Japan - Land of the Rising Sun

Starting in Tokyo, this escorted tour with Travelsphere takes a steady-paced route through Japan’s contrasting cityscapes and countryside. After a couple of days exploring Tokyo’s neon-lit districts, temples and the Imperial Palace, there’s a journey out to Hakone where a cable car crosses volcanic valleys and a boat drifts on Lake Ashi beneath the shadow of Mount Fuji.

From Tokyo you travel to Takayama through the Japanese Alps, pausing at Matsumoto Castle and the wasabi fields of Daio Farm. The preserved streets of Takayama’s old town invite quiet exploration before a visit to a village of thatched farmhouses at Shirakawago. The bullet train then sweeps you south to Kyoto and Nara, where golden temples, bamboo groves and deer in the park all remind you this is a land touched by tradition.

The tour continues further south to Hiroshima and Miyajima Island, with their profoundly different, yet connected histories. The final stop is Osaka, where a visit to the Floating Garden Observatory offers one last panorama before the journey home. The pace allows for plenty of time to look around rather than rush past.