Wanting to visit Japan next year and thinking of joining a tour group. Any recommendation of reliable tour operator?
Wanting to visit Japan next year and thinking of joining a tour group. Any recommendation of reliable tour operator?
It's not that bad.. the Mrs and son did one trip and the Mrs and her father and our son did another trip on their own. There is a LOT of info available.
Seemed very easy to get train tickets, book regular hotels, go to onsens, get good food, explore parks and even go to Fuji Rock for a weekend... And all of this was done on a relatively flexible schedule.
What's your budget, and are you looking for a Tour Operator "Hongkie style" (where you'll be looked after like a raft of ducks and taken care of the moment you meet for departure at HKIA)... or just a DMC (Destination Management Company). The latter might be more focused on what you actually want to do whilst in Japan, and would typically be based in Japan.
The former you pay for a whole package which includes your flight... you may get a good deal, but may find yourself with less flexibility and be stuck with the "Chinese style" of travel (and which may or may not include a few shopping stops on the way... check your T&C). If you're OK with that, then fine.
Otherwise: book your own air ticket and/or even hotel, then contact an operator based in Japan to just handle your touring there. Question is also your budget.
Third way is to seek out local "day tours" whilst you're there, rather than a bundled package which spans days. For example I've had good experiences with food tours in Beijing, Xi'an, or Nah Trang in Vietnam. Here in Hong Kong (as with most cities around the world) these have developed quite positively over the last 3 years of Covid, and there are all sorts of niche tours on obscure things.
I've rarely had good experiences with local outbound tour groups, but that's because I'm not a fan of that traveling culture. I see much benefit in on-site assistance for a destination such as Japan on the other hand, but it's also not a country whereby one feels completely hopeless without assistance.
Ive been to Japan and never on a guided tour, everything is easy to book from HK and everything is easy to get around on with google maps, train tickets etc so easy to buy, use google translate with speaker to communicate with people that dont speak English. Easy peasy la. dont waste money on tour groups where you have to pay the tour guide tips x number of days of trip.
Japan wasn't difficult to navigate pre smart phone, all you need to know is "sumi-masen" (excuse me) random strangers will help you out, get service at a resto etc...
Package tours are the best way not to discover anything.