The Delve Deep: Japan tour was amazing! It covered a wide range of metropolitan and rural area and included lots of memorable cultural experiences!

Definitely worth if you haven’t traveled to the country before! Especially if your solo, you make great friends, learn lots and keeps you inspired.

Excellent trip…. Made it so easy to see anything and everything … excellent/ amazing tour guide Claire… would recommend to everyone

excellent trip our tour guide Claire was excellent made it super fun and enjoyable, great tour it hits most of the popular areas and the more hidden areas that not a lot of tourist visit.

All accommodations were fantastic and really high quality.

Overall a Great tour and a Great Guide which made the trip.

First off our Tour Manager Kat did an incredible job with what she had & she made 100% sure that everyone's dietary issues were catered for a well as recommendations for things to do in our free-time of which there was a lot! There were only 3 optional activities available so we had a lot of free-time to explore each place but getting to know each other though doable was still difficult. The Ryokan we stayed was run but the friendliest people and Kat was great in translating for us however it is in need of help to upkeep as wasn't a comfortable stay. We were also without our luggage for the majority of the trip which was forewarned but would prefer a longer time in Kyoto & Osaka to explore those better & have our suitcases.

The most disappointing part of this trip was the value for money. I’ve been on plenty of group tours in the past and considering the cost of this particular one, I was expecting SO much more.

The accommodation we stayed in (with the exception of 2 or 3 places) was not great; in particular the traditional Ryokan in Takayama as it was very untidy, run down and in serious need of renovations and repairs. There was black mould on the walls and ceilings, buckets up the hallways to catch leaking water, bugs and roaches crawling around, and stains all over on the blankets and floors. There’s no insulation so it’s absolutely freezing and the heaters in the room did not seem safe to use (blowing smoke, dust and sparks when you turned them on). Some of the lights in our room didn’t even work and although we communicated this with our guide, they were never replaced during our stay. The food served at breakfast (although traditional and lovely to witness) was not nice and caused my roommate and I to become quite ill. We were so looking forward to a traditional ryokan experience but unfortunately this particular one did not live up to the hype. It’s difficult to comprehend how this place was even approved by Topdeck given the state and condition it was in. On a positive note the accommodation in Kyoto and Osaka were nice. Most of the hotels had good breakfast options and were well located.

The optional activities on this tour were not even an option with nearly every single one of them being completely unavailable (such as the Mt Fuji tour, cooking classes, etc). We all selected what we wanted to do and paid cash on the first day, however we were told that night that everything was booked out. We did not receive our refunds until many days later and some of the group not even until the end of the tour (despite next to nothing being available and therefore our cash not being used?!) This was very inconvenient and confusing. I would strongly suggest Topdeck gather guest’s preferences and payment prior to the tour commencing and booking these things in beforehand or at least assist their customers in doing so, to ensure that they don’t miss out.

The tour guide Claire was quite unfriendly and unapproachable. She seemed very irritated, to the point where we felt uncomfortable asking her anything and often didn’t to avoid a rude interaction. We constantly felt rushed and pressured for time nearly everywhere we went which was difficult in popular areas due to the overwhelming crowds. She was frustrated when one of the girls was a couple of minutes late, and whilst I completely understand and respect the importance of being on time, on another occasion she made the group wait 35 minutes for a man that was late and I believe he was not given the same treatment. She raised her voice and rolled her eyes at me and a few members of the group even when we asked her simple questions such as where the nearest bathroom was, or whether or not they should buy an umbrella, etc. She would often pretend to laugh at the end of her aggressive comments, perhaps to deter us from thinking she was rude but her behaviour didn’t go unnoticed, with many people on the tour feeling the exact same way in regards to how we were being treated. We would often do our own research to prevent negative interactions with her from occurring. I often felt as if it was her job to just quickly walk us places and then leave us there. There was very limited engagement and interaction and it became quite obvious that she didn’t really want to be around us. Almost everywhere we went it felt as if she couldn’t wait to get rid of us and when we did try to approach her, it was like we were bothering her. There was no “group atmosphere” or a feeling of togetherness, which is what these tours are meant to be all about, essentially with the assistance of the guide. The only positives I can take away from the trip leader was that she was able to communicate in Japanese (which helped with the language barrier at restaurants and other places) and that she helped us walk to the train stations and informed us where to get off (however with a working phone and internet connection, these things were easily achieved when on our own as well!)

