Review

Masahiro Honda

Best of Hokkaido and Tohoku

April 14, 2024 - April 28, 2024

This tour was very unique and different compared to other guided tours we have taken. As mentioned, the use of public transportation was a great positive feature (and I assume helped control costs). Our guide Chiko-san was cheerful, diligent, friendly, approachable, organized and took care of any issues with the hotels and ryokans. There was just six of us in the group and this made the tour like a family vacation with delightful interactions among everyone plus Chiko-san.

Itinerary

Nice variety of points of interest. Temples, hot springs, archeological sites, Ainu culture and history museums, vistas, boat tours, Shinkansen, shopping districts, fish markets, hikes, Hokkaido history sites, rural villages and much more.

Lodging

All hotels and ryokans were excellent. Nice mix of western and Japanese style rooms, The onsens were outstanding. Clean ans modern facilities. Great service.

Food

The kaiseki dinners were amazing as well as the daily breakfast buffets. The dinner buffet at Kinugawa Onsen was outstanding with fresh well prepared variety of dishes.

Guides

Mukai san (Chiko san) went far beyond expectations and provided extra care and guidance throughout the trip. She led us on an great hike in Jigoku Dani, changed train reservations for earlier trains, stood in long lines for us, and cheerfully went beyond the tour itinerary to provide guidance. The other guides also provided excellent service escorting us to trains and airport. The van on the last day to take us to Haneda was a pleasant surprise, since the tour documentation said we would travel by train with all our luggage. The van was luxurious and made the transfer effortless. A great added bonus. This should be a standard feature of the tour.

Pre-Tour Handbook

The pre-tour documentation was informative but Mukai-san provide additional summaries of our daily schedule including times for each day as well as hotel/ryokan features. Also the tour description on the web site mentioned we would have four gourmet kaiseki dinners at ryokans but I only counted 2 kaiseki dinners (both at Takinoyu) and one kaiseki lunch not at a ryokan. All the meals were great but which dinner was the fourth kaiseki dinner?

Tour Organization

The arrangement of all the site visits plus transportation between sites was excellent and well managed. There was no confusion at any time during the tour.

Tour Transportation

The use of public transportation was a great feature of the tour. It gave us insight into how everyone in Japan travels. The train system was very efficient and made travel very easy. The use of taxis was also convenient and worked well. There was much walking but it was not a problem.

Would you go on another tour operating by Samurai Tours: Yes!

Would you recommend Samurai Tours to friends or family: Yes!