14 Day Best of Japan Golden Route Tour Package

Customer Reviews

• JM

  Jobelle

  · April 8th, 2025
  Let me begin my feedback on the 14-Day Best of Japan Golden Route Tour Package by saying that, overall, the experience was mixed. In hindsight, I believe I may have simply booked with the wrong local operator. While TourRadar is a reputable platform known for offering a wide range of tours, they partner with various local providers to carry out the actual itineraries and the quality of the experience can vary depending on which operator is assigned. Although the booking process through TourRadar was seamless, the delivery of the tour on the ground unfortunately fell short of my expectations. We stayed in four hotels during the tour. The hotel in Kyoto was excellent — spacious, clean, and even offered a public bath open until 2pm, which was a lovely bonus. However, the hotels in Tokyo, Kanazawa, and Osaka were all very small and quite basic. Considering the cost of the package, this felt a little underwhelming. The destinations themselves were beautiful, and I genuinely enjoyed the sightseeing. However, I found there were too many gaps in the daily itinerary. Since I didn’t want to spend extended periods sitting in the hotel, I ended up booking several additional activities on my own to make the most of the trip. These included: teamLab Planets, Tokyo Skytree, Sanrio Puroland ,Disneyland Tokyo,Kimono Experience and Tokyo Tower These extra activities cost less than what I estimate was paid as an agency fee, but they really helped fill in the empty parts of the itinerary and made the trip more fulfilling. Itinerary Concerns Although the tour was marketed as a 14-day experience, in reality, it felt more like a 9-day tour. Here’s a breakdown of the inactive days: Day 1: Hotel check-in only — no activities scheduled. Day 4: Entirely a free day — nothing organised. Day 7: No scheduled tour, even though the transfer from Tokyo to Kanazawa only takes about three hours. Day 9: No activity — just a hotel transfer. Day 14: Check-out day — no activities. So, in total, 5 out of 14 days had no planned or included activities. Considering the total cost of £5,200 for two people as it was a busy period, this felt quite excessive. After reviewing costs, I estimate that booking everything independently — including hotels, transport, and core tours — would have cost around £3,200, meaning roughly £2000 of the total went toward the agency’s booking fee. For the level of service and the number of “empty” days, that feels a bit steep. I also looked up similar itineraries on Viator, Klook, and GetYourGuide, and many were nearly identical — and often more affordable or at least similar in price without the gaps. They even have tour the next day for last minute itinerary My Advice I usually plan my own trips and have previously done 10 days in Korea, 12 days in Israel, and 14 days in New York — all DIY and tailored to how I like to travel. This time, I thought I’d try something different and book a full package where everything was arranged for me. While it was a nice idea in theory, I’ve realised that it’s just not for me, and I probably won’t book this kind of tour again. If you’re comfortable with planning and booking your own travel, I would suggest using this itinerary as a reference and arranging everything yourself. You’ll likely save a significant amount and have greater flexibility and control over your schedule. That said, if you prefer the convenience of having everything arranged for you and don’t mind paying a premium for that ease, this type of tour could still be suitable — just be aware of what you’re getting. Tour Guide Experience Most of our tour guides were great — friendly, knowledgeable, and well-organised. However, I had issues right from the first day of the tour when I struggled to get in touch with our guide due to the lack of a WhatsApp contact. Since WhatsApp is my main form of communication while travelling, this was quite inconvenient and caused some stress at the beginning. The most disappointing part of the trip was the Kyoto–Nara tour, led by a guide named Panda. She regularly left the bus without ensuring everyone had disembarked and would walk ahead at a fast pace, making it hard for the group to keep up. That day, she also changed the planned route and gave us only 30 minutes to explore Fushimi Inari Shrine, even though it took over five minutes just to walk from the bus parking area one way. As a result, we couldn’t make it back to the bus on time. One traveller in the group had mobility difficulties, yet no consideration was given to seat them near the front of the bus or offer additional support. This lack of awareness and empathy was disappointing and left a negative impression in contrast to the otherwise well-run parts of the tour.
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  Trip date: March 2025