It was good had a really good experience. I would definitely do it again.
Sold by EF Educational Tours
The information on this page is based solely on product reviews written by customers of EF Educational Tours via Trustpilot.
All reviews
What I liked about my trip was having the entire trip planned without having to worry about airline tickets, event tickets, food, the EF Tours Professional Tour Guides, etc. The various EF Tours Guides beginning with the first Guide who met us at the airport and stayed with us until we departed on the last day was OUTSTANDING! It was very freeing to not have to worry about those things. The trip was FANTASTIC! What I also enjoyed was staying at a wonderful hotel during the first half of the trip (As nice as the Ritz Carlton). Customer service was outstanding, the food was wonderful What I did NOT like about the trip was the hotel selected for the 2nd Half of the trip was an AWFUL hotel (it was equivalent to the Motel 6). It was tiny, it was not clean, the food was disgusting, customer service was non existent. With a 12 Inch step up and down into the bathroom, I almost killed myself. This hotel experience ruined my otherwise fantastic trip. With the amount of money we paid per person for this trip, there is not ANY reason we should have stayed at a hotel that was undesirable, less than or not on par with the first hotel experience. There is not any justifiable excuse. Sadly, for this reason alone, I will not participate in another EF Educational Tour!!!
The sight-seeing, the people we met, the food we ate.
EF takes no considering about sitting kids in a group together. My daughter was sat by herself next to strange men for every international flight. Would not recommend based solely on the fact they put my daughter in an unsafe situation. 38 people on tour and not one next to her. 14 hour flights by herself uncomfortable and couldn’t sleep next to strangers. She enjoyed Japan. Hotel 1 good, hotel 2 ok.
Amazing trip!!
unfriendly
The tour guide was very good to inform us about places we were visiting and information about Japan in general.
My daughter had a wonderful time on her trip to Japan. I plan to send my son next.
First and foremost, I want to highlight how truly outstanding our tour guide was. She was incredibly caring, knowledgeable, and made every effort to ensure our experience in Japan was memorable, smooth, and enriching. Her dedication added tremendous value to the trip. The planned site visits and transportation logistics were also very well-organized. We were able to see many incredible places without feeling rushed, and the transitions between cities and activities were handled efficiently. However, I was disappointed by some aspects of the trip, specifically, the accommodations in Tokyo and the dinners provided. The hotel we stayed at in Tokyo was not centrally located. More importantly, the breakfasts were very poor, and we often had to look for alternatives nearby to have a decent start to our day. This was a stark contrast to the much better hotel experience we had in Kyoto. The most underwhelming part of the trip was the dinner selection. Experiencing a country’s culture includes trying its cuisine, and it was surprising, and frankly disappointing, that during our entire stay in Japan, we were not taken out for a single sushi or ramen meal. Instead, many dinners consisted of fried finger foods. It really felt like EF cut corners here. Many of us ended up seeking out a second dinner after the planned meals. With better food experiences and improved accommodations in Tokyo, this trip could have been exceptional. As it stands, it was a great cultural experience made memorable by the guide and itinerary but hampered by cost-cutting choices in areas that matter to travelers.
Everything went smoothly, and it was an unforgettable experience for our students.
This tour was incredible. Despite having an "act of god" have us miss our first day- the actual tour itself was AMAZING! I can't say enough about our local tour leader but also with how ontop of EF was in helping us if we needed it, support was great at all hours of the night if we needed it. I can't recommend this specific tour enough because we were able to see MANY things that were on our Japan bucket list as first time travelers. I would book this one again and again for our Japan enthusiasts.
Traveling with such a positive and supportive group made every day more enjoyable. We laughed, explored, learned, and created amazing memories together. The energy, kindness, and care from the team made the whole trip feel effortless and fun If you’re thinking of visiting Japan, I highly recommend doing it with a great tour group—it made all the difference for me.Already missing Japan and my wonderful travel crew. Can’t wait for the next adventure! 🇯🇵❤️
Not adapted for this age group, more for elementary maybe than for 14yo (in bed at 8pm???). Too many cultural visits vs fun neighborhoods. Local food was tasted with his own money, not served at dinner. My son was a bit negative about the trip overall and I am quite upset to see the results vs how much I paid. Will never recommend EF again.
