Japan: Land Of The Rising Sun

Guide

All group trips are accompanied by one of our group leaders. The aim of the group leader is to take the hassle out of your travels and to help you have the best trip possible. Intrepid endeavours to provide the services of an experienced leader however, due to the seasonality of travel, rare situations may arise where your leader is new to a particular region or training other group leaders. Your leader will provide information on the places you are travelling through, offer suggestions for things to do and see, recommend great local eating venues and introduce you to our local friends. While not being guides in the traditional sense, you can expect them to have a broad general knowledge of the places visited on the trip, including historical, cultural, religious, and social aspects. At Intrepid we aim to support local guides who have specialised knowledge of the regions we visit. If you are interested in delving deeper into the local culture at a specific site or location then your leader can recommend a local guide service in most of the main destinations of your trip. Due to the rapid increase in tourism in Japan and in the lead up to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics it has been necessary to go outside our traditional sources for employing tour leaders. As a result, our passionate, professional and trained tour leaders may either be Japanese or long term foreign residents in Japan.

Meals

2 breakfasts, 2 dinners

Others

Nikko - Toshogu Shrine Hakone - Lake Ashino-Ko boat trip Hakone - Cable car Takayama - Hida Folk Village Takayama - Market visit Takayama - Sake Brewery Tasting Hiroshima - Peace Park & A - Bomb Dome Himeji - Himeji Castle Kyoto - Gion District walk Kyoto - Temple/Shrine entrance (2)

Transport

Boat,Public Bus,Cable Car,Ferry,Metro,Bullet Train,Train

Accommodation

RYOKANS: Japanese-style inns (ryokans) involve sleeping on futons or matresses on tatami mat floors, with bedding often packed away during the day. Attached bathrooms/toilets will usually be very small and many ryokans will only have shared bathing facilities with certain hours, or times available for booking at reception. Your leader will explain etiquette involved in using the shared facilities. As this style of accommodation will often not have furniture (ie. chairs or beds) in the rooms, please consider choosing a different trip style in Japan if you have difficulty getting up from the floor or have knee, hip or back issues. Some ryokans may have a curfew when travellers need to be back in the accommodation - this is usually around midnight. Please also be aware that you would normally be required to change to slippers when entering into your room in a ryokan. Hotels and ryokans will charge extra fees if dirty marks are left on their beddings or towels that require professional cleaning. Read more about ryokans here: https://www.intrepidtravel.com/adventures/traditional-japanese-ryokan/ AVAILABILITY: The recent huge increase in tourism to Japan has put a lot of pressure on accommodation. On occasion, we may need to change accommodation from what is listed in the itinerary in order to operate your departure with minimal changes. ONSENS: We like to encourage travellers to visit traditional Japanese 'onsens' while in the country as it is a quintessential local experience. In public onsens this means bathing naked with others of the same gender. While the experience can feel strange at first for some, most of our groups end up enjoying this activity. There is very specific etiquette for visiting onsens - your leader can give you some tips and instructions. Please be aware that travellers with tattoos may not be permitted to enter public onsens. Private onsens may also be available - talk to your leader for more information. See our guide to onsens here: https://www.intrepidtravel.com/adventures/japan-onsen-guide/ Hotel (1 nt),Ryokan (11 nts)

Others

Other activities and services not included.

Flights

International flights not included.

Optional

Other activities and services not included