Fantastic Highlights of Japan: Complete Two-Week Itinerary

The trip was fabulous and met all of our expectations. Zicasso's tour operator was very easy to work with and was responsive to all of my priorities for the trip. It was an excellent experience and I would definitely recommend them for a trip to Japan. The guides, our guide in Osaka and Kyoto, and our guide in Tokyo, were excellent.

Zicasso’s travel specialist helped us put together a great family trip to Japan. He created the perfect itinerary based on our likes/dislikes and was easy to communicate with. We enjoyed our tour with our guide in Tokyo and were especially delighted that the travel specialist personally guided us around Kyoto. Both he and our guide showed us parts of these cities off the beaten track. The travel specialist is incredibly knowledgeable about Japan and his passion for the culture is contagious.

Zicasso's travel agent and his team put together an amazing two-week trip throughout Japan for our family of five. Every detail was thought of. The activities were so well-planned and unique with a private experience. We never felt like the places were gimmicky or touristy. Getting us tickets to the sought-after sumo tournament in Tokyo was a true highlight! Our agent made it happen. An Osaka futbol game was a memorable afternoon. Our agent made it so easy with all of the various transportation details to smoothly get around Japan. We are grateful for all the meticulous planning to make this a truly memorable trip for our family!

Zicasso’s travel specialist did a fabulous job planning our 12-day trip to Japan! We took our two kids (12 and 14 years old) and worked together to come up with such an amazing and fun itinerary covering all of our interests.

In addition to seeing the sights around Tokyo and Kyoto, the travel specialist found us classes in and outside of the cities for sushi-making, Shibori fabric dyeing, and bamboo basket-making. We had the most wonderful guides, drivers, and translators take us to an organic green tea farm (an unexpected favorite!) and even managed to get tickets to the Ghibli Museum.

We had a phenomenal time and I look forward to working with this travel company again.

I will start by saying this is the first time I have ever used a travel company of any sort. I have always booked all of my own hotels, Airbnbs, flights, trains, and tickets for activities, etc. I have booked tours with tour guides, transportation, and excursions, but never left it up to a tour company to handle all of the details, start to finish. Needless to say, I was nervous. I was nervous I would land in Japan to no driver, no hotel, no guide, no tickets to activities on our “must-do” lists that get sold out—just my money gone and us stranded. I am used to the comfort of confirmations and control.

That is so far from the experience we had. Everything was fantastic! Our driver messaged us the night before landing with exact instructions on where to meet him, with pictures of how to navigate the airport. All three of the hotels we stayed in were clean, really nice, and exactly the type of rooms I requested. I have a very tall husband and two teenagers. King-size beds are hard to find in Japan, so I was very firm on wanting a king bed for us, but still the twin bedrooms for our kids.

Our first guide in Tokyo spoke fantastic English. He also did an amazing job of just doing what we wanted to do, even if it wasn’t on the itinerary. We were so appreciative of his flexibility because we did not stick to the itinerary at all, other than the ticketed activities. He took us to some restaurants that were local, not just those in tourist areas. He never rushed us, but still ensured we made it on time to the ticketed activities that had entry times. One night, our daughter realized she had left her purse in the bathroom and the driver drove us back 30 minutes to get it without an ounce of complaint or hesitation, even though it had been a long day and that now added another hour to his day. We even said we would take a taxi so he could go home, but he refused to let us and drove us personally.

Our second guide was in Kyoto. This is where we wanted to do the most sightseeing. He had no shortage of knowledge on the history of Japan. He was a walking Google for all things Japanese history. He did an excellent job switching up the itinerary when we discovered some things were closed for the New Year holiday. He took us to some more local and less-touristy places to eat as well.

I only needed to contact Zicasso’s travel company one time during our week. It was the night before our departure for the airport to confirm the driver, as this was the first time the entire trip I had not been contacted by a driver or guide the day before a departure or meeting. She responded within 30 minutes. The driver then contacted me within another 30 minutes. Otherwise, I was always contacted directly by each guide or driver the day before, with details of their arrivals and any other information.

It really was an excellent experience and I would highly recommend the company to anyone traveling in Japan or other areas in Asia where they provide travel services.

Zicasso's travel specialist and her team planned an absolutely outstanding 16-day trip for me and my family. We visited Tokyo, Ghibli Park (near Nagoya), Kanazawa, Kyoto (with day trips to Nara and Osaka), and then wrapped things up with two nights at a beautiful and luxurious ryokan in Hakone.

Communication leading up to the trip was clear and efficient, and whenever we had a question during the trip, we were able to get quick answers from our travel company's rep in Japan.

I would absolutely book another trip with this company.