Ada Huang

All of the guides were excellent and everything was well planned and coordinated. Great hotels.

Hotel Reviews

Shiba Park Hotel

Tokyo

Good location. Great buffet. But rooms are rather small.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hakone Kowakien Ten-yu

Hakone

A great experience! Nice amenities and balcony view with hot spring water was amazing. Loved the free ice cream and beverages!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Kanra Kyoto

Kyoto

Very cool rooms with ab excellent buffet.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

One Day Miyajima Island and Hiroshima Tour

Japan

Very moving museum experience. Wish we could spend more time on island.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Tokyo Highlights: A Day of Tradional & Modern Culture with Local Life

Tokyo

Nice tour of Tokyo.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Full Day Mt. Fuji and Lake Ashi Tour with Hakone Tozan Railway

Japan

Very scenic. Couldn't see Mt Fuji but I hear that is fairly typical. Interesting ride up the mountain and nice boat tour.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Full Day Osaka Castle, Shitennoji Temple, Umeda Sky Building and Shinsaibashi Tour

Osaka

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Full Day Tour of Arashiyama Bamboo Grove & Sagano Scenic Railway

Kyoto

Great tour. Wish we could have spent more time in certain places but we packed a lot in.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Kimono Tea Ceremony at Kyoto Maikoya

Kyoto

Very nice but didn't find it all that compelling.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Official Street Go-Kart Tour - Osaka Shop

Osaka

A lot of fun!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Full Day Nara Kofuku-ji, Todai-ji, and Isuien Garden Tour

Kyoto

Interesting tour but a bit repetitive from what we've done elsewhere.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Overall, our 24 day trip with our two adult children (4 people all together) to Japan was outstanding. Ada with Kimkim was exceptionally responsive in our trip preparation and spared us numerous booking details, transportation logistics, ticket purchasing and itinerary planning, while still allowing lots of flexibility for us to modify most of our days. The private tours we signed up for were all worthwhile— only 6 in 24 days, and most guides managed with fair English but were very thoughtful, attentive and responsive. JJ, Jo, Kei, Kay, Ayumi and especially David in Kanazawa were excellent. There were only a couple minor glitches; once with using the odd double ticket needed for the Shinkansen, and once when a museum on our itinerary was closed the day we were supposed to go. But we shuffled the itinerary to make it work. Kimkim took note and even reimbursed one transfer for our unused tickets.
Kimkim is a great service. Professional, exacting, customizable, responsible. Paying a bit more if any in booking fees is totally worth having an organized trip, especially in a country like Japan, spread out over a large area, with mobs of people, many travel connections, almost no English speakers, and trekking off the beaten path. We highly recommend Kimkim for any travel, long or short, comfort driven or off the beaten path.

M

Hotel Reviews

Sotetsu Fresa Inn Kyoto-Kiyomizu Gojo

kyoto

Great breakfast, service, location and accommodations

Authenticity & Character

Location

Convenient to train and walking to sites

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

The beds were excellent and attention to detail was superb all around

Taoya Kisoji

Tsumago

Luxurious! Very generous free snacks room and especially good complementary massage chairs. Memorable stay

Authenticity & Character

Location

Off the beaten path in small town but outstanding service and everything you could want coming off the Nakasendo trail.

Staff

Activity Reviews

Full Day Gokayama and Shirakawago Tour from Kanazawa

Japan

Great slice of a very different side of Japan

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

“K” Katsuhiko was so friendly, kind and helpful

Tokyo Highlights: A Day of Tradional & Modern Culture with Local Life

Tokyo

Ayumi was wonderful. The pace, sites, explanations of culture, shrines and temples were very good and thorough. She also had inside knowledge of a food place to buy Japanese knives away from some overpriced options.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Got to where we wanted to go efficiently

Full Day Mt. Fuji with Lake Kawaguchi with Oishi Park

Japan

Gorgeous setting but quite a long drive to see Mt Fugi from a distance. Fugiyoshida is a lovely setting with a beautiful park. But it was the most touristy of our excursions. Especially the boat ride.

Quality of Experience

JJ was great. Would probably select a different king of excursion

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Full Day Kyoto City Tour (Kinkaku-ji Temple, Kyoto Imperial Palace, Nijo Castle and Fushimi-Inari Taisha)

Kyoto

The heart and soul of Japanese castles and shrines to immerse you in the Shinto / Buddhist cultural icons

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Helped explain so many symbols and rituals

Full Day Miyajima Island and Memorial Park Tour

Hiroshima

Must see if you have any interest in Hiroshima history and environs, past and present.

