Types: Family
This 16-day journey takes you from the neon-lit streets of Tokyo to the misty mountains of Shikoku, weaving through Japan's most iconic destinations and its best-kept secrets in a single, carefully planned loop. You'll walk ancient pilgrimage routes that samurai once trod, soak in world heritage-listed hot springs hidden along riverbanks, feed wild monkeys overlooking Kyoto from a mountainside, hike across vine bridges suspended above emerald gorges, and sleep in traditional inns where your host serves multi-course kaiseki dinners featuring ingredients foraged from the surrounding mountains and rivers. The itinerary is designed to follow Japan's changing seasons — ideally suited for autumn (late October to November) when the maples and ginkgo trees are at their peak — and to balance major cultural icons with deeply off-the-beaten-track experiences that few international visitors ever see. From Tokyo's electric energy through the preserved Edo-era post towns of the Kiso Valley, the gold-leaf workshops of Kanazawa, Kyoto's timeless temples and geisha districts, the sacred Kumano Kodo pilgrimage routes, the remote gorges of Shikoku's Iya Valley, Hiroshima's Peace Park, Nagasaki's unique fusion heritage, and ending in the perfect onsen town of Kurokawa — this itinerary captures the full breadth of what makes Japan extraordinary.