Women-only Japan: Tokyo, Mount Fuji, Kyoto and Osaka

Arrive in Tokyo, gently

Tokyo Haneda or Narita airport to your hotel in central Tokyo

• Welcome dinner
• Nuit : Tokyo
• Environ 1 h de route

Après-midi

Nothing is planned until 6:30 pm, so land by mid-afternoon if you can and sleep, shower or take a short walk first. Then your See Sight Tours guide meets the group in the lobby. Over green tea she introduces everyone and gives an honest briefing: what to wear at temples and the tea ceremony, onsen etiquette and the women's bath, women-only train cars and what to do if someone gets too close on a crowded train, eating alone, taxis, and how your suitcase is forwarded on day 3. Each guest gets a loaded IC card for the metro.

Soir

At about 7:30 pm we walk a few minutes to an izakaya for a welcome dinner of small plates, and you are back at the hotel by about 9:30.

Compris

• Pick-up at Tokyo Haneda (HND) or Narita (NRT)
• Welcome and briefing with your guide on dress, onsen, trains and getting around alone
• IC transit card for the Tokyo metro
• Welcome dinner at an izakaya near the hotel

Old and new Tokyo

Asakusa and Senso-ji, then Meiji Jingu, Harajuku and Shibuya

• Petit-déjeuner
• Nuit : Tokyo
• En train

Matin

The grounds never close and the main hall opens at 6 or 6:30 am, so at this hour the great Kaminarimon gate and the Nakamise shopping street belong to shopkeepers raising their shutters and locals saying morning prayers, not the crowds that pour in from ten. After a coffee in the backstreets, the metro takes us across the city to Meiji Jingu, the shrine to Emperor Meiji, reached on a wide gravel path through a forest planted a century ago.

Après-midi

From there it is a short walk into Harajuku for lunch on your own (your guide has a list) and down to Shibuya and its scramble crossing. The middle of the afternoon is free to rest at the hotel, which after a long flight most of us need.

Soir

At sunset we go up to Shibuya Sky, the open-air rooftop about 230 m above the crossing, to watch the city light up; on clear winter days Mount Fuji shows on the horizon.

Compris

• Senso-ji, the Kaminarimon gate and Nakamise street at 7 am with your guide
• Meiji Jingu and its forest approach
• Harajuku and the Shibuya scramble crossing on foot
• Shibuya Sky at sunset (timed entry booked for you)

Tsukiji, a shogun's garden and a free afternoon

Tsukiji Outer Market and Hama-rikyu garden, then Tokyo on your own

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Tokyo
• En train

Matin

A food morning. We take the metro to the Tsukiji Outer Market, the lanes of fishmongers, knife makers, pickle sellers and tiny counters that stayed behind when the wholesale fish market moved to Toyosu in 2018.

Après-midi

Your guide leads a tasting walk while the stalls are busiest with local cooks: rolled omelette hot off the pan, grilled scallops, fresh fruit, and then a seat at a sushi counter for lunch. A short walk away, Hama-rikyu is a former shogun's garden on Tokyo Bay, with a teahouse on an island in a tidal pond, where we stop for a bowl of matcha and a seasonal sweet. The afternoon is free: go back to Asakusa, browse Ginza, see teamLab Planets (book ahead) or rest.

Soir

Before dinner, leave your suitcase at the hotel front desk with the forwarding slip your guide prepares; it travels to Kyoto by courier and waits for you there. Pack an overnight bag for Hakone. Dinner is your choice; your guide leaves a list of counter restaurants near the hotel where eating alone is normal.

