Distant Journeys Avis 

Whilst there were many good points on this holiday, I was left disappointed overall.
Good points - Local guides, general standard of hotels. Visited many interesting places.
Bad points, Not enough time at most of the places of interest, but too much time at service stops. The worst example of this was the cruise on Lake Ashi. The short cruise was only 15 minutes long and we were left at Hakone (a place with a bakery 2 restaurants and a gift shop) for lunch at 11.15 (having had breakfast just before leaving the hotel) and being left there for an hour and three quarters. Myself and others sat on the coach for over 30 minutes as there was nothing else to do. In Tokyo the itinerary states that we would a brief photo stop at the impressive imperial palace. This turned out to be a n opportunity to photograph the bridge leading to locked gates behind which the imperial palace was no visible.
Group size larger than we were told . We checked before booking and was told max group size would be 28. Audio head sets didn't work very well. this was mentioned to the tour guides and Tour manager. Some of the hotels were not as clean as expected. Breakfast at some hotels were chaotic and we had to wait up to 20 minutes for a table. Distant Journeys provided an app with itinerary details and details of each hotel. Not all hotel facilities as advised by Distant Journeys were open, for example, the hotel in Kyoto said the hotel had 2 bars. A roof top bar and the terrace bar. We were staying Monday to Wednesday. The roof top bar had closed for the remainder of the season and the Terrace bar doesn't open on a Monday and Tuesday. In some of the other hotels there was also no bar or lounge to socialise with other group members.
Lunch stops were generally either motorway services, railway stations or food courts in shopping centres (is this the very best Japan has to offer).The overall impression was that the tour was rushed.

A trip to Australia has always been on our bucket list and through through research we decided to book through Distant Journeys as their tour ‘The very best of Australia’ visited all our must see destinations including a trip on the Ghan, from booking to returning home (very sad) DJ were excellent, their attention to detail was faultless, hotels were excellent, however the tour was bought to light through our tour director, Danielle, who ensured everything ran so smoothly and went above and beyond in so many ways. This is a 29 day tour with some very early starts at 4am to catch flights or see Urula at sunrise and therefore can be tiring but we saw so much of Australia in a short time and have so many wonderful memories with our fellow travellers, and have made some great friendships, it was indeed a holiday of a lifetime, thank you Danielle and DJ.

Denise was very helpful in booking this holiday! Looked up alternative flights and made very useful recommendations! I hope the holiday goes as smoothly as the booking!
Very good experience

Richard was extremely helpful when booking our trip to Japan. There was never any pressure to book and we were given all options for consideration in our own time. We had a few questions which were answered comprehensively. The booking process was easy and we received a confirmation email straight away. Excellent service all round

This is the first time I book with Distant Journeys, I found the whole booking experience very easy. The advisor I spoke with was very helpful and able to answer the questions we had. Hopefully the rest of our holiday goes as smoothly.

A journey of a lifetime to New Zealand and Australia and Distant Journeys covered everything that we were looking for. Both Callum and Jack answered any questions we had. All information arrived within 24 hours so we could look at prices and arrange stopovers before and after our trip.
Thank you both you’re a credit to the Company

I have recently booked a managed tour to Singapore and N.Z. with Distant Journeys. They sent me a nice brochure to look through, full of information about the tours, flights, hotels used. The initial enquiry with Catherine was very good giving me lots of information about offers etc. and she answered any questions that I had. I went ahead and booked a few days later. It was quick and efficient .Even though the tour is a long way off at the moment all I can say is that so far the service has been very good, and I hope this continues throughout and warrants our 5 star rating.

I have just booked our third trip with Distant Journeys. Trips are superb with excellent guides. The booking process is so easy. The DJ staff are so lovely and helpful. I would highly recommend them.

I have just booked my solo holiday to Australia.The whole booking process was so easy and straightforward the agent was very helpful and polite and talked me through everything. I would highly recommend Distance Journeys for booking your trip.

Great experience booking my holiday. Everything clearly explained and the lovely Denise made it so easy. Many thanks

Callum was very professional and friendly and went through the booking process with me at a good pace, allowing for my questions. I rung back with an additional two questions and though he wasn’t available straight away, a colleague made sure I could speak to him - on the same call. I didn’t have to wait long. He sent the confirmation email quite quickly too. Overall, I felt valued as a customer which is a great start! Let’s hope the holiday turns out to be just as invaluable!

The organisation, superb Tour Leader (Tuan) and general quality on the Vietnam and Cambodia trip was the reason I am now booked on three others with DJ to come - China, India and South Africa. As a solo traveller I have no qualms in trusting the company to look after my travels.

Having been to Australia and South Africa with DJ, we had no hesitation in booking our next trip to India and Nepal with this company. We know that we will be well looked after, will stay in lovely hotels, and will experience amazing sights and scenery.
Booking this trip was very easy. Staff are knowledgeable and friendly, answering any queries promptly.
The difficulty with DJ is which trip to choose as there are plenty of options per destination. We are looking forward to going to India and Nepal next March.

The booking process is very efficient and the staff friendly and well informed. The tours themselves are very well organised, with a good mix of activities and ‘time off’. Without exception, the local guides have been excellent.

Have been on a previous trip with DJ which was faultless and a wonderful trip in NZ. Have booked another trip which seemed the best one out of so many trips to Sri Lanka with an itinerary to suit all four of us. The booking agent was really helpful and made the whole process easy. Also knew the answers to my queries straight away . Very helpful.

When you wanted information to help decide whether to book a particular holiday with them they were very quick to respond and very clear & transparent with their answers.

Booked solo India trip and could not have been simpler. Phone answered quickly, response to queries brilliant and staff super helpful and friendly. Booking couldn’t have been easier. Excellent

Dealt with my queries and changes to my booking very quickly and efficiently. Offers an excellent service

We did the Very Best of Japan tour. DJ representives were very good, meeting at the airport and taking us all back to return home.
Local guides put loads of effort into make our trip a good one and it really was, also the bus drivers were all happy to engage with us which was a plus. Our guide Sarah was very efficient and kept us together even though we were quite a large group of 25 (it was quite stressful trying to get us all on the bullet trains I'm sure) she did it all with a pleasant smile. The hotels were all 4 star and stunning. I would highly recommend Distant Journeys and will be looking to book with them for another trip. Japan was a fantastic country and we saw all the good bits on this trip.

We have recently completed our 2nd tour with Distant Journeys. The first to New Zealand and the latest to Japan. Everything was so well organised from our flights, hotels and daily activities. We had good service from the all the staff. Because everything was so good we have now booked a trip to India for next year.