The destinations were great but there is so much more that should have been highlighted in this tour. I’m glad that I extended my trip and was able to explore a lot more of the beautiful country but unfortunately other members of the group didn’t have the same opportunity and felt as if they missed out. Overall it was poorly organised and some of the included activities were underwhelming and brief, adding to the disappointment regarding the value for money. The trip didn’t include many major attractions or highlights in some of the popular areas and we really didn’t learn much. Considering this was a ‘Delve Deep’ tour, I felt as if we weren’t immersed in the culture or history at all and our guide didn’t share a whole lot with us either. We had a lot of bursts of free time but during these moments we were usually scrambling to quickly find something to do within the given time frame and didn’t have a great deal of help with suggestions other than some links in the group chat. I suppose it would have made a difference if we had a guide that was actually willing to assist us too.

It was beneficial to be given pre-loaded Suica cards at the start of the tour as you catch a lot of public transport. The bullet trains are also an effective way to travel between each destination; although it’s worth keeping in mind for anyone planning on doing this tour that you do NOT have access to your luggage for days at a time, on multiple occasions, which was very inconvenient. This was poorly communicated prior to the trip. We were only made aware of one occasion where we wouldn’t have access to our main luggage but it turns out for almost majority of the trip you’re living out of an overnight bag while your suitcase gets transported to the next city. This was obviously doable but the constant packing and unpacking became tedious. I would suggest Topdeck properly advise travelers more about this and indicate where they’ll be without their luggage on the itinerary so that they can be better prepared and pack accordingly.

There were some enjoyable moments throughout the tour but sadly they were overshadowed by the negative components. I am so upset that it was so disappointing. I have always been the biggest advocate for group tours (with this being my 6th one) but unfortunately after this incredibly dissatisfying experience, I would honestly recommend people do their own thing when traveling to Japan and book it themselves.

Japan is an amazing place to visit. Just a shame our tour guide wasn't quite as helpful, as others I've had before.

This trip was an excellent way to see Japan for the first time. It took all the thinking out of how to get around, and the itinerary covers all the main places you’d want to see when visiting Japan.

The downsides were that almost every single optional activity wasn’t able to run because it was full/booked out, which I understand as it was peak tourist season. However, I think Topdeck should be more organised and get people to express their interest in/pay for optionals ahead of time so they can be locked in during busy travel periods. My partner and I ended up booking things that didn’t run — like a day trip to Mount Fuji — ourselves at the last minute, but it would have been more enjoyably to go as a group with the other people on our trip who also wanted to go.

There was also the matter of having to pack overnight bags for most of the trip, again due to peak season and not being able to bring our full luggage on the bullet trains. Again, this could have been communicated ahead of time so we were prepared for not having our full luggage majority of the trip.

Overall, a great experience, but be prepared to travel light and have back up options for the optional activities as they may not be possible to book with Topdeck during peak season.

31/03/2024 - Delve Deep: Japan

I LOVED JAPAN. It was honestly so incredible. The group of people I spent the 12 days with, is what made the tour for me.

Unfortunately, the Topdeck tour itself was a bit of a shambles :( ranging from the overall organisation, poor communication, very loose logistics, and all of the optional activities being cancelled.

The original tour leader had to pull out due to personal circumstances. And we were given a replacement tour leader, named Sofiane, in their absence. Sofiane was thrown under the bus to cover this tour, and to his credit he tried his best. But unfortunately, this wasn’t good enough.