Compris

• Tasting walk in the Tsukiji Outer Market with your guide
• Sushi counter lunch in Tsukiji
• Hama-rikyu garden with matcha and a sweet at the teahouse
• Suitcase forwarding from your Tokyo hotel to your Kyoto hotel

Activités en option

• teamLab Planets in Toyosu (book ahead, on your own)

The Hakone loop and a ryokan night

Tokyo to Odawara by Shinkansen, then the Hakone Tozan Railway, cable car, ropeway and Lake Ashi cruise

• Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
• Nuit : Hakone
• En train

Matin

We leave Tokyo mid-morning with only an overnight bag, which is what makes today easy. The Tokaido Shinkansen reaches Odawara in about 35 minutes, and from there we ride the Hakone loop on the Hakone Free Pass. The Hakone Tozan Railway climbs the mountain on switchbacks to Gora, about an hour from Odawara with a change at Hakone-Yumoto, a short cable car rises to Sounzan, and the Hakone Ropeway swings over Owakudani, a volcanic valley of steam vents and yellow sulphur.

Après-midi

We stop there for lunch and a black egg boiled in the hot springs. If a volcanic alert closes the ropeway, a bus covers the same ground. From Togendai a sightseeing boat crosses Lake Ashi to Moto-Hakone, with Mount Fuji over the far shore on clear days.

Soir

By late afternoon we are at the ryokan on the Lake Ashi side of Hakone: change into a yukata, soak in the women's onsen, or a private bath if you prefer, and sit down to a kaiseki dinner, many small seasonal courses brought one after another.

Compris

• Tokaido Shinkansen from Tokyo to Odawara
• Hakone Free Pass: Hakone Tozan Railway, cable car, Hakone Ropeway and the Lake Ashi cruise
• Owakudani and lunch at the top
• Night in a traditional ryokan with a women's onsen and a private bath on request
• Kaiseki dinner at the ryokan

Hakone Shrine early, then the bullet train to Kyoto

Hakone to Moto-Hakone and Odawara, then the Shinkansen to Kyoto

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Kyoto
• Environ 1 h de route

Matin

Wake early for a soak while the women's bath is quiet, then a Japanese breakfast at the ryokan. We leave at about 8 am and reach the lakeshore at Moto-Hakone by about 8:30, before the queue builds at Hakone Shrine's red torii, which stands in the waters of Lake Ashi. We climb the cedar-lined steps, then walk to Onshi-Hakone Park, a former imperial villa on a headland, for the widest view across the lake towards Fuji. Late in the morning our vehicle takes us down to Odawara station, about 40 minutes, for the Shinkansen to Kyoto. The ride takes two to three hours: a Hikari where the timetable allows, otherwise a Kodama or a change at Nagoya.

Après-midi

Lunch is a bento on board. We reach Kyoto between about 2 and 3 pm, and your suitcase is already at the hotel.

Soir

After check-in and a rest, we walk into Gion at dusk: Hanamikoji street, the willow-lined Shirakawa canal, Yasaka Shrine as its lanterns are lit, and Pontocho alley above the Kamo River. Dinner is on your own, from your guide's list of counter places where women eat alone, and she walks back with anyone who wants company.

Compris

• Hakone Shrine and its lakeside torii by about 8:30 am
• Onshi-Hakone Park
• Shinkansen from Odawara to Kyoto, with a bento lunch on board
• Gion, Shirakawa, Yasaka Shrine and Pontocho at dusk with your guide

Fushimi Inari at 7 am and a Kyoto cooking class

Fushimi Inari Taisha, then Nishiki Market and a cooking class in central Kyoto

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Kyoto
• Environ 30 min de route

Soir

We are at Fushimi Inari Taisha by 7 am, when the shrine, open day and night and free to enter, is quiet and the thousands of vermilion torii gates that climb Mount Inari stand in soft morning light. We walk up through the tunnels of gates to the Yotsutsuji crossroads, about 45 minutes uphill on steps, for the view over southern Kyoto, and come down by a quieter path as the tour groups arrive. Back in the centre by mid-morning, we walk the length of Nishiki Market, a narrow covered street of stalls selling pickles, tofu, fish and knives to Kyoto's cooks. Then the hands-on part of the day: a cooking class with a Kyoto home cook, a woman where one is confirmed, where we make dashi from scratch, a few obanzai home-style dishes and a seasonal rice dish, and eat what we have made for lunch. The afternoon and evening are free: the Philosopher's Path, Nanzen-ji, or a long rest.

