Testimonials

The Golden Route Japan Tour Spring

5/20/2023 - 5/26/2023 / 2023-05-20   

I bought this tour as a gift to my daughter who had recently graduated college and had been studying Japanese for several years. We had never traveled overseas, so I was a little nervous about booking the whole trip. We chose the Golden Triangle Spring Tour from May 20-27. The structure of the tour and its all inclusive packaging in addition to the customer service from AJT put us at ease. This trip was INCREDIBLE and we absolutely loved seeing and experiencing all the historical sites, landscapes, festivals, shopping areas, transportation (riding the bullet train was AMAZING!), culture and food! We happened to be touring during the shrine festival which was a bonus. We loved the variety of sites and towns and that the tour included lots of walking to fully appreciate the atmosphere and balance out all of the delicious food we ate every day. We were also impressed by the quality of the hotels/lodging and their amenities. Experiencing a night in a ryokan was also fun. The Japanese people's consistent level of etiquette, customer service, cleanliness, efficiency, energy conservation, and advanced technology no matter where we went was such a refreshing change from what we experience here in the USA. I really could write for days about this trip. The last and probably the most important part of our trip was our tour guide Kenta and our bus driver. Kenta was very attentive to our tour passengers by making sure everyone was safe, chatting with tour members, and updating plans when necessary. He was well versed on all of the sites, Japanese history and even gave us some tidbits about his personal life related to the history or just for entertainment. He stayed consistently energetic but relaxed, pleasant, friendly, helpful and charming throughout the whole week. This job has to be exhausting considering the amount of time spent planning, managing the group and dealing with less than ideal situations at times. We really appreciate his work especially since it takes him and the bus driver's time away from their families. The driving throughout the trip was perfect! We felt 100% relaxed the whole time and admired the drivers driving and parking skills. He's obviously been doing this for some time! I have already and will continue to recommend using AJT for visits to Japan. It was a great experience that we'll never forget!

Mrs. Harris