1-Day Tour: Snow Monkeys, Zenkoji Temple & Sake in Nagano (Join-in)

Japan

On the surface it can feel touristy, but this is not a zoo. More like a National Geographic excursion to the truly phenomenal evolution of a troop of unique Macaque monkeys.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Night Tour of Kanawaza With Dinner

Kanazawa

One of the most detailed and entertaining tours we did. David was outstanding. Focused on stories more than just interesting history. Interacted with the group exceptionally and added his own fun trivia game at the end to help reinforce what we learned.

Quality of Experience

Food

Out of the way restaurant that felt like the home of a local

Guides, Drivers and Staff

See above.

Transport

We had a varied and busy 10 days. Our favorite hotel was the Ace hotel in Kyoto. We loved the Sumo wrestling academy, a highlight was dinner and spending the evening with the Maiko in Kyoto, and feeding the deer in Nara. I would recommend the “Happy Cow” app to find vegetarian restaurants. We had good guides although I feel we scheduled too many excursions and had more time driving than ideal. One guide Yasuko Nagai was really a gem. She was so knowledgeable and flexible about our itinerary. I like the personalized approach that we get with KimKim. Thank you for your service Ada. The had a great trip.

Our local specialist Ada did an amazing job right from the trip planning stage and into the execution phase. Her efficiency and attention to detail were commendable. At the conclusion of each part of our itinerary she would summarize the next activity and actions needed which we found very handy. Most memorable was day 4-- Mt. Fuji & Ryokan experience in Hakone. The pristine landscape and relaxing ambience was a welcome change after Tokyo. The guide/driver Datong san was excellent. The Ryokan provided us with a vegetarian dinner and breakfast that exceeded expectations.
Not to denigrate Tokyo, which had it's own attractions. We appreciated the efforts of guide Tomoe Koyano on day 2. The afternoon of day 3 could have been better utilized. It was aggravating to navigate ourselves from our hotel to the meeting point at Nezu station in pouring rain. I wonder why the guide couldn't meet at our hotel ? The walk through the old town was uninteresting. The guide didn't have much to contribute as we meandered through the streets!
Day 5-- Kyoto. The tea ceremony was disappointingly contrived and lacking authenticity.We were not impressed by the attitude of the host of the show.
Day 6-- We appreciated our guide Sanae Uchida on this excellent excursion.
Day 7-- A good day's trip with driver Tan san to Himeji castle. The Mt Nunobiki visit was curtailed due to rain and we just rode the cable car up and down.
Day 8--An interesting visit to Nara with the competent guide Yuki.
Day 9--Very interesting visit to Tsumago and Magome with Vincent. Disappointed having to drop hiking plan due to heavy rain.
Day 10-- Was wasteful. Not enough time for the self guided morning tour and to catch a 11.48am train. We should have been booked on a later train. Reaching Kanazawa around 3pm was a wasted afternoon there as well.
Day 11--Appreciated the Shirakawa go tour with the well informed K san.
Day 12-- Drive to the Kurobe gorge. It was disappointing not to have visited the Shomyo Falls. The guide Mike said there wasn't enough time. However, this would have been possible by spending less time at the final trolley station and the Unazuki Onsen city (where there was nothing much to do). This was the first day that the trolley resumed going to the final station. Due to ongoing construction we couldn't go anywhere outside that station. It looked like the tour guide didn't have the authority or flexibility to make these small changes that would have enhanced the experience. Your itinerary promised a "stroll through nature"--- but it was sadly lacking! It was mostly a trolley and bus ride.
A suggestion for future trips: It would be useful to know the price break up of total trip cost to each segment of the tour. This helps to put a value on the experience at each venue.

Hotel Reviews

Ryokan Aura Tachibana

Hakone

Excellent service. They specially prepared vegetarian food for us and the presentation was superb! Amazing private onsen. Great views from room.

Authenticity & Character

Blends in with it's natural surroundings

Location

Set in a picturesque location

Staff

Personal attention to detail

Cleanliness & Comfort

Couldn't ask for more.

the b asakusa

Tokyo

We stayed here on the way in to Japan and on the way out.Very conveniently located providing easy access to public transport. Room very functional despite the small size. Very friendly staff. Adequate breakfast options.