Compris

• Fushimi Inari Taisha at 7 am with your guide, up to the Yotsutsuji crossroads
• Nishiki Market walk
• Cooking class with a Kyoto home cook (a woman where one is confirmed), with the lunch you make

Nara, then Kiyomizu-dera late in the day

Kyoto to Nara and back by train, then Kiyomizu-dera and Higashiyama

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Kyoto
• En train

Matin

We leave the hotel at about 8:15 for the Kintetsu limited express, about 35 minutes, and meet a licensed Nara guide, a woman where one is available, and walk through Nara Park to reach Todai-ji at about 9:30, before the late-morning crowds. Inside the vast wooden hall sits the bronze Great Buddha, about 15 metres tall. The deer of Nara Park, around a thousand of them, wander between the temples and bow for rice crackers.

Après-midi

We walk on to Kasuga Taisha, its paths lined with stone lanterns, then sit down to lunch in Naramachi, the old merchant quarter. We are back in Kyoto by about 2:30 pm, with two hours to rest at the hotel. At about 4:30 pm we reach Kiyomizu-dera, after the coaches have gone and well before it closes (usually 6 pm; hours vary by season and we confirm them): its wooden stage looks out over the city from the Higashiyama hills, and the stone lanes of Sannenzaka and Ninenzaka lead back down.

Soir

The evening is free.

Compris

• Kintetsu limited express from Kyoto to Nara and back
• Todai-ji and the Great Buddha Hall
• Nara Park and Kasuga Taisha with your guide and a licensed local guide (a woman where available)
• Sit-down lunch in Naramachi
• Kiyomizu-dera, Sannenzaka and Ninenzaka in the late afternoon

Kinkaku-ji, a tea ceremony, then Osaka

Kinkaku-ji and a tea ceremony in Kyoto, then by road to Osaka and Dotonbori

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du soir
• Nuit : Osaka
• Environ 1 h de route

Matin

A slower last morning in Kyoto. We are at Kinkaku-ji, the Golden Pavilion, when the gates open at 9 am, so the view across the Mirror Pond is clear before the crowds build. From about 10 am, a tea ceremony in a traditional tea room, with a woman tea teacher where one is confirmed, who shows you how to whisk your own bowl of matcha, followed by a short class making wagashi, the seasonal sweets served with tea.

Après-midi

We finish by about 11:30, and lunch is on your own near the hotel. At about 1:30 pm our vehicle takes the group and the suitcases to Osaka, about an hour by road, and we check in to a hotel near Namba by about 3 pm with time to rest.

Soir

At about 6 pm, the farewell: a street-food walk through Dotonbori under the neon and the Glico running man sign, past the moss-covered statue in Hozenji Yokocho, tasting takoyaki, kushikatsu and okonomiyaki as we go, and ending around one table for a last dinner together. The hotel is a short walk away, and we walk back as a group.

Compris

• Kinkaku-ji at opening with your guide
• Tea ceremony and a wagashi class (a woman tea teacher where one is confirmed)
• Transfer to Osaka with your suitcases
• Dotonbori and Hozenji Yokocho street-food walk
• Farewell dinner

A free morning in Osaka and home

Osaka to Kansai International Airport

• Petit-déjeuner
• Environ 1 h de route

Matin

The morning is yours. Osaka Castle, rebuilt in 1931 on its original stone walls and now a museum, is about 20 minutes away by metro, and Kuromon Market is a short walk from Namba for a last snack of fresh fruit or grilled seafood. Your guide will point you in the right direction or walk with anyone who wants company; the metro is easy on your own. Check-out is usually at 11 am, and the hotel holds your bags. Our vehicle then takes you to Kansai International Airport (KIX), about an hour by road and across the bridge onto the airport island, timed to your flight. For an international flight, book one leaving after about 2 pm to keep the free morning; if you fly earlier, we leave earlier. If you are flying from Osaka Itami (ITM), staying on in Osaka or travelling on by train, tell us when you book and we arrange the drop-off to match. Your guide says goodbye at the hotel.

Compris

• Drop-off at Kansai International Airport (KIX)

Activités en option

• Osaka Castle (on your own)