Japan’s Heart and Brain

Today, you will depart from your chosen airport to Japan with connecting flight(s) along the way.

On your arrival, you go through immigration and pick up your luggage. A representative of our partner will be waiting for you in the arrival hall, holding up a sign with your name on it.

The guide who welcomes you will accompany you to the transfer bus, which will drive you to your hotel in Kyoto. Please note that the guide will not be accompanying you on the bus.

When you arrive at the hotel, you’ll receive a welcome pack with your train ticket for the journey from Kyoto to Tokyo and your IC train card for Tokyo, which is an electronic travel card for trains and buses with 4,500 JPY prepaid. It’s easy to top it up if you need to.

After check-in at the hotel, the rest of the day is yours to enjoy Kyoto.

Kyoto is an absolutely wonderful city with a rich history that has had, and continues to have, a great influence on the Japanese self-perception. For more than 1,000 years, Kyoto was the capital of Japan, right up until 1868. Some 2,000 temples, shrines and imperial buildings are preserved here, and the city is home to a wealth of universities as well. 17 buildings designated as UNESCO World Heritage Sites are to be found here. Japanese cultural heritage is alive and kicking in Kyoto, and the geisha districts, with their schools and tea houses, are not here for the sake of tourists. The city is of a doable size and easy to find your way around. With 1.5 million inhabitants, Kyoto is also one of Japan’s “smaller” cities!

Today, you’ll be going on a 5-hour guided tour, visiting three of Kyoto’s major attractions: the beautiful and iconic UNESCO World Heritage Site Ginkakuji, the famous Philosopher’s Walk and Kiyomizu-dera. The tour is on foot so be sure to wear some good footwear.

The guide will pick you up from the hotel, and you’ll start with a visit to Ginkakuji, also known as the Silver Pavilion. Originally built as a Shogun’s private villa, the Zen temple is surrounded by the most beautiful gardens. The stone gardens are particularly iconic. The road up to Ginkakuji is narrow and pleasant, with numerous cafés and small shops. It is also usually possible to purchase a ride in rickshaw.

From here, you’ll walk along the Philosopher’s Walk through the northern end of the Higashiyama district. The Philosopher’s Walk winds along a canal planted with hundreds of Japanese cherry trees. During the cherry blossom, or Sakura, season, it’s an extremely popular location.

The last stop on today’s tour is Kiyomizu-dera Temple, situated on the top of a hill. The beautiful, impressive temple building is three storeys high and built with mortise and tenon joinery. The temple has a large terrace, which affords a formidable view of Kyoto.

Kyoto holds a truly special place in Japan’s history and culture, and with three days to explore independently, you’ll have ample opportunity to discover not only Kyoto's famous attractions but also the city’s atmospheric neighbourhoods at your own pace.

Kyoto is home to several iconic temples and shrines. Perhaps the most famous is the Golden Pavilion, Kinkakuji, its shimmering reflection beautifully mirrored in the surrounding lake. This elegant building is among Kyoto’s most photographed sites and offers an unforgettable sight, especially when its golden façade is bathed in sunlight.

Between temple visits, you can lose yourself in the city’s traditional districts such as Gion, where geishas still leave their distinctive mark on the local ambience, or enjoy a peaceful stroll along the Philosopher’s Path, which in springtime is transformed by a sea of soft pink cherry blossoms.

No visit to Kyoto is complete without experiencing the Fushimi Inari Shrine, famous for its seemingly endless rows of vermilion torii gates that wind enchantingly up the mountainside. The atmosphere here is truly unique to Japan—magical and otherworldly.

If you wish to explore further, you can take an excursion to Nara, Japan’s ancient capital. Here, you can visit the impressive Todai-ji Temple, home to a giant Buddha, and meet the many free-roaming deer that graze peacefully in the park.

When hunger strikes, a visit to the bustling Nishiki food market is a must. Here, you can sample everything from local snacks to gourmet delicacies while soaking up the lively daily life that Kyoto has to offer.

Today, you’ll put Kyoto, the cultural stronghold and the heart of Japan, behind you, and continue to Tokyo, which is considered to be the brain of the country.

You make your own way to Kyoto Station, where you’ll be taking the high-speed train, the Shinkansen. We recommend that you buy a “Bento box” at the station in Kyoto, which is the Japanese answer to a packed lunch. They come in all shapes and sizes and are a great lunch for the train.

Travelling by train in Japan is quite an experience. The bullet trains pull 6, 8, 12 or 18 cars. The information signs at the station show how many cars each train is pulling. When you are down at the platform, the platform itself is marked to show you exactly where your car will arrive. And the train stays within a few centimetres of the marking. After all, icons are painted on the platform for the train length, e.g. “6 cars – car 5” or “12 cars – car 3”. So once you get an eye for the system, it’s very convenient. The Japanese furthermore have a wonderful queuing culture. You neatly get in line at the relevant platform icon, and walk calmly and quietly into the train in the same order you arrived in – no rushing ahead or jumping the queue!

