21 Day Trails Of Japan

Depart from home by boarding your flight to Sapporo.
Meals: In-flight meal

Welcome to Sapporo! You’ll be met in the arrivals hall by your guide who will assist you to transfer to your hotel by train. Once you check in and collect your welcome pack, the rest of the day is free for you to explore the capital of Hokkaido.Perhaps you could start with Odori Park, a popular picnic and relaxation spot in the centre of the city. A popular spot year-round, it’s about 1.5km east to west (12 blocks) and the site for major events like the Snow Festival in winter.This evening you’ll join your guide and the rest of the group for a welcome meeting and dinner, to give you a chance to meet your fellow travellers.
Meals: Dinner

Your Japan Rail Pass will be activated today.We’ll enjoy a walking tour of Sapporo. Visit the famous Sapporo Clock Tower, built from timber in the late 1800s, the Sapporo Beer Museum and the lively Susukino district. It’s a haven for food, shopping and entertainment. It’s positively buzzing, with neon signs, noise, shopping and nightlife. The evening is yours to enjoy.
Meals: Breakfast

We’ll start with a half-day trip to Otaru this morning, a small harbour city known for glassworks, music boxes and sake distilleries. On our walking tour we’ll visit the quaint Otaru Canal, once an important commercial port. It’s well preserved and charming, lined with old merchant houses. We’ll visit landmarks like the Otaru Music Box Museum and the traditional shopping street Sakaimachi, all while learning about Otaru’s rich industrial heritage. Many of the buildings on Sakaimachi street have been converted into restaurants, cafes and shops – you’ll likely find some of the region’s fine glassware, a lovely souvenir.Later we’ll catch the train back to Sapporo where you can enjoy some free time in the evening.
Meals: Breakfast

The best way to get around Japan is on the country’s famous railway system, shinkansen, the bullet train. It’s efficient and ultra-modern. You’ll zip from place to place with your included Japan Rail Pass. We’ll board the train for the port city of Hakodate, on the southern tip of Hokkaido Island. On arrival we’ll enjoy a walk through the city and catch a glimpse of Motomachi – this Western-influenced neighbourhood was the heart of the city’s foreign settlement, one of only three allowed in Japan some 150 years ago. We’ll also visit Kanemori Red Brick Warehouse, a quaint shopping mall housed in a complex that dates back to the 1860s.
Meals: Breakfast

This morning, we’ll visit the Goryokaku Tower and Hakodate Morning Market – be sure to check out the live crabs and shellfish in their massive tanks. It’s about a four-hour train ride to Sensai, we’ll arrive in the evening. In the north of Honshu island, Sendai is famous for several traditionally significant monuments. It’s home to the remains of 17th-century Sendai Castle, built for samurai lord Date Masamune on Aoba Hill, which overlooks the city.You’ll have free time to explore this city. Perhaps head to the top of the AER building to get a birds-eye view of the ‘city of trees’ from the observation terrace on the 31st floor.
Meals: Breakfast

We’ll take a day trip to Matsushima. It’s known for the hundreds of forested islands that dot Matsushima Bay, and is regarded as one of Japan’s three most scenic views; here, we’ll enjoy a cruise around the islets. Next, we’ll visit the Zuiganji Temple – one of the most famous in the Tohoku region. The Zen temple is designated as a National Treasure of Japan and was first founded in 828 CE. You will find yourself mesmerised by the exquisite artwork on the sliding screen doors in the Main Hall. We’ll then return to Sendai.
Meals: Breakfast

Today’s bullet train ride takes us right across Japan to the city of Kanazawa on the western coast. During World War II, Kanazawa was Japan’s second largest city (after Kyoto) to escape destruction by air raids. This means that parts of the old castle town, such as the Nagamachi samurai district and chaya entertainment districts, have survived. On arrival, we’ll enjoy a short visit to a samurai residence and Higashi Chaya district. The rest of the day is free for you. You’ll have a one day bus pass to explore this city.
Meals: Breakfast

This morning we’ll visit Kenrokuen Garden, one of the most beautiful in Japan. Developed over the course of more than 200 years, starting in 1620, the garden contains almost 9000 trees and 200 plant species. We’ll also enjoy a walking tour of Omicho Market – Kanazawa’s largest fresh food market since the Edo Period. Today, it is a busy and colourful network of covered streets lined with some 200 shops and stalls. We’ll finish our sightseeing with a visit to the Higashi Chaya District, famous for its well-preserved wooden teahouses where geisha perform. The rest of the day is free for you to relax or explore.
Meals: Breakfast

We’ll board a new type of train today, the Thunderbird, and pass through the picturesque Japanese Alps on our way south to Osaka. It’s about a three-hour trip. Your luggage will arrive today.The rest of evening is free. Perhaps you could visit the Dōtonbori area – one of the city’s most popular tourist destinations, Dōtonbori Street runs parallel to the eponymous canal. It’s a popular shopping and entertainment district and an area famed for its street food and plentiful restaurants. At night the streets here are illuminated by hundreds of colourful neon lights and mechanised signs, including the famous running Glico Man sign and the KaniDoraku crab sign.
Meals: Breakfast

We’ll leave for Koyasan today, one of the most spiritual locations in all of Japan, and the centre of Shingon Buddhism – an important Buddhist sect that was introduced to Japan in 805 CE by Kōbō-Daishi, also known as Kūkai. A small, secluded temple town has developed around the sect’s headquarters that Kōbō-Daishi built on Mount Kōya’s wooded mountain top. Here you’ll experience an Inspiring Stay at a temple lodging, shukubō, where you’ll get a taste of a monk’s lifestyle. Enjoy vegetarian monk’s cuisine (shōjinryōri), sleep on futons laid on the Tatami floor and attend the morning prayers. Upon arrival, we’ll take the scenic and monumental walk to Okunoin Temple, one of the holiest locations in Japan; it’s said to be Japan’s largest cemetery with memorials and monuments to more than 200,000 souls.
Meals: Breakfast and Dinner

