Tokyo
We had a free day in Tokyo so decided to book this tour on line before we arrived as was highly recommended by a friend! We weren’t disappointed! Didn’t do a pickup from the hotel we were staying at so we had to jump on the subway to get to the pickup, was easy! Then we were transported to yet another hotel by taxi! Our tour guide Yoshi was brilliant! He covered so much in the full day tour, loved every minute of it! We booked the tour which included the Japanese lunch which was a delicious! Saw all the highlights of Tokyo, even included a boat ride down the river! At the end of the tour the bus dropped us off at the subway as we decided to go to Shibuya before returning to our hotel! Don’t miss this tour!
Very professional and informing. I would recommend and use again.
Enjoyed the morning tour better than the afternoon tour. Lunch should include alternatives for Western tastes.
The tour itself was an excellent way of seeing some landmarks in Tokyo if you are short of time. We highly recommend online booking before you turn up at one of stations. Although the sign at the station states you can purchase tickets on the bus, at the counter, and sales offices, and no reservations required, when we turned up at the Skytree Station on 15 April, the lady at the ticket booth insisted that the buses are full and there are no seats available. She told us even if we waited for the next buses, there were no guarantee there would be seats. I went outside, booked and paid for 2 same day tickets via Veltra, went back inside the ticket office, gave the lady my booking reference number, got my tickets straight away and got on the next bus. I didn't understand why she was adamant she couldn't sell us tickets and the buses were all full when we first went in. As we were leaving Tokyo the next day, we almost missed out on experiencing the bus tour if I had not tried getting the tickets via Veltra. To avoid same experience, we highly recommend booking via Veltra.
Staff was very friendly but the overall experience didn't compare with other open air bus trips in other major cities. The monotone English audio was minimal and mostly uninteresting. Lots of room for improvement there. Not many stops and gap time between stops is quite long. I agree with other reviewers- spend your money on a cab.
The tour was nice and so was Mina, our guide. She was very knowledgeable and funny.
The only confusing thing was finding the Hamamatsucho Bus Terminal if you are not familiar. The check-in counter was a little unorganized at first, but it got straightened out.
So much t o see with little time - do this tour!
This was our second 2-day tour with Taiji in 3 years, and everyone had so much fun! Not only is Taiji super detailed oriented in planning a wonderful itinerary for our group, and equally efficient in executing even the most complicated and busiest schedules, it is all accomplished without making the tour group feel rushed at all. At the end, we were able to enjoy a fantastic customized experience that catered to the varied preferences that ranged from a 15-year old teenage girl up to grandparents in their 70's and 80's!
Best of all, Taiji not only provides a great tour service, but does so by enhancing the experience through his fun personality. Not only is his English excellent, but it is very difficult to find someone who is as humorous as Taiji who can not only understand but participate in sarcastic humor! Thank you so much again for the truly memorable and fun times, Taiji!
Dear Derek
It was such a pleasure to see you again here in Japan.
Yes 3 years was very fast since the first time you booked my tour when I just started this business but din't feel that much time have past when I saw you first at the hotel.
I was very pleased to hear from Veltra that you were requesting me again and myself enjoyed very much the fun time with you as well with your humors too and I remember just like we have been laughing all the way and also to visit new places from your request.
As you know i can manage to bring you to any place including your favorite shopping site Costco.
Oh, and thank you for the gift, I opened that Champagne on my birthday.
Hope that all of your team is doing well and hopefully see you again in Japan to explore new places.
Taiji
Booked this tour a couple of months ago, when the weather forecast said it will be sunny. Unfortunately, the day of the tour itself, there was rain and snow, obviously Fuji-san would be a no-show. However, Taiji made the tour as comfortable for the group as possible, offering alternative activities for the day, since the situation is beyond anyone's control. Have to admit, Fuji-san was just the really optional part of the tour, and the priority was Gotemba Outlets. So we spent more the most part of the day there, taking our sweet time shopping and enjoying what the day has to offer. Taiji is very friendly, on time, drives safely, adaptable to our requests who would go above and beyond. Over all, I would have to say we were in very good hands, and I couldn't have asked for anyone better, would book a tour with them again in the near future.
