14 Day Japan with Hiroshima

Depart for Japan.

Arrive in dynamic Tokyo and transfer to your hotel. This evening, attend an orientation meeting with your tour manager at approximately 6:30 PM, followed by dinner. We recommend selecting flights that arrive no later than 4 PM.

Overnight: Tokyo | Meals: Dinner

Start with the Imperial Palace East Garden, a jewel of nature in the city centre. Walk the lanes of the hectic Tsukiji Fish Market, then enjoy a culinary demonstration led by a professional sushi chef, learning the art of sushi or sashimi and enjoying it for lunch. This afternoon visit the Meiji Jingu Shrine in its forested grounds and drive through the world-famous Shibuya Crossing on the way back. If the East Garden is closed, the Outer Garden with Nijubashi Bridge is visited instead.

Overnight: Tokyo | Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

This morning, learn the basics of Japanese calligraphy in a lesson with an artist (bring an extra set of clothes, as ink is difficult to remove from fabric). Visit the Asakusa Kannon Temple (Sensoji), with its massive red and black paper lantern, then the Edo-Tokyo Museum to learn the history of Tokyo, formerly Edo. Dinner tonight is at a local restaurant.

Overnight: Tokyo | Meals: Breakfast, Dinner

A full day of scenery as you travel to Hakone, Japan’s most famous national park. Visit the Itchiku Kubota Art Museum on the wooded shore of Lake Kawaguchi, home to kimono creations depicting nature and the seasons. At Hakone, the Hakone Ropeway takes you to the volcanic zone of Owakudani Valley, with panoramic views of Mt. Fuji on a clear day. Take a cruise around Lake Ashi before returning to Tokyo, and explore Tokyo’s culinary scene tonight. Cloud can restrict views of Mt. Fuji and weather can prevent the cable car or boat ride from operating.

Overnight: Tokyo | Meals: Breakfast

Board the shinkansen toward the Noto Peninsula to Kanazawa, known for its winding streets, Samurai residences, lavish gardens and craft traditions. After lunch at a local restaurant, stroll through Kenroku-en Garden, then check in and enjoy time at leisure. Space for luggage on bullet trains is limited to one small carry-on-sized bag per person, so the night before departure you place your suitcase outside your door and pack a small bag for two nights. Your luggage travels separately to Kyoto and is available to you later on the day you arrive.

Overnight: Kanazawa | Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Travel to a remote mountain region declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its villages of thatched gassho-zukuri (praying hands) farmhouses. Visit the historic village and the ruins of its medieval castle, with lunch at a local restaurant. Continue to 16th century Takayama and its preserved Old Town, tour a sake brewery and taste the different types of sake. Arrive at a scenic mountain resort for dinner and overnight.

Overnight: Takayama | Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Visit the Yatai Kaikan Hall, which houses elaborate wooden festival floats, and tour the morning market along the Miya River. Takayama, often called Little Kyoto, is rich in museums, galleries and temples. A walking tour includes the Edo-period merchants’ shops and houses of the Sanmachi Historic District and its sake breweries and cafes. After time for lunch, travel to historic Kyoto.

Overnight: Kyoto | Meals: Breakfast

Tour Nijo Castle, a UNESCO World Heritage Site built by Tokugawa Ieyasu in 1603, with an interior handcrafted from Japanese cypress. Try Zen meditation, then take part in a traditional tea ceremony. After lunch, attend a traditional koto (Japanese harp) show and continue to Nishiki Market, lined with more than one hundred shops and restaurants. Spend the rest of the day at leisure.

Overnight: Kyoto | Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Head to Arashiyama and begin at Tenryuji Temple’s Zen garden, one of the finest in Kyoto. Stroll through the bamboo grove, followed by a ride on a traditional Japanese rickshaw. Visit Kinkaku-ji, the Golden Pavilion, before lunch at a local restaurant. Afterward, dress in an authentic kimono during a visit to a Kyoto-style home. This evening walk through Pontocho, home to Geisha tea houses, and explore Gion on your own, with the chance to glimpse a geisha.

Overnight: Kyoto | Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Travel to Nara, the 8th century Imperial capital with eight UNESCO World Heritage Sites. See Todai-ji Temple and its Great Buddha bronze statue, over 50 feet high, then Nara Park and its more than 1,000 tame deer (this includes interaction with animals, and you may choose not to take part). Visit the Kasuga Grand Shrine, with over 3,000 stone and bronze lanterns, and stop at Fushimi Inari Shrine and its ten thousand vermilion torii gates on the way back to Kyoto. In the evening enjoy a dinner with a traditional Maiko (Geisha) dance performance. The order of sightseeing may vary.

Overnight: Kyoto | Meals: Breakfast, Dinner

Transfer to the station and board the bullet train to Hiroshima. After lunch, visit Shukkeien Garden, the shrunken-scenery garden, then Hiroshima Castle, also called Carp Castle, and the adjacent Castle History Museum. Check into your hotel. As on the earlier train journey, you carry one small bag for the night while your luggage travels separately and reaches you later in the evening.

Overnight: Hiroshima | Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Begin at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, then visit the Atomic Bomb Dome, which survived the attack of August 6, 1945, and take a moment to reflect. Take the ferry to Miyajima Island, one of Japan’s most beautiful landscapes, and learn the history of Itsukushima Shrine, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and its floating torii gate (depending on the tide it may not appear to float). Stroll Omotesando Street and try the local Momiji Manju, a sweet red bean pastry shaped like a maple leaf. Return to Hiroshima by ferry and say goodbye to your tour manager at dinner.

Overnight: Hiroshima | Meals: Breakfast, Dinner

Transfer to the airport for your departure flight.

Meals: Breakfast