This was a wonderful private day tour for our party of 4, with our guide, Fumiko, who met us in the hotel lobby in Nagano and helped us obtain our train tickets to Matsumoto. Fumiko gave us a wonderful tour of Matsumoto City, including Frog Street, and Matsumoto Castle, and arranged for an outstanding lunch at the Kobayashi Soba Restaurant, who went out of their way of look after special dietary requirements of one of our party. We thoroughly enjoyed the day and spending time with Fumiko in Matsumoto.

Maki provided excellent advice, and we were able to visit the places we wanted because the itinerary was confirmed before the tour. We greatly appreciated Maki's knowledge, and we took a lot of of photos. We enjoyed a delicious ramen lunch and even retraced our steps to find the dinner recommendation Maki mentioned during the tour. I couldn't have asked for more, everything was perfect!

After being greeted by our guide Mutsumi, we travelled by train to Matsumoto. On arrival had a surprise with the Matsumoto mechanical clock and then made our way to the castle. This is an example of the finest Japanese architecture of the time. Beautiful gardens as well: challenging steps inside the castle for which extra care is advised. Our guide helped us pick an excellent local restaurant with great affordable food. Anyway a fantastic tour with a very knowledgeable guide which we greatly recommend

We were in Japan for a whole month and this Nagano tour is one of the best tours we did. Wei Wei fan our tour guide was exceptional. She made us feel so welcome and treated us like old friends. The food on tour was great. Chilli ice cream was surprisingly delicious. The locale was so nice and it felt authentic. Until now we still talk about those huge roasted chestnuts! The private tour is so worth it. Happy to do again and highly recommend. Three thumbs up!

Toru was an absolute pleasure. He created a fantastic schedule for us for and it was perfect! He was informative and ensured we saw everything possible. He was great fun and a lovely guide ! He also knows all the best eateries around ! Thank you!

We took this tour in mid-September. It turned out to be a very hot day and our wonderful guide, Ilhom was flexible enough to organise a taxi to see the Snow Monkey Park. For those of you who are wondering what type of tour this, be prepared for a long day of cycling not only through quiet agricultural roads but busy roads with lots of traffic. The bikes were of very high quality and well maintained. At the bike shop they will fit you and properly adjust your ride. If you want an e-bike you can choose that too. I would recommend that if you wanted to go on this tour be well prepared because it is around 70-75 km (43-46 miles) in length.

Tokyo feeds the senses; Nagano feeds the soul. We booked the 2 day Nagano tour with 4/5 star ryokan. Words cannot describe the level of fulfillment and wonder we felt after this experience. Our tour guide, Ilhom, was awesome and did an outstanding job creating a custom experience for us that was both really fun and culturally engaging. A few of the day's adventures included a brief hike- stunning colors and views, monkeys, sake wine tasting, ninja puzzle rooms, fresh miso & ramen- local grown produce and snow (yes there was snow in May!) We stayed overnight at a ryokan (traditional Japanese style inn) located in an onsen town that had a strong sense of history and heritage; its pleasant, unexpected surprises found us at every corner. Exploring hadn't been this fun since I was 10! Ilhom is knowledgable and energetic, pleasant to be around! We started the day off as strangers and felt like he was family by the end. Ilhom is an invaluable asset to this 5-star quality tour. 12 out of 10 would recommend this to able like-minded adventurers seeking authenticity, beauty and inspiration. Thank you Japan Awaits! Thank you Ilhom! It's farewell for now until we meet again!

Definitely a must if you’re visiting Nagano in the summer. Very high quality bikes, knowledgeable and flexible tour guide, awesome scenery throughout entire bike ride, and we stopped at all the best spots in Nagano. One thing to note is that it isn’t the most beginner friendly tour. I enjoyed it a lot because I’m a triathlete, but it’s a 20+ mile bike ride and my friend who came with me only works out occasionally and he had a hard time making it to the top (steady incline for several miles). He had a lot of fun on the way down though!

Our guide Ilhom was very friendly and helpful, we feel just a like a travel with friend more like a guide, and he was very good guide too. Strong recommendation.

After a bit of a break-neck, whistlestop tour of Japan, it was great to arrive in the peaceful region of Nagano with its fantastic mountains and picturesque towns. Our guild, Ilhom, a transplant from Uzbekistan, was just as knowledgeable and friendly as any native and took us to some expected (the snow monkeys) and unexpected places: a dumpling hut, a Udon shop in Obuse, a 300-year-old Japanese Saki distillery and for some fantastic vistas. I am now recommending Nagano to anyone looking for a side-trip in Japan -- forget Fuji. I wish we could have spent more time in Obuse, especially to see the Hokusai museum, but there are always return trips!