All of the optional activities that were listed in the Topdeck itinerary had to be cancelled. There were a few instances at the train stations, we almost got split up as a group trying to navigate through the platforms (which was quite worrying). It wasn’t properly communicated that we would be without luggage for Kyoto (we were just told Takayama), and that we needed to prepare for that. Essentially over 1/3 of the trip without our luggage. We rushed through a few excursions in Takayama and Tokyo, which was disappointing as feel like I didn’t get the whole experience. And there was a massive lack of tour-guide knowledge and history that I felt I didn’t get about Japan. I booked the tour with the expectation to have a guide that would explain things to us. And I don't feel like I got my money's worth :(

I think I deserve compensation for what I had to deal with. As a reflection of the last minute stand-in that was Sofiane. Unfortunately it was Topdeck that put him into that position. The tour was definitely not up to the standard I expected.

great place to visit, I had a big group for style of tour but they were great. Organsation wasn't great, changes to itinary, and optionals booked out beacuse of peak season and no alternatives provided.

The trip route was good in the sense that you go to major cities etc.
I would suggest doing a lot of research beforehand about what you want to see in these cities and do a lot of planning as majority of the time is just free time on the tour and you’re not being guided around anywhere.
When you were being guided around it felt very rushed and not a great deal of info given about the places.
Wasn’t really a great emphasis on doing fun things as a whole group.
Nearly every single optional activity was not available, eg Mount Fuji day trip. It would be better if top deck asked people beforehand which activities they want to do instead of leaving it until the trip starts and everything being fully booked and everyone missing out.
The tour guide Claire was very impatient and aggressive at times. To the point where it became uncomfortable asking her anything.
The accommodation in Takayama was very run down, black mould present.
It was convenient that you had your suitcases transported so you didn’t have to carry them on the train.
Breakfast was good at some of the hotels.
The included dinner on the last night was very poor.
It was convenient to have the tour guide to follow through the train stations to get to each destination.

I don’t normally leave reviews but if you’re someone who is planning to go to Japan on a tour with Topdeck, reconsider your options. Whilst Japan itself is a great destination and for a first timer it was the perfect choice, the majority of the tour could have been done and booked by myself for a cheaper price. I was going into it thinking for the money I paid there would be a full on immersive experience (for example; educational talks, proper discussions on Japanese culture and history) but in the end it felt like a school trip. When being given 'tours' around the niche areas and markets of Japan all they did was bring us through one end to another and tell us 'Meet back here in an hour have fun'. There was no engagement and interaction and I wished that there was more time to sufficiently explore around especially Tokyo.

It was definitely a poorly organised trip and we didn’t receive any help from the tour guide with booking extra activities. If you are planning to go on this trip definitely book the Mt Fuji tour and other activities in advance as all of our options were ‘sold out’. We all had to scramble to fit in extra activities and the list that was provided only had 10 options at max. We had to pay money ahead (in cash) and for the majority of the group including myself I didn’t receive the money back until a few days before the trip ended. I would also recommend to stay a few days before and after the trip as the 12 days is simply not enough to enjoy your time without the need to rush and prepare your luggage for transfer every 2 days. We only had our suitcases 2 times as they were transferred between hotels and were expected to be returned back by the start of next morning or the end of the day was ridiculous. Considering that you only have 1-2 days in a city the majority of the group spent their night re-packing everything for the next 5 days which wasted a lot of potential to explore the Japan nightlife. This also led to the group mainly having 7/11 meals as our often lunch/late brekkie options as we spent so much time on the bullet trains to get from one place to another.

In addition, the hotel destinations excluding the final two were very disappointing for the price. In the 'traditional ryokan' listed on the site, it was an airbnb which was very run down and I even found a fair bit on mold on the roof of my bedroom. The hallways had buckets filled with water dripping and a lot of coackroaches/bugs which were noticeable on the way to breakfast.

Some of the activities were questionable. I was really frustrated to find out from the people who came to explore Japan prior to the tour that it didn't include some of the 'highlights' of Tokyo and Osaka especially. The tour doesn't bring you around the Senso-ji temple, Tokyo tower and the other key highlights that I ended up on missing out on which was quite devastating. The sake brewery I thought was hands on with tasting (like walking through a factory and given a proper talk on how its made), it ended up being that the sake testers were on the side in a fridge and you pick whichever ones you want to try.

