Japan Hike, Bike & Hot Springs

Upon arrival at Tokyo Haneda Airport, clear customs and collect your luggage, then proceed to the arrivals hall where our representative will be waiting for you. The representative will escort you to an airport bus for your transfer to your hotel in Tokyo. 

The balance of the day is at leisure to begin your exploration of Japan's capital.

This is the perfect introduction tour to Tokyo. Travel around Tokyo using the cities sophisticated and efficient subway and train lines together with your private guide visiting some of Tokyo`s main sites. Meet you guide in the morning in the lobby of your hotel and then walk to the train station to begin your adventure. Start the day with a visit to Sensoji Temple, Tokyo`s oldest Buddhist temple. After visiting the temple grounds take time to stroll along Nakamise shopping street to look for souvenirs or maybe purchase a snack. Then continue to Tsukiji Outer fish market (many shops are closed on Sundays and on some Wednesdays). Along the market streets you will find many different types of food stalls selling fish, seafood, vegetables, fruit, dried goods, as well as kitchenware shops. Stroll through the market with your guide and choose to sample food from the food stalls or visit one of the small restaurants for lunch (hint hint...this is the place to try the freshest sushi and sashimi so we recommend you go to a restaurant). After lunch hop back on the train to travel across the city to Shibuya Crossing, the largest pedestrian crossing in the world and a fun place to people watch. This will be a short visit to walk across the busy crossing, see the neon signs and cross it off the bucket list. While there you will also visit Hachiko Square. Then take a short train transfer to Meiji Shrine. Meiji Shrine is a Shinto Shrine surrounded by Meiji Jingu forest and it will suddenly feel like you are no longer in metropolitan Tokyo. Walk through the peaceful shrine grounds and if you are lucky, you may see a Shinto priest. After visiting the shrine, stop for a latte or green tea break at a café in Harajuku, the pop culture neighbourhood (time permitting). We suggest an art café that specialises in 3D foam art.

The rest of the day is free for you to explore bustling Harajuku or the upmarket Omotesando avenue. Your guide will either say goodbye so you can continue exploring or escort you back to your hotel.

Start using your Japan rail pass today. During the tour, you will exchange your rail pass voucher and make your train reservations.

A full day to discover the wonders of Japan's largest city at your own pace.

Following breakfast, meet your guide and transfer together to the bullet train station to take the train from Tokyo to Odawara station in Hakone (approx. 30 mins). Your guide will help you board the train in Tokyo and then say sayonara. On arrival at Odawara, meet your Hakone guide and begin your full day sightseeing tour of Hakone National Park.

To explore the National Park, you will first make your way by local transit to Choanji Temple. This quiet, little-known corner of the area has a history stretching back to the 14th Century and features pleasant walking trails with over two hundred statues of 'rakan' (Buddhist disciples). It is one of the most extensive and unique collections of rakan in Japan. Next, you will glide across Lake Ashi on a stylish cruise boat where you might catch a glimpse of Mt. Fuji. You'll next make your way up the Komagatake Ropeway, to the summit of Mt Komagatake, from which you can see amazing panoramic views of Lake Ashi, Hakone and Mt. Fuji, weather permitting. Heading down the ropeway, you will pick up a cruise again across to Sekisho-Ato, once part of Hakone's old town. After lunch (not included) and a stop by a local craft shop selling puzzle boxes, a local speciality, you will explore the area as those hundreds of years ago will have done - on foot. You and your guide will head to one of the few original stretches of the Tokaido Road that ran from Tokyo to Kyoto. This 500 meter stretch preserves the original tall cedar trees and some of the old paving stones. The walk is very flat and takes just about 20 - 30 minutes to complete depending on your fitness level.

Tonight stay in a ryokan, a traditional Japanese inn with hot spring baths.

This morning make your way to Odawara station to take the bullet train to Shizuoka (approx. 45 mins). Meet your  guide at Shizuoka Station and begin your cycling tour. You will be equipped with a fashionable hybrid bike and helmet to begin your adventure.

Start by cycling for approximately 1 hour to one of the beautiful green tea farms in the countryside of Shizuoka City along the clear streams of Abekawa River. Along the way, you can take in the panoramic views of green tea fields. You will be welcomed by a local family who has run the tea farm from generation to generation. Inside a 150-year old farmhouse enjoy several kinds of tea tasting made from the same tea leaves (green tea, oolong tea, roasted tea, black tea). This tasting experience always surprises guests because no one can imagine one kind of tea leaves can produce such different tastes and rich flavors. Local farmers share with you their knowledge of Shizuoka's tea farming methods which include "how to grow, how to harvest, how to process and how to ship". They are also happy to answer any questions you may have.

On your way back to Shizuoka Station, you will have the opportunity to stop by Shizuoka Sengen Shrine, which has over 2000 years history and Sengen Dori Shotengai, a retro shopping street for locals or Sumpu Castle Park in which the founder of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan (Edo period) used to live. The history of Shizuoka city has developed with this castle since seventeenth century.

Following your tour, you'll part with your guide at the Shizuoka station and then continue by bullet train to Mishima (approx. 20 mins). Your hotel is located adjacent to the station. Tonight soak in the hot spring baths on the upper floor of your hotel and enjoy the aerial views of the city and Mt. Fuji in the distance.

Take the bullet train to Shin-Fuji station (approx. 10 mins) to meet your guide. Fujinomiya is situated on the southwestern slopes of Mt. Fuji in Shizuoka Prefecture and is one of the major starting points to climb up the mountain. Fujinomiya people have lived with Mt. Fuji and worshiped the holy mountain for long time.

