Japan Trip Planner

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.

Four fellow travelers and I recently completed a customized fall tour in Japan. While there, we traveled from Tokyo to the Fuji, Kyoto, and Kanazawa areas. This was one of several tours organized for me by Zicasso agents. Although they have all been excellent, our agent was the most accommodating in terms of service and special requests. 

The Ryokan accommodation she booked for us on Lake Kawaguchiko was out-of-this-world, with a magnificent view of Mount Fuji from our balcony. 

She allowed us to leave her tour temporarily to pursue a special interest. She provided us with excellent guides in each region and arranged for them to deliver our group, which was somewhat overwhelmed by the Japanese train system, right to the door of the railway cars and have someone meet us when stepping off at the next location. She organized short-notice requests in terms of ground transport without missing a beat.

Her efficiency and response time while planning the trip were incredible, especially since I was on Canadian time and she on British. I would highly recommend her for her great skill in customizing Zicasso tours to meet your wishes and special needs.

We (A and B) had an amazing, once-in-a-lifetime, 36-day trip to Japan and were very grateful we found Zicasso’s travel specialist to help us plan our itinerary.

The travel specialist made sure that all our travel arrangements were well thought out and his instructions were (mostly) straightforward. He was a good listener and helped us craft an itinerary that totally suited our needs. We had about four sessions (hours) on Zoom with him before our trip to iron out details. A company that does customized tours was exactly what we were looking for and that is what we got. This way, we had a lot of say in where to go, how long to stay, how we wanted to spend our time, and what attractions we wanted to see. He told us ours was the longest trip to Japan he had helped arrange.

The trip was amazing and we were blessed to be able to see the spectacular fall foliage everywhere we went, Mount Fuji on numerous days, and many beautiful places, as well as eat authentic Japanese food and immerse ourselves in Japanese culture. In addition to all that, we had many days on our own where we were able to meet up with 12 friends of B in three different cities, people B met 45 years ago in Japan.

All the arrangements made for us by the travel company were fantastic, including local transportation, drivers in every city, and train and shinkansen rides. The accommodations were excellent too and we especially appreciated that the location of our hotels was very convenient and in the best areas. The two stays in ryokans in Hakone and Miyajima were unique and special.

Every single local guide we had was fantastic. They were all knowledgeable, friendly, personable, helpful, and kind. The drivers were terrific too and we enjoyed meeting them and talking with them.

We highly recommend this travel company if you are looking for a customized, comprehensive, and fun tour of Japan.

Zicasso's travel designer had less than three months to bring an amazing trip to life. Our goal was to experience the history, art, culture, and people of Japan. Mission accomplished!

There were so many highlights shared by our exceptional guides and drivers, who felt like friends and family by the trip's end. Some experiences surprised us with their creativity, joy, and value (slapstick sumo skits in Tokyo, the samurai sword experience, sushi class, open-air and Venetian glass museums in Hakone, and especially the Himeji Castle master carpenter tutorial). Though in our late 70s, walking five to seven miles per day and climbing 766-oot sacred Mount Inari weren't an issue.

The veracity of this review is paramount... the only experience we would forgo was spelunking (crawling) in the cold, wet lava cave, as in our ignorance, we were out of our element. We found joints we did not know we had! We are focused on collecting memories, not things. This fabulous trip achieved that goal. Thank you!

Overall, it was a very good trip and we enjoyed it.

The agency did a good job coordinating transportation, activities, and guides.

They were, however, not good listeners and were ”stingy” with information.

On the first count, we made it very clear we did not want hotel rooms with futons. When we arrived on the first day in Kyoto, we were shown rooms with futons. The agency did find us appropriate accommodations for the next night, but that should not have happened.

On the second count, we asked for a list of restaurants near our hotels in Kyoto and Tokyo. We never got one, after repeated asks. We were so far into the planning that it would have been impractical to switch agencies. She did make a reservation at a restaurant in Kyoto that she raved about. It was not very good.

We were in Osaka and wanted to get an earlier train back to Kyoto. I texted the agency as to whether we could change our tickets or have to purchase new ones, and asked for the times for the earlier trains. She said we could exchange them at the station and that we could ask then about times for the earlier trains. I texted back that surely she had the train times. She then did send me the times.

Travel agents should be a fountain of information and make travel as easy and pleasant as possible.

We have used Zicasso before and it was a great trip. A number of our friends had a similar experience. Unfortunately, this tour company was a disappointing experience.

Zicasso’s travel specialist is amazing! She went out of her way to plan the best trip for 11 of us to Japan. She listened and understood exactly what we wanted. She is sweet and truly cares. Not only this, but she responds quickly.

As an added bonus, the travel company was reasonable, especially for all that was included. We were spoiled and had a driver and guide for most of the trip, so we did not have to worry about anything. We were also booked at lovely hotels, with delicious breakfasts and spacious rooms.

We absolutely loved our guide in Osaka and Kyoto. She was wonderful! She even got us hand warmers and gifts for Christmas! She was relaxed, positive, and went with the flow. She stayed later at times for us too! Our driver in Tokyo was able to get us a last-minute restaurant reservation for lunch because there was one more type of food we wanted to try there. He was very kind and flexible with us in Hakone too. Our guide in Tokyo was also very nice! Thank you to the team for our trip of a lifetime!!!!!