Best tour company for Japan/South Korea

[Fountofwisdom]

I’m desperate to go to Japan this year (from
UK) around May preferably. Would like to combine with South Korea for a few days first. Can anyone recommend a good UK tour company to go with?

I’m happy to pay a premium for a really good experience and standard of accommodation. I found my ideal trip with Wendy Wu but have just looked on TrustPilot and they have a lot of bad reviews, so I’m dubious now. The trip was coming out at £10k+ for 16 days with single supplement, including flights and all meals and excursions, so am happy to pay that amount.

Would really appreciate any recommendations. TIA.

Be aware that a UK-based company typically doesn't add very much value for many long-haul destinations. They take your requirements to an incoming travel agency, which gives them a price. Then they add 30% and then VAT is slapped on top, whereas if you pay a Japanese agency there is no UK VAT - and any Japanese sales taxes can't be offset against VAT, as used to be the case with European VAT pre-Brexit. (The incoming travel agency also subcontracts the transport and guiding to local offices in each town, but it's harder to get their addresses.)

There is a list of Japan-based incoming agencies here: https://www.japanlivingguide.com/lifestyle/travel-attractions/travel-agencies/

I mention all this for two reasons.

First, we went on a tour of Korea and Japan in 2023, via an American agency, and while it was very good, when we were there and looked at the rack rates for the hotels and services that we were getting, we realised that we were paying a hefty margin to the agency for not a lot of work (we had to book our own flight from Seoul to Osaka, for example). And we didn't even pay VAT because it was an American company.

Second, we have just been on a tour of India which was put together for us by an incoming company and it has been incredibly good value for money; all that a UK-based agency would have added, as far as we can tell, is a layer of extra communications, plus their margin and VAT. We are paying just over half what a family member paid for a (UK-coordinated) tour of comparable duration and quality. The local agency's logistics have been impeccable, including booking our internal flights. And all we had to do was send a few e-mails (plus a little bit of due diligence to reassure ourselves that the agency was a real company - it is a little scary sending a bank transfer of £4,000 to India!).

Anyway, this was just an idea for how to maybe make your budget go further. If time and resources permit, you could also consider spending 2 or 3 days in Taiwan, which is very interesting (and might not be around as an independent place for much longer, if Trump and Xi have their way). We found Korea, and especially Seoul, a bit fake in places, lots of people very concerned with appearances... but maybe that's a bit unfair. And Japan was completely fabulous, we'd love to go back.

I don’t think the tour companies are really worth the premium for Japan. Booking accommodation, experiences, transport and attractions is really easy to do yourself and your budget would be enough for you to have a really amazing trip. It’s not a difficult country to self-organise a trip in.

Do exodus go to Japan /s Korea? They were fantastic in Vietnam and I’ve heard positive feedback from friends about other destinations.

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@samarrange thanks so much for all that info, much appreciated! Food for thought. I’ve heard similar from others about South Korea not really being worth a visit, so am definitely open to ditching SK and just going to Japan, which gives me a lot more options.

Thank you. I’m travelling solo so I really do want to do it in a group as I’d just find that very daunting to self-organise and whilst I’ve done a lot of solo travel, I think I’d find it a bit lonely in a country so culturally different.

Thank you. I’ve heard lots of good things about Exodus too. I’ve had a look at their Japan trips and none of them are quite what I’m looking for. Either activity holidays like trekking or cycling, which is not what I want on this occasion, although I do a lot of walking holidays. Or their itineraries don’t focus on the places I want to visit. Ideally, I’d like to spend a couple of days in each of Kyoto, Osaka, Hiroshima and Tokyo and then am happy to go anywhere else along the way.

In that case Inside Japan are very well reviewed and they do small group tours as well as self guided ones. I’d take a look and see if they have anything you like the look of.

We had a trip to Japan (Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, Hakone, Kanazawa and Takayama), with a two night stay in Seoul on the return journey, summer 2023. We used Inside Japan (a self-guided trip rather than a group tour) and found them excellent. Cost was definitely within your budget and the information etc they provided made everything pretty straightforward. Would definitely recommend them, and would use them again.

I did Japan -booked all myself but booked excursions when there the first few times -ie trip to Mount Fuji from Tokyo and "visit highlights of Tokyo"

Viator shows many tours all across Japan so you can get an idea of places to go and time they allocate. Last time I just did myself (trail finders got me flights including China and Hong Kong). I did bullet train on the day to Osaka and booked hotels myself via Expedia. Sone places like Kyoto a tour would have been more productive but we were touristy out so happy to just visit 2 places via the trains on a day trip from Osaka and then have a quiet day.

Thank you, I’ll have a look at them

Thank you SO much to everyone who has kindly made suggestions. I’ve had a look at Inside Japan and a couple of the tours look exactly what I’m after so I’m going to make some enquiries tomorrow. Really appreciate all the advice here 🙂

Friends have been with Wendy Woo and said they were very good

By the way I’m just reading a book called Abroad in Japan by Chris broad. I’d recommend you take a look - really enjoying it.

I was all set to book with Wendy Wu but then looked at Trust Pilot, and they have a LOT of negative reviews, which put me off, for what would be a very expensive trip…

Thankyou, I’ll get a copy!

Have a look at Riviera travel . They have great reviews and cover the areas you are looking at .

Selective Asia are fantastic.

I concur with the poster who recommended an in-country company - you do tend to get the same or better for less money.

Thank you. Haven’t heard of them before but will have a look now.

I spoke to them today. Unfortunately they don’t do group tours, just tailor-made itineraries but they highly recommended Inside Japan for a group tour.,

Thanks so much to everyone who was kind enough to offer advice and suggestions. I checked out Inside Japan based on suggestions here, and looked on Trust Pilot where they seem very well reviewed, so I’ve taken the plunge and booked a 12 day tour in September, as all the Spring tours were fully booked. Incredibly excited now!

Thanks again everyone 🙌🙌

Hope you have a wonderful time!

Just make sure you are prepared for the weather. September in Japan is typically very hot, very humid and pretty wet.
You’ll want loose, breathable clothing that dries quickly. I like Uniqlo airism.

Thank you! I’m a fan of Uniqlo so I’ll definitely check that out.

My dad did a Wendy Wu tour of Japan in the autumn. It didn't sound that great - ages on a coach, up super early every day, herded around sites, and he couldn't understand the tour guide's accent (although to be fair he is quite hard of hearing so it might well be a him issue). By contrast my mum did a mostly solo tour at the same time (but with everything organised for her in terms of hotels and transfers) and it sounded great. She joined a few tours / activities for the day. I'd do that. Alternatively, just do it solo and book activities like walking tours, flower arranging etc so you get some company. Japan is quite an easy place to visit and it's exceptionally safe. The Japanese are generally very kind and will help you if you are lost.