There is so much more of Japan that should've been highlighted in this trip and I wished that it did. However overall, there should have been proper organisation and more engagement with the true highlights of Japan.

Beautiful places visited however a lot of things didn't make the trip memorable:
- Tour guide changed at the last minute and it was 30 minutes into our meeting time and we had no contact from Topdeck regarding where our Tour Guide was. Also the Tour Guide wasn't experienced with handling a large group for a long period
- given one hour notice to pay cash to the tour guide for optional extras but found out a couple of days later they were all not available
- listed on the trip page itinerary that we visit the Gion District in Kyoto but wasn't listed on the detailed itinerary that our tour guide showed us. The Gion District is a main tourist attraction in Kyoto which was disappointing to miss out on.

• The tour guide pulled out last minute, so we where all sitting waiting for 45 minutes without any info
• Replacement tour guides first ever job with Topdeck, having never done a multiple day tour before
• All the optionals got cancelled
• Random itinerary changes we didn’t get told about
• Karaoke with only 1 free drink made the end of the night the worst part of the trip due to trying to split the bill, Topdeck to cheap to shout $23 per person for unlimited drinks
••• The group of people is what made this trip good, but the tour itself was a letdown

I had a lot of fun on this trip. The country, culture and sites were all amazing. The group of people in which I went on this tour were great and I believe I have made some great friends.
We did have some small problems but not nothing to get upset about. I would recommend this trip for people wanting to have a taste of what its like in certain areas of Japan.
However I did feel rushed and when we met up at some of our meeting point, we were informed that it was free time to explore. This could of been told earlier which would of caused me to enjoy my exploring of the sites we were attending

This tour was so poorly organised it felt like a waste of money, I could have done the same thing myself but more efficiently & probably cheaper. Our tour guide was thrown into our tour with 1 hours notice & did his best but was lacking knowledge of the areas, lacked organisation & rushed a lot of the stops. Only having our suitcase every 2nd stop was ridiculous!! I don't see why the suitcases couldnt have been transferred to each stop instead of every 2nd stop, seemed like it was done to cut cost for top deck. None of the optional extras went ahead which is unacceptable, if you offer optional extras, I expect them to be available & I subsequently missed out on going to see mt fuji as a result.
Would not recommend, very dissapointed.

Japan itself was great however I struggle to see the value in this tour. Poorly organised, we were constantly rushed amongst periods of wasting time eg. not starting early enough in the morning and then having no time to stop for lunch. Almost every lunch was a 7/11 rush job. Walking tours as per the tour description were not walking tours- we were taken to the area by the guide and then given free time. Guide taught us nothing about Japan, and sometimes had inaccurate information eg. whether there was a laundry at the hotel. It didn’t feel as though we were learning about Japan, but instead just being led around by the teacher. I booked a twin room with my friend under the same booking, and at every stop they had me listed to share with someone else. This error was raised on day 1 and not resolved. Even though I shared with my friend anyway, the continuous error was unprofessional. This toured provided almost nothing that I could not have done myself

Overall a very positive experience, I had a lot of fun with all of the different experiences and got along well with the tour group. Our tour guide definitely played a major roll in the overall enjoyment of the trip, being very friendly and knowledgeable. One big issue with the trip was with the takayama experience. Whilst I believe the traditional type stay is necessary, the place was very run down with no water as the pipes froze and in some rooms no heating.

Overall the experience was great. All hotels bar one was good. I felt like I got to visit many of the bucket list locations

Could have chosen better hotels and timed the traveling between cities more efficiently.

It was a great experience to see and feel Japan at it's core. We absolutely delved deep in to Japanese culture both modern and ancient.

