Globe Travel Centre
Japan
Travel Centre
Tailor-made Japan holidays designed around the seasons, the food and the railways.
Explore Japan
Few countries hold their opposites together as gracefully as Japan. Neon crossings and thousand year old shrines, bullet trains and tatami inns, a bowl of ramen at a counter one night and a kaiseki banquet the next. Castles, gardens, hot spring towns and mountain villages all sit within a few hours of one another on one of the finest railway networks in the world.
Spring brings the cherry blossom and autumn the maples, and both are worth planning a whole trip around. Between them there are sumo tournaments, summer festivals, snow country in the north and the wild coastline of Hokkaido, where cranes and brown bears live within sight of the sea.
Every itinerary below is a starting point. Tell us how you like to travel, how much walking you enjoy and what you want to eat, and we will reshape the route, the pace and the hotels around you.
- Best time to visit
- March to May and October to November
- Flight time from the UK
- 12 to 14 hours
- Currency
- £1 ≈ ¥211
Our Japan experts · based in Tokyo
“We plan Japan the way we would plan it for a friend: the right season, the right train, the right dinner.”
Itinerary ideas
Japan tours by type
Browse our Japan holiday itinerary ideas in different categories.
Tour picks of the month
Hand-picked journeys through Japan
A few of our favourite tours right now. Starting points our specialists reshape around you.
Japan travel guides
Japan, by the people who know it
Long-form guides written by our Tokyo specialists, genuinely useful before you go.
The Globe difference
Why travel with us
Specialist expertise
Your holiday is designed by specialists who travel Japan through the seasons and know which route, which train and which week makes the difference.
Personalised service
Private English speaking guides on the days you want them, rail passes and seat reservations arranged, and freedom on the days you would rather wander.
Peace of mind
An established UK company with local support on the ground, from your airport arrival to your final departure.
Rated Excellent on Trustpilot · Top 5 in category
Reviews
What our guests say
@helenmarsh
Every hotel, every train, every dinner reservation thought through. We simply travelled.
@thepatels
They understood exactly what we wanted from Japan and built a trip that exceeded it.
@davidsue
The mix of cities, mountain towns and a ryokan night was perfectly judged.
@ciaraobrien
Two weeks from Tokyo to Kyoto and not one wasted day.
Start planning with our Japan experts
Tell them how you want to feel and roughly when, and they'll shape a Japan journey around you. No call centre, no obligation, a reply usually within a day.
Good to know
Japan holiday FAQs
Spring, from late March into May, brings the cherry blossom and mild weather. Autumn, from October into November, brings the maples and the clearest skies. Both are busy, so we book hotels early. Winter suits snow country and Hokkaido, and summer is hot and humid in the cities but excellent in the mountains.