All Trips & Tours

Highlights

• Learn the tricks of the trade when you take part in a hands-on sushi-making class in Tokyo, pick local produce from the market before a cooking class in Kanazawa and make your own okonomiyaki in Osaka.
• Meet local farmers during a day trip from Kyoto to the Uji region, the home of green tea production. Tour the green tea and matcha farms, enjoy a hot cuppa, then walk the streets of Uji city, stopping on the way to see the Ujiami Shrine.
• When you’re not busy eating, enjoy iconic experiences like wandering the streets of Tokyo, Kenroku-en garden in Kyoto, the glowing signs of Osaka’s Dotonbori district, learning Buddhist history in Koya-san and walking through Kyoto’s Gion district.
• Feast on delicious Japanese cuisine, from street food to restaurant favourites – including ekiben, sushi, matcha, takoyaki, okonomiyaki and fresh seafood.
• Sip on sake, the national drink of Japan, during a visit to a local sake brewery in Kyoto. Learn how sake is made and maybe even pick up a bottle (or two) to take home.

Highlights

• Soar high above Lake Ashi and (on a clear day) get a glimpse of glorious Mt Fuji on a ride on the Hakone ropeway.
• Be impressed by the efficiency and ultra modernity of Japan’s bullet trains as you zip from place to place.
• Explore traditional Japanese culture in Edo-period Takayama and visit a folk village, tour a 600-year-old market and a enjoy a sake brewery tasting.
• Visit the Peace Park for moving insight into the devastation of the atomic bomb in Hiroshima, then cruise to peaceful Miyajima Island where wild deer roam the streets.
• Finish your trip with three nights in Kyoto, Japan’s cultural capital and home to literally thousands of temples, the Gion District where Geisha entertain the wealthy elite and renowned Kyoto sushi.

Highlights

• Discover Japan's most iconic city sights, from walking the Geisha district and seeing the cultural landmarks of Kyoto to touring the temple district and cruising past all the contemporary highlights of Tokyo.
• Learn more about the sobering past of Hiroshima at the memorial park, the museums and the monuments dedicated to the memory of the victims – they now also advocate for world peace and serve as a reminder of the devastation of war.
• Feast on okonomiyaki – Japan’s signature savoury pancake of egg, cabbage, soba noodles and meat or seafood – at an included dinner in Hiroshima at a special local restaurant.
• Meet the locals over a home-cooked dinner during your stay in a ryokan (a traditional Japanese inn) in the mountain town of Tsumago – the historic medieval village preserved from the Edo period.
• Spend a night in Koya-san’s Shukubo Temple and learn about the customs of traditional Japanese accommodation as you share vegetarian meals with the monks who run the lodgings.

Highlights

• Cycling allows you to get closer to the real Japan – from bicycles to Pokemon, serene temples to the organised chaos of the big cities, this classic adventure has it all.
• Choose to end rewarding days in the saddle with amazing Japanese feasts of sushi, unagi, tempura or even fugu, all washed down with a traditional sake or Sapporo beer.
• Ride both bikes and trains for the ultimate change of pace.
• Cycle through peaceful landscapes that show a land far from the big city lights of Tokyo.
• By travelling on this trip, you’ll directly support our Intrepid Foundation partner, World Bicycle Relief. Donations provide school kids, health workers, and farmers in far-out areas with bicycles that provide access to education, healthcare, and income.

Highlights

• Soar high above Lake Ashi and (on a clear day) get a glimpse of the iconic Mt Fuji on a ride on the Hakone ropeway.
• Stay in a countryside homestay, taking you off the beaten track to experience classic Japanese hospitality. Feast on home-cooked meals over conversations with your welcoming hosts and learn about rural life in Japan. 
• Spend three nights in Kyoto, and craft your own experience in this ancient capital with loads of free time and the help of your expert local leader.
• Watch the steam coming out of the ‘hells’ (hot spring pools in Jigoku) of Beppu and enjoy a unique experience for lunch – you’ll cook and steam your food right in the hot spring steam, said to be rich with healthy minerals, then take a relaxing a soak in a traditional onsen,
• Explore the little town of Takayama that sits within the Japanese Northern Alps and take in the stunning view of the five peaks of Mount Aso from the Daikanbo Observatory.