All Reviews for Japan Autumn Tours 2024

Finding the starting point was easy as it was very easy to see at the train station. It was nice that there were translations available as one of us spoke English and the other spoke Chinese. Despite rainy weather the tour was great. The tour obviously runs on a schedule so lingering to meditate will not work. There was enough time to follow the trails and get a number of photos but be aware that there will be crowds as these are very popular tourist places. This is an easy way to see the temples and to avoid numerous train and subway changes.

Fantastic and friendly Driver and guide. Very accommodating and great access for my large electric Wheelchair
As first-time travellers to Japan from Australia we had a great time.
Highly recommended

The guide was very good and informative. However, Mt Fuji was completely fogged in (even it was hard to see the shops at the 5th station in the fog), and it was rainy, foggy for all of the other sites. The lunch was great, though, and it was a nice day to get out of the city into the countryside. Because pretty much all of the sites were not visible I would have hoped that this tour be rescheduled (the following day was clear).

Both were great in providing the service, and the driver were really eager to make sure all of us had great time during that day. He also took us to very special place where we could enjoy watching Mount Fuji although the 5th station was closed due to slippery. Was such a great experience and service.

This was such an amazing trip! The tour group met right outside the train station in Kyoto and were very easy to find. It was well organized - we were split up into groups and had a designated bus and host throughout the day. Our tour guide, George, was amazing! He was extremely knowledgeable and with great sense of humor! The sights that they had scheduled for us to see where nothing short of incredible. George made sure we made it on time to every destination and I'm glad because we saw it all! The scenery along with our guide made us appreciate the temples even more which gave us a deeper understanding of the city and culture beyond the beauty of it all! This was definitely a must do!!

Will do it again without hesitation. The tour guide was very knowledgeable and fun.

We hoped to see Mt. Fuji, but, unfortunately, it rained the day of our booked tour and Mt. Fuji was not to be seen. But all was not lost. Our driver, Toshi, picked us up promptly at the scheduled time and drove us to the Mt. Fuji area. On the way he gave us information on local sites that we passed. Our guide, Yuko, was very knowledgeable and gave us options for our rainy day. Our driver and guide learned that we liked to hike so we went to a beautiful shrine at the base of Mt. Fuji and hiked on an ancient trail to the first station. A great way to experience Mt. Fuji on a rainy day. Yuko gave much information on local customs and the Shinto religion involving the mountain. We then had a leisurely lunch at a local restaurant. Following this, we chose to go to a museum featuring a world renowned textile artist who made kimono art. These were fabulous. It was then late in the day and we traveled back to Tokyo. A different experience than we hoped for due to the rain, but a memorable and enjoyable day thanks to Toshi and Yuko. We definitely recommend their services for guide and driver for the Mt. Fuji tour. They’re the best!

My wife and I wanted to see several top sights in Kyoto in one day, but without the feeling of “it is 10.30, here is the temple, you have 2 minutes to take a couple of pictures then off we go.” Veltra’s full-day Kyoto highlights tour provided more than adequate time to enter each site and absorb its character. We greatly benefitted from an excellent and good-humored tour leader who provided concise but insightful explanations of the site being visited and its historical context. We especially enjoyed Kiyomizudera, where one has the chance to drink from one of three “streams of wisdom” coming from the sacred spring; the Fushimi Inari shrine, with its amazing “tunnel” of ochre torii; and Kinkakuji as the setting sun reflected off its gold exterior. Signing up for the tour was easy; finding the meeting point was easy; and following along with the narrations was easy (though some pre-recorded narrations on the bus were garbled — the guide just jumped in to fill the gap). Taking the optional upgrade to have lunch provided was a fun and cost-effective move. We would not hesitate to tour again with Veltra — a well-run outfit providing great value for money.

Nice pleasant Tour , I Highly recommended If you’re short of time and want to enjoy Kyoto spirit

It was great! The guide seemed very knowledgeable, however she did not speak English and we felt that we missed some information. She did have some videos in English and signs. Overall the tour was good and would recommend it!

It was a superb trip. Everything went on as planned with right time pickup. The guide was excellent. All places were visited as per the brochure. Lunch was very good. OnlY the weather was very bad.

Our driver was very courteous and accommodating. We originally started with a 4 hour tour but gradually extended to 6 hours. We covered all that we wanted to : Fushimi Inari shrine, Nijo castle, bamboo grove, and a couple of others. He walked along with us and took great photos of us. He explained the history and significance of all the sites. We had a great time. The colors of Red and yellow of the leaves was also picturesque. Would not hesitate to strongly recommend veltra tours. Keep up the good work!

Ticked off all the major sights in one day in a nice, clean and easy to get to bus.

Guide George was great, managed us well and had a strong passion for Japan.

I liked the pace of the tour as it meant we could maximise our day.

