Day 1 – Tokyo
Check-in to your hotel which is centrally located in Tokyo’s dynamic Shinjuku district, the city’s center of business, shopping and entertainment.
Keio Plaza Hotel

Day 2 – Tokyo
A morning tour of Tokyo shows you the highlights of this fascinating metropolis: the Imperial Palace and the Asakusa Kannon Temple, the oldest in the city, where you can stroll past the colorful stalls of Nakamise Arcade and join the visitors and locals who come to shop. Also included on the tour is the beautifully landscaped grounds of the Meiji Shrine, built to honor the Emperor Meiji whose reign in the last century witnessed Japan’s emergence as a world power. The afternoon is free to spend as you wish.
Keio Plaza Hotel – Meals B

Day 3 – Tokyo
A full free day gives you time to explore this delightful city on your own. Stroll through a traditional Japanese garden or shop for the latest hi-tech gadget in one of Shinjuku’s mega-department stores. An optional tour to Nikko (Apr-Nov) is also available; here you see the magnificent Toshogu Shrine, set against the wooded splendor of Nikko National Park. Ask us about the wide variety of other optional tours and excursions that allow you to customize your trip by adding the programs that most interest you.
Keio Plaza Hotel – Meals B

Day 4 – Tokyo / Mt. Fuji / Hakone
Leave Tokyo and drive through the countryside to Mt. Fuji. Here we stop halfway up the mountain at the 5th station for beautiful views and photo opportunities. Afterward, enjoy a scenic drive to Hakone, a hot springs resort set amidst pine-clad mountains. A cruise of Lake Ashi is followed by a cable car ride up Mt. Komaga-take to enjoy its panoramic views. Tonight enjoy an “onsen,” a soothing Japanese bath of hot-spring waters, followed by a special Japanese dinner at our hotel.
Kowaki-en Hotel – Meals B,D

Day 5 – Tokyo / Mt. Fuji / Hakone
This morning, drive along the scenic road to Mishima and board the Bullet Train bound for Kyoto. Upon arrival, transfer to our hotel. Or experience a traditional Japanese inn for one night by staying at the Yoshi-ima Ryokan. Owned by the same family for generations, the inn provides a delightful cultural experience and includes a Japanese breakfast and dinner, plus you enjoy a traditional tea ceremony.
Rihga Royal Hotel – Meals B

Day 6 – Kyoto / Excursion to Nara
Your morning sightseeing of Kyoto visits the city’s most remarkable sights – Kinkaku-ji Temple, the Golden Pavilion, Heian Shrine and the Sanjusangendo Temple’s Hall of 1,001 statues of Buddha. This afternoon we travel to Nara, another exquisite ancient capital of Japan. In Nara we visit some of the eight historic monuments of ancient Nara that have been placed on the World Heritage List – Todai-ji, Kofuku-ji, Gango-ji, Yakushi-ji, and Toshodai-ji Temples; Kasuga Taisha Shrine; the Kasugayama Primeval Forest; and the Nara Palace Site. Don’t miss a relaxing visit to Nara’s famous deer park, with its 1,200 tame bucks, doe, and fawns.
Rihga Royal Hotel – Meals B

Day 7 – Kyoto / Kurashiki
Departing Kyoto by Bullet Train, travel to Kurashiki via Okayama and check into our hotel. Kurashiki is a picturesque city of canals and bridges, with distinctive white-walled granaries that date back to the feudal era when the town was the center for rice and cotton shipping. The region is known for Bizen pottery, famous for its warm, earth-tone finish. Your walking tour of Kurashiki includes a stroll along old canals, and a visit to the Ohara Art Museum which houses an impressive collection of Western art including works by El Greco and Van Gogh, plus a vast array of Asian art. The tour continues to Ivy Square where factory buildings have been renovated to house shops and eateries.
Kurashiki International Hotel – Meals B

Day 8 – Kurashiki / Okayama / Hiroshima
This morning you head to the Seto Ohashi Bridge to embark on a cruise of the Inland Sea. Next, travel to Okayama where you visit the Korakuen Garden and Okayama’s Castle. Arrive in Hiroshima and check into our hotel.
Rihga Royal Hotel – Meals B

Day 9 – Hiroshima / Kyoto
This morning we walk to Peace Memorial Park, where the Memorial Museum stands as a sobering reminder of the destruction wrought by the atomic bomb. You then travel to Kamiyacho Station to board the train for Hiroden Miyajima. Here it is a short ferry ride across to Miyajima Island to see the beautiful Itsukushima Shrine and the Torii Gate rising majestically from the sea. Later, we return to Kyoto by Bullet Train from Hiroshima.
Rihga Royal Hotel – Meals B

Day 10 – Kyoto
Your program with us finishes after breakfast or choose to extend your stay.
Meals B

A Spectacular July Event –The Gion Festival in Kyoto
First celebrated in 896, the Gion Festival has grown through the centuries into a celebration that fills Kyoto with color, music and merriment. The highlight of the festival is the Yamahoko-junko – a parade of colorful floats through downtown Kyoto. The gigantic floats are pulled through the streets by teams of men dressed in traditional costumes; many of the floats even have musicians on board. The whole city is decorated for the festival, the streets are lit up with lanterns and the floats are covered with colorful, beautifully patterned fabrics. Travelers on the July 12 tour will attend the Gion Festival, enjoy the parade and see the city decorated for the festival.