Japan at a slower pace: Tokyo, Mount Fuji, the Alps and Kyoto

1. Day 1: Arrive in Tokyo

   Haneda or Narita airport to your hotel, welcome dinner

   • Drive about 1 h
   • Welcome dinner
   • Stay in Tokyo
   Day 1 details

   Fly into Tokyo Haneda (HND) or Narita (NRT). We meet you in the arrivals hall, take your suitcase from you and drive you to a central hotel chosen for its lifts, your base for three nights; Haneda is about 30 to 45 minutes away, Narita closer to 90. There is nothing to do this afternoon but rest, sleep off the flight or take a short walk near the hotel. In the early evening your guide meets the group in the lobby and explains how the trip works: late-ish starts, short walks with somewhere to sit, a vehicle that waits for you and carries your bags, and a free afternoon every other day. Then a short drive to a welcome dinner at a neighbourhood restaurant, with table seating rather than the floor, where small plates of yakitori, sashimi and seasonal vegetables arrive to share.

   Included

   • Pick-up at Tokyo Haneda (HND) or Narita (NRT) airport
   • Welcome meeting with your guide
   • Welcome dinner with table seating

   Free time: Afternoon free to rest

   Activity: Hardly any walking today.

2. Day 2: Asakusa and a boat down the Sumida

   Senso-ji, the river boat to Hama-rikyu, Shibuya Sky in the evening

   • Drive about 1 h
   • Breakfast
   • Stay in Tokyo
   Day 2 details

   Breakfast at your own pace, then at about 8:30 the vehicle takes you to Asakusa. Senso-ji, Tokyo's oldest temple, is busy by mid-morning, so we go before the shops along Nakamise fully open and the tour groups arrive. Pass under the red Kaminarimon gate and its giant paper lantern and walk the short, level approach to the main hall. From the pier nearby, a river boat takes you seated down the Sumida River for about 35 minutes, under its bridges, to Hama-rikyu, a former shogun's garden whose landing stage is inside the grounds. Walk its flat paths to the teahouse on the pond for a bowl of matcha and a sweet, then lunch near Ginza. The vehicle brings you back to the hotel by early afternoon to rest. At dusk, only for those who want it after the rest, the lifts rise to the Shibuya Sky deck above Shibuya Crossing.

   Included

   • Senso-ji and Asakusa in the morning
   • River boat from Asakusa to Hama-rikyu
   • Hama-rikyu garden, with matcha at the pond teahouse
   • Optional: Shibuya Sky deck at dusk, after an afternoon rest (entry included)

   Easier option: Stay seated on the boat and in the teahouse; skip Shibuya Sky and rest.

   Free time: Afternoon rest at the hotel

   Activity: About 3 km on foot in short, level stretches, with the boat and the teahouse as seats.

   

3. Day 3: Meiji Jingu, Tsukiji and a free afternoon

   Shrine walk and market tasting lunch, then Tokyo on your own

   • Drive about 1 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Tokyo
   Day 3 details

   At about 9 the vehicle drops you at the nearest gate of Meiji Jingu, and you walk its wide, level gravel paths, about 10 minutes to the main shrine, through the forest planted when the shrine was built for Emperor Meiji and Empress Shoken in 1920. You pass under a great wooden torii, see the wall of sake barrels given by brewers and, with luck, a wedding procession crossing the courtyard. Benches line the way. Then cross the city to the Tsukiji Outer Market, which stayed when the wholesale fish market moved to Toyosu in 2018. Your guide leads a tasting walk through its stalls, tamagoyaki omelette, tuna, grilled scallops, with a stop at a counter where you can sit, enough for lunch. The afternoon is yours: the museums of Ueno, the department stores of Ginza, or a nap.

   Included

   • Meiji Jingu shrine
   • Guided tasting walk in the Tsukiji Outer Market, as lunch

   Easier option: Wait on a bench near the shrine gate while the group walks the inner courtyard.

   Free time: Afternoon and evening free

   Activity: About 2.5 km on foot, mostly on level gravel and pavement.

4. Day 4: To Mount Fuji and a ryokan

   Tokyo to Lake Kawaguchiko by private vehicle, about 2 hours

   • Drive about 2 h
   • Breakfast and dinner
   • Stay in Lake Kawaguchiko
   Day 4 details

   Leave Tokyo after breakfast, at about 9:30, with your suitcases in the back of the vehicle. The drive west to Lake Kawaguchiko, one of the Fuji Five Lakes at the foot of Mount Fuji, takes about 2 hours, with a rest stop on the expressway. After lunch by the lake, walk the level flower beds of Oishi Park on the north shore, where the 3,776 m volcano, a World Heritage site since 2013, rises across the water when the cloud allows; there are benches facing the view. Then check in to a ryokan for two nights, chosen for a lift and for rooms with beds as well as tatami. Change into a yukata, soak in the hot spring onsen, and sit down to a kaiseki dinner of many small seasonal courses, at a table with chairs.

