Romantic Japan: 11 slow days for two
Built on the principle that a honeymoon is not a sightseeing trip. Three hotel changes in eleven days, two ryokan with private open-air baths attached to the room, and the two or three meals worth planning the rest of the day around. Everything else is optional.
- Duration
- 11 days
- Pace
- Slow
- Hotel changes
- 3
- Best months
- Apr, May, Oct, Nov
- From
- $6,400 per person
Who it suits: honeymoons, anniversaries and anyone who would rather see less and feel it more.
Day by day
Day 1: Arrive Tokyo. Private transfer, a hotel room with a view worth the upgrade. Dinner nearby, nothing ambitious.
Day 2: Tokyo. A private guided morning through Nezu and Yanaka, the quiet old Tokyo most visitors miss. Afternoon free. Evening at a counter restaurant we book for you.
Day 3: Tokyo. Free. Our document suggests an afternoon in Nakameguro, a whisky bar in Ginza, and a garden that is empty on weekdays.
Day 4: Tokyo to Hakone. Late morning departure. Two nights in a ryokan suite with a private open-air bath, Fuji-facing where the weather allows. Kaiseki dinner both nights, prepared differently.
Day 5: Hakone. Nothing scheduled. The open-air museum, the lake, or the bath and a book.
Day 6: Hakone to Kyoto. Rail west, luggage forwarded. Afternoon arrival, an evening walk through Gion and dinner in Pontocho.
Day 7: Kyoto. Private early-morning access at a temple before it opens to the public, which changes the place completely. Afternoon tea ceremony in a private house.
Day 8: Kyoto. Free. Arashiyama at dawn if you want it empty, or a day of markets, ceramics and coffee.
Day 9: Kyoto to Kinosaki. Two and a half hours north-west to a hot-spring town on the Sea of Japan where guests walk between seven public baths in yukata. Ryokan with crab or beef kaiseki in season.
Day 10: Kinosaki. The whole day in the town. This is the day people tell us about afterwards.
Day 11: Kinosaki to Osaka and departure. Morning train, transfer to Kansai airport.
What is included
Ryokan suites with private open-air baths, kaiseki half board on all ryokan nights, all rail in Green Car, private transfers, two half-days of private guiding, restaurant reservations at counters that do not take foreign bookings, luggage forwarding throughout, and a WhatsApp group with our Tokyo office.
Upgrades worth considering
A night at a top-tier ryokan in Kyoto instead of a hotel. A private geiko or maiko dinner in Gion, which we can arrange with notice. A helicopter transfer over Tokyo Bay on the first evening.
Related
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