Authenticity & Character

Great location, customer friendly.

Location

.Very conveniently located providing easy access to public transport,shopping and cultural sight seeing.

Staff

Great service

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Review

Day Tour to Kurobe Gorge, Unazuki Onsen, and Shomyo Falls

Kanazawa

It was basically a long bus ride followed by a trolley ride (admittedly a beautiful scenic ride) We were not taken to the Shomyo Falls apparently due to time constraints ( not very credible). It happened to be the first day that the trolley resumed the full ride till the final station but there was nothing to do there as construction was ongoing. This time could have been better spent at Shomyo Falls or at any other scenic spot, for a stroll through nature. The halt at Unazuki Onsen wasn't worth the time. Anyway the onsen was lukewarm and unimpressive.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Friendly.

My daughter and I took a 2 week trip to Japan. We started in Tokyo. It was helpful to have a driver take us from the airport to our hotel after the long flight and not having to try to navigate by ourselves to the hotel. In Tokyo, our first day was with Motoki Watanabe, who guided us to the Tsukiji Outer Fish Market, Meiji Jingu Shrine, and Sensoji Temple among other sights and provided some information about what we were seeing. He also was flexible to alter plans as needed. One thing I found useful was navigating Tokyo subway system with his help so we could manage it the next few days. The next couple days were spent at Tokyo Disneyland and Disney Sea. Both were nice parks but if I had to pick one, it would be Disney Sea as it's totally different from other Disneyland parks. The final day in Tokyo we went to to the Ghibli Museum and explored Tokyo by ourselves.

Leaving Tokyo, we took the bullet train to Kyoto. In Kyoto, we were guided by Yoshiko Yoshida to the Bamboo Grove and Monkey Park Tour with a Boat Ride. She shared information about the area and since we had a little extra time, we went to the Kyoto Imperial Palace. The next day we were guided by Asuka Koyanagi and saw more of Kyoto going to Kinkaku-ji Temple, Nijo Castle and Fushimi-Inari Taisha. Only the last day in Kyoto navigating by ourselves, we did Samurai Ninja Museum and Kimono Tea Ceremony at Kyoto Maikoya. The Tea Ceremony was enjoyable since you learned about the ceremony while dressed in Kimonos.

From Kyoto to Osaka, we were driven by a driver and had Yukari Onishi for our guide. We stopped in Nara and visited the Todaiji Temple and Kasuga Taisha Shrine. We also fed the bowing deer. In Osaka, we went to the Aquarium, which my daughter found really cool since we saw a couple whale sharks. We also did a Sushi class, which was enjoyable even though my daughter really doesn't like fish.

Overall, the experience was a good one and would look to do again. All the guides spoke good English, willing to change things up if needed, and provided information about the areas that we visited. Most texted us the day before about the pickup for the tours. The hotels were all nice and provided breakfast in the mornings. Having the Kimkim app download on a phone is helpful so you can get any updates to the itinerary.

Our 9-day trip to Japan was a whirlwind of last-minute planning, an ambitious schedule and special requests from our teens and we wouldn’t have made it without Ada and KimKim. They were our itinerary’s guiding light, wizards at scheduling and key factors in crafting the amazing adventure we just completed.

In mid-June, I started looking into Japan travel options, planning to leave the last week of June. I put together a rough itinerary and sent it to some travel groups to get thoughts on feasibility, additional options, and if they could help us coordinate things on the ground. Our family didn’t want a group tour and Ada, first to reply with a response that was professional and friendly, seemed to get that right away. She was always available for late-night or early-morning itinerary reviews, answered every question we had, made changes on the spot and never once mentioned how last-minute everything was.

Ada’s experience was clear, and I felt completely confident with her scheduling and suggestions throughout.

We left New York with a packed itinerary, tickets downloaded and easy access to everything we needed for the trip. Every part of the trip went exactly as planned, with drivers (and mini-vans), guides and all our bookings all uniformly excellent. The guides and drivers were always early, friendly, flexible and organized. On our first day in Tokyo, our guide patiently explained the city’s huge subway system—from buying tickets to reading the map and picking our seats - our kids felt confident enough to travel the subway solo the next afternoon.
One of our favorite guides was Yuki in Kyoto who maintained group calm and orchestrated a wonderful day despite heat, crowds and drooping family members. All guides spoke great English and were informative and hands-on without being overbearing.

