Our 2024 Visit to Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka
We really enjoyed our visit to Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka Japan. Asia Highlights was the main reason it was so enjoyable. We contacted Asia Highlights with our personal requests. All our requests were well met. There were also events that Asian Highlights scheduled for us. They provided an English speaking tour guide and a dedicated driver each day in a very comfortable 7 passenger van. Asia Highlights also provided our groups with personal pick-up and transport at Haneda Airport to our Tokyo hotel. This was provided without our request. Nice touch! The hotels that were reserved for us were great. The night at a Japanese Ryokan was not what was expected - not disappointed, just not what we expected. The cherry blossoms weren't quite in bloom, but no fault of Asian Highlights. A visit to Mt. Fuji was outstanding; as it was one of the few days of our trip that it was clear in that region. The tour guide that day, "Johnny" was very knowledgeable and personable. We visited many Japanese shrines and castles. We were presented with a lot of Japanese history. Perhaps, one or two shrines and a castle or two would have been plenty for our group. The visit to the highly touted Fish Market was a bit disappointing, as there were lot of fish kiosks but not what we were expecting...lots of people trying to eat. The sushi lesson that Asia Highlights arranged was outstanding. The entire group really enjoyed that. Also, the green tea party with the Maiko was enlightening. Great tasting green tea we were able to make ourselves. Most of the group felt the visit to Kyoto was the best. It was probably because of our tour guide Gao-Lin ("William"). Not only was he knowledgable about the area and Japanese history, he was a pleasure as our tour guide. He was also our tour guide in Osaka and really made our stay there enjoyable. "William" helped adjust our sight seeing schedule due to a member of our group having to return to California on short notice. Quite helpful. We spent a day in Osaka, mostly shopping. Great place to do that. Asia Highlights was very attentive to our transportation needs. That being said, we had to ask each afternoon at the end of the day of who to expect the next day, including how to contact our driver for the next day. We were able to connect successfully each day, but it took extra effort on our part. The ride on the "bullet" train was uneventful...just a very fast train ride. Asia Highlights also provided transport from our Osaka hotel to Itami airport for a part of our group and transport for a part of the travel group from Osaka hotel Kansai airport. Overall, we were pleased with our trip to Japan. We started the planning process about one year prior. There were a few issues with communication about the actual dates, guest reservation. There were many scheduled events in three different cities. At times we were slow to get a response about our queries and clarification of the itinerary and transportation details. FYI: The WhatsApp was extremely helpful...almost a necessity. Thanks Asia Highlights. We would definitely contact Asia Highlights for any future travels to the Far East.