Description
Day 1 Osaka – Kyoto
Upon arrival at Kansai Airport You will be met by an English speaking assistant who will be holding a paperboard with your name on it after the immigration and customs check point.
Then, you will view 17th-century Osaka castle before transfer to your hotel in Kyoto.
Superior
- ANA Crown Plaza Hotel
- Saka Hotel Kyoto
First Class
- The Celestine Kyoto Gion
- Westin Miyako Hotel
Luxury
- Four Seasons Kyoto
- Suiran Luxury Collection Kyoto
Day 2 Kyoto (B, L)
Buffet breakfast at your hotel.
08:45 Assemble at hotel lobby and start a full day tour of Kyoto by a chartered mini-van with private guide. You will visit Nijo Castle, Kinkakuji Temple and Kitano-Tenmangu Shrine.
Noon Lunch at a local restaurant.
PM Afternoon continue the tour to visit Heian Jingu Shrine, Sanjusangendo Temple, Kiyomizu Temple and walk through Gion area.
Day 3 Kyoto – Uji – Nara – Kyoto (B/L/D)
Buffet breakfast at your hotel.
Assemble at hotel lobby and start for Miho Museum by chartered mini-van with private guide. Transfer to Shiga and visit Miho Museum.
Noon Lunch at a local restaurant.
After lunch, transfer to Uji and visit Byodoin Temple with its Phoenix hall, and enjoy experience of Japanese Tea Ceremony at Taihoan Tea House. Then, proceed to Nara and you will visit Todaiji Temple with its Great Image of Buddha, Nara Park and Kasuga Taisha Shrine.
After the visit, transfer back to Kyoto
Day 4 Kyoto (B/D)
Buffet breakfast at your hotel.
Full day is free at leisure
We suggest you to take a taxi to visit the famous Zen style architecture – Daikokuji Temple or Daisenin Temple and the Royanji Temple, just famous for its exquisite garden designed by Soami in 1473 where you will experience the Zen Spirit through the eternal aspects of nature … sand and stone.
Meet with an English speaking guide at hotel lobby and transfer to a local restaurant for a Japanese Kaiseki dinner. You can enjoy seeing Maiko Dance, taking photos and talking with her.
Transfer back to your hotel by taxi.
Day 5 Kyoto – Fuji – Hakone (B/D)
Buffet breakfast at your hotel.
Please deposit your suitcase at the hotel’s bell captain desk. Your suitcase will be transferred to your hotel in Tokyo separately by consolidated luggage delivery service. Thus you are requested to travel to Hakone with a small overnight bag for this one night stay.
You will be met by an English speaking driver at your hotel lobby, who will be holding a paperboard with your name on it. Transfer to station by hired car with the driver. Then, you will be attended to the station platform to take your appropriate train.
10:33 Take JR Shinkansen “Hikari#516” from Kyoto to Odawara without assistant.
12:36 Arrive at Odawara station.
Meet with an English speaking guide and transfer to Hakone by chartered mini-van.
Lunch on your own.
Sightseeing tour of Hakone to visit Lake Ashi by Boat Cruise and Owakudani Boiling Valley by Ropeway ride.
Tour ends upon arrival at your Ryokan in Hakone. This evening, Japanese style dinner served in your room at your Ryokan and after dinner, enjoy an “onsen” at your Ryokan.
Superior
- Yaeikan Inn
- Hotel Okuyumoto
First Class
- Kansuiro Ryokan
- Hakone Kamon Ryokan
Luxury
- Tsukino-izumi Ryokan
- Gora Kadan Ryokan
Day 6 Hakone – Tokyo (B)
Breakfast at your Ryokan.
Assemble at hotel lobby and transfer to Mt. Fuji area by chartered mini-van with French speaking guide. You will drive up to the 5th station of Mt. Fuji. Drive up to Mt. Fuji 5th station (if the roads are open.) which is the highest possible point to view Mt. Fuji.
Western style lunch at a local restaurant.
After lunch, transfer to Tokyo by the mini-van with Japanese driver.
Arrival at your hotel in Tokyo.
