10 nights · Spring
A first trip: Tokyo, Hakone and Kyoto, and a night train by the sea
The classic first journey through Japan, from the capital to a hot-spring ryokan in the hills and on to the old capital. It ends with two nights on the Twilight Express Mizukaze, out along the Inland Sea and back along the Sea of Japan.
- Nights
- 10
- Stays
- 3
- When
- Spring
Japan
We build it around you
Tell us your dates, your pace and who is travelling. We draw the route around them, choose the inns and rooms, arrange the trains and cars between each stay, and stay one point of contact from the first plan to the last night. Every stay at its own rate.
Already have an itinerary in mind?
Have it reviewed for USD 85The trip, leg by leg
1 · 3 nightsPalace Hotel TokyoA city hotel on the palace moat, a few minutes from Tokyo station; from there the Shinkansen reaches Odawara in about 35 minutes and the Hakone Tozan Railway climbs to Gora.
2 · 2 nightsGora KadanA ryokan in a former imperial villa, for the baths and dinner in the room; back down to Odawara, the Shinkansen reaches Kyoto in about two hours.
3 · 3 nightsTawarayaKyoto's old ryokan, in the centre and within walking distance of the Nishiki market and the temples of Higashiyama; the train's two-night round trip starts and ends in Kyoto.
4 · Cruise trainTwilight Express MizukazeThe Setouchi and San'in round trip stops at Kurashiki, passes the Onomichi channel and Matsue and returns to Kyoto, about 75 minutes from Kansai airport by the Haruka express.
Make it yours
This is one way to do it. We change the stays, their order and the nights in each to suit you, move it to the season you want, and plan the days between: the trains and cars, the restaurants worth the detour, a quieter night where the route needs one. Tell us your dates and who is travelling, and our team in Japan will draw up your own.
Other sample trips
Each one a starting point: we build the trip around your dates, your pace and who is travelling.
13 nights · Any season
A first two weeks: Tokyo, Kanazawa, Kyoto, Nara and a ryokan in Hakone
Thirteen nights for a first visit, with six of them in ryokans: Tokyo, then GranClass on the Hokuriku Shinkansen to a four-suite inn in Kanazawa, four nights in Gion, two in Nara Park and two at the end in a ryokan in the Hakone hills, a car ride from the airports.
5 nights · Autumn
Tokyo and Nikko in autumn: the shrines, and a lake under Mount Nantai
A short trip for a first visit: two nights in Tokyo, then the Spacia X to Nikko for a night a walk from the shrines of Toshogu and two on the shore of Lake Chuzenji, high in the national park.
13 nights · Autumn
Two weeks in autumn: Tokyo, Nikko, Kyoto and the Inland Sea
A route that follows the autumn leaves south and west: a garden hotel in Tokyo, the Spacia X to the shrines of Nikko, then Kyoto by Nanzen-ji and Arashiyama, a restaurant inn in Kurashiki and Shigeru Ban's villas on the Inland Sea facing Miyajima.