Highlights of Japan
8 Nights / 9 Days
Trip Highlights:
- Osaka & Kyoto
- Eiheiji & Chirihama
- Wajima & Tokyo
DAY 1: Arrive at Osaka Kansai airport and meet with our representative. Transfer to your hotel in Osaka.
DAY 2: Breakfast at your hotel, then enjoy a full-day sightseeing tour in Kyoto with a guide. Visit:
– Nijo Castle, a world heritage site, and one of the best-preserved examples of palace architecture from Japan’s Samurai era. Beautiful and serene, it is a must for those who love traditional Japanese castles.
– The Golden Pavilion (Kinkaku-Ji). Kyoto’s (literally) golden treasure: Kinkaku-Ji, is a two-story Zen Temple covered from head to toe in gold leaf. One of Kyoto’s most photogenic temples awaits its visitors reflecting its glittering surfaces in the waters that surround it.
– Ryoan-Ji Temple is a Zen Buddhist temple which holds Japan’s most famous rock garden, a still life-like piece of architecture which represents nature using only rocks, pebbles and moss. The meaning behind this rock garden remains unknown; some say it represents infinity, others say a tiger. It is up to the viewer to find his/her own meaning hidden in the silent resting rocks.
– Fushimi Inari Shrine – the long rows made of thousands of vermilion shrine gates guide visitors to a totally different world, away from the hustle of everyday life and into the mystical land of Shintoism. Inside the premises of the shrine, there are some challenging mountain trails, perfect for hiking inside untouched wild nature. You may even come across the god Inari’s messenger, a white fox carrying an ear of rice.
DAY 3: Half-day sightseeing tour in Kyoto with your guide, taking in Arashiyama Bamboo Forest, where refreshing shades of green will comfortably cool you down in the dense Bamboo Groves of Arashiyama. Come and listen to the bamboo stalks swaying gently in the breeze. Hozugawa River Boat Ride, a relaxing boat trip downstream the Hozugawa River from Kameoka to Arashiyama which uses traditional flat-bottomed boats. The boats are sailed by boatmen using a bamboo cane in the front and an oar in the rear to guide the wooden boat through an almost-untouched ravine, right in the middle of nature. The beautiful riverbank scenery will please your eyes at any time of the year.