Japan's Cherry Blossom Season

Your tour guide will meet you at your hotel at 8am and take you by subway to the Tsukiji Fish Market. Take a few hours to wander through this enormous market, exploring both the vegetable and fruit areas plus the impressive seafood section. On offer in the seafood section are more than 480 different kinds of seafood ranging from fresh fish to shellfish, and prawns. There may also be an opportunity to see a complete tuna being cut and filleted.

After buying various ingredients you will have the opportunity to visit a typical Japanese home. Your guide will answer any and all questions about Japanese culture and everyday life in Tokyo during the transfer by public transportation.

Learn to prepare “maki sushi” (rolled sushi), "gunkan maki" (sushi rice wrapped with a strip of seaweed and topped with soft ingredients), and "nigiri sushi" (sushi rice topped with a slice of raw fish). Following the lesson, you may take with you the utensils used in the cooking lesson.

Please note that with this tour you will have a private guide, but rather than travelling by private vehicle, you will make use of Tokyo’s efficient local transit system.

Take a full day tour of this fascinating city with a local guide, making use of Tokyo’s comprehensive and user friendly public transport system.  Start the day with a stroll through nearby Hamarikyu garden, an Edo Period Japanese garden surrounded by the Shiodome district’s futuristic skyscrapers. A great example of how Japan is the land of contrasts. After stopping for a cup of steaming macha in a tea house on a small island in the park’s lake, take a boat cruise on the Sumida River passing under 12 bridges – in many sections, the river is lined with cherry blossom trees.  Disembark the cruiser in Asakusa, Tokyo’s old town where you can soak in the atmosphere of the "Tokyo of old." Visit Sensoji, Tokyo’s oldest temple and wander down Nakamise, a shopping street that has been providing temple visitors with a variety of traditional, local snacks and tourist souvenirs for centuries.  Today for lunch, you will have a hanami – a picnic under the cherry blossom trees in Ueno Park, Tokyo’s most famous cherry blossoming viewing spot, home to over 1,000 cherry blossom trees.  In the afternoon head across town to Meiji Shrine, a shrine dedicated to the deified spirit of Emperor Meiji and a popular place for traditional Japanese weddings.  Finish the day with a walk though nearby Yoyogi Park, where over 600 cherry trees are planted.

You will be transferred between the train station and your hotel, using a local taxi with the assistance of an English speaking guide.

Train transfer from Tokyo to Kyoto. Approximately 2.5 hours.

A private vehicle will transfer you between your hotel and the train station. An assistant will be available to pick up/drop off at the appropriate train platform.

Only 45min by train from Kyoto, for 74 years during the 8th century Nara was Japan’s capital and many of the temples and shrines built at that time still remain. Your local guide will first take you to Horyuji Temple, a UNESCO world heritage site. Founded by Prince Shotoku, who is attributed with having introduced Buddhism to Japan, Horyuji dates back from the 7th century, and contains the world’s oldest surviving wooden structures. Todaiji Temple is the world’s largest wooden building and houses Japan’s largest bronze Buddha statue (Daibutsu). Kasuga Taisha is Nara's most celebrated shrine. It was established at the same time as the capital and is dedicated to the deity responsible for the protection of the city. You will also have a chance to walk through Nara Park, home to hundreds of freely roaming deer. Considered in Shinto to be messengers of the gods, Nara's nearly 1200 deer have become a symbol of the city and have been designated a natural treasure.  Please note that with this tour you will have a private guide, but rather than travelling by private vehicle, you will make use of Kyoto’s efficient local transit system.

Enjoy this full day tour of Kyoto accompanied by an expert local guide, making use of efficient Japanese Taxi services.  Begin you day tour at the Philosopher's Path, a pleasant stone path that winds through the northern part of Kyoto's Higashiyama district. The path follows a canal which is lined by hundreds of cherry trees. Approximately two kilometers long, the path begins around Ginkakuji, also known as the Silver Pavilion, and ends in the neighborhood of Nanzenji. The path gets its name due to Nishida Kitaro, one of Japan's most famous philosophers, who was said to practice meditation while walking this route on his daily commute to Kyoto University. There are many small temples and shrines to stop off along the walk. You will then visit Arashiyama, a pleasant district in the western outskirts of Kyoto. The area has been a popular destination since the Heian Period (794-1185), when nobles would enjoy its natural setting. Marvel at the Okochi Mountain Villa, a villa once occupied by the popular samurai film star Okochi Denjiro (1896-1962), and consists of several beautiful gardens and buildings, including living quarters, tea houses and a zen meditation hall. Here you will enjoy some Matcha Green Tea with a snack. Next, take a walk through Arashiyama’s famous bamboo groves, which are particularly attractive when there is a light wind and the tall bamboo stalks, sway gently back and forth. The bamboo has been used to manufacture various products, such as baskets, cups, boxes and mats at local workshops for centuries. Nonomiya shrine is a Shinto shrine where in ancient times, unmarried imperial princesses stayed for a year or more to purify themselves.  Ranked among Kyoto's five great Zen temples, Tenryuji is the largest and most impressive temple in Arashiyama. Founded in 1339 at the beginning of the Muromachi Period (1338-1573), the temple is one of Kyoto's UNESCO World Heritage Sites. In addition to its temple buildings, there are attractive gardens with walking paths.

You will be met at your Kyoto hotel and driven to Kansai airport in Osaka by private vehicle with driver.