Moderate
- Shinjuku Washington
- Hotel Monterey Ginza
Superior
- Gracery Shinjuku
- Keio Plaza Hotel
Luxury
- Imperial Hotel Tokyo
- Capitol Hotel Tokyu
Tokyo (which means Eastern Capital) has only been Japan’s capital city since 1868 when it took over from Kyoto. It is an extremely modern city which is only partly due to the Japanese flair for technology – it is mostly down to its almost complete destruction in both the great earthquake of 1923 and the intensive bombing during the Second World War. Tokyo has since been completely rebuilt and is now a very large city and one of the most densely populated cities in the world.
Balance of the day is free at leisure.
Day 7 Tokyo (B/L)
Buffet breakfast at your hotel.
Assemble at hotel lobby and start for a full day tour of Tokyo by chartered mini-van with French speaking guide.
In the morning you will visit Tokyo Tower, and enjoy a private flower arrangement, try and wear Kimono held in traditional Japanese room in a cultural community center.
Japanese style lunch at a local restaurant.
After lunch continue the tour to drive to Hinode Pier passing by Imperial Palace Plaza and Nijubashi Bridge and to enjoy Boat Cruise on Sumida river up to Asakusa, and visit Sensoji Temple with Nakamise shopping street.
Travel for about one hours to Omiya Bonsai Art Museum, Saitama for its dedicated to bonsai art. Spend time exploring the village which is home to multiple bonsai nurseries and gardens. Learn about the art of bonsai and view 1,000 year old bonsai trees at the Bonsai Art Museum.
Day 8 Tokyo (B/L)
Buffet breakfast at your hotel.
Assemble at hotel lobby to start a full day tour to Nikko by chartered mini-van with private guide.
Drive through Tohoku Express Way to Nikko.
After about 2.5 hours drive, you will arrive in Niko and visit Toshogu Shrine which is designated as World Cultural Heritage Site by UNESCO.
Japanese style lunch at a local restaurant
After lunch, continue the tour to visit Lake Chuzenji and Kegon Waterfall.
After the tour, transfer back to Tokyo.
Day 9 Tokyo (B)
Early this morning, assemble at hotel lobby and transfer to Toyosu Fish Market by taxi with private guide.
Visit to Toyosu Fish Market with tour to the Tuna auction observation area. After the visit, transfer back to your hotel,
Buffet breakfast at your hotel.
Afterwards, enjoy a walking tour of Tokyo with private guide using public transportation.
You will start with a pleasant stroll in Yanaka near Ueno, a hilly area lucky for much of it survived the bombing of WWII and considered as the core of Shitamachi Tokyo (the old “downtown”). You will find here the essential coziness of the old style of Japanese urban living, with a lively street life, public baths that serve as neighborhood social clubs and shopkeepers who make a habit of setting aside something for their best customers. Visit Asakura Choso Museum which really isn’t a museum in the ordinary sense, but the studio and house of Fumio Asakura, one of Japan’s best known sculptors of the early 20th Century. One of the highlights of your visit is the garden, designed by the sculptor, around which the whole house was built. This exquisite Japanese landscape garden incorporates spring water and huge rocks set to represent Confucianist precepts, the kind of place poets would have brushed bold black kanji depicting the delicacies of nature and the fragility of life. Trees and plants are sparingly placed among the rocks which gently overflow with water while huge carp swim laconically about in the still waters. You will also be amazed at Asakura’s private collection including ancient ceramics, his extensive art library, old silk kimono etc.
In the afternoon, continue to Ueno Park, home to Tokyo Cultural Hall, Ueno Zoo, Tokyo National Museum and numerous shrines, cultural and historical points of interest. Besides spending some quality time at Tokyo National Museum, the largest museum in Japan with over 88,500 collections associated with the fine arts and history of Japan and neighboring countries, you’ll want to be sure to visit a few key attractions inside the Tokyo’s largest park. It is specifically beautiful during the cherry blossom season in early April.
Day 10 Tokyo Exits (B)
Breakfast at the hotel.
Check out of the hotel on time and take the Airport Shuttle Mini-Van the airport for your onward flights.
Randi –
The trip was truly a trip of a lifetime in so many ways!
I definitely have to go back in my lifetime – 12 days was still not enough – and as YOU know – our days were packed!
Suntours – were beyond efficient – I have never experienced anything like it in my life – but I hear that is the Japanese way all around!
I hope 2017 has treated you well so far.
Thanks again for organizing a great trip and follow up.
Sincerely,
Randi