Travel Answers (Formerly Travel2)
Your journey starts in Tokyo, a city of contrasts. Japan’s capital is famous for its pioneering modernity, iconic neon cityscapes and soaring skyscrapers, yet dotted with peaceful parks, shrines, temples, and tranquil gardens. Despite its mania for pop culture, anime, fashion, digital trends and discernible consumption, the city embraces an ancient heritage evident in the temples and shrines scattered amongst the towering high-rise buildings.
Next, visit Hakone, a tranquil mountain lake retreat renowned for its natural beauty and therapeutic hot springs. Visitors can cruise across Lake Ashi, marveling at Mount Fuji's reflection, or ascend to Owakudani to witness volcanic activity and savor black eggs boiled in sulfuric hot springs. Riding the zig-zag railway and ropeway up to Gora to visit the open-air museum is recommended. Your accommodation here is in a traditional Japanese Inn called a ryokan, offering an immersive cultural experience steeped in hospitality and tranquility.
Travel by bullet and express train to Takayama. The journey is incredibly scenic as the train winds its way through mountains and gorges in this stunningly picturesque region. With its plethora of temples, shrines, festivals, rivers and bridges, the mountain town of Takayama is also known as “little Kyoto”. The region is agricultural, and every day fresh vegetables and fruit are brought to Takayama’s lively morning market by local farmers. Due to the town’s previously secluded location in the mountainous Hida region, a remarkable number of its unique traditions have been preserved.
Continue by bus to Kanazawa stopping for a few hours at Shirakawa-go, a UNESCO World Heritage Site famous for its traditional gassho-zukuri (“Praying hands”) farmhouses, some of which are more than 250 years old.
Kanazawa is famed for its well-preserved Edo-era districts, traditional tea houses, and samurai residences. Kenrokuen Garden is one of Japan’s Top Three gardens. Kanazawa's rich cultural heritage is discovered through its museums and craft workshops.
Head to Hiroshima, a poignant symbol of peace and resilience. Visit the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park and Atomic Bomb Dome to honor the victims of the atomic bombing. Explore the rebuilt city, vibrant with culture, cuisine, and a thriving arts scene, showcasing its enduring spirit. Nearby is Miyajima, an island considered to be one of Japan’s most scenic spots.
Take the bullet train to Kyoto, Japan's cultural capital. From historic landmarks to scenic landscapes, Kyoto's timeless beauty and rich cultural heritage enchant visitors, offering a profound journey into Japan's past. Home to over 2,000 temples and shrines, including the iconic Kinkaku-ji (Golden Pavilion) and Fushimi Inari Taisha, Kyoto exudes a serene ambiance. Stroll through historic districts like Gion, where trainee geisha gracefully glide through cobblestone streets. Discover the beauty of Japanese gardens at Arashiyama or savor traditional tea ceremonies in tranquil tea houses. Plan a visit to Nishiki market at lunchtime and choose from a wide array of tantalizing foods on offer. Buy a high quality Japanese knife and have your name engraved on the blade – the perfect souvenir.
In Nara, Japan's first capital, you’ll find a treasure trove of history and culture. Renowned for its ancient temples, including the majestic Todai-ji with its colossal Great Buddha statue, Nara Park offers tranquil strolls amidst friendly deer. Explore the picturesque streets of Naramachi, lined with traditional machiya houses, and sample local delicacies like mochi and sake. Nara's serene ambiance, rich heritage, and natural beauty make it a captivating destination, perfect for immersing oneself in Japan's timeless traditions.
At the conclusion of this itinerary, travel to one of the Tokyo airports, or to Osaka’s Kansai airport.
Vacation Inclusions
- Private airport transfers
- 12 nights 4.5-star hotel accommodation
- 1 night ryokan accommodation
- Breakfast daily
- Kaiseki multicourse dinner at Hakone ryokan
- Travel by bullet train
- Full day private Tokyo Highlights tour
- Half day private Tsukiji Market tour
- Hakone Free Pass
- Private Tea Ceremony experience
- Full day private Hiroshima and Miyajima tour
- Full day private Kyoto tour
- Full day private Nara tour
Featured Destinations
Hiroshima
Hiroshima
Hiroshima in southwestern Honshu has grown rapidly as a commercial city, and after 1868 it was developed as a military base. Every August 6 since 1947, thousands participate in multidenominational services in the Peace Memorial Park built on the site where the bomb exploded. After the war the city was largely rebuilt, and commercial activity gradually resumed. Visit the Peace Park but also explore Miyajima Island and its colourful shrines and mysterious forests.
