Private Customizable Tokyo Tour (Train, Walking, Car on Request)

A big thank you to Claire for looking after us on our first day and first visit to Japan . We left all the planning up to Claire to show us a variety of sights and she planned the day to flow seamlessly. We particularly liked the traditional Prefecture of Yanaka , an area we would never of visited on our own . Do yourself a favour and just book this experience, you won’t be disappointed and will save you a lot of time with more time to experience Japan .

Vivian spent 8 hours with us in Tokyo. She picked us up at our hotel and the first thing she did was help us get a Suica card and show us how to use it to take public transit and to make purchases from the vending machines that are every where around the city. So easy to walk and take public transit. As the tour is customizable you could literally pick and choose whatever you wanted. We were first time visitors so we requested the highlights (the scramble, Shibuya, Godzilla, vintage shops, sushi on a conveyor belt, Golden Gai district, Takeshita Street, Meiji Temple, Ginza, arcade streets) We had a great day!

We were able to choose what we wanted to see. Everything was arranged via e- mail ahead of time.

Day 1 you are jet lagged and a bit overwhelmed. The tour is a great way to go up the learning curve and get organized with a metro card, tips on using the train, and getting to a couple of neighborhoods without spinning your wheels. Claire our tour guide gave us 3 very different views of Tokyo, a calm but interesting n'hood, a very busy crowded one and then the zen of the imperial gardens. It was a great initial sample of the city.

We enjoyed spending the day with Vivian in Tokyo. She is Australian who grew up in Tokyo with her parents so her English is perfect and she knows Tokyo. Vivian helped us shop for needed items, took us to a traditional Kimono store where we were dressed up and took photos and visited a nearby Pagoda. We had lunch at a Shabu-Shabu restaurant with a high rise view of downtown Tokyo. Vivian took us to an interesting shopping area named Shibuya and we rode in a taxi through the edge of Ueno Park where we saw numerous Cherry Blossom trees in full bloom. She also took us on a local train back to the area of our hotel in Shinjuku. We had a perfect day on a privately led tour.

Vivian was a spectacular tour guide for Tokyo. On this 8 hour tour we got to see so many cool and interesting sights of Tokyo. This tour can really be anything you want but we let her take charge and show us what she thought was best and have no regrets. We also got to eat at some small hole in the wall restaurants that we never would have found otherwise that I will now crave for the foreseeable future from across the globe. Make sure to ask her about the happy cakes and gyoza for an amazing bite. Overall this tour felt more like exploring a new city with a local friend than a paid tour guide.

Vivian was great! She geared the tour towards our interests & we got to see a lot of fun & interesting spots that we wouldn't have found on our own! Highly recommend! :-)

Our guide was Claire. She couldn’t have been more helpful. It was our first day in Japan, she showed us how to buy a train ticket and navigate the train station. I had a list of places I wanted to see and Claire took us there, and showed us many things along the way. She selected a great spot for lunch, based on what we felt like eating. Never felt rushed, nor just standing around. You can be our guide anytime Claire. 😀

Our guide Viv was awesome. She explained the trains to us, helped us get some health supplies, took us to a used camera shop, to her favorite sushi shop, and pretty much every place we had on our list. She was Australian, but Japanese certified so helped us find what we needed. When she first met us she said this was our tour, and could be customized just for us. She never made me feel bad for asking for breaks, when my legs were tired from walking. I would wholeheartedly recommend this tour, and Viv in particular. Just be prepared for walking!!

The fully customizable aspect of this tour worked very well for us. My partner and I arrived in Tokyo a couple of days before beginning a 15-day small group tour that traveled to other cities and ended in Kyoto. The Tokyo sites included in the formal tour did not visit all the must- see highlights that we had on our list. After signing up for the Customizable Tokyo Tour, we were contacted by our guide, Vivian. I responded with a list of the sites we wanted to visit during our eight hour tour. It was a very easy and comfortable process. Vivian was a good listener and promptly responded to my questions. After only a few email exchanges she had the information she needed to develop our tour. Vivian was a delight to work with. Due to her experience she was able to craft a tour that included more than what was on our list. She was also able to make the city come alive and provided a lot of information and context to help us better understand Japan in general and Tokyo in particular. Since this was our first visit to Japan, we were intimidated by the size of Tokyo and the complexity of the subway and train system. It was a huge bonus that Vivian met us at our hotel and off we went to explore the city. We had a great time! Vivian was very knowledgeable and accommodating to our interests and our desired pacing.