Meet your guide at the Station and start your tour with a visit to Fujisan Hongu Sengen Shrine, where Mt. Fuji is enshrined. It is the traditional way to make a pilgrimage to the shrine before climbing the mountain. The shrine is the most prominent and important shrine among other 1300 Sengen shrines around Japan. The shrine is blessed with rich spring water of Mt. Fuji welling up in the shrine grounds. Purify yourself with this water before your hike.

Following the shrine visit, you'll be driven by private vehicle to Mt. Fuji 5th Station at 2400m in altitude. Enjoy some easy hiking along the Fujinomiya Trail to explore the Hoei Crater, the largest crater on Mt. Fuji. This is a very enjoyable hiking course because you'll see different landscapes and geological features.

If the weather is good, lunch will be served at the bottom of Hoei Crater.

After the tour, return by bullet train to Mishima.

Today is at leisure. Make your way by train from Mishima to Nagiso via Nagoya (approx. 3 hrs). Your hotel for the next two nights has indoor and outdoor hot spring baths offering forest views overlooking the Kiso Valley.

Today is at leisure to walk the Nakasendo trail. The Nakasendo (path through mountains) was one of the two means of transportation between Tokyo and Kyoto during the Edo period. Because of restrictions by the shogunate, travelers were almost always forced to make their trips on foot. As a result, "post towns" developed every few kilometers to provide travellers with places to rest. Along the Kiso Valley, a few post towns, particularly Magome and Tsumago have been preserved to look as they once did with stone paths and wooden buildings. We suggest you begin the hike in Magome to go to Tsumago (approx. 8 km). The trail is a little steep at first, but it evens out quickly and the rest slopes away gently down to Tsumago. There are plenty of rest stops along the way. Enjoy the beautiful mountain vistas and take time to explore both post towns.

Today is at leisure. Make your way by train from Nagiso to Takayama via Nagoya (approx. 4 hrs). We suggest you arrive in Takayama in the late afternoon so you can have dinner at one of the restaurants in town serving Hida beef, a type of Wagyu beef. This is a must try!

Today you will take a tour with a local guide. Start with a visit to the Takayama Festival Float Museum, where the magnificent floats for one of Japan''s most important festivals are preserved. Your guide will explain the festival's traditions and symbolism. Then, take a walk in the district called San-machi Suji, the traditional home of Takayama merchants and sake brewers, which has been preserved almost exactly as it was 2-3 hundred years ago. There are inns, shops and taverns here which trace their history back several generations. We'll make a stop at one of these sake breweries and enjoy a tasting. Takayama''s sake is renowned nation-wide, thanks to the clear water of the surroundings.

This afternoon, you will embark on a half day cycling tour of Takayama's magnificent countryside and see Takayama through the eyes of a local. Alongside your experienced guide, you will enjoy a pleasant ride through the scenic areas found only in rural Japan such as expansive green rice paddies and houses with ceramic tiled roofs constructed in the traditional style.

Today, depart Takayama by public bus to visit the UNESCO site of Shirakawa-go village with your private guide. Upon arrival, your guide will show you around the village, famous for its traditional gassho-zukuri farmhouses, some of which are more than 250 years old. Gassho-zukkuri translates as "Praying Hands", as the farmhouse steep thatched roofs resemble the hands of Buddhist monks pressed together in prayer, and are designed to withstand the heavy snows which fall in the region. You will be able to look around inside one of these and will see how life in Japan's mountainous region used to be. Your tour will end at Shirakawago bus terminal where you will part with your guide and depart by public bus for Kanazawa. Your bus tickets are included however you will be unaccompanied on the bus. Upon arrival in Kanazawa (at the bus station at Kanazawa Station), make your way independently to your hotel.

Meet your guide in the lobby of your hotel in Kanazawa and begin your walking tour using public bus transit. Your first stop is Kanazawa's star attraction, Kenrokuen garden which is regarded as one of the three most beautiful gardens in Japan. Walk through the garden grounds and enjoy the flora and fauna which changes depending on the season. Continue your tour to the Higashi Chaya district, the historical geisha district where you will learn about geisha lifestyles and have the opportunity to visit a gold leaf store, a specialty of Kanazawa. Your last stop today is the Nagamachi district, where samurai and their families used to reside. While there visit the Nomura Samurai House. Your guide will escort you the train station at the end of the tour.

Take the train from Kanazawa to Kyoto (approx. 2 hrs). 

The is the perfect introduction to Kyoto, visiting some of the cities most iconic sites. Meet your guide in the morning in the lobby of your hotel and then begin your walking tour using public transit (subway and bus). Your first stop is the renowned Kinkakuji temple, better known as the Golden Pavilion, one of Kyoto's UNESCO World Heritage sites. Walk through the temple grounds to admire the gold leaf decorated temple and visit the teahouse for a matcha green tea tasting and Japanese sweet. Afterwards, choose to visit either Nijo Castle, one of the best examples of castle palace architecture from Japan's feudal era or Kyoto's Imperial Palace, the once residence of Japan's Imperial family. Your guide will then escort you to a restaurant for lunch as you will have surely worked up an appetite from all the morning explorations. The type of cuisine you have for lunch will depend on your preferences, but your guide will be able to make some recommendations. After lunch, travel to the Southern Higashiyama district to visit another one of Kyoto's most famous sites, Kiyomizu-dera temple, located on a hillside overlooking the city and also a UNESCO site. Explore the temple grounds and see Otowa Waterfall. Then you may decide to explore the souvenir shops in Higashiyama (time permitting). Your guide will escort you back to your hotel at the end of the tour or you may choose to end the tour in the Gion district, the historical geisha district of Kyoto.

Today is at leisure to explore Japan's ancient capital at your own pace.

This morning, transfer to Osaka's Kansai International Airport for your onward flight.