Throughout the trip, Ada and her team were available and we felt supported every step of the way.

Now back in Brooklyn, our family of four gives Ada and KimKim 5 stars and would recommend them to anyone wherever they are in their planning journey.

All of the guides were very helpful and knowledgeable. They didn’t just give us a tour, but assisted with our planning and came up with suggestions that would work better. They were all very enthusiastic and loved what they do. Kimkim did an amazing job helping us plan our first trip to Japan.

Hotel Reviews

The Knot Tokyo Shinjuku

Tokyo

Authenticity & Character

Location

Good central location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hakone Yumoto Onsen Tsuki no Yado Sara

Hakone

Authenticity & Character

Very authentic; amazing location next to river

Location

Great location, close to station

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hiroshima Tokyu REI Hotel

Hiroshima

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Park Hotel Kyoto

Kyoto

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Nikko Narita

Narita

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Enjoy Temples & Bamboo Grove in Kyoto

Kyoto

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Tokyo Discovery: From Traditional Landmarks to Akihabara’s Anime Haven

Tokyo

Appreciated guide taking us to viewpoints and some areas not specified (e.g. Gojira head)

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Guide was super helpful in teaching us the subway system so that we could do it on our own later

Full Day Hakone and Lake Ashi Tour with Hakone Tozan Railway

Japan

Very authentic experiences; liked variety of a smaller town

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

1-Day Tour: Port City Kure - Cruise, Battleships, Submarines & More!

Hiroshima

Our guide was extremely knowledgeable

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

One Day Miyajima Island and Hiroshima Tour

Japan

Our guide was so helpful and knew how to adjust our activities due to the weather and timing of our next locations.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Nara Day Tour from Kyoto

Kyoto

Our guide was so helpful and knew how to adjust our activities due to the weather and timing of our next locations. She also helped us find the information we needed to make sure our departure was smooth without us asking. She voluntarily helped us plan ahead.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

I've used kimkim in the past for a trip with my best friend. This time I decided to use their services for a trip with my sister. Overall, the trip featured all the aspects we wanted to touch on on our trip. Every guide we had was great and the trip was paced out well. You can't really escape from walking too much in Japan but even with all the walking, we enjoyed the pace and all the activities. It's definitely pricier to experience Japan this way but since it was our first time, we wanted it to be hassle free so it was very convenient to have everything booked for us and to just enjoy the trip. The few times we had to get to places on our own, the instructions were clear and I knew my specialist was not far away if I needed them. I will definitely visit Japan again and may consider using Kimkim for it but perhaps be even more particular about where I want to go so that it would be most beneficial to pay for a service to plan for it.

Hotel Reviews

The Knot Tokyo Shinjuku

Tokyo

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hakone Kowakien TEN-YU

Hakone

Would definitely visit again - location was stunning and food was amazing

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Forza Osaka Kitahama

Osaka

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

It was clean and comfortable but our window faced a wall which was kinda sad.

Richmond Hotel Premier Kyoto Ekimae

Kyoto

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Full Day Mt. Fuji with Lake Kawaguchi with Oishi Park

Japan

Got lucky and could see mt Fuji

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Driver was great- she was super helpful, patient and overall just a great driver.

Transport

Enjoy Temples & Bamboo Grove in Kyoto

Kyoto

Asuka was our guide and she was awesome!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Osaka Local Foodie Tour in Dotonbori and Shinsekai

Japan

Food was great and filling, our guide was awesome.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Kimono Tea Ceremony at Kyoto Maikoya

Kyoto

So much fun! Learned a lot too.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Tokyo Highlights: A Day of Tradional & Modern Culture with Local Life

