Welcome to Japan! After your border and customs formalities an assistant (usually Spanish speaking, but sometimes in English) will be waiting for you. Transfer by SHUTTLE BUS to your hotel. Free time at leisure. In the afternoon you will receive information about the start of your tour.
In the morning, we will take a long tour, lasting about five hours, with our guide through this simply breathtaking city! Its frenetic activity, its avant-garde neighbourhoods coexist with peaceful areas. We will make a brief stop at Zojoji Temple to photograph the most beautiful image of the Tokyo Tower. The hundreds and hundreds of Jizos, deities carved in stone and considered guardians of children, adorn themselves with woollen hats, bibs and windmills. We will then head to the famous Shibuya crossing, said to be the busiest crossing in the world. We will go to the Meiji Temple dedicated to the spirits of Emperor Meiji and his wife. We will continue our bus along the elegant Omotesando Avenue. We will drive through the most beautiful part of the Imperial Palace and gardens. We will stop to visit the famous Nijubashi Bridge. We will cross the district of Akihabara, the ‘Electric City’, the centre of Japanese Manga and Anime; we will pass the Kokugikan, the Sumo stadium, the Japanese sport. We will finish our tour in Asakusa, visiting the Sensoji Temple and the famous Nakamise Street. Lunch included at a local restaurant. Return to the hotel.
18.30 hrs.- We meet our guide at the hotel reception and take the underground (tickets included) to the Shinjuku area. Afterwards, we will take a walk to the restaurant to discover this lively nightlife area. Dinner included at a local restaurant. Return to the hotel again by underground accompanied by our guide.
We travel by BULLET TRAIN to KYOTO. We will leave early in the morning and, in just over two hours, our train will cover the almost 500 km that separate the two cities. We will have the whole day in the city that was the capital of Japan from the year 794 to 1868, where the Imperial Court was located. This city, during the Second World War, was the only major Japanese city that was not bombed, for this reason it preserves its rich artistic heritage; in Kyoto was signed in 1997 the protocol that seeks to limit the emissions of greenhouse gases. We will include a tour of the main sights of the city. We will visit the wonderful Shinto shrine of Fushimi Inari, the Imperial Palace and the temple of Kinkakuji, ‘the golden pavilion’ with its magnificent gardens. Afterwards we will have some time to stroll through GION, the lively traditional quarter, popular for its Geisha. Free time at leisure.
Departure to NARA, visit Todaiji, a magnificent Buddhist temple built in 752, with a giant Buddha, and enjoy photographing, caressing and feeding the fawns that roam the park. Lunch included in a local restaurant. Afterwards we will leave to visit the Buddhist temple of HORYUJI, a World Heritage Site, a complex of seminary, monasteries and temples, its main pagoda temple is one of the oldest surviving wooden buildings in the world, it is considered the oldest Buddhist temple in Japan and is an important place of worship.
Continue to OSAKA, arrival in the early afternoon. Stay in this modern city, the second largest in Japan. We will take a walk in Dotonbori, a district full of lights and activity at night.
Departure to HIMEJI, including the entrance to the huge castle which shows the architecture of Japanese castles. Lunch included in a local restaurant. Continue to OKAYAMA, we will visit Korakuen, one of the most beautiful gardens in Japan, with its lakes, waterfalls and traditional teahouses. Via a pedestrian bridge over the river we can go to Okayama Castle, a 16th century Japanese fortification in Okayama. Rebuilt in 1966, as the complex was destroyed during a bombing raid in World War II (visit inside the castle not planned). After the visit, accommodation and free time in the city, an active provincial capital of just over 700 000 inhabitants.
Note: On certain dates, we may be able to stay in the city of FUKUYAMA or KURASHIKI. Kurashiki can be visited on the same day in the afternoon.
Departure to KURASHIKI, a town with a well-preserved historic centre. Time to stroll around this charming town with its atmosphere of the past. We continue to HIROSHIMA, a city sadly known for the atomic bombing in 1945 that completely destroyed the city; we will walk around the Peace Memorial, the bomb dome and visit the impressive Peace Museum. After the war we embark on a ferry to the island ‘where men and Gods live together’, with the ITSUKUSHIMA shrine dedicated to the guardian of the seas, built partly over the sea. Time to visit the temple, stroll around its beautiful centre and have lunch. Return to our hotel in Hiroshima. Dinner included.
Note: The order of the visits in Hiroshima may vary without affecting the content of the visits.
Today we take a ferry to the island of Shikoku, a very pleasant crossing of about two and a half hours, we will understand Japan, a country made up of multiple islands. In MATSUYAMA, we will take the cable car to go up to its impressive castle. Afterwards, we will visit ISHITEJI, a beautiful Buddhist temple, a place of pilgrimage. Lunch included in a local restaurant. At the end of the afternoon we will include entrance to DOGO ONSEN, a traditional Japanese bath built in the 19th century.
Departure to KOTOHIRA, a Shinto shrine dedicated to the God of Sailors, a pilgrimage site built on Mount Zosu, reached by climbing 785 steps. Later in TAKAMATSU we will visit RITSURIN, one of the most beautiful gardens in Japan. Lunch included in a local restaurant. After that in NARUTO, an impressive bridge crosses the sea, we will stop to see the construction and walk along its glass floor to see the impressive whirlpools of the sea at 45 meters high. Our road is of scenic beauty later crossing large bridges between islands over the sea. Arrival in KOBE, accommodation.
In KOBE we visited the EARTHQUAKE MEMORIAL MUSEUM, a place that serves the function of remembering the tragic earthquake that devastated the city in 1995 and its impeccable reconstruction. Note: On certain dates, the entrance to the Earthquake Museum may be replaced by the Sake Museum or the ascent of the Kobe Tower. Continue to OSAKA, arrival.
After breakfast, end of our services.
