10 Day Japan Itineraries

Four fellow travelers and I recently completed a customized fall tour in Japan. While there, we traveled from Tokyo to the Fuji, Kyoto, and Kanazawa areas. This was one of several tours organized for me by Zicasso agents. Although they have all been excellent, our agent was the most accommodating in terms of service and special requests. 

The Ryokan accommodation she booked for us on Lake Kawaguchiko was out-of-this-world, with a magnificent view of Mount Fuji from our balcony. 

She allowed us to leave her tour temporarily to pursue a special interest. She provided us with excellent guides in each region and arranged for them to deliver our group, which was somewhat overwhelmed by the Japanese train system, right to the door of the railway cars and have someone meet us when stepping off at the next location. She organized short-notice requests in terms of ground transport without missing a beat.

Her efficiency and response time while planning the trip were incredible, especially since I was on Canadian time and she on British. I would highly recommend her for her great skill in customizing Zicasso tours to meet your wishes and special needs.

We had a good trip overall and enjoyed all of the hotels our travel agent selected. Some of the guides, however, were not excellent. We were also surprised when the bullet train tickets delivered to our hotel were for the wrong destination. I'm so glad I checked this before we left Tokyo; the local agent was able to replace the tickets promptly, albeit not with first-class tickets. I had the unique experience of working with two Zicasso Japan specialists--this one for 12 days family time on Honshu and another for rural/nature exploring on Hokkaido. I therefore have a basis for comparison, and I can say that this agency was less careful or attentive to many details. Another example is that we did not receive a finalized itinerary with guide details before we left for Japan. That came only after I let the agency know about the train ticket problem. Also, our itinerary did not have any information in the Japanese language. This led to repeated problems with taxi drivers who didn't know where the (newish) hotel in Kyoto was. We needed that information in Japanese to facilitate transfers to and from the train station, etc. Seems like a significant oversight.

The itinerary we developed with the Zicasso' travel specialist's guidance and recommendations was great. The accommodations were excellent, except the ryokan's... they were outstanding!!! The guides and drivers were knowledgeable, helpful, informative, and fun to be with. The culture and people in Japan are amazing, as is the natural beauty and the food. The trip went smoothly. The trains were on time, comfortable and a great way to travel.

Overall, this was one of the best trips we've taken and we've traveled to more than 60 countries.