Tokyo

Our guide was Yoshi and he was awesome

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Yoshi! Highly recommend

Transport

We took public transit and it was a good experience

Sushi & Home Cooking Class from Market to Table near Asakusa

Tokyo

One of my favorite parts of my trip. Alice was our guide and she was a lot of fun. Learned a lot and made the best sushi. Would love to have another class with her in future.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Ada was very prompt in answering our emails. She also provided excellent pre-tour information that helped us a great deal with our planning. The information we requested always came quickly. She understood very well what we were interested in and planned our entire tour accordingly. We were very satisfied with her arrangements. The hotel in Tokyo was great. It offered a great breakfast buffet and it was near shopping and restaurants. In Kyoto, the hotel was also very nice and near shopping and restaurants, but unfortunately the breakfast buffet was mediocre and none of the staff spoke English, so it was very difficult to ask for things. We think the staff did not even speak much Japanese. It is a restaurant run by Vietnamese staff, so communication was very hard. The hotel in Osaka was a nice hotel as well with a great breakfast buffet, very friendly staff, but not close to restaurants or shopping. We had to take a taxi to do some shopping on our last day. Fortunately, taxis in Japan are not terribly expensive. The one suggestion we would like to make is that when purchasing tickets in the bullet train from Tokyo to Kyoto, the seats need to be on the right side of the isle (ideally seats D and E) so that the tourists can have a view of Mount Fuji. Also suggesting that a snack be brought on the train would be great.
Bea was our guide in Tokyo and she was totally amazing. She was kind, patient, knowledgeable, likable, and very helpful. Even after our tour/day with her was finished, she said we could contact her at any time if we had questions. She even helped us purchase our bus tickets to DisneySea. By the way, we were super lost when leaving DisneySea at the end of the day because turns out that there are two different exits to leave the park and they both look extremely similar, especially at night in the dark. It would be very helpful to tell the tourists going to DisneySea to pay very close attention to how they get into the park and to get out the same gate in order to catch the bus back to Tokyo.
When we went to Nara, we could not find the temple to see the Buddha. We contacted our guide in Kyoto, but when we did not get a response right away, we contacted Bea because we were very hot and wanted to get help as quickly as possible. We were lucky, and Bea was able to do a video chat with us and even sent us a link so that we could locate the temple where we could see the Buddha. By the way, Jason did get back to us, but by then we had already spoken with Bea. Even after we returned home to the USA, she contacted us to make sure we were okay. What a great tour guide! Plus, it was very nice to have someone who spoke such good English.
Our guide in Kyoto and Osaka, Jason, was also very good, funny and very knowledgeable as well. He tried to be patient, but my husband was having trouble with his back and was walking very slowly, so it was difficult for him to keep up with Jason even though Jason tried to allow for it. Jason also helped us buy our train tickets to Nara. This was very helpful because not many people speak English. One suggestion would be that, if the weather is not good and it is rainy in Osaka, it is not worth it to make the long walk to the Umeda Sky Building to get a view of the cityscape. Overall, we were very happy with Ada, the hotel accommodations, the places we visited and both tour guides. We loved Japan! It was a fun and exciting trip!

Hotel Reviews

Hotel Gracery Shinjuku

Tokyo

This hotel is in a great location. Close to shopping and restaurants. The reception is on the 8th floor, the rest of the rooms are above floor 8th. The restaurant, Sizzler, is on the first floor and it offers and amazing breakfast buffet. The entrance to floors 2-7 is around the corner of the building. There are shops and even a movie theater inside the building. And if you are interested in Godzilla, this is the perfect hotel for you. They have props from some of the Godzilla movies.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Near restaurants and shopping. Super lively day and night.

Staff

Very helpful. My travel agent asked that I be placed in the lowest possible floor and I was placed in the 8th floor which was perfect for me.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Everything was very clean and comfortable. You will love the toilet :)

Daiwa Roynet Hotel Kyoto ekimae PREMIER

Kyoto

This was a nice hotel, very clean and with very friendly staff. The hotel is very close to the train station, but not knowing the layout of the "basement" coming out of the train station we decided to take a taxi. The hotel is close to shopping and restaurants, but their breakfast buffet is not the best. The staff in the restaurant does not speak English.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Close to even a Baskin Robins :)

Staff

Very friendly staff.

Cleanliness & Comfort

The room and bathroom were very clean.

Osaka Excel Hotel Tokyu

Osaka

It was a nice hotel, but you do have to switch elevators to get to the restaurant. Their breakfast buffet is excellent and the restaurant staff is very nice.

Authenticity & Character

Thins you do not see in US hotels like heaters in the elevator, trash cans that open up when you walk up to them :0 etc.

