“I’ve wanted to visit Japan for as long as I can remember and, this being the first time for both of us, we wanted to include obvious haunts like Tokyo and Kyoto; Kanazawa – somewhat overlooked by foreign visitors (but teeming with Japanese, who seemingly head there in their droves); and Hakone.

Thankfully, every aspect of the trip was honed to perfection – in fact I’d go as far to say that this was probably the most well-organised tour I’ve ever experienced (despite, as is always the case with our travels, the itinerary being pretty intense). No great surprise though I guess, what with Japan being the most organised country I’ve ever visited!

Our first taste of Japan was Tokyo, which we adored. Skyscrapers as far as the eye could see, a glorious panoply of colours as neon lights burst into life come nightfall, spotlessly clean streets (to the point we wondered if they were polished to perfection on a daily basis – we saw no litter on our entire stay), and the most wonderful array of designer stores we’ve ever had the pleasure of shopping our way through!

We stayed at the Mandarin Oriental, our favourite hotel of the entire trip – amazing city views, fabulous in-room amenities and incredible service from every staff member (and we LOVED not having to pay our bill after the first part of our stay in Tokyo because we were returning at the end of our trip and also being able to leave some items of luggage with them until our return). Outstanding!

Everyone we came across was so polite and courteous, it was a real culture shock. They’re so respectful when it comes to even the most mundane things: like standing on escalators or crossing the road (everyone was agog when we “jumped” the green man)! And we couldn’t believe our eyes when a man whipped out disinfectant spray from his jacket to clean a post after his dog had a little tinkle and then carried on as if nothing happened! If only everywhere in the world was as thoughtful!

Our guide in Tokyo was Sue, who spoke excellent English, was very friendly, super helpful and über-organised. She planned everything meticulously, meaning we could hit up many of the tourist hot spots and have time to fit in a few added extras too. First up was the wonderfully serene, austere Meiji-jingu Shrine (the city’s most famous Shinto Shrine) and, as it wasn’t too busy, we had time to learn the etiquette involved when visiting all Japanese shrines (something that came in really handy at some of the much busier shrines later on in our trip).

The Sensō-ji Temple (Tokyo’s oldest and most colourful Buddhist temple) was interesting too, but very, very busy and therefore more difficult to appreciate. I wish we’d spent more time there and been able to appreciate that we wouldn’t find a better retail experience than the one at nearby Nakamise-dori until later in our trip. And while I’m sure the Edo-period Hamarikyu Gardens on the edge of Tokyo Bay are lovely during the spectacular blossom seasons, they weren’t terribly exciting during our stay… sadly we were about three weeks too early!

But we loved seeing the city from a different perspective on our Sumida River cruise, made all the more pleasant when the sun came out after a bit of a damp start to the day! One of my favourite Tokyo memories though was the calligraphy class Sue arranged for us: a brilliant experience. We loved sitting on the floor in our overalls, painting our names and favourite sayings (we got to keep everything we did) and, as everywhere else in the city, the team here was absolutely lovely.

After our urban adventures, we headed out to Hakone for a slight change of pace, to enjoy the full-on ryokan experience, get a taste of the Japanese countryside, and maybe… just maybe… catch a glimpse of Mount Fuji. It was a great drive (just 62 miles from the city, so you can do it as a day trip if your time is limited) and we loved all that this region had to offer.

The landscape is spectacular – one of mountains, lakes and hiking trails – and we soaked up as much of it as we could. We took a thoroughly enjoyable lake cruise with lovely views throughout and excellent photo opportunities (we were particularly lucky with the weather during our time here). I’d also definitely recommend anyone who visits Hakone to take the ropeway ride to Owakudani Valley (though I believe that, due to volcanic activity, this experience is currently out of service as of July 2019). But when it’s back in action the views from the cable cars and from the top are absolutely spectacular.

Much like our lake cruise, we were ridiculously lucky with the weather, so we managed to get that much sought-after view of Mount Fuji (no mean feat as, apparently, it’s notoriously shy, only showing its face around 80 days of the year, and it was the first time it had been spotted all that week).

We also visited a Yosegi Zaiku workshop for a demonstration of the region’s intricate inlaid wood artistry (one of Japan’s most important traditional crafts), accompanied by a really interesting talk from the master craftsman and translated by our guide. You can pick up some great Yosegi Zaiku souvenirs here too – all kinds of decorative, uniquely patterned boxes and containers, chopsticks, photo-frames and more.

Elsewhere, we stopped off at the Picasso Museum, which I personally found a little boring… unlike Hakone’s Open Air Museum, which turned out to be one of my favourite attractions – it was absolutely superb. It’s really hard to put the variety and quality of the sculptures into words, but I could have quite happily spent many hours here.

Staying in a ryokan (traditional Japanese inn) is supposed to be one of the best ways to experience authentic Japanese culture, so we were praying it was worth all the hype. And Gora Kadan didn’t disappoint. There’s lot of etiquette associated with staying in a ryokan, so as soon as we entered, our shoes were replaced with slippers (I’m sure we only spent 50% of our time in shoes on the entire trip!); after which we checked in on the sixth floor and headed down to our tatami-matted room.