   Included

   • Private vehicle and driver from Tokyo
   • Oishi Park on Lake Kawaguchiko
   • The first of two nights in a ryokan with onsen
   • Kaiseki dinner at the ryokan

   Free time: Late afternoon at the ryokan

   Activity: Under 1.5 km on foot, all level.

5. Day 5: A Fuji morning and an afternoon in the onsen

   Arakurayama Sengen Park and Chureito Pagoda, the Kachi Kachi Ropeway, the ryokan

   • Drive about 1 h
   • Breakfast and dinner
   • Stay in Lake Kawaguchiko
   Day 5 details

   Mount Fuji is clearest early in the day, so this is one of the few mornings that starts a little before 8. Drive about 15 minutes to Arakurayama Sengen Park, where the shrine and the lower park are reached on the level. Chureito Pagoda, the five-storey peace memorial of 1963, stands on the hillside above at the top of 398 steps, and the classic view of the pagoda with Fuji beyond its roof is from the deck up there. The steps are optional: those who want them climb with the guide, and everyone else sees the pagoda from the park below, with a bench. Then the Kachi Kachi Ropeway rises in about three minutes from the lakeshore to a viewing deck on Mount Tenjo, with the lake below and Fuji opposite, a view of the mountain with no climb at all. Before lunch, a short drive to Saiko Iyashi no Sato Nenba, a village of rebuilt thatched farmhouses where craftspeople work in the old rooms. After lunch you are back at the ryokan for a free afternoon in the onsen or the garden. The second kaiseki dinner is tonight.

   Included

   • Arakurayama Sengen Park, with Chureito Pagoda above (the 398 steps are optional)
   • Kachi Kachi Ropeway to the Mount Tenjo viewing deck
   • Saiko Iyashi no Sato Nenba thatched village
   • Second kaiseki dinner at the ryokan

   Optional experiences

   • A walk to the pagoda at first light with your guide, for those who want the dawn view.

   Easier option: Stay in the lower park by the shrine, on a bench with the pagoda above, while others climb; the Fuji view comes from the ropeway deck.

   More active option: Climb the 398 steps to the pagoda deck with your guide, for the classic view of the pagoda and Fuji.

   Free time: Afternoon free at the ryokan

   Activity: About 2 km on foot, level in the park and on the ropeway deck; the 398 steps to the pagoda are optional.

6. Day 6: Matsumoto and its black castle

   Lake Kawaguchiko to Matsumoto, about 2 to 2.5 hours

   • Drive about 2.5 h
   • Breakfast
   • Stay in Matsumoto
   Day 6 details

   A late breakfast and a 10 am departure north on the Chuo Expressway, about 2 to 2.5 hours with a break halfway, to Matsumoto, a castle town on a plain ringed by the Northern Alps. Lunch in town first, then Matsumoto Castle. Its black-walled keep, completed in the 1590s, is one of only twelve original castle keeps left in Japan and a National Treasure. The grounds, the moat and the red Uzumi bridge are level and give the classic view, with the mountains behind on a clear day. Inside, the keep has steep wooden stairs, close to ladders, with no lift; climb them only if you are happy to, while others stay in the garden with the guide. Then a gentle stroll along Nakamachi street, with its white storehouses, to the hotel, your base for two nights.

   Included

   • Private vehicle over the Chuo Expressway
   • Matsumoto Castle grounds, with entry to the keep
   • Walk along Nakamachi street

   Easier option: Stay in the castle grounds and the garden rather than climbing the keep.

   More active option: Climb all six floors of the keep.

   Free time: Evening free in Matsumoto

   Activity: About 2 km on foot, level, plus the keep's stairs if you choose them.

   

7. Day 7: Kamikochi, the valley of the Northern Alps

   Matsumoto to Sawando, shuttle bus into Kamikochi and back

   • Drive about 2 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Matsumoto
   Day 7 details

   Kamikochi is a high valley at about 1,500 m in Chubu Sangaku National Park, closed to private cars. Leave at about 9, drive about an hour into the mountains to Sawando, and ride the shuttle bus for about 30 minutes through tunnels and forest. Get off at Taisho Pond, formed in 1915 when an eruption of Mount Yakedake dammed the Azusa River; dead trees still stand in the still water. A level path and boardwalks follow the river through larch woods, past Tashiro Pond, to Kappa Bridge, with the Hotaka peaks above. The walk takes about an hour and a half at an easy pace, and there are benches and rest houses along it. Lunch is at a lodge restaurant near the bridge, then time to sit by the clear water before the bus back down. You are back in Matsumoto by about 4.

