Day 1 – Tokyo

Arrive in Tokyo. Make your way to the hotel and check in for 1 night.  Airport transfer is not included. However there is an Airport Limousine coach transfer service between Haneda Airport and Shinagawa and an express train between Narita Airport and Shinagawa.  Perhaps go for a stroll around the hotel and nearby gardens to soak up the atmosphere. You may wish to explore the shops in Shinagawa Station’s two malls, including their prepared food and convenience stores

Accommodation: Shinagawa Prince Hotel or similar

Day 2 – Tokyo – Hakone – Kyoto [B]

Breakfast at hotel. Your baggage will be transferred from Tokyo to Kyoto by overnight delivery service.  We begin our travels today with a Bullet Train ride to Mt. Fuji & Hakone national park. We will view Mt. Fuji from a few vantage points to savour its beauty and begin to understand its place in Japanese culture. The visit includes a short cruise across lake Ashi and a gondola ride up Mt.Komagatake. After taking in the scenery, we board another Bullet Train to Kyoto, the ancient capital and still the cultural centre of  Japan, arriving 18:13. We check in at hotel in the heart of Kyoto for 3 nights.

Accommodation: Karasuma Kyoto Hotel or similar

Day 3 – Kyoto [B]

Breakfast at hotel.

This morning, we head up into the foothills of the eastern mountains to enjoy sightseeing of the centuries old  Kiyomizu district, joining locals and pilgrims on their walk up the narrow, shop-lined streets to Kyomizu Temple. We then visit World Heritage Listed Golden Pavilion, the iconic gold plated Buddhist temple and its stunning garden and pond.

Afternoon, we visit Nara, once the ancient capital of Japan even before Kyoto and now famous for the Todaiji Temple, the great Buddha statue and Nara’s “old town”.  Return to hotel

Accommodation: Karasuma Kyoto Hotel or similar

Day 4 Kyoto [B]

Breakfast at hotel. Day at leisure. Sleep in or go for a stroll to the local parks, beautiful in both Spring and Autumn. If shopping is more your thing, you might like to explore the famous Japanese Department Stores or the colourful and busy local shopping arcades.  We meet at the lobby later today for a relaxed evening walk in the Gion Geisha district

Accommodation: Kanazawa Hyatt House or similar for 2 nights

Day 5 Kyoto – Ise [B, D]

Breakfast at hotel. Travel by train to Kashikojima Island in Ise. Ise is home to the oldest Shinto Shrine in Japan, which we will visit, but also hosts a hot spring resort and the nearby village  of Oharaimachi known in Japan for its historic streetscapes. Check in at Kashikojima Hojoan Hot Spring resort Ryokan. Relax Japanese style, experiencing a hot spring Onsen, and sleeping in a Japanese style room. 18:30 Enjoy a banquet dinner. (also a typical onsen activity)

Accommodation: Kashikojima Hojoen or similar

Day 6 Ise – Tsumago – Nagoya [B]

Breakfast at Hot Spring Resort. Today we travel to the picturesque Kiso Valley, home to historic post towns. These little post towns used to dot the trail from Kyoto to Tokyo, providing food and lodging for travellers of old for hundreds of years. We visit the most famous one, Tsumago, and stroll through its atmospheric little streets, where power lines and other signs of modernity are hidden to maintain the original ambiance.  We stay tonight at 5 star Nagoya Marriott Hotel.

Accommodation: Mariott Nagoya Associa or similar

Day 7 Nagoya – Takayama – Shirakawago – Kanazawa [B]

Breakfast at hotel. We travel to the historic town of Takayama by express train and after exploring its historic Edo period streets, head into the mountains to visit the enchanting world heritage listed village of Shirakawago, famous for its thatched roofed houses. After exploring this charming village and savouring its tranquillity, we continue our journey to the  samurai town of Kanazawa and check in for 2 nights.

Accommodation: ANA Holiday inn Kanazawa sky or similar

Day 8 Kanazawa [B]

Breakfast at hotel. Kanazawa enjoyed considerable wealth and independence from Edo (Tokyo) during the turbulent Shogun (Edo) period, by cultivating refined Samurai arts and culture and providing bountiful rice harvests to the Shogun. Today enjoy sightseeing of Kanazawa town, visiting former Samura residence Nomura House with an award-winning private garden. By way of contrast, we also visit Kenrokuen Garden, a large castle garden and one of the three best in Japan in Japan. We finish today with a visit to the geisha district Higashi Chayagai famous for its well preserved Edo period wooden homes and buildings.

Accommodation: ANA Holiday inn Kanazawa sky or similar

Day 9 Kanazawa – Tokyo [B]

Breakfast at hotel. We travel back to Tokyo this morning by Bullet Train. On the journey across the country you will see everything from mountains to valleys and from farms to cities. On arrival in Tokyo we proceed to our hotel in the vibrant Shinjuku area and check in at our hotel for 1 night.

Accommodation: Keio Plaza Hotel Tokyo or similar

Day 10 Tokyo – Fly Home [B]

We meet in the lobby this morning and head out for sightseeing  of  Asakusa Temple and the colourful Nakamise shopping street. The temple is famous for its massive red lantern and Kaminari Mon “Gate of Thunder and Lightning”. Join the hundreds of enchanted visitors as they browse the tiny shops on the approach to the temple complex and bathe in the incense rich air as it wafts over from visitors’ offerings.

We then return to the hotel, where the tour concludes. Airport transfer is not included, but there is an airport limousine coach transfer service available from the hotel or from Shinjuku Station to Haneda or Narita airport.