Inside Japan Tours

My husband, R.C., and I cannot speak highly enough for Inside Japan Tours (Lewins House, Lewins Mead, Bristol, BS1 2NN, U.K.; phone ++ 44 [0] 870 120 5600, fax 870 746 1047) and the trip we took with them in October ’06.

As is our custom for destinations on our wish list, we saved ITN readers’ recommendations for travel in Japan over a period of about five years. When it came time to plan, we checked them all out. It took only a few hours to be certain that IJT was the right company for us.

Planning was easy and the IJT staff very responsive. We did everything by e-mail except for payment.

Their groups are small. We had 13 in ours — seven from the U.K. and six from the USA. This was one of the best groups we have ever traveled with.

Most important, Inside Japan Tours keeps the price reasonable. They do this by using public transportation. There’s no private bus hauling you around and no one to carry your luggage.

Also, they do not use “guides”; instead, you have a “buddy” with you for any of their organized tours. This person leads you around in some areas (we all took advantage of this in Tokyo and Kyoto), but he is also an advisor to help you plan your days and deal with logistics. So you pick the destinations and the level of activity you prefer on a daily basis.

From Kyoto, for example, we chose between side trips to Himeji Castle, Nara or Hiroshima or just spending another day in the city. (No visits to his cousin’s rug shop! And no sense of being “stuck” with a group of strangers for an entire trip.)

Inside Japan Tours is also flexible — willing to customize itineraries. You can travel entirely on your own, with a day-by-day guidebook prepared for your specific trip, or you can combine individual travel with one of their scheduled trips. We chose their “Alpine Highway” itinerary, with 5½ additional days to see sights we did not want to miss. Looking back, we felt this was an excellent decision.

We thoroughly enjoyed seeing the Japan Alps and having that outside-the-crowded-cities experience. Plus it was nice to have our “buddy” along in places that involved both train and bus travel. During our mountain stays, the “buddy” led the most difficult hikes, but there were plenty of other options.

On our 5-night/6-day extension, we had the above-mentioned detailed personalized guidebook. Things like train connections and best time of day to travel all were laid out, along with instructions for finding our hotel. We even had a private guide for one day to visit the UNESCO World Heritage Site at Nikko and the surrounding area.

Also in Nikko, we were delighted with our stay at the Nikko Pension Green Age Inn (10-9 Nishi-sando, Nikko, Tochigi Ken, Japan; phone 0288 53 3636). Its location is ideal, right next to the UNESCO site.

Although the building itself is a bit “tired,” the inn is run by a friendly and very hardworking couple who operates the restaurant as well as manages the rooms. The husband is a French-trained chef; meals were top quality and a nice change from a pure Japanese diet.

We also added on Hakone, famous for its views of Mt. Fuji (and without which we felt it was just another tourist trap), and Kamakura, famous for its large statue of Buddha.

For this trip, Oct. 12-30, we paid IJT $4,500 for two for the 13-day group portion, and we paid $1,960 for two for the 5-night private extension, the latter including all lodging, some meals and inter-city transportation. These are land-only prices; we flew on award air tickets. Not all meals were included; we spent close to $900 additional on meals, local transportation and souvenirs.

Inside Japan Tours’ travel approach is one we wish was available for more destinations.

DONNA PYLE

Boulder, CO