Handpicked Japan

You will meet your guide on arrival and transferred to your hotel. 

Today you’ll tour the mega metropolis of Tokyo visiting the Imperial Palace, the famous shopping districts of Ginza and Shibuya and the electronics mecca of Akihabara. Later, you’ll visit Meiji Shrine and Yoyogi Park in the kitsch haven of Harajuku. It’s here in Harajuku where you’ll experience the weird and wonderful local youth culture. Expect to see teenagers dressed in extreme Japanese youth fashions. In the late afternoon you’ll visit the luxurious Shinjuku, walk to Omotesando and finish the day in Asakusa Old Town to visit the Sensoji temple. Those keen on visiting the outstanding Tsukiji Fish Market will need to book pre accommodation on the Friday night before the trip starts. The Tsukiji Fish Market tour is an optional cost and will be done between 3am-8am on Friday morning. The Tsukiji Fish Market is closed on Wednesdays, Sundays and on public holidays. 

Scattered among hilly woodlands, Nikkō, with its World Heritage Site temples and shrines, is an awesome display of wealth and power. Today you’ll visit the Tamozawa Imperial Villa, a summer house of the Imperial Family before WWII, the Toshu-gu Shrine, a resting place of a Tokugawa shogun and the mausoleum of Tokugawa Ieyasu, the warlord who controlled all of Japan. Return to Tokyo in the late afternoon. (B)

Board a bullet train and travel to the iconic snow-capped Mount Fuji. Of all Japan's iconic images, Mount Fuji (3776m) is the real deal. Check into your hotel in Hakone and take a bath in an outdoor onsen (hot spring bath) which will definately be one of your trip highlights. Enjoy a stay in traditional ryokan accommodation and sleep on a futon. In the evening, relax in your yukata, or lightweight kimono, and dine on a sumptuous kaiseki multi-course meal. (B)(D)

Today, you can enjoy a boat ride on Lake Ashino-ko to view Mt Fuji and walk along the Old Tokaido Highway. You will also have the opportunity to eat one of Hakone’s specialties, the kuro-tamago, an egg hard boiled in the sulfuric hot springs. They say that if you do, it will add seven years to your life! (B)

Travel on the world-famous shinkansen bullet train to the charming mountain town of Takayama. Step back in time and walk the narrow streets admiring the well preserved 17th century merchant houses and traditional wooden Japanese homes, passing shrines and sake stalls. Why not drop into of the town’s many sake breweries for a taste of the local drop. Its high quality is due to the area’s clean water sources. (B)

Stroll through the Miyagawa Morning Market where locals come to sell crafts and produce and visit Shirakawago. This town is famous for its traditional gassho-zukuri farmhouses, some of which are more than 250 years old. For dinner, dine on Takayama’s famous cuisine, including miso and Hida beef, which is said to be the second best in Japan after the world-famous Kobe beef. (B)(D).

Travel on to Kanazawa, which was a notorious castle town and headquarters to many samurai nobles between the 16th and 17th centuries. Today the town is famous for Kenrokuen, the amazing Japanese gardens that were opened to the public in 1875. Observe the formal and traditional tea ceremony surrounded by the ornamental Japanese gardens. (B).

Watch the monks pray in the morning before travelling to Hiroshima. Hiroshima is a historically significant city, marked with the explosion of the first atomic bomb in 1945. Upon arrival, take a ferry ride over to the sacred island of Miyajima to see the famous floating Torii gate. (B)

Walk through the Peace Park in the centre of Hiroshima, a living memorial dedicated to the tens of thousands who died from the atomic bomb blast in 1945. Visit the statue of Sadako Sasaki, a young girl who died of leukemia as a result of the bomb blast, despite folding 1000 origami paper cranes to appeal to the gods to make her well. See the frame of the Gembaku Dome, the sole building to withstand the explosion. (B)

Continue on to Kyoto, the former imperial capital and home of the country's most treasured remnants of Japanese imperial life. Once in Kyoto there is just so much to do - this ancient city boasts over 2000 temples, shrines and gardens. The magnificent gold-plated Kinkaku-ji Temple should not be missed, nor should the chance to join in a Tea Ceremony class. (B)

Today you’ll visit the Nijo Castle, the Zen Gardens of Ryoan-ji and the Silver Pavilion. Later, take a leisurely stroll down the lovely Philosopher’s path to Nanzen-ji, and walk around Gion to catch a glimpse of a Geisha going from teahouse to teahouse. This afternoon you will learn how to cook traditional kappo style. Kappo literally means to cut up and cook by fire, and comes from the traditional Japanese cooking methods of cutting, boiling, stewing, and frying. (B)(D)

Transfer to the airport where your journey ends. (B)