We’ll experience a morning prayer chant and fire ceremony before leaving sacred Koyasan behind. We’ll make our way along the coast of Honshu to Hiroshima. Your luggage will arrive today. A modern city on Japan’s Honshu Island, Hiroshima was largest destroyed by an atomic bomb during World War II. We’ll see the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, home to the ruins of Genbaku Dome, one of the few buildings that was left standing near ground zero. In Hiroshima today, locals have mixed feelings about the UNESCO World Heritage Site structure: some see it as a reminder of war, while others consider it a tribute to the lost that ensures we’ll never forget the tragic events that took place here. We’ll then have a town orientation walk.
Meals: Breakfast

This morning we’ll pay a visit to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, located in the Peace Memorial Park. It’s a sobering but important experience. The flame in the cenotaph is intended to burn until the last nuclear weapon has been destroyed. In the afternoon, you’ll board a ferry for the short trip to Miyajima.Known for its lush forests, ancient temples, and freely roaming sika deer, this island is just as popular with Japanese tourists as it is with international visitors. Just offshore we’ll spy a ‘floating’ vermilion torii, which becomes partially submerged at high tide. It marks the entrance to the Itsukushima Shrine, which was first built in the 12th century. Nearby, the Museum of History and Folklore houses cultural artifacts in a 19th-century merchant’s home.
Meals: Breakfast

On the way to Kyoto, we’ll stop at Himeji Castle, the largest surviving example of a traditional Japanese castle. Comprising 83 buildings, the white roof of this UNESCO-registered complex is said to evoke the wings of a heron taking flight, hence the popular name ‘Shirasagi-jō’, meaning White Heron Castle. Himeji Castle is said to be the most visited in Japan, and the site offers some wonderful views of surrounding Himeji city. We’ll then continue to Kyoto, considered by many to be the jewel in Japan’s crown and one of the only cities in Japan to escape destruction during World World II, leaving its countless relics intact. You’ll have a bus/subway pass to get around and see this city.
Meals: Breakfast

Today we’ll visit some of Kyoto’s most iconic sites, like the Kinkakuji (Golden Pavilion). This is a Zen temple and UNESCO World Heritage Site, with two floors covered entirely in thin layers of pure gold, set within a beautiful classical Zen garden.We’ll also take in breathtaking Nijō Castle. Constructed in the 17th century under the orders of Tokugawa Ieyasu, Nijō Castle’s buildings are arguably the best surviving examples of castle palace architecture of Japan’s feudal era, and as such it was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994. We’ll visit Ryoanji Temple, the site of Japan’s most famous rock garden and finish at Nishiki Market, a five-block long shopping street where everything from seafood to handmade Japanese knives are sold.
Meals: Breakfast

After breakfast we’ll leave for a day tour to historic Nara, ancient capital of Japan. We’ll visit Todaiji Temple, one of the oldest Buddhist temples in Japan and home to the country’s largest Buddha statue. We’ll then see Kasuga Shrine, featuring over 3000 stone and bronze lanterns.Our last stop is at Nara Park, one of the oldest parks in Japan, to see over one thousand tame deer roaming freely in this vast, tranquil space.We’ll take the bullet train back to Kyoto and the evening is free time for you. Perhaps stroll the streets of Gion, Kyoto’s most famous geisha district. With any luck you might spot a geisha, otherwise known as a geiko or maiko.
Meals: Breakfast
 

It’s a free day in this historic city until your walking tour in the evening. You’ll have a one day bus/subway pass to get around Kyoto.In the evening, we’ll set out on foot and explore the Higashiyama District along the lower slopes of Kyoto’s eastern mountains, one of the city’s best preserved historic districts. It is a great place to experience traditional old Kyoto, especially between Kiyomizu and Yasaka Shrine, where the narrow lanes, wooden buildings and traditional merchant shops invoke a feeling of the old capital.
Meals: Breakfast

Your Japan Rail Pass will finish today, with your last bullet train trip to Tokyo. On the way you might even be lucky enough to catch a glimpse of Mt Fuji. Make sure to get a seat on the left-hand side for your best chance of spotting this sacred sight. Upon arrival, the rest of the day is free time until dinner. Head to the Tokyo Skytree for incredible panoramic views from its observation decks, at 350 and 450 metres high. Tokyo Tower – a bright orange Eiffel Tower-inspired structure – also has two observation decks. The Shibuya Crossing is a must-see, with its neon displays and hordes of people crossing the intersection. It’s hectic, crazy and so Tokyo. The Imperial Palace, previously home to samurai warriors, is a sprawling complex with its beautiful 17th-century parks in the heart of the city. Sensō-ji Temple is the oldest and most important Buddhist temple in Tokyo – which means it’s very busy. If you can head there at night, it’s much less crowded and very pretty with its lights. The Meiji Shrine, surrounded by a 175-acre evergreen forest, is an important religious site where visitors can write and hang their deepest wishes on the wishing tree.
Meals: Breakfast

It’s a free day for you to explore this energetic, fascinating city. Your luggage will arrive today. This evening, enjoy a farewell dinner with the group and tour guide to celebrate your time in Japan.

Today your guide will accompany you to the airport by train to bid farewell. We hope you have enjoyed your journey through this magical country.
Meals: In-flight meal