Japan: Tokyo, Mount Fuji, Kyoto and Osaka

1. Jour 1 : Arrive in Tokyo

   Tokyo Haneda or Narita airport to your hotel in central Tokyo

   • Environ 1 h de route
   • Welcome dinner
   • Nuit : Tokyo
   Détail du jour 1

   Fly into Tokyo Haneda (HND) or Narita (NRT). A driver meets you in the arrivals hall and takes you to the hotel: about 30 to 45 minutes from Haneda, about 90 minutes from Narita. Our Tokyo hotel is central and within about 5 minutes' walk of a metro or JR station, so the city starts at the front door. Plan to land by about 3 pm to make the evening meeting; the exact time comes with your final itinerary. At about 6 pm your See Sight Tours guide meets the group in the lobby for a short briefing: how the trains work, how your suitcase is forwarded to Kyoto on day 3, what to pack in an overnight bag for the ryokan, and how the week is paced. Each guest gets a loaded IC card for the metro. Then we walk to a neighbourhood izakaya for a welcome dinner of small plates to share, the easiest introduction to Japanese food there is.

   Compris

   • Pick-up at Tokyo Haneda (HND) or Narita (NRT)
   • Welcome briefing with your guide
   • IC transit card for the Tokyo metro
   • Welcome dinner at an izakaya

   Temps libre : Free until the evening briefing

   Activité : From Narita the transfer is about 70 km and 90 minutes.

2. Jour 2 : Old and new Tokyo

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

   • En train
   • Petit-déjeuner
   • Nuit : Tokyo
   Détail du jour 2

   We start at 7 am in Asakusa, at Senso-ji, Tokyo's oldest temple. 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. 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. 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)

   Option plus facile : Skip the walk from Harajuku to Shibuya and take the metro one stop, or rest at the hotel and meet the group at Shibuya Sky.

   Temps libre : Lunch on your own in Harajuku; mid-afternoon free; evening free after Shibuya Sky

   Activité : About 10 km on foot across the day, with a midday break. Roughly an hour at Senso-ji, an hour at Meiji Jingu and an hour on Shibuya Sky.

   

3. Jour 3 : Tsukiji, a shogun's garden and a free afternoon

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

   • En train
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Tokyo
   Détail du jour 3

   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. 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. 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.

   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)

   Temps libre : Afternoon and evening free

   Activité : About 2 hours in the Tsukiji Outer Market and an hour at Hama-rikyu. Many Tsukiji shops close on Sundays, public holidays and some Wednesdays, so this day is scheduled around them.

4. Jour 4 : The Hakone loop and a ryokan night

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

   • En train
   • Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
   • Nuit : Hakone
   Détail du jour 4

   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. 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. By late afternoon we are at the ryokan on the Lake Ashi side of Hakone: change into a yukata, soak in the onsen 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 onsen
   • Kaiseki dinner at the ryokan

   Temps libre : Late afternoon and evening at the ryokan

   Activité : Mostly seated on trains, the ropeway and the boat, with short walks between them. About an hour at Owakudani, with lunch.

   

5. Jour 5 : Hakone Shrine early, then the bullet train to Kyoto

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

   • Environ 1 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Kyoto
   Détail du jour 5

   Wake early for a soak while the onsen 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 to the shrine, then walk to Onshi-Hakone Park, the grounds of 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 depending on the service: a Hikari that stops at Odawara where the timetable allows, otherwise a Kodama, sometimes with a change to a faster train at Nagoya. Lunch is a bento on board. We reach Kyoto between about 2 and 3 pm, and your suitcase is already at the hotel. 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.

   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

   Option plus facile : Stay at the ryokan for a slower morning and join the group at Odawara station.

   Temps libre : Evening free in Kyoto

   Activité : About 45 minutes at Hakone Shrine, 30 minutes in Onshi-Hakone Park and 2 hours in Gion. In Gion, some private lanes ban photography; your guide shows where it is welcome.

   

6. Jour 6 : Fushimi Inari at 7 am and a Kyoto cooking class

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

   • Environ 30 min de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Kyoto
   Détail du jour 6

   An early start for Kyoto's most crowded sight. 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, 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, with the lunch you make

   Option plus facile : Walk only the first tunnels of gates, about 15 minutes, and wait with a coffee at the foot of the shrine.

   Option plus active : Carry on from Yotsutsuji around the summit loop of Mount Inari, about another hour, with your guide.

   Temps libre : Afternoon and evening free

   Activité : Breakfast is early today, from about 6:15 am, and we leave at about 6:40. About 2 hours at Fushimi Inari, 45 minutes in Nishiki Market and about 3 hours for the cooking class and lunch.

7. Jour 7 : Nara, then Kiyomizu-dera late in the day

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

   • En train
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Kyoto
   Détail du jour 7

   After yesterday's early start, a later one. Nara was Japan's capital in the 8th century, before Kyoto, and its temples are older and bigger. We leave the hotel at about 8:15 for the Kintetsu limited express, about 35 minutes, 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. 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. Then we finish at Kiyomizu-dera in the late afternoon, after the coaches have gone: its wooden stage looks out over the city from the Higashiyama hills, and the stone lanes of Sannenzaka and Ninenzaka lead back down. 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
   • Sit-down lunch in Naramachi
   • Kiyomizu-dera, Sannenzaka and Ninenzaka in the late afternoon

   Option plus facile : Skip Kiyomizu-dera and keep the late afternoon and evening free.

   Temps libre : Two hours to rest at the hotel in the afternoon; evening free

   Activité : The longest day on foot, about 9 to 10 km, broken by lunch and the afternoon rest. About an hour at Todai-ji, 90 minutes in Nara Park and Kasuga Taisha, and 90 minutes at Kiyomizu-dera, with stone steps.

8. Jour 8 : Kinkaku-ji, a tea ceremony, then Osaka

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

   • Environ 1 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du soir
   • Nuit : Osaka
   Détail du jour 8

   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. Then a tea ceremony in a traditional tea room, where the host shows you how to whisk your own bowl of matcha, followed by a short class making wagashi, the seasonal sweets served with tea. Lunch is on your own near the hotel. Early in the afternoon our vehicle takes the group and the suitcases to Osaka, about an hour by road, and we check in to a hotel near Namba with time to rest. In the evening, 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.

   Compris

   • Kinkaku-ji at opening with your guide
   • Tea ceremony and a wagashi class
   • Transfer to Osaka with your suitcases
   • Dotonbori and Hozenji Yokocho street-food walk
   • Farewell dinner

   Temps libre : Lunch on your own; a free hour in Osaka before the evening walk

   Activité : About 45 minutes at Kinkaku-ji, 90 minutes for the tea ceremony and wagashi class, and about 2 hours on the Dotonbori walk and dinner.

9. Jour 9 : A free morning in Osaka and home

   Osaka to Kansai International Airport

   • Environ 1 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner
   Détail du jour 9

   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. 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)

   Temps libre : Morning free

   Activité : Book an international flight leaving after about 2 pm to keep the free morning.

Faune et météo : Spring and autumn are mild and mostly dry. Cherry blossom (late March to early April) and Kyoto's autumn colour (mid-November to early December) bring crowds and higher hotel prices. The rainy season runs from about early June to mid-July, summer is hot and humid, and typhoons can disrupt trains from August to October. Mount Fuji is often hidden in cloud, most of all from late spring through summer.

• Tokyo3 nuits
• Hakone1 nuit
• Kyoto3 nuits
• Osaka1 nuit