Dear Jeremy
As said, we had a very difficult day with the weather but nevertheless thank you so much for leaving such kind comment. I work and do all the best especially on a cloudy day knowing that the priority of Fuji tour is to see and get good shots of the mountain.
Please let me know if you plan to come to Japan again. We are not just only doing Fuji tour but we can customize any location according to what you expect.
Looking forward to seeing you again.
Taiji
Difficult to hear what the guides were saying.
Very busy between the different sights. When we finally found cherry blossoms there was no time to take photos.
Not too interesting to see the gardens and the shrine that was under reconstruction.
I had a great experience before, so I participated with my brother's family as well. The freshness of being able to view various buildings and landscapes from the high position of the bus is truly wonderful. Since it was a nice spring season, we were able to see the cherry blossoms, which made it even more enjoyable. The guide's performance really enhances the tour. Everyone, both children and adults, gets very excited when passing under the bridge. I think it would be great if there were a tour that also includes Tokyo Tower and other places for about an additional 30 minutes.
前に利用して良かったので兄弟の家族も一緒に参加しました。
色んな建物や景色がバスの高い位置から眺められるという新鮮さは本当に良いです。
春の良い季節だったので桜も見れてより楽しめました。
ガイドさんの演出がよりツアーを盛り上げてくれます。橋の下をくぐる時は子供も大人も大興奮です。
プラス30分くらいで東京タワーや他の場所も一緒にまわれるツアーもあったらいいなと思います。
This tour was exceptional in that it was possible to select and change the itinerary as the day progressed. The tour guide spoke good English, was knowledgeable about the places we visited, and was happy and adept at discovering additional places to visit to fit our interests. In addition, the driver also spoke good English, drove well and safely, and also was helpful in support of the guide. We also had a very nice lunch in a beautiful and peaceful restaurant. All in all, this was without doubt the best tour we had in Japan.
The tour comprised a married couple and a friend - all fairly elderly, but the guide made sure we were able to see all the important sight seeing aspects of the tour.
Higashi is my Chinese-speaking Japanese born private
tour guide and having worked in China for many years, he is a gem that could give us Japanese culture and yet be able to relate to us - we are a Singaporean family (I was with my 70 year old mother and 2 sisters). He paced the entire trip nicely taking into account our speed, to the extent of serving our food needs and even accompany us to shopping to wherever we want and with such patience for a man! Encourage all to book him!
东谦一是我们的日本长大又能说中文的私人导游。他在中国工作了很多年,所以美好的融合了日本传统又能够跟我们的文化接近。由于我带了70岁的妈妈和两个妹妹,他完美得随我们的步伐导游,恰到好处。他更帮我们照顾周到, 餐饮和购物都随我们一起走,帮我们翻译,难能可贵的一个导游。大家请指定他为你的导游!
Very encompassing tour of Tokyo. You see a both a Buddhist Temple and Shinto Shrine, visit several gardens, shop, take a boat ride on a scenic part of the river and have a great Japanese lunch. Of course the Cherry Blossoms were in bloom which made it extra special. Great guide!
I only knew Harajuku for the gothic-lolita kawaii fashion so it was very interesting to see the back alleys and food places I normally don't see in guidebooks. We got to sample a lot of regional specialities and lots of desserts (my favorite!) Our friendly guide was super knowledgeable and was flexible to cater to our entire group. But be prepared to swim through the crowd and possibly wait on lines for some of the treats.
Our guide Asami did a great job taking us to places with great eats! She made sure to give us background info about the places we were visiting and even explained Japanese customs and table manners. She also accommodated personal requests (getting specific souvenirs, etc.) which made the tour feel more intimate.
I did expect this tour to feature more Instagrammable food, but it wasn't so much the case. Nonetheless, everything we ate was good. I especially loved the sesame ice cream!
The guide was fun and knowledgeable. The tour of the whiskey distillery and sake brewery was great. The sake brewery did not have an English translation but the guide translated for our group. We went to a great spot for lunch that was recommended by the guide. Amazing, I recommend the tour and especially if you need help with translation. Our driver was very friendly and accommodating interacted with the party. Highly recommend the tour.
Thank you very much for joining our tour. The restaurant we went used malted rice in their food, a result of the fermentation of Sake which is a portion of healthy food and gives tenderness to meat. It is called Kome Koji.
