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.
- Nights
- 13
- Stays
- 6
- When
- Autumn
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 nightsHotel Chinzanso TokyoA hotel in the garden Yamagata Aritomo laid out in 1878 at Sekiguchi, with its three-storey pagoda, for a quiet start away from the centre; Asakusa, where the Spacia X leaves, is about half an hour by taxi.
2 · Day trainSpacia XTobu's limited express from Asakusa reaches Tobu-Nikko in about 1 hour 50 minutes, four times a day; the inn is about 10 minutes by taxi from the station.
3 · 2 nightsFufu NikkoTwenty-four suites on the site of the imperial villa's annexe of 1914, each with its own hot-spring bath, about 15 minutes' walk from Toshogu and Rinno-ji in the leaves; the JR Nikko line to Utsunomiya, the Tohoku Shinkansen to Tokyo and the Tokaido Shinkansen reach Kyoto in about five hours.
4 · 2 nightsKyoto Nanzenji Garden Ryokan YachiyoA ryokan on the approach to Nanzen-ji, booked in the seven garden rooms of its 1890 main building, each with a hinoki bath opening onto the Ogawa Jihei garden, for Nanzen-ji, Eikan-do and the Philosopher's Path in the maples; Arashiyama is about 40 minutes across the city by taxi.
5 · 2 nightsMuni KyotoTwenty-one rooms on the river at Arashiyama, facing the Togetsukyo bridge, for Tenryu-ji and the hillside temples early in the morning, with French kaiseki at dinner; Kyoto station is about 30 minutes by taxi, and the Shinkansen to Okayama and the Sanyo line reach Kurashiki in about an hour and a half.
6 · 2 nightsYoruyaThirteen rooms in a Meiji kimono merchant's annex at the edge of the Bikan quarter, with dinner at a 16-seat counter from the Inland Sea and Okayama (guests 12 and over), for the canal and the Ohara Museum; the Shinkansen from Okayama to Hiroshima and the Sanyo line reach Otake in about an hour and three-quarters, where the villa's car meets you if asked ahead.
7 · 2 nightsSimose Art Garden VillaTen villas by Shigeru Ban beside the Simose Art Museum on the shore at Otake, facing Miyajima, with French dinners; Miyajima, for Itsukushima Shrine and the maples of Momijidani, is about 30 minutes by car and ferry. The villa's car takes you to Iwakuni Kintaikyo airport, with flights to Haneda.
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.
9 nights · Winter
Mount Fuji and Izu: a train down the coast, the hot springs of the peninsula and two views of the mountain
From Tokyo down the Izu coast by the Saphir Odoriko, over the Amagi Pass to two inns in the hot-spring valley of central Izu, then north to the foot of Mount Fuji.
13 nights · Any season
Two weeks of ryokans: the hot springs of Izu, then Fukui and Kaga
For a client who has seen Tokyo and Kyoto: five inns in two regions and no city at all.
6 nights · Winter
Snow country in winter: Ginzan, Uonuma and Tanigawa
A round trip from Tokyo to three hot-spring ryokan in the snow: Ginzan Onsen in Yamagata, then Osawayama in Niigata's rice country and Tanigawa Onsen below the mountains of Gunma.