Best tour ever! We spent the last two days with our guide Ilhom exploring Nagano and Matsumoto. It was such a delight travelling with Ilhom, he took us to so many great places that we otherwise would have never seen on our own. After first visiting the temple, he took us to a traditional place where they make dumplings, we entered through a very small door where we were able to cozy up next to the fire; so cool! We then experienced being a ninja at a great shop across the street, followed by a 300 year old sake distillery for lunch. Ilhom took us to all the best shops, and seemed to be friends with all the locals. Every part of this trip was amazing thanks to Ilhom, it felt like being guided by a friend, we will never forget it. The monkeys and Ryokan are a must, and I would highly suggest Matsumoto castle for the second day. We also went to a Wasabi farm in Matsumoto which I thought was amazing. I cannot recommend this tour enough, if we are ever able to return for another vacation I will definitely book another tour with him. It was absolutely an experience of a lifetime. Thanks so much Ilhom for such a wonderful time.

This was one of our favourite memories from our 4 week stay in Japan. Ilhom was a brilliant guide, very clear English speaking and incredible knowledge of the area. We went on a beautiful long ride through orchards where Ilhom found us an amazing apple, I won't give too much away but it wasn't like any other apple we have ever seen nor tasted. We got to see the countryside up close before making our way through a beautiful little strip on Onsen on our way up to the snow monkeys. After a steep ride up the mountain we were fortunate to see the snow monkeys while they were very active. We went in November and though there was no snow in sight it was still an un-missable experience. On the way back down Ilhom took us to a kaiten sushi restaurant (sushi train) that was super fresh and delicious. Surprisingly it was also incredibly cheap despite the great quality. Strongly recommend this tour as it's a great opportunity to see all the sights and still be very active for the day on a high end bike. Would book again.

While in Japan, we planned to first visit Nagano to commune with the Snow Monkeys (something that had been on my bucket list since I saw them on the cover of Life Magazine in 1970)... but we also wanted to make it to an area of the country commonly referred to as the Japanese Alps - the mountainous region of Kamakura. . While researching the travel options around Nagano, it became apparent that travel to Kamakura could be difficult, even risky, at the time of year we were visiting. There is normally a complicated series of train and bus transfers by which one can make the trip, but in mid-fall, the trains cease running owing to the high risk of avalanches. We considered renting a car, but because we are from the US, the prospect of driving on the left side of the road and having to read road signs in Japanese seemed daunting. Our best option was to secure a guide familiar with the winding roads/mountain passages to help us make the journey... and as it turned out, this was the best decision we made on the trip. Our terrific guide, Ilhom, was an invaluable source of information about the Nagano region... he taught us about the agricultural traditions, history, and current issues relevant to those living in the area. On the first day we hiked the short earthen pathway to the monkey's play area at the Jigokudani Snow Monkey Park. To our delight, there is no fence, river, or gorge creating distance, and the monkeys run freely around the selfie-snapping tourists. The monkeys were predominantly concerned with their babies and their dominance squabbles, and were not nearly as interested in us as we were in them. They did, however, seem content to sit and bathe in the warm waters of the natural hot springs - mugging at the cameras until the photographers captured the photos they came for. We stayed at a traditional Ryokan overnight... an experience I would highly recommend to westerners... and bathed in their private rooftop onsen. We purchased a second day with our tour guide so as to reach the mountainous Japanese Alps (it is one of two additional optional add-on days). Ilhom drove us nearly 4 hours to Kamakura on the very last day it was open to tourists in 2018 (it closes for the winter). Together we all hiked through the easy trails and took in the volcanic mountain vistas, reminiscent of Yosemite Nat'l Park in the US. Having hiked and visited the museum dedicated to the history and preservation of this natural area, we returned to the car and were driven another 4 hours back to our hotel in Nagano. Interspersed with our monkey visits and hikes, we followed Ilhom's expert recommendations... leading us to try restaurants we may not have found on our own, visit a winery and a Sake brewhouse, and tour the largest Wasabi farm in Japan (which offers an amazing lunch featuring fresh wasabi to grate atop your meal, and even a wasabi lemonade!). This tour, given everything it includes (driver, interpreter, hotel, and meals at the hotel) is a bargain and absolutely the best thing we spent money on in Japan. Because it is a private tour, it can be somewhat customized based on your interests, and you will leave with a deeper understanding of the country and it's inhabitants after spending a day speaking with a local (especially one as personable as Ilhom). I highly recommend this tour company for their professional booking system, confirmations, and follow-up... but it was our guide, Ilhom, who was worth his weight in gold.

Nice walked up the mountain to meet the snow monkey. Great surrounding, and the monkeys were minding their own business while the tourists gathered to snap pictures and we enjoyed the serenity of the forest with the pockets of onsen. The food in the designated Ryokan was experiential with local mix of varieties and tasted wonderful. Most of all, the people we met were friendly. And We enjoyed.

We were very impressed with this tour with Ilhom. The monkeys as you can see were perfect! And a definite highlight of our trip so far. We also explored some local spots in Nagano, including a lovely little restaurant that hand-made traditional Japanese dumplings, and Ilhom also recommended some amazing sake for us to taste at the local sake brewery. We ended up buying a couple of big bottles to take home! The Ryokan itself is beautiful, and a one of kind experience - the food, the staff, the onsens, everything was gorgeous. Totally recommend!