This was a great introduction to Japan. The trip was the perfect length of time to visit each location and see the best each location had to offer.
Tokyo - wonderful! What can I say? I recommend you add on a day or two (or more!) if you want more time to explore Tokyo in more depth. I added 3 days on. Recommend: Shinjuku, Golden Gai, Shibuya, Asakusa and Harajuku.
Takayama - a much quieter mountainous town where we stayed in a ryokan. You will be sleeping on a futon on the floor. We did so many things in Takayama it felt like a blur. Make sure you have lots of energy for the day you wake up in Takayama to travel to Hiroshima as it is a huge day of both activities and then travel.
Hiroshima - the absolute highlight of the trip for me. Beautiful weather and a totally different feel to Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto. Miyagima was perfection and is a must-see.
Osaka - more gritty and nightlife-focused place. Unfortunately, I was unwell and so couldn't take advantage of all that Osaka has to offer but I made the best of it. Osaka Castle is magical. I didn't go to Universal Studios Japan but those of the group who did go loved it.
Kyoto - absolutely loved Kyoto. We had many great things to see and do here. The only gripe is there's so much to see, and so little time! I'd recommend if you are into more traditional Japan culture to add on days at the end of your trip.
My group was friendly and everyone got along really well with each other.
The accommodation was good quality - with a mix of modern hotels and traditional ryokan (1 night).
Travel was mainly by public transport, taxis where needed, and walking. Shinkansen was a great experience. Be mindful that your larger luggage will be sent on ahead of you, so that you can easily catch trains to your next destination. This is a great solution to having to carry around a big suitcase. Just make sure you bring a decent sized backpack on your trip as you will need it to store 3 days or so worth of clothes etc.
Bring good, comfy walking shoes that you can easily take off and put back on again as there's some places you are required to take your shoes off. Bring your professional camera (if you are a more advanced photographer) or your best smartphone to take amazing photos!
Make sure you bring as much cash (yen) as you plan to spend. Cash is king in Japan. You can pay for only some things (e.g. convenience stores) with credit card. It's just easier to bring cash - especially for meals and souvenirs.

Had a good time. Katherine our tour guide was great and really helpful. Just be aware though that Japan is not very vegetarian or vegan friendly so that was a bit of challenge. Katherine however had some good recommendations and did everything she could to ensure my dietary requirements were accommodated as much as possible

Great experience, a little experience.

I had a fantastic trip leader (Marion) she did a great job with taking us from place to place on the trains. All our hotels were amazing and clean and in a good location.

Regarding where this tour takes you, it ticks all the boxes. While there could have been some rearranging with how long is spent in different places, I loved every city we travelled to. Like I said before, all of our inclusions were cancelled due to it being peak season (no excuse as I have been to many places with Topdeck during peak season and this was no issue) so we had to research and come up with our own ideas. While this worked well for me as I love a bit of freedom with travel and wasn't interested in some of the inclusions, I do feel as though the things we did in our free time could have been inclusions. There are so many opportunities for unique experiences in Japan, so making them inclusions would just be beneficial to everyone. While it was annoying we weren't informed that we would be without our suitcases for most of the trip (again, better forward planning from Topdeck is needed here - just put it in the Trip Notes!), the service of sending our luggage ahead make travel by train so much easier. Japan is a busy and crowded place, so I understand that having a typical tour experience where we get a lot of information about each city might be difficult to do, but I really missed that part of the tour because I like learning about each place I am going to. It's a great trip, but it is really up to you and your friends to make it great.

I didn't purchase anything from the tour [other than the tour itself] as the options were cancelled for us

The Japanese tour it was so much fun. It was a really good mix of culture, food and free time. I like how they gave you time to go off and do your own thing in the city for a few hours so that you could plan a trip more to your liking, and not just what their planned in the tour. Is what you were allowed to do. My tour guide Marion was funny and amazing. She really helped us with getting around, restaurant recommendations, things to do in the city if you weren’t unsure. Also a big help with us getting train tickets to get back to Tokyo after the tour, I would would have been totally lost. The one thing the was a minor problem is that Topdeck didn’t warn us before hand that our suitcases were being forwarded to other cities. As we were going by public transport, which was really fun doing all the bullet trains however, it was a little hard carrying a heavy duffel bag everywhere. I would recommend to bring a smaller rolling case like the one you can use on planes it will make such a difference not carrying that.

all good, just didn't know that all the optinal activities were canceled

I would definitely recommend this trip. Marion, our trip leader was great with giving us ideas on what to do on our free days and booking group dinners.