In Kyoto for a short or long time I would recommend.

Our guide George was excellent. Provided insightful knowledge of Japan and ran the group very well.

Nice clean bus, great weather and interesting sights. Would recommend.

I liked the pace of the tour, we spent the right amount of time at each sight making sure we made the most of the day.

I participated at the end of October. I entered Kanazawa the day before from Tokyo and planned to visit Shirakawa-go and Gokayama the next day, then return by Shinkansen that night. I was worried that it might be difficult by train and local bus when I found this tour. It was efficient to visit both places, and the guide was great. The White Road was also beautiful with autumn leaves.

10月末に参加しました。都内から前日金沢に入り翌日白川郷と五箇山を廻ってその夜新幹線で帰る予定で考えましたが、電車や路線バスでは無理かと悩んでいた時にこのツアーを見つけました。
効率的に2ヶ所を巡れてガイドさんも良かったです。ホワイトロードも紅葉が綺麗でした。

Our visit to Kyoto was planned at the height of fall foliage season, on a national holiday, and a Saturday. That meant lots of traffic and big crowds. Kyoto is a beautiful city but the important sites are spread out. If you only have 1 or 2 days a tour is a must. This tour made it possible for us to go to sites that were remote from the Kyoto station, to enjoy a full hot pot lunch mid day, and get an overview of the history of each site as well as the city and region from the extremely engaging guide.

The tour is a really full day, wear good walking shoes (we got out 20,000 steps in) and pack snacks and water. When they say to be back at the bus at a certain time, they mean it! Several guests were left behind at one temple because they were late. The rules are the rules! It’s the only way you can see every place promised.

Our guide, Jorge, did an extremely good job weaving together practical advice for tourists in Japan, history of each location, interesting tips for enjoying our stay and many insights into Japanese culture. Plus, he was funny, which made waiting due to the holiday crowds far more bearable.

Ken and Ishi made our day very special.  We appreciate their efforts very much and would highly recommend them for their knowledge and professionalism.
Ishi was a most excellent driver in heavy traffic.
Ken answered our questions about the tour sights, as well as many about Japanese culture. He also amused us with a Japanese lesson during the long drive. When weather prevented us from seeing Mt. Fuji, they substituted other sights to compensate. The Hoto restaurant they chose for lunch was also excellent. We could not have had better, more attentive guides.
We give them the highest recommendation.

Awesome tour for those who want to see the main sights and not have to fuss with arrangements and trying to find how to get to places. Highly recommended. The balance of sights was good with enough time to see what was needed and just enough insights from the guide to give one the needed overview.

If you add up the costs of all the entry tickets to the temples and gardens, plus a yummy lunch, the tour is okay for the cost. However we thought it was odd to have a tour guide but most of the talking was done by an automated voice over the bus speakers. Sitting near the back, we couldn't hear the voice clearly and it kept pausing and lagging. If the tour guide is knowledgable about the area, they should be able to deliver the information themselves.

We had an issue with the lunch as there weren't enough meals cooked, so we waited as they made more. Didnt get time to look in the shops surrounding the restaurant like the other participants did, but made up for it at the following stop.
Make sure you get back to the tour bus on time or they will leave you behind! But one of the staff went and retrieved the two lost guests and caught up with us later on in the tour.
There were lots of other tours at each of the stops, as to be expected it was crowded, but still some beautiful sights and great for souvenier shopping! If you only have a day in Kyoto, this is good to see it all.

5 stops one day, busy but we could only spare 1 day for Kyoto, so this was just what I wanted.
Late November was a great season for autumn leaves.
Our tour guide Sami, was just as nice as the way we wanted. Not too much nor too less explanation about Kyoto. Just comfortable to listen to.
I had a very nice day in Kyoto with Sami.

We booked an 8h tour for the 16. November and were very happy with it.

Thanks to the car, we could explore much more sites than otherwise possible when using public transportation or walking. Our guide was very knowledgeable and adjusted the tour to our preferences. We recommend!

Our guide (Lanny) was very helpful to give us specific detail and great advice during the tour. We had the opportunity to see those beautiful temple and shrine with beautiful weather. All time were respected. Great experience overall, definitly recommend! Beautiful Kiyomizo dera temple, great neighborhood and an original japan style Starbucks:)
Golden temple at the end is awsome.

It was a satisfying one-day bus tour. The guide was kind and the explanations were easy to understand. The lunch was delicious! I'm really glad I participated! Thank you very much. For those worried about restrooms, there was absolutely no problem.

満足な1日バスツアーでした。
ガイドさんも親切で説明も分かりやすかったです。
昼食も美味しかった！
参加して本当に良かったです！
ありがとうございました。
トイレが心配な方。全然、問題ありません。

It was a wonderful tour! I had always wanted to visit Shirakawa-go, but I didn't know much about Gokayama and thought, "I don't need to go to a similar place..." However, Gokayama was fantastic! It felt cozier than Shirakawa-go, and I thought this is the true Japanese landscape.

