Japan wonders

Arrival at Narita International Airport in Tokyo. Meeting with the local assistant and transfer to the hotel. The rest of the day is free. Meals are free. Overnight. 

After breakfast at the hotel, the whole day is dedicated to sightseeing in Tokyo with the guide. The tour will include Tokyo Government building in Shinjuku which, being 243 m high, is the second tallest building in the city.

You'll then continue to Harakuju district and Omesando district with a visit to Meiji shrine. After a typical Japanese lunch in a local restaurant, you'll stop at Asakusa Kannon Temple and Akihabara electronic district. Return to the hotel, dinner excluded and overnight. 

Breakfast at the hotel and free day in Tokyo. Meals excluded. Overnight in hotel. 

Breakfast in hotel and train journey to Kawaguchi Lake with the guide. Panoramic views and excursion to the 5th Station (2300 m high) of Mt. Fuji (Under some particular circumstances it might be closed without previous notice). 

You'll continue to Kawaguchi Lake, one of the five lakes surrounding the northern part of Mt. Fuji. Lunch in a local restaurant. Dinner and overnight in the hotel. 

Breakfast at the hotel and morning visit to the lakes on a private minibus; lunch in a local restaurant during the excursion.

In the aftrenoon, transfer to Kofu station and train journey to Matsumoto, famous for its wooden castle, the oldest in Japan and known as the "Crow Castle". On arrival, check-in to your hotel, dinner and overnight. 

Breakfast at the hotel. Morning sightseeing in Matsumoto: the Castle and Ukiyo-e Museum (Woodcut museum), containing over 100,000 works including prints, paintings, screens and ancient books, probably the largest private collection in the world.

Departure on a private minibus to Azumino to visit a large farm where famous Wasabi is produced. Lunch in a local restaurant. In the afternoon it's on to Nagiso, passing the ancient villages of Magome and Tsumago, linked by Nakasendo trail, around 8 km long. 

Tsumago was once the forty-second "post town" (out of 69) on the way from Edo, the old Tokyo, to Kyoto, and could thus be considered a thriving and cosmopolitan town at the time. Its decay started after the construction of the railway tracks, and since 1968 the traditional wooden houses have been constantly renovated, being the most interesting feature of the town still nowadays.

Magome is another jewel of Japanese tradition: it was the forty - third "post town" on the way from Edo to Kyoto. It lost importance with the advent of the train as well, but still perserves the charm of a place where time seems to have stopped. Arrival in Nagiso, dinner and overnight.  

Breakfast at the hotel and visits to Tsumago, Magome and Nagiso with lunch in a local restaurant.

In the afternoon, journey to Takayama on a private minibus. Tour of the town, situated on the western side of the Japanese Alps: Festival Floats Exhibition Hall, the evocative pedestrian streets, full of tea rooms and inns, the Historical Government House and Kusakabe Folk Museum. Lunch enroute in a local restaurant. Dinner included and overnight in hotel. 

Breakfast at the hotel and visit to Takayama market along the river in the early morning. Journey to Shirakawago, the historical village declared Unesco World Heritage Site in 1995, famous for its thatched houses with saddleback roofs, built in Gassho architectonic style.

Lunch in a local restaurant. Journey to Kanazawa. Free dinner. Overnight in hotel. 

Breakfast at the hotel. City tour of Kanazawa, including Kenroku-en garden, one of the three major gardens in Japan and ancient samurai residence. Lunch in a local restaurant; in the afternoon express train to Kyoto. Arrival and transfer to the hotel. Free dinner. Overnight. 

Breakfast at the hotel and city tour of Kyoto with the guide. The tour will include the Golden Pavillion, Ryoanji Temple and Kiyomizu-dera. Lunch in a local restaurant and free dinner. Overnight in hotel. 

Breakfast at the hotel. In the morning, the guide will take you to Nara by local train. The city was the ancient capital city of the empire and has been declared Unesco World Heritage Site.

Upon arrival, visit Todaiji Temple, Kasuga Shrine and the big park with the sacred deer. Lunch included. On the way back to Kyoto, stop off at Fushimi Inaro Shrine, where some scenes of the movie "Memoirs of a Geisha" were shot. Dinner excluded and overnight in hotel. 

Breakfast in the hotel. All day at leisure in Kyoto. Meals excluded. Overnight in hotel. 

Breakfast in the hotel. In the morning, travel to Osaka with the guide. City tour with stops at Osaka Castle and Dotonburi district. Lunch in a local restaurant.

In the afternoon it's on to Okayama by Shinkansen bullet train. The city hosts Korakuen, one of the most famous gardens of Japan. Dinner excluded. Overnight in the hotel. 

Breakfast at the hotel, meeting with the guide and departure to Kurashiki, an ancient merchant town still preserving its black-brick storehouses, used in feudal times to store rice.

Lunch enroute. In the late afternoon, departure to Hiroshima. Arrival, check-in and overnight in hotel. Dinner excluded. 

Breakfast at the hotel and morning sightseeing in the city with the guide. You'll visit Genbaku Dome (the Dome of the Atomic Bomb) and Peace Memorial Museum. Lunch in a local restaurant.

In the afternoon you'll get on the ferry to Miyajima, famous all over the world for its "floating Torii" (gate to the sea). After a pleasant 10-minute crossing, you'll reach Miyajima and visit famous Itsukushima shrine, declared Unesco World Heritage Site. Return to Hiroshima. Free dinner and overnight in hotel. 

Breakfast at the hotel. Transfer to Hiroshima station to catch the Shinkansen back to Kyoto. Upon arrival, the rest of the day is at leisure. Meals excluded. Overnight in hotel. 

Breakfast at the hotel. Transfer to Osaka International airport. End of tour.