9 Days, 8 Nights

Tokyo - Hakone - Kyoto - Osaka

This trip is a custom trip created based on foodie choices. 

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Tokyo has more Michelin-star restaurants than any other city in the world.  Equal care is taken with street food as with fine dining, so even travelers on a budget can avail themselves of delicious meals. 

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Highlights

• Multiple cuisine experiences from Kaiseki ryori to street food

• Overnight in a traditional Japanese ryokan Inn (What fun!)

• Private day touring in Tokyo and Kyoto with a bilingual guide

• Bullet train rides Tokyo - Hakone - Kyoto - Osaka

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Included:

• Tours and transfers  including entry fees

• 7-day Japan Rail Pass, ordinary class 

• Service of English-speaking guides as specified

• Some Meals (drinks are not included)

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Day 1: Arrive Tokyo
 

Day 2: Tokyo: Private tour of Tokyo's highlights. Visit Meiji Shrine, Omote Sando shopping avenue, Asakusa and Tokyo's oldest temple, Sensoji, Nakamise, a narrow food cart-lined street. End at Hamarikyu garden with match tea and traditional sweets. (B)

Day 3: Tokyo: In the EARLY morning, visit Tsukiji fish market where tuna are auctioned for as much as $10,000. Later join a sushi-making workshop in a Japanese home. Then your afternoon is on your own. In the evening, join a 'Aka Chochin' (red lantern) restaurant food tour, where you will discover and taste five different Japanese dishes at casual and fun eateries preferred by locals. (B,L)

Day 4: Hakone: Travel by train to Hakone.  Sightseeing at the scenic lake resort with Mt Fuji visible on a clear day.  Check into your traditional Japanese inn to enjoy the hot springs and a multi-course gourmet experience, "kaiseki ryori". (B,D)

Day 5: Kyoto: Take the bullet train to Kyoto. Check in, then head to a traditional Japanese machiya townhouse for a lesson in making Kappo - a Kyoto-style way of cooking over a fire. (B,L)

Day 6: Kyoto: Private tour of Kyoto's highlights. In the morning visit Kinkaku-ji Golden Temple and Nijo Castle. In the afternoon, choose to visit Sanjusangendo temple or take a walk along Nishiki Market, known as Kyoto's Kitchen, a narrow shopping street lined by more than one hundred shops and restaurants. (B)

Day 7: Kyoto: Visit Nara and see Todaiji temple, Kasuga Taisha shrine, Nara deer park, and Fushimi Inari shrine where Memoirs of a Geisha was filmed.  (B)

Day 8: Osaka: Osaka, Japan's second-largest city, is known for its excellent food. In the afternoon, explore Osaka Castle. In the evening, an introduction to Osaka’s casual cuisine. Visti the epicenter of street food culture: Dotonbori. Colorful eateries and bars line the neon-filled streets: takoyaki stands and street-side ramen bars rub shoulders with upscale eateries serving the finest wagyu beef you will enjoy the culinary delights of the nation’s most famous restaurant district. (B)

Day 9: Depart
Use your rail pass to travel to Osaka airport for departure. (B)