Japan · Discovery tour
11 nights · 12 days*Indicative price £3,950 ppTokyo - Nikko - Hakone - Takayama - Shirakawa-go - Kanazawa - Kyoto - Nara
This is the tour we build most often for first time visitors who want more than Tokyo and Kyoto. It follows the old road through the middle of Honshu, so between the two great cities you spend time in mountain towns, thatched villages and a castle city that calls itself little Kyoto.
Everything moves by train, which in Japan is a pleasure rather than a chore. Guides join you on the days where a local eye makes the difference and step back on the days you would rather wander.
The description below follows a trip we ran for guests in September. It is a starting point: the pace, the hotels and the balance of guided and free days are all yours to change.
Tokyo
3 nights
Hakone
1 night
Takayama
2 nights
Kanazawa
2 nights
Kyoto
3 nights
Shinto shrines and luxury boulevards, a river cruise to an Edo period garden, and the old quarter of Asakusa. Tokyo is also the base for the day trip north to Nikko.
On arrival at Tokyo Narita airport you are met and transferred to your hotel. Use the rest of the day to recover from the flight, or head out to the old quarter of Asakusa in the afternoon. The evening is at leisure.
Overnight · The Celestine Tokyo Shiba
These are the hotels we use on this route. Your expert confirms the exact quote and any individual stay can be swapped for something that suits you better.
Jan
10°C
50mm
Feb
11°C
55mm
Mar
14°C
115mm
Apr
19°C
125mm
May
23°C
140mm
Jun
26°C
185mm
Jul
30°C
155mm
Aug
31°C
170mm
Sep
27°C
210mm
Oct
22°C
195mm
Nov
17°C
95mm
Dec
12°C
55mm
20°C
Avg temperature
129mm
Avg rainfall
Japan runs the length of several climate zones. Spring and autumn are the pick almost everywhere, with warm days and low rainfall. June brings the rainy season to most of the country, and July and August are hot and humid in the cities. Winter is cold and snowy in the north but crisp and clear in Tokyo and Kyoto.
*Indicative price
£3,950
per person, twin share
Excluding international flights
Prices exclude international flights. Includes accommodation, private transport, sightseeing and activities as described. This is a private tour, fully customisable. Adjust hotels, add destinations, change the pace. Final price varies with group size, season and hotel choice. Share your preferred dates and we will send a personalised itinerary and an accurate quote.
Our Japan team will reshape every day of this itinerary around you, then price it properly.
Discovery · 8 nights
Eight nights through the heart of Honshu: the shrines of Nikko, the hot springs and lake country of Hakone, the mountain town of Takayama, the thatched valley of Shirakawa-go, the gardens of Kanazawa and the temples of Kyoto.
*Indicative price £2,995 pp
Family · 13 nights
Thirteen nights built for families: bike tours and sumo in Tokyo, science and manga at Odaiba, the Peace Memorial at Hiroshima, the deer and floating torii of Miyajima, ninja training and taiko drumming in Kyoto, Nara's great Buddha, and a ryokan night in Hakone.
*Indicative price £4,250 pp
Wildlife · 14 nights
Fourteen nights pairing Tokyo with a Hokkaido self-drive: red-crowned cranes in the Akan wetlands, the wild coastline of Shiretoko, the gorges of Sounkyo, the peaks of Asahidake, the flower fields of Biei and the food halls of Sapporo.
*Indicative price £4,850 pp
11 nights · *Indicative price £3,950 pp
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