Topdeck’s communication can most definitely improve. It was disappointing to discover on the first day that all of the optional activities were fully booked and that really they should have been booked by traveler's in advance. TD should have communicated this in advance or in the trip notes to avoid disappointment. Additionally, there was no mention in the trip notes that we would not have access to our luggage for two lots of 3 consecutive nights meaning we needed a backpack or smaller bag for these nights. This is because, our suitcases were shipped to the different cities. Rather, the notes state you need to make sure your suitcase is less than 160cm to be able to take on the bullet trains, which we didn’t even do. Not everyone had a backpack which meant they had to go out and use their free time to find one. If TD updated the trip description and the trip notes with this information then it would have made the trip so much easier and less disappointing.

Firstly let me say that I love Topdeck and I absolutely recommend this trip. Katherine the trip leader was one of the best I’ve had - she went out of her way to make it an excellent trip for all of us.

There were some things that were pretty disappointing and some clear communication would have really helped. I was disappointed to discover on the first day (no heads up prior from TD) that most of the extra activities were cancelled or substituted out. I really wanted to do the sushi demo and the ramen making class and neither were available despite being on the itinerary. Same goes for the day trip to Mt Fuji. We also paid quite a lot of money for a “nightlife tour” in Osaka which didn’t go ahead and instead of getting refunded, we got taken out to a dinner with a budget for food/drinks that was CONSIDERABLY less than what we’d originally paid. We were all pretty bewildered at why we weren’t offered a refund. what was our money used for? Also, the trip details mentioned that to ride the bullet train we needed a suitcase within certain dimensions, which I arranged. Then whilst on the trip we were told twice that we had to go 2+ days without our suitcase and could only take a backpack/overnight bag. I had no idea this would happen (it was not in any of the pre-trip information) and only had a small backpack which couldn’t fit what I needed. Some clear communication up front would have made that so much easier for everyone.

It is extremely overpriced and badly planned. If it weren't for our guide adjusting the itinerary where possible, the tour would have been horrible. There was no warning before the trip started that there would be not just one overnight with a backpack, but the stay in Osaka would be two nights with only a backpack. We could have taken our suitcases but were advised not to. I would have prepared for this before leaving home if I'd known.

This trip will change your life for the best!

The Japan highlights tour was amazing we got to experience alot of what Japan had to offer with awesome company!

Japan was somewhere I had to visit but was unsure as to how much and what and where. Topdeck offered a taste through the highlights tour of the possibilities to see and do. The size of the group was good, 22 people meant safety in numbers in attending activities.overall I really enjoyed the trip.

Lots of great sights, and plenty of free time for seeing what appeals to you.

Great highlight of Japan. I enjoyed exploring parts of the country. Very lucky to have a great topdeck group

Made some lifelong friends!

i enjoyed everything we did, ticked off almost everything on my bucket list

Had the best time in Japan. Loved spending time in a completely different culture. Fantastic tour leader and group. Loved it!

It was everything I thought it was going to be and more. Such an amazing experience

Refer to my customer experience.

An amazing way to see Japan. Easy and informative. So much fun.

Same as top. Thought it was the same question.

good value for money for good itinerary

Japan was even more incredible than I imagined. The Japan Highlights tour allowed me to explore Japan's diversity - from the ultra-modern Tokyo, to a traditonal Ryokan in Takayama and the historical city of Kyoto.

The Japan highlights tour gave me a little bit from every part of Japan and definitely gave me the knowledge I needed to plan my next trip and figure out where my fav parts of Japan were. Can’t wait to go back to Akhibara!