   Included

   • Return shuttle bus between Sawando and Kamikochi
   • Guided walk from Taisho Pond to Kappa Bridge
   • Lunch at a lodge restaurant in Kamikochi

   Easier option: Stay on the bus to the Kamikochi terminal and walk only the riverside near Kappa Bridge, under 1 km.

   More active option: Walk on from Kappa Bridge to Myojin Pond and back, about 6 to 7 km more on the flat.

   Free time: Late afternoon free

   Activity: About 3.5 km on level paths over about 1.5 hours at an easy pace, with benches and rest houses; the easy option is under 1 km. The valley is cool even in summer.

   

8. Day 8: Over the Alps to Takayama

   Matsumoto to Takayama on Route 158, about 2 hours

   • Drive about 2 h
   • Breakfast and dinner
   • Stay in Takayama
   Day 8 details

   Leave Matsumoto at about 9:30 on Route 158, which climbs through the mountains and the Abo Tunnel into the Hida region, about 2 hours with a stop for coffee and the views. Arrive in Takayama for lunch and check in to the hotel, your base for two nights. In the afternoon walk the three parallel lanes of Sanmachi Suji, the old merchant quarter, past dark wooden houses with low eaves and lattice windows; the lanes are flat and short. A ball of cedar leaves over a door marks a sake brewery, and you sit down in one for a tasting. Then Takayama Jinya, the only surviving Edo-period government office of its kind, where the shogun's governors ran Hida; you walk its tatami rooms in your socks. In the evening the group meets for a Hida beef dinner, the marbled beef the region is known for.

   Included

   • Private vehicle over the Alps on Route 158
   • Guided walk in Sanmachi Suji
   • Sake tasting at a Takayama brewery
   • Takayama Jinya
   • Hida beef dinner

   Free time: Early evening free before dinner

   Activity: About 2.5 km on foot, all level.

   

9. Day 9: Shirakawa-go, then a free afternoon

   Takayama to Shirakawa-go and back, about 50 minutes each way

   • Drive about 2 h
   • Breakfast
   • Stay in Takayama
   Day 9 details

   Shirakawa-go fills with day coaches from about 10, so this morning we leave Takayama at 8:15, the one early hour the village asks for, and arrive at about 9:05. Ogimachi, a World Heritage village since 1995, is known for its gassho-zukuri farmhouses, named for steep thatched roofs that look like hands joined in prayer, built to shed heavy snow. We ride up to the Shiroyama viewpoint for the view over the roofs and rice fields, by the small shuttle bus where it is running or otherwise by taxi, rather than climbing the steep path; if neither can go up, your guide takes you to a level spot in the village with a view of the roofs. Back in the village, the level lanes lead to Wada House, the largest of the farmhouses, where the ground floor shows family life and steep stairs lead to the attic floors once used for silkworms. Return to Takayama for lunch, and the afternoon is free: a coffee by the Miyagawa River, the Hida Folk Village, or a rest.

   Included

   • Shirakawa-go, with a ride up to the Shiroyama viewpoint (shuttle bus where running, otherwise taxi)
   • Wada House

   Easier option: See Wada House's ground floor only and wait in the village tea house.

   More active option: Walk down from the viewpoint to the village by the footpath, about 20 minutes.

   Free time: Afternoon and evening free in Takayama

   Activity: About 2 km on foot, level in the village; Wada House's upper floors are reached by steep stairs and are optional.

   

10. Day 10: Takayama market and the train to Kyoto

    Morning market, then the Hida limited express and Shinkansen to Kyoto, about 3 hours

    • By train
    • Breakfast and lunch
    • Stay in Kyoto
    Day 10 details

    The Miyagawa morning market runs along the river from about 7 to noon, and after breakfast we walk the short, level stretch from the hotel while farmers sell pickles, miso, mountain vegetables and flowers. In the late morning board the Hida limited express, in reserved seats with a bento lunch from the station, for about 2 hours 20 minutes down the Hida River gorge to Nagoya. Your guide takes you through Nagoya station by its lifts to the Tokaido Shinkansen, which reaches Kyoto in about 35 minutes. You carry only a day bag: your suitcase goes ahead by road in the vehicle and is waiting at the Kyoto hotel, your base for the last three nights. Arrive in the middle of the afternoon with time to settle in. The evening is free; your guide will suggest a quiet dinner nearby.

    Included

    • Miyagawa morning market
    • Reserved seats on the Hida limited express and the Tokaido Shinkansen
    • Bento lunch on the train
    • Your bags taken by road to the Kyoto hotel

    Free time: Evening free in Kyoto

    Activity: About 1.5 km on foot, including the station change in Nagoya, with lifts.