Also, the guide's knowledge about Kanazawa and recommendations for souvenirs were very helpful!

There were several restroom breaks along the way, which made it easy to enjoy the tour without worry.

とても素晴らしいツアーでした！
白川郷はずっと行ってみたかったのですが、五箇山のことはあまり知らず、「似てるとこ行かなくても…」と思っていました。
しかし、この五箇山が最高でした！白川郷よりもこじんまりとして、これぞ日本の原風景だと思いました。

また、ガイドさんの金沢豆知識や、おすすめのお土産情報などもとってもためになりました！

途中、トイレ休憩も何度かあり安心してツアーを楽しめました。

We joined this tour on the last minute, and I am so glad that we did. The tour stops were great, the length was just right, and tour guide, Lanny, was wonderful. We thoroughly enjoyed the 8 hours on this tour.

As a first timer to Kyoto with limited time, we had a hard time to go to all the most popular attractions on our own. We are happy that Panoramic Tour did this for us. The 5 places in the tour, Kiyomizu-dera Temple, Sanju-san-gen-do Temple, Fushimi Inari Shrine, Arashiyama/bamboo forest/Tenryu-ji Temple, and then Kinkaku-ji (golden) temple, are all top rated places. These places are kind of spread out, especially Arashiyama, it would have been difficult for us to visit all on our own.

Our tour guide, Lanny, is excellent. She is knowledgeable and funny. Along the way, we learned not only history, but also local sayings and stories, about the temples and shrines that we visited. Lanny is polite, warm, and cares about her customers. To us, this is the best part of joining a tour group.

The tour was on time at each location. The bus itself was clean and had free wi-fi and charging outlets. The lunch, chicken hot-pot, was also a very interesting experience.

Overall we enjoyed this day trip and the top level services from Lanny and the nice driver. The only area can receive improvement is the description about the meeting location. The direction was clear for us, and we had to stop and ask for directions twice before we finally found the Kyoto Avanti building. Turned out we came out of the wrong exit from the Kyoto station and were on the opposite side of the building. It would be helpful if the online direction says which subway exit(s) to take to get to the meeting place.

Great choice to discover Kyoto highlights in a day.
We enjoyed touring around the city and learning about history and culture. The tour guide spoke very good English and the level of physical activities was appropriate. The temples, shrines and bamboo grooves were spectacular.
The tour is a bit rushed from one place to another but that’s understandable considering all the places they try to cover. If you have short time in Kyoto and want to discover most, this tour is a great option.

We had a wonderful day out with our driver, Tuk and our local guide, Yuko. We saw a quick film of Fuji and the information centre then went to fifth station to visit the shrine and to admire a closer view of Mount Fuji and the surrounding areas. We then visited a local restaurant for delicious noodles and sake. We then continued to Arakurayama Sengen Park to take photos of Mount Fuji with the Pagoda and continued to enjoy the local markets and stalls and the Autumn Leaves Festival at Kawaguchiko. We were able to take phots of Mount Fuji from a variety of different locations and our day was well paced as we have young children (3, 6 and 11 years).
Our day was pleasant as our guide and driver were very knowledgeable, polite, friendly and accommodated our preferences. Highly recommend this tour if you like your own space and you’re travelling in a small group.

Pick up was efficient but the time was an hour later than that advertised in the literature, Mount Fuji was great, lunch was fine then it rapidly deteriorated. The post lunch itinerary was changed due to volcanic activity at the advertised ropeway. The lake cruise was forgettable, it was overcast and wind, it was very poorly supervised by the guide who gave garbled instructions that we couldn’t understand The ropeway was left to last by which time it was getting dark and the wind was getting up so we gave it a miss and poodles around for an hour in the souvenir stalls.

The return was chaotic we wasted ages dropping off people returning to Tokyo by train then it was a crawl even though the congestion wasn’t bad. It took more than 3 hours to cover the 70 km from the ropeway to our hotel

Hicimos este tour los primeros días de Octubre y lamentablemente nos toco nublado y
No pudimos ver e Monte Fuji. La guía muy amable, pero si ya no puedes ver El Monte Fuji todo el tour pierde su encanto. No se confíen de las predicciones del tiempo!
El almuerzo buffet fue regular. Pudimos regresar en el
Tren bala pagando un adicional, tour muy caro sobretodo si te corres el riesgo que te toque día nublado

The tour for me is money we’ll spend. It saves you time and planning especially for short visit. I want to give
Our tour guide June San, for giving us a wonderful tour very informative and attentive. Thank you! Until next time!

Sayonara Kyoto!