Travel magazine
Six running series and hundreds of articles, written by the people who plan the trips.
When to go
Seasons, month by month, region by region
What it costs
Real budgets in dollars, with tables
Routes that work
Tested itineraries and combinations
Eating across Asia
What to order and where
On foot
Treks and long walks, described honestly
Before you book
Visas, permits, timing, practicalities
What we would skip in Japan
Japan is a country where almost everything is good, which is exactly what makes the editing hard. A two week itinerary can…
Tokyo in four days, by neighbourhood rather than by sight
The mistake most first-time visitors make in Tokyo is treating it as a city with a list of attractions. It is not.…
Ryokan etiquette, without the anxiety
Almost every client who books a ryokan asks us some version of the same question: what if I get it wrong?
Where to eat in Osaka without queueing for two hours
Osaka has a phrase for itself, kuidaore, which means roughly to eat yourself into ruin. It is the food city of Japan,…
Kyoto in autumn, week by week
Autumn colour in Japan is treated as the quieter sibling of cherry blossom, and in Kyoto it is nothing of the kind.…
Walking the Kumano Kodo: which route, which season
The Kumano Kodo is not one trail. It is a network of pilgrimage routes across the Kii peninsula south of Osaka, walked…
How much does two weeks in Japan really cost?
What two weeks in Japan costs in yen, per person per day by travel style, with Shinkansen fares, the 2026 Kyoto hotel…
Is the Japan Rail Pass still worth it? We ran the numbers
For twenty years the answer was yes, automatically, for almost everyone. Buy the pass, stop thinking about it.
How many days do you need in Japan?
Twelve to sixteen, and fourteen if you want one number. That is the answer we give on the phone and it is…
Cherry blossom, region by region: when to actually be where
Cherry blossom in Japan is not a date. It is a wave, and it moves.
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