The trains run very punctually throughout Japan, and if there is a delay of more than a few minutes, it becomes a major topic of discussion on the train and will be noted in national news on TV and on the radio.

These are 514 kilometres from Kyoto Station to Tokyo Station. This distance is covered by the Shinkansen in just over 2 hours.

When you arrive in Tokyo, your guide will be waiting for you on the platform to accompany you to the hotel. You take the metro from the station to the hotel, using your IC card issued at the welcome meeting on day 2.

Once you have checked in at the hotel, there will be a guided city tour of the metropolis of Tokyo in the afternoon. To make it easy to get around, the tour is based around the public transport system.

The guided half-day tour begins in Shibuya. Shibuya is famous for many things: 1) a hot shopping district for fashion and accessories, 2) the home of new, cutting-edge fashion designers and trend-setting entertainment, and not least 3) Tokyo’s most famous and photogenic street crossing, which thousands of busy people cross when they get the green light to walk, while drivers from all directions have to stop for red.

Afterwards, the tour continues to Harajuku, another one of Tokyo’s fashion capitals. One of Harajuku’s famous streets is Takeshita Dori, which with its side alleys has become a stronghold of teenage culture. The street is packed with young people dressed in fantastically colourful clothes here, and it seems that although basically anything goes, they are always very well-dressed.

The day finishes with a great view – from the 202-metre viewing floor of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building. On a clear day, you can see all the way out to Mount Fuji.

Today, a guided full-day excursion in Tokyo awaits you. Your guide will pick you up from the hotel, after which you’ll head for the Meiji Shrine. To make it easy to get around, the tour is based around the public transport system.

The Meiji Shrine was built in memory of Emperor Meiji. The shrine is located in the heart of Tokyo, in a large, forested park. Before you reach the shrine, you’ll pass through 2 very large Shinto gates. A solemn tranquillity prevails at the shrine, in stark contrast to the hectic city life not far from here. This is an extremely popular place to hold traditional weddings, and there is a good chance you will see Shinto priests, happy couples and wedding guests.

From Meiji you walk to the Omotesando street, Tokyo’s equivalent to 5th Avenue or Champs-Elysees. This is where international fashion brands keep their boutiques. Here you will experience that the staff follow customers all the way out onto the street and bow deeply when their customers wander on. The deep bow is a traditional Japanese expression of great respect.

The tour continues to Asakusa, Tokyo’s old district. There are still some old buildings here, and no huge high-rises. Aside from the feel of the streets and alleys, another central highlight is Sensoji. This is the oldest temple in Tokyo, and for many Japanese people, coming here to light incense is of profound importance. Nakamise is a long pedestrian street crowded with souvenir shops and food stalls leading up to the Sensoji Temple. This street is never dull, and you will see women, couples, and sometimes entire families dressed in traditional kimono. They are on the way to light incense and waft some sacred smoke to themselves in hopes of curing illnesses, gaining good fortune, having children or something else entirely.

From Sensoji there is a short walk to the Sumida river. Here you are taking a boat ride to see Tokyo from the river. On the way you pass many iconic buildings, such as the Asahi Super Dry headquarters, and the legendary 12 bridges, displaying a fantastic variety of architecture and colour.

You will disembark from the boat at Odaiba, an artificial island in Tokyo Bay, offering a blend of futuristic architecture, shopping, entertainment, and stunning views. You will visit the iconic headquarters of Fuji TV, an impressive 27-storey building with unique architecture. From its spherical observation deck “Hachitama”, you can enjoy a spectacular panoramic view of Odaiba and Tokyo. Afterwards, there’s time to explore more of Odaiba before your guide escorts you back to your hotel.

You return to the hotel at the end of the afternoon.

The days are spent at your leisure.

Tokyo has so many different experiences to offer. The Imperial Palace and the Niju-bashi bridge over its moat is one of the iconic highlights of Tokyo. Not far from the palace and the park is the district of Ginza, which is associated with the highest square-metre real estate prices in the world, and the ultra-rich bohemian lifestyle. It features everything in cafés, bars, restaurants and shopping malls.

In the Akihabara district you can find everything the heart desires in electronics. Shop after shop is packed with electronics. In more recent years, the district has also become famous as a hotspot for “otaku” culture and manga fans. This is also where you can enjoy the unique experience of visiting a “maid café”, where the staff are dressed as comic book waitresses.

The day is spent at your leisure until your airport transfer. You will be picked up at your hotel and driven to the airport, from which you will fly towards your chosen airport. There may be connecting flights on the way.

You’ll arrive at your chosen airport with your luggage full of unforgettable memories from an extraordinary tour through Japan.