You can also find a naturally sweet rice drink (juice) called amazake known to have an anti-aging effect.
I hope the wine you bought at the supermarket was good also.
Thank you very much again.
Guade was very nice experienced person very good nature very help very friendly I enjoyed my trip
BigThanks toHim and your company
In future if I will come again definitely I will book through
Your company y Thanks
Vinod aia
Great organization and coordination! Will definitely use Veltra again.
The day was cold but we made the most out of it, hopping off almost every stop. Every bus had blankets, which helped a lot!
The red line has many more stops so we spent most of our time on it. The skytree and ice skating below it was great and our 3 year old daughter enjoyed! The kimonos and "backstreet" shopping near the Ueno stop were great to see and experience. The timing of the audio playing was not always accurate, but acceptable.
The blue line has few stops, but still offers plenty, including the interesting stores around Tokyo Tower.
While the Tokyo hop on hop off bus does not have as many stops as other cities, my wife and I felt it was a great way to get a "taste" of many Tokyo attractions!
I've used hop on and hop off bus in many cities, so I chose Sky bus.
As it was so complicated to use public transportation in Tokyo, It was good way to travel major places without transfer.
But I could only sit upstairs without roof, it was so cold, especially during running highway to Ginza.
I think it would be better if the bus runs more hot spots like Shinjuku, Shibuya, Roppongi and so on.
It was our first time in Tokyo and I want it to be stress free so we decided to get a hop on hop off bus. The experience was wonderful. We had the top view of the Tokyo with the cold weather. It was awesome. Not to mention it was very easy to book thru VELTRA. We booked the day before only but they still had available seats. Awesome!
The buses were very comfortable and blankets were provide on top of heating which made it both comfortable and enjoyable on the whole. The routes covered all the key parts of Tokyo which I wanted to visit. The commentary could be further improved. On the whole I enjoyed the trip!
We were glad to learn our bus was a fully roofed bus in the red route. In January Tokyo can be cold and being open air is a hard pill to swallow.
The blue route was open roof, but they provided blankets so it wasn't as bad as expected.
The routes were just ok. The red one is good, but the explanation on the audioguide was limited. Too much music and too little insight information. However the blue line had no information at all and the route was a waste. It's short (53 minutes) and only two stops before going back home, missing all the important points of the city.
It's kind of expensive for what they give you, compared to other cities in the world.
We have enjoyed the tour very much. It was informative and fun. I would recommend it.
We decided to take a ride on the Sky Bus as a way of seeing the connectivity of the city, which sometimes can be difficult to establish when you travel underground the whole time. We were a group of four, 2 adults and 2 kids and enjoyed every last minute of our ride! The English guide was great and the hand warmers and blankets worked a treat to keep everyone toasty and warm.
We had a great time on the Hop-on Hop-off bus around Tokyo. We were able to see the sights and stop at the areas of interest to us. When the temperatures dropped, the staff politely offered blankets to help us keep warm. We took the blue line and most of the red line in one day, and wished we had more time for a multi day pass. Everyone we interacted with was polite and helpful.
Beauty of urban planning at its best, Tokyo's megalopolis is a well planned development for the world to emulate. Integrated transport system that is accessible to everybody creates an environment that encourages its people to walk creating a healthy populace.
Online booking was easy and easy to understand . Very easy to find the place to get the ticket. Skyhop has everything provided for. from the blankets with this cold winter days. Heat pads and the earphones. They have though of everything. It be nice with the translation they should add also Spanish, Italian and some other European languages.
My family and I had a fabulous time and really enjoyed the scenery. Couldn't ask for more.
Thank you for an enjoyable and wonderful trip.
The online registration and check in process was very smooth. We took the tour on a cold December day and they have provided covered bus option for certain times, which was great. For the double decker they have also provided hand warmers and blankets which were much appreciated. The staff was very helpful and friendly. The only improvement I would recommend would be to provide more historic information on the tour. Try this tour if you have limited time in Tokyo!
I did the same tour by myself last year and enjoyed it a lot! So this year I took my parents and they were overwhelmed with the city! So this tour just gives you a great overview and is quite informative too! Recommend (again) :)