7 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.

This was a five-night trip focused on nature, wildlife, rural, and agricultural places in northeastern Hokkaido. I enjoyed it very much. Zicasso's trip planner found a very good (female) guide to accompany me (traveling solo for this part of my time in Japan) through the region and I always felt safe. My trip planner was attentive to details. She was in touch with my local guide periodically. 

This part of Japan is exquisitely beautiful and I hope to return to take in still more wildlife and agricultural/rural areas. I loved all of the places we visited. My favorites were Bihoro Pass and Lake Kussharo, the village of Tsurui (near Kushiro) and the wildlife observation area at Onnenai, Lake Mashū, Shiretoko, the drive from Shiretoko to Memanbetsu Airport, and the drive from Lake Akan to Shiretoko.

We had a fabulous trip. We enjoyed every second of it. We were very pleased with the Zicasso tour company. They really listened to our preferences. They arranged wonderful guides for us and helped us craft an itinerary that suited our interests. All the hotels were excellent, as were the restaurants they recommended.