered to for the onward journey. It was much appreciated and respected.

Frankly speaking, we all would have loved to have had the opportunity of a guided tour of Osaka, but to our disappointment that didn't happen. So could the organising committee look into it and ensure that for future participants a guided tour of Osaka is included as well and an additional night's stay becomes a part of the tour. We would also have liked to have had a few more opportunities to do a bit of shopping.

All in all, I'd recommend Wendy Wu tour to anyone seeking fun and enjoyment. For this, much credit goes to our guide Noriko. The tour company provided very clear instructions and information to intended customers about all aspects of the tour which was very helpful.

We had a fantastic time - we arrived in Tokyo after spending 3 days in Hong Kong and met up with the group. The meal at the Tokyo Bay Shiomi Prince Hotel that evening was horrible - the chicken legs were undercooked and several people had to send their food back to the kitchen. However, after that meal everything was fantastic. Our guide was Hiro who was excellent. We saw some amazing things and Hiro was so informative and told us about so many things. Mount Fuji and Hiroshima were particularly memorable although everywhere we went to was worth visiting. We all had lanyards with cards with our names on and on the back was a message in Japanese for us to show someone in the event we got lost - which proved invaluable during a couple of incidents when we had free time and a couple of people asked someone to contact Hiro - who went to find them. Having said that, Hiro was always checking we were all there! The coaches taking us from A to B were comfortable, so were the bullet trains. We were all issued with “whispers” with headphones so we could hear what Hiro was telling us. We specifically chose to go on this trip during the cherry blossom season - I was expecting pinker and more blossom and so, if I were to go again, I wouldn’t choose to go at the same time as the blossom as it attracts crowds of people and I don’t think it’s worth visiting when there are extra people there. Making the soba noodles was fun as well as making an origami crane - and we enjoyed the tea ceremony. The food was amazing and a real mixture - forks were always available for people who struggled with chopsticks. Some of the food we cooked ourselves. I’m not sure the Japanese had grasped some of the dietary requirements but my only request was that I didn’t have anything too spicy and the food I was served with was perfect for me. There were a lot of steps but, the brochure did warn that there were a lot of steps so I was expecting this. There was a lot of walking but, again, the brochure did warn about this and the itinerary tells you how long to expect to be on your feet. There were 26 people in our group ages ranging from 40s to 80s - we all got on really well. Now, back at home, I’ve got the task of choosing the best photos from the ones my husband and I took to have a book printed to take and show all our friends!

Fantastic trip to Japan (Jewels of Japan), great organisation, excellent tour guide and a brilliant holiday.

Wonderful holiday. We were very well looked after with two excellent guides and great destinations. The information prior to the holiday was very detailed so no unexpected surprises.

Excellent holiday. wonderful guides. fascinating country

I loved the range of activities, historical sites, beautiful gardens, natural landscapes that the tour provided. it was full on - with bullet trains, coach travel, hotel changes and food on the go but I really appreciated the easy access to sites, a good atmosphere in the group and the wide range of experiences provided.
and to go in cherry blossom season ( sakura) was an added bonus. my highlights were Kanazawa for the kenrokuen gardens, Matsumoto Castle ( amazing) and Nara , which was an amazingly stylish town with the Great Buddha Temple.

On selecting a company for our holiday Wendy Woo’s came out on top for variety, all inclusive and value for money.
When it came to booking the tour the operator was friendly knowledgeable and very helpful, we would thoroughly recommend the company

Would’ve loved to have to have spent another night or two in Osaka absolutely loved your tour and guides on the Jewels of Japan