We enjoyed learning about the history and the culture of Japan. The kids and all the travelers had a wonderful and enjoyed the food and the shopping and especially Disney Sea!
Had an amazing time. Explored lots of fun places. Tried delicious foods. Wonderful guides. Thank you !
By far the best experience, I’ve had. The activities, food, culture, and people I was with made this such a special trip.
Great trip! A safe experience for the students. Very organized.
Overall, the trip went really well. We had a fantastic group of students, and my fellow chaperones and I were very intentional about building a strong sense of community and clearly communicating expectations throughout the experience. Our Tour Director, Tomoe, was absolutely incredible. She was always well-prepared for each day, built strong relationships with the students, and consistently went above and beyond to make sure we were comfortable and informed. Tomoe quickly became a part of our group’s “family,” and she will be deeply missed. It wouldn’t be a stretch to say that she ranks among the top three highlights of the trip for everyone on the trip All of the students walked away with great experiences and lifelong memories. From a Group Leader’s Perspective Pacing: The pacing of the trip was not ideal. The first few days were overloaded with 3–5 locations per day, which left students feeling rushed and unable to fully appreciate the incredible places we were visiting. In contrast, later in the trip, we had large blocks of unscheduled time or an excess of time in places, most notably, the day at Joypolis, which included two hours at an arcade and little else. In hindsight, students would have greatly benefited from an additional day in the Kyoto area and one fewer day in Tokyo. Karaoke - Once again, we had great students who loved the experience. However, it was incredibly hot in the room. Not an exaggeration, the temperature reached 90 at one point. It would be great to have input into ordering the food because we had an excess of food that was then thrown out creating ponds of thrown out food. Extension: The post-tour extension did not feel well-planned. The long stretches of driving, combined with an early return flight, meant we had little meaningful activity on our final day. Instead of splitting the journey home over two days, it would have made more sense to consolidate travel into one day and make better use of our remaining time in Japan. The activities we did do were really good and were a nice change of pace. Flights: Fortunately, all flights went smoothly, but some tight connections—especially during customs processing—left very little margin for error. On our inbound flight to Japan, we cleared customs with just five minutes to spare. The same was true on the way home. If anything had gone wrong, we would have likely missed our flights. Hotels: * The first hotel was a favorite among both students and chaperones, thanks to its convenient location and vibrant surrounding area. * The Tokyo hotel also had a great location, though the rooms were quite small. * The hotel in Sapporo, however, was completely inappropriate due to its placement in the red-light district. There is no justifiable reason to house a group of 14–19-year-old students in this area. Susukino is known as the red-light capital of Hokkaido, filled with adult entertainment, including soaplands—establishments where women provide sexual services. There were 15 such businesses within one block of our hotel. We were fortunate that this particular group of students handled it maturely, but a different group could have had a very different experience. This situation was entirely avoidable, and EF must do better in selecting youth-appropriate accommodations. EF App Feedback Tool: The user interface for the feedback tool was frustrating. With so much happening each day, it's unreasonable to expect leaders to recall a full week of details in one sitting. I lost my typed feedback multiple times and ended up using Apple Notes to draft entries before pasting them into the app. There should also be an online version to give feedback rather than solely relying on the app. Having the ability to actually sit at a computer to give feedback will allow richer and more detailed information especially for the final feedback. I recommend EF rework the tool to allow daily note-taking that can be saved as a draft. After daily entries are complete, users should then be prompted for region-specific reflections or overall impressions. This would make feedback more genuine and useful. Overall Experience & EF Partnership: Will I continue working with EF? Most likely, yes. EF provides an all-in-one package that simplifies the complex logistics of student travel. There’s peace of mind in knowing that when things go wrong, EF steps in quickly with solutions. Across both trips I've led, the Tour Directors have been the biggest factor in making the experiences meaningful—for both students and group leaders.
🥰🥰🥰🥰 Very nice, everything very friendly, the staff, my son was happy with everything, thank you, God bless you always 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏👏👏😊😊
My son had a pleasant and happy stay in Japan. He returned home happily, and that made me happy.