Japan travel

I’ve been to Japan once - on a Gate 1 tour. I’ve decided to go back this year.

I travel solo and I’ve decided that another tour is the way to go. I looked at Inside Japan, Samurai, Gate 1, Odysseys Unlimited, OAT and Road Scholar.

In the end, I booked this Road Scholar tour. It’s more unusual stops and includes Hiroshima, which is a must for me. It’s a smaller group as well. It was not the least-expensive tour I considered but I liked the itinerary.

https://www.roadscholar.org/find-an-adventure/19724/Japan-An-Exploration-of-History-Culture-and-Society/reviews/

I traveled solo to Yokohama and then took a cruise from Yokohama to Seoul.

There were some mistakes made as well as some glitches but it was all good. Would love to go back another time.

You say that you and friend are well traveled. I think that you can do it on your own.

We did a self guided tour with Inside Japan, and it was great. We visited Kanazawa, Shirakawago, Takayama, Tsumago, Magome, Narai, Kamikochi, Matsumoto, and on to Tokyo. The route was customisable, and the consultant was able to advise a sensible route, considering transport connections. inside Japan booked all accommodation, train and bus tickets where possible, day tours and activities that we chose with their advice and provided information on what to see in each place.
We stayed in some very nice traditional accommodation, mixed with more modern hotels according to our choice and had some traditional meals included.
All of the arrangements went like clockwork, and support was available in Japan if required.
I’d definitely recommend inside Japan, particularly if you would like to do a trip away from the main tourist route.

Well, for a first trip after 70, I definitely needed guides.
For a second trip, I might consider local guides, walks, as needed.

While I have not used Road Scholar in Japan, Ihave jo8ned Road Scholar on six trips on three continents and am signed up for three more. So do consider the other RS. Their programs include free time to explore as you wish and bespoke experiences I could not get on my own!

We did private guides. But I was impressed with a Gate 1 trip we ran into several times. One advantage of Road Scholaris the peer group….58 to90.

We love Gate 1 Travel and Road Scholar.
We did Japan with an 8 day pre-cruise (Tokyo, Nikko, Kamakura, Kyoto and Nara), then we took a cruise with 5 ports in Japan, one in China, two in Taiwan ended in Hong Kong (fantastic cruise).

The pre-cruise, we used local tour companies, it was in 2015 and don't remember name. One tour to Nara and Kyoto was a three night tour with the high speed train.

My DH and I also used Inside Japan to help us plan an independent trip this past October. Like the poster above, it went like clockwork. I do agree, that with a little effort, you can plan and travel on your own.

I traveled independently in Japan about 10 years ago. I was in my latish 60s at the time. I traveled with a friend most of the time but also stayed a few extra days in Tokyo and did day trips solo. It was much easier than I expected. People were amazingly helpful, sometimes walking blocks out of their way to get us to where we were headed. There were signs in English in train and subway stations and many other places. Most people I encountered could recognize the name of a street or sight written in English even if they didn't identify as speaking English. For planning, in addition to guidebooks and the internet, I was able to consult with a number of people I knew who had lived or traveled in Japan.

I took a guided tour (Classic Japan) with Inside Japan in November and also had 7 additional days on my own where I used them to make the arrangements (additional nights in Tokyo and a trip to Kanazawa). I was really pleased with the arrangements they made for me. When I arrived at my hotel in Tokyo, I was provided with my train tickets for my extension and my IC card). I also enjoyed my group tour. It was a little different from other group tours that I have taken in that nearly all of the transportation between locations used public transportation rather than a coach. We had a great group of 14. The only negative for me was I wish that they had used local guides for some of the places we visited as I think it would have been nice to hear from some local experts. We were supposed to have a local guide in Kyoto but they canceled at the last minute for a health issue. Our tour leader did a good job filling in, but I think we missed some of the local flavor. For my extension to Kanazawa, Inside Japan suggested some activities and booked my hotel, train tickets, a half day private guide (she was excellent), and a sake tasting.

Japan is fairly easy to travel around on your own. If you want some help with planning and booking, I would recommend Inside Japan.

When I was planning, I found this trip report from Vandrabrud (a forum member) extremely helpful. She used Inside Japan to arrange independent travel.

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/beyond-europe/first-trip-to-japan-trip-report

My husband and I have a rough trip outlines for Japan, and are looking for a company who can help book accommodations, travel inside Japan, some guided tours, as well as make some suggestions. Inside Japan has been mentioned several times. Are they located in Colorado, website, insidejapantours.com? We used Rick Steve's book in Portugal to plan our trip and wish he had one for Japan also! Thanks

I've been twice. It was surprisingly easy both times if you prepare using quality guide books and travel articles, such as this, Travel 101 - Your Guide to Tokyo. The prepaid IC (debit) cards, such as Suica and Pasmo, make purchases on the subways and many stores very easy. Wonderful place, wonderful people.

I've been to Japan a few times. Never with a tour.

My most recent trip was with my partner, who had never been and was in his mid 70s at the time.

We planned our own trip, visiting only Tokyo, Kyoto, Kanazawa, and one night in a ryokan with a private onsen bath. I did my research using a couple of guidebooks and one online travel forum. It was my partners first trip to Asia and we had a spectacular and pretty relaxed time--bout three weeks, taking things very slowly.

There is no need to take a tour if you refer to travel independently. You can find guides in each city, and there is a program, GoodWillGuides, where you meet a local volunteer who will take you around for the day on an itinerary that you can plan, or you can leave to them.these are often local retired persons who enjoy meeting foreigners...it's free; you pay only for the lunch you have with your guide.

https://www.japan.travel/en/plan/list-of-volunteer-guides/

We also took a food tour in Tokyo with Yukari Sakamoto, the well known Japanese-American author of FOOD SAKE TOKYO and other publications. Recommended!

https://foodsaketokyo.com/about/

Another highlight was a baseball game at the Tokyo Dome....fantastic even if you care nothing about the game.
I highly recommend attending a game if you are anywhere in Japan during baseball season.

This is the ryokan where we spent one night; sleeping on tatami mats and eating Japanese meals....memorable!
This is a fabulous site for choosing a ryokan stay: THE RYOKAN COLLECTION.

https://www.kayotei.jp/english/

I just got back from a self guided trip to Japan. I used Inside Japan for the arrangements and have nothing but good things to say about them. They have an office in Colorado; that’s where my consultant was located. Their website is insidejapantours.com.

If anyone has any more questions, I would suggest creating a new post.

Hi Pam,
Eks mentions besboro upthread. I will now throw a curve ball for you and your friend.
There used to exist in Japan a rare homestay program called 'PTP' (ie people to people). If memory serves, it was run by one of the major Tokyo banks. One enrolled for free months ahead, then waited to see whether they'd been accepted to stay with a local family.
I do not know whether that program still exists but it might be of interest for those curious to see private Japan well off the trodden path. The expectation was that the Japanese families would learn more English from their time spent with you.
Strike!
I am done. the alternatives