Escorted tour advice

Hello,

I%26#39;ve been wanting to visit Japan for years as I%26#39;m fascinated by the country and its culture, and this year I%26#39;ll finally be able to do it. I%26#39;m currently researching my options for visiting Japan and am looking at 2 weeks in late October/early November (as the weather seems favourable at this time, and for the maple trees), departing from Heathrow. I%26#39;ve decided I want to visit Japan as part of an escorted tour, as it will be the first time I%26#39;ve travelled solo, and the first I%26#39;ve been out of Europe altogether! I would feel much more comfortable as part of a group; without all the hassle of arranging different accommodation and transport etc.

The reason I%26#39;ve decided to post this topic is to see if anyone has any advice on escorted tours in Japan. I have been looking at two in particular, the Discover Japan tour from GAP Adventures, and the Land of the Rising Sun tour from Intrepid. I am slowly starting to drive myself mad reading up on these, as I have found positive and negative reviews for both, and am not really getting anywhere in the ways of a decision! The two itineraries are:

GAP:

Day 1 Arrive Tokyo

Day 2-3 Takayama

Day 4-5 Hiroshima

Day 6-7 Nagasaki

Day 8-10 Himeji - Kyoto

Day 11-12 Mt. Fuji region - Kawaguchiko (2B,D)

Day 13 Kawaguchiko - Tokyo

Day 14 Depart Tokyo

Intrepid:

Days 1-2 Tokyo

Day 3 Nikko

Days 4-5 Hakone

Days 6-7 Takayama

Days 8-10 Hiroshima

Days 11-14 Kyoto (including Himeji)

Intrepid%26#39;s itinerary is more appealing to me, as you actually spend some time in Tokyo and there are some planned activities there, whereas with GAP Tokyo is more used as a meet-up point, which seems like a bit of a waste of time (and money) to me. Also, Nikko and Hakone look really interesting, and you spend more time in Kyoto, which is one of the main places I want to see. If I were to go with Intrepid, I would have to work out what I was doing about the return flight to Heathrow - would it be best to go from Kansai or Narita? Would it be more costly to fly into Narita, and out of Kansai, as opposed to a return ticket to %26amp; from Narita?

However mainly, if anyone has any experiences with GAP or Intrepid that would be brilliant, or any other tour companies. I have looked at Sunrise Tours but they don%26#39;t seem to do long trips i.e. 14 days covering various towns/cities.

Thanks very much!

Escorted tour advice

I%26#39;m not trying to discourage you from an escorted tour. However, it%26#39;s quite easy to get around Japan on your own. You can compose your own itinerary on your own schedule.

You will save money by flying to NRT and return from KIX or vice versa. This way, you won%26#39;t need to double back by train to your original airport.

A good resource - http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e623.html

Also cruise through previous posts on this forum.

Escorted tour advice

If you are a little adventurous and don%26#39;t mind getting frustrated a bit here and there, and most importantly, if you have traveled on your own, then forget the tour. As a visitor, the biggest fear is usually getting lost especially with public transport. Japan has one of the best public transport systems in the world with trains that are safe, clean and on-time. If you can manage transport, then the rest is relatively easy.

A very useful resource to help you plan travel times is Hyperdia. Just type in the various city names to get an idea on how to plan your itinerary. Come back with a plan and you will get many expert comments on how to tweak it.

http://www.hyperdia.com

Most people go it alone, but I can understand the appeal of a tour. I%26#39;ve not been able to find many reviews of the tours, but Intrepid has been recommended. See the links in my posting here: tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g294232-i525-k2565…

The Intrepid itinerary looks like a very nice overview. I%26#39;ve looked at their instructions on getting from the airport to the meeting point in Tokyo and it%26#39;s very straightforward. See ';Joining Point Instructions here: intrepidtravel.com/tripnotes/JST/2009-01-01 Don%26#39;t activate your Rail Pass at the airport if you will need it to get back to Narita. The Keisei line delivers you where you want to go.

You know you have to get your own JR Pass (very simple) and make an additional Local Payment of 30,000 yen?

If you can return from Kansai for not much extra money, that would be a good plan, but you can get from Kyoto to Narita in as little as four hours, using your JR Rail Pass if you still have a day on it. Trust me, by then you will be an old hand at using the rail system; transfer from the Shinkansen to the N%26#39;Ex (Narita Express) at Shinagawa, which is less confusing than the main Tokyo Station).

Many thanks for all the tips and advice, the Japan Guide site looks very useful.

With it being my first solo trip, and first time in Japan altogether, I feel for me the right choice would still be the tour, and that going it alone would be a good option for whenever I would (hopefully!) visit Japan again in the future.

Roger, thanks for the link to the Intrepid review, it does sound promising and I%26#39;m pretty sure I%26#39;m going to go with their tour. I%26#39;m currently researching flights and it%26#39;s good to know that departing from Narita would be an option if I can%26#39;t find any good deals from Kansai. I%26#39;m sure you%26#39;re right and that I%26#39;ll be confident with Japan%26#39;s rail system by the end of my trip! Yes, I%26#39;m aware of the local payment and the JR Pass requirement - I presume I would be purchasing the Ordinary 14-day pass - I just need to figure out where to buy one from. I notice that the JR Pass site says the Exchange Order must be changed into the rail pass within 3 months of issue, so I%26#39;ll have to wait a few months before purchasing?

The Interpid itinerary looks better to me, too.

You can buy the JR Pass online. Here is the link to JTB UK, one of the major travel agencies in Japan. I don%26#39;t know if they have the best price or not, but I%26#39;m sure it%26#39;s competitive:

accessjapan.co.uk/newlookJRP/japanrailpass.h…

Here is the list of stations with exchange offices:

http://www.japanrailpass.net/eng/en009.html