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Destination Guide
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Kanazawa
Kanazawa
Kanazawa's importance grew in the 15th century, when the powerful and militant Ikko sect established its new headquarters there after being chased out of Kyoto by the monks of Mt.Hiei.
During the Edo Period, Kanazawa was the seat of the Maeda clan, the second most powerful clan after the Tokugawa in terms of rice production and fief size. Accordingly, Kanazawa grew to become a town of great cultural achievements, rivaling Kyoto and Edo (Tokyo).
In World War Two, Kanazawa was Japan's second largest city (after Kyoto) to escape destruction by air raids. Consequently, parts of the old castle town, such as samurai, temple and pleasure districts, have survived in pretty good condition.
Kanazawa is capital of Ishikawa Prefecture, a prefecture along the Sea of Japan.
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Destination Guide
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Takayama
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Tokyo
Tokyo
Tokyo, Japan, presents a different view at every turn. It's one of the world's main economic centers and its most populous agglomeration. The business of Tokyo is business, but you can still find harmony and small-scale gardens on back streets. Around the corner from neon and concrete, you may find the bonsai-lined courtyard of a traditional inn. Tokyo was nearly destroyed by bombs and fires during World War II, and by earthquakes at other times, but it has always rebuilt itself. As a result, there is little left of Old Japan in the city, but there's plenty of New Japan to take its place. The streets are a confusing maze, so a map is essential. The transit system is excellent, however, and there are kobans (police boxes) throughout the metropolis, as well as a populace generally willing to answer questions. Visitors to Tokyo represent both business and leisure travelers. And despite its past reputation, Tokyo is no longer fearsomely expensive. It's relatively easy to visit Tokyo on a budget.
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Destination Guide
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Hakone
Hakone
The city of Hakone lies nestled in the midst of spectacular Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park. About 20 million tourists from overseas as well as from all over Japan visit Hakone every year, seeking the resplendent enjoyments this famous resort area offers throughout the year. In order to both encourage and accommodate the growing number of visitors to Hakone, the latest information on the area's natural wonders is made available and exhaustive effort is made to improve accommodations, local transportation and recreational facilities. Considerable attention has been paid to the preservation of the area's scenic beauty and of its unique cultural heritage.
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Kyoto
Kyoto
If you can visit only one city in Japan, Kyoto is the one. This ancient city, 30 mi/50 km northeast of Osaka, was the capital of Japan for more than 1,000 years and still is considered the country's spiritual capital. Thousands of shrines and temples dot the city, including more than a dozen on the UNESCO World Heritage list. That list is far from all-inclusive, and many excellent places that might be the star attractions of other cities crowd the streets of Kyoto. It is a center of Japanese Zen and has several huge monastery complexes where serious students still sit in meditation. Kyoto is also the nation's capital of traditional arts. Whether your interest be in pottery, textiles, dance, the tea ceremony or any of the other innumerable arts, Kyoto has excellent galleries, museums, shops and tea houses. Japanese people from the countryside and foreign students flock there to learn under the great masters. Much of what is considered Japanese haute cuisine was developed there too, as an offshoot of the tea ceremony. Kyoto is Japan's heartland of history. With 1,300 years of tumultuous existence, the city's past intrudes upon the present day as in few other Japanese cities. In Gion, you can spot a geisha (or geiko, as they are called in Kyoto), one of the last hundred or so in Japan, slipping down a side-street to entertain rich guests with witty conversation, dance or music. A shopping arcade may suddenly fill with discordant clanging music as a shrine festival passes among the shoppers, or you may hear the long chant as Zen monks pass through the neighborhood, calling for alms. Kyoto is an understated city that might disappoint visitors at first (at first glance, it is a large city with modern buildings that might not align with one's original perception); its charm lies in small details, pocket gardens, tiny traditional restaurants and refined artwork.
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Destination Guide
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Osaka
Osaka
This large, bustling port is the starting point for tours to the ancient cities of Kyoto and Nara, the cultural fountainheads of classical Japan. Kyoto's Old Imperial Palace and the shogunal Nijo Castle remain glorious symbols of the power the city held for over 1,000 years. Until 1868, Kyoto was the capital of Japan, filled with elegant timber buildings and, perhaps more than any other Japanese city, imbued with Kami, the divine spirit. You'll sense it everywhere, for there are hundreds of Shinto shrines and over a thousand Buddhist temples, as well as sacred treasure-houses of religious sculpture, painting and exquisite gardens. Nara, City of the Seven Great Temples, lies in an idyllic setting.
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Destination Guide
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