First impressions? Amazing. Much bigger than anticipated and, as is the norm here, minimally furnished (but when the views of the gardens are as good as they are here, you probably wouldn’t notice anyway!).

There was a low table for eating, a terrace, bathroom with massive hot tub for soaking, a dressing room and vanity area, so lots of space to spread out. On the downside, we found they’re not the easiest rooms to sleep in: the bed wasn’t that comfy, it was too hot, the internet connection was very intermittent and the hand-held shower a little poor – but, as this is the land of the tub, we let that one slide!

Before our 10-course tasting meal, we slipped on the kimonos we’d been provided with and headed to a private dining room. We were super grateful for the heated well beneath the low table for our feet, meaning we didn’t have to sit cross-legged on the floor, so it was actually quite comfy. Of course, the service was impeccable – very gentle and graceful. And the food? Exceptionally interesting and tasty (if you like Japanese food)! For us, the entire stay was truly fabulous, though with so many formal traditions to follow it’s not for everyone.

Kanazawa was also a delight. We really liked this area and it was well worth the trip. Our guide was lovely, spoke brilliant English, and was super informative, helpful and fun to be with.

There were great views to be had, good shopping opportunities, nice people, lots to see and do and a thoroughly relaxing feel.

Kenrokuen Garden was a beautiful experience too (very busy, but large enough to take all the tourists), though we did think it would have been even better when the leaves changed colour in a few weeks.

The Nagamachi Samurai District with its remaining samurai residences, earthen walls, narrow lanes and water canals was fascinating and getting to see the restored samurai residence a real treat.

And in gorgeous Higashi Chaya-gai, we loved visiting the Ochaya Shima Geisha House for a glimpse into geisha life and refreshments with our guide.

We were warned that the hotels in Kanazawa wouldn’t be of the same standard as the other hotels on the trip, but Hotel Nikko certainly beat our expectations – we really couldn’t fault it. The location – close to the spectacular train station and fabulous shopping – was fab; rooms were decent, with great views and facilities; there’s a good choice of restaurants beneath the hotel; and super-efficient, helpful staff.

The final stop on our whirlwind Japanese jaunt was Kyoto: a place everyone I told we’d be visiting said was their favourite – even some Japanese told us how lovely it was – but honestly, I just didn’t get it… maybe because we had dreadful weather, or because half the world turned up at the same time as us (the population is 1.5 million and visitors total 55 million each year!). Even so, there’s absolutely masses to see and do in the area and I’m sure on a nice day it would look and feel much better.

On a more positive note, our guide, Sawa, was lovely – a little older, but again spoke fabulous English and had a great sense of humour, we really enjoyed her company. We packed an awful lot into our stay here too… Fushimi Inari-taisha Shrine – oh dear! An amazing shrine, with over 5000 orange torri gates on the hillside, but I can’t recall ever seeing so many people in my life! It was pouring with rain and all you could see was thousands of umbrellas as we all shuffled up the hill. Such a shame, because I’m sure it’s actually spectacular.

The same can be said crowd-wise of stunning Kinkakuji Temple and its glorious views and the bamboo forests which were incredible. But the swarms of people and the rain did rather spoil the experience (though the area around the forests is beautiful and we had a lovely drive). And I really wasn’t keen on Nara Park – where the deer roam freely – as everyone is encouraged to buy food to feed them and consequently, they are incredibly tame, nuzzling people’s pockets for food (which I find very sad).

The lantern-surrounded Kasugataisha Shrine was quite interesting and not quite as busy as the others, so we were able to enjoy it more; ditto the Ryoanji Temple with its famous rock garden, Nijo Castle with its intricately decorated sliding doors and the Otagi- Nenbutsuji Temple – its peaceful grounds home to over a thousand individually carved stone figures, and great for a relaxing stroll.

The Todaiji Temple and its huge Buddha were pretty cool too; and our Geisha evening was incredible. Just the two of us entertained by three Geisha, singing, dancing and playing music for us. Our guide doubled-up as our interpreter so we were able to “converse”, though it was quite hard going. But on the whole we were really glad we did this – it really was quite unique.

Accommodation-wise, The Ritz-Carlton, Kyoto had a whole lot of wow-factor, though interestingly it wasn’t our favourite. The architecture and design are stunning; interiors are beautifully dramatic; our room was gorgeous (the bed was three pillows wide with outstanding river and mountain views, a fabulous bathroom and great amenities) and the service impeccable, but perhaps a little fussy for our liking. Breakfast was served one course at a time rather than buffet-style and, as a result, came off a little intrusive and disjointed). It definitely lacked atmosphere, with everything a bit clinical and almost too perfect and, with no views of the city from the public areas, we really had no sense of place.

All in all though, Japan was awesome. We packed in a huge amount, and were absolutely exhausted at the end! The trains were superb (nothing like our rail system whatsoever): super-efficient, incredibly spacious, immaculate stations; while the bullet train is a whole other world… huge leather seats, great service and oh so very fast!

Anything we’d have changed? Well apart from the unavoidable crowds, no… absolutely nothing. The organisation by The Real Japan was perfect in every way and, overall, the entire trip was very, very impressive. When can we go back?”