Location

It is not close to restaurants or shopping, but a taxi can take you there for about $10 dollars

Staff

Very friendly staff, especially the restaurant staff. Someone even brought me a blanket because I felt it was a little cold.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Very clean room, everything in Japan seems to be clean :) even the subway :)

Activity Reviews

Full Day Tokyo City Tour with Tsukiji Outer Fish Market

Tokyo

The visits to the gardens were very nice. Very enjoyable to see those beautifully manicured gardens and walk through them. The visit to the market was also interesting. Bea also took us to a department store called Isetan which we found super interesting, particularly the bottom floor with endless food booths. We had never seen anything like that. It was great, so different.

Quality of Experience

Everything we saw was very different from things we have seen in Europe, so it was interesting and beautiful. Everything so clean and organized. I loved it!

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Our tour guide, Bea, was absolutely the best. She was very nice, spoke great English, super friendly and patient. She helped us so much. We just loved her!

Transport

I think that on this day we took mostly taxis, which was a great way to see how this works. For example, taxi doors open on their own, you only pay what the meter indicates (the fare starts at 500 yen), you can stop a taxi just about anywhere in the street, and you do not need to tip the driver.

Kyoto's Cultural Treasures: Fushimi Inari-Taisha, Nijo Castle and Kinkaku-ji

Japan

Kyoto is a beautiful place to visit with so many temples, Torii gates, history, culture, etc. Kyoto is what we expected to see in Japan: many beautiful places such as temples, pagodas, gardens, etc. The visit to Kinkaku-ji Temple with the famous Golden Pavilion with its two floors covered in gold leaf is beautiful and impressive. The Nijo Castle is impressive and as with everything else surrounded by beautiful gardens. Finally, the visit to Fushimi-Inari Taisha with its endless torii gates. beautiful. Finding out that they all have been donated by individuals and businesses was mind boggling. Everyone going to Japan must visit Kyoto. Everything there is beautiful, you cannot take a bad picture :)

Quality of Experience

Honestly, I cannot pick out one thing. I look at my pictures and everything was amazing: the Golden Pavilion, the Nijo Castle, the Fushimi-Inari Taisha with all the torii gates, everything has its own special quality and beauty.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

We had a very knowledgeable guide, Jason. We used the subway several times and were impressed by how clean it is and how well organized and on time the trains run. People inside the cars of the subway are clean, well dressed, and quiet. Everyone is either looking at their cellphone or reading. There is no loud chatter and everyone behaves in a polite manner.

Transport

Cannot say enough about the transportation in Japan. Whether you are taking a taxi, the subway, a train, or a bullet train everything is clean and quiet. The seats in the subway are padded and comfortable! The windows are clean, no trash on the floor, and the seats in the trains are like in an airplane but comfortable, clean, and spacious. Truly an amazing transportation system. I do have to admit that our tour guides always purchased our tickets because there is no way to understand what you need to buy or how if you try to do it yourself. The instructions in the machines are all in Japanese and the ticket machines look like a station at NASA :)

Full Day City Tour with Osaka Castle

Japan

We discovered that upon getting out of the subway station, you can walk up to a little train that takes you to the castle. Taking the train is totally worth it because otherwise the walk up to the castle will completely wipe you out, especially on a warm day. I do not remember the cost of the little train ticket, but it is not too expensive.

Quality of Experience

Honestly, everything stood out. These visits are so different from what you see in Europe or Latin America that everything catches your attention.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Without the tour guide one would be lost all the time. There are very few signs in English and most people do not speak English, so it is very difficult to go places on your own. With our guide, Jason, we took mostly the subway, and without him we would not be able to do it because there are many many subway lines and it is unbelievable busy in the stations, so you cannot see where you are going. Once, during our free day, we returned from Nara to Kyoto and it took us almost 45 minutes to be able to get out of the station. Luckily, when we finally came up to the street, we were just about three blocks from our hotel, but it was not the place where we intended to come out. It is like another city down in the subway station, seriously.

Transport

Transportation is Japan is great. You can go from Kyoto to Osaka in the bullet train in just 13 minutes! They have a great transportation system, if you know where you are going, otherwise, just take a taxi. We asked the people at the hotel to write down in Japanese the name of the place where we wanted to go and we just showed that writing to the taxi driver. We never had any issues.

Our English speaking guides were very competent and personable They recommended good local restaurants. We loved the onsens and hotels that Ada booked for us. Our hotel in Kyoto had excellent breakfasts featuring local specialties.