11. Day 11: Arashiyama and the Golden Pavilion

    The bamboo grove early, Tenryu-ji, Kinkaku-ji, a free afternoon

    • Drive about 1.5 h
    • Breakfast
    • Stay in Kyoto
    Day 11 details

    The Arashiyama bamboo grove is packed by 10, so this is the trip's earliest start: an early breakfast, then the vehicle drops you at the grove at about 7:30, when the tall green stems creak in the breeze and the path is quiet. It is a short, gently sloping walk. Next door, the garden of Tenryu-ji, a World Heritage Zen temple, opens at 8:30; sit on the veranda of the hall above its 14th-century pond garden, then walk its level paths. Coffee follows by the Togetsukyo bridge over the Katsura River. In the late morning drive across to Kinkaku-ji, the Golden Pavilion, its upper floors covered in gold leaf above a mirror pond; the loop around it is about 1 km on gravel. Lunch is yours nearby, with your guide's suggestions, then the vehicle takes you back to the hotel for a free afternoon.

    Included

    • Arashiyama bamboo grove in the early morning
    • Tenryu-ji garden
    • Kinkaku-ji, the Golden Pavilion

    Easier option: Sit out the Kinkaku-ji loop at the tea garden near the exit.

    Free time: Afternoon and evening free

    Activity: About 3.5 km on foot over the morning, on gentle slopes and gravel, with seats at each stop.

    

12. Day 12: Fushimi Inari, a tea ceremony and Gion

    Fushimi Inari to the Senbon Torii, tea at a table, Gion at dusk, farewell dinner

    • Drive about 1 h
    • Breakfast and dinner
    • Stay in Kyoto
    Day 12 details

    After yesterday's early start, this morning begins after a normal breakfast, and the vehicle drops you at the gate of Fushimi Inari Taisha at about 9:30. The shrine is open all night and busier by now, but the stretch we walk is short. Pass through the main shrine to the Senbon Torii, the double tunnels of vermilion gates, about 10 minutes from the main hall with some steps on the way; that is where the group stops. Beyond it the path to the Okusha inner shrine is a continuous stone staircase of about 20 to 30 minutes, an extra for anyone who wants to climb with the guide while others wait at a tea house near the main shrine. In the late morning a tea ceremony with a host who explains each step, from the whisking of the matcha to the turning of the bowl, held at tables and chairs rather than kneeling on tatami. Lunch is yours, followed by a rest at the hotel. In the late afternoon, as the lanterns come on, your guide walks you along Shirakawa canal and the old streets of Gion. The farewell dinner is tonight.

    Included

    • Fushimi Inari Taisha, the main shrine and the Senbon Torii
    • Tea ceremony with table seating
    • Evening walk in Gion
    • Farewell dinner

    Easier option: Walk the main shrine and the first torii only, about 15 minutes, and wait at the tea house.

    More active option: Climb on to the Okusha inner shrine, about 20 to 30 minutes up stone steps, or on to the Yotsutsuji viewpoint, about 45 minutes up.

    Free time: Lunch and early afternoon free

    Activity: About 3 km on foot over the day. The walk to the Senbon Torii has some steps; everything beyond it is a stone staircase and optional.

    

13. Day 13: A last Kyoto morning

    Free morning, then Kansai International Airport

    • Drive about 1.5 h
    • Breakfast
    Day 13 details

    Your last morning is free, with no alarm. Kyoto rewards one more unhurried walk: the Kamo River path, where locals stroll and walk their dogs, Nishiki Market as its stalls open, or a coffee near the hotel. Your guide can suggest a short route the evening before. Then the vehicle takes you, with your bags, to Kansai International Airport (KIX), about 1.5 hours away, for your flight home; book a flight leaving after about 1 pm so there is no rush. If you would rather stay on in Kyoto or travel on to Osaka, Hiroshima or Tokyo, tell us when you book and we can add nights or arrange a different transfer. Itami airport, for domestic flights, is also possible on request. Leave space in your bag for what you found along the way.

    Included

    • Drop-off at Kansai International Airport (KIX)

    Free time: Morning free

    Activity: Book a flight home leaving after about 1 pm.

Wildlife and weather: Mountain weather in the Alps changes quickly and can close roads or the Kamikochi buses for a day; if that happens your guide moves the day around. Kyoto and Tokyo can still be warm and humid in September, so free afternoons fall in the warmest hours.

• Tokyo3 nights
• Lake Kawaguchiko2 nights
• Matsumoto2 nights
• Takayama2 nights
• Kyoto3 nights