Meet John Fitzpatrick, one of our Tour Managers

What's your favourite destination?

Japan is an amazing country. It's a place I never tire of visiting. Never need any persuasion to go back there. Primarily because the people are so lovely. They're super light and kind. It's a very clean country. Everything is spotless. The public transport is fantastic and if you come on the tour, you can go on the bullet train and see how wonderful that is.

Favourite place to visit?

One of the highlights of visiting Japan is, of course, seeing Mount Fuji - an absolutely spectacular natural wonder very much revered because in Japan it's considered a sacred site.

One of the things that will strike you when you visit Japan is that there are vending machines absolutely everywhere selling you everything from hot and cold drinks to sandwiches and snacks. I've even seen shoes on sale in vending machines and in fact, there's even a vending machine on top of Mount Fuji.

Visiting Kyoto is a fantastic experience. It's a beautiful city. The old part of Kyoto is very traditional and the geisha area - sometimes we do see geishas walking along the streets. We visit several of the shrines and temples in Kyoto, including the Golden Pavilion - a fantastic Zen temple covered in gold leaf which sits at the side of a lake. You'll get the opportunity to photograph it with the fantastic reflection of the gold in the lake. It's a really beautiful place to visit.

When you visit Hiroshima on the tour, you take a trip across to Miyajima island. It's a short ferry crossing just about 10 minutes. One of the great things about Miyajima is that in Japan deer are considered to be messengers of the gods. They're sacred animals. So as you're walking around Miyajima the deer are walking along the street beside you and the same thing you will find in Nara. If you go to Nara on the tour there are many many deer there at the big temple in Nara.

How do Riviera make these tours so special for guests?

One of the great things about a Riviera tour is that there's so much included in the tour. If you were to try to visit Japan on your own you just wouldn't see half of what you see on the tours. You also have free time. So in Tokyo, you have a half day free. In Hiroshima, you have a half day free. And in Kyoto, you have a free day and there's so much to see in all of these cities and, as Tour Managers, we're always happy to give you advice about the best places to go, the great sights to see and also how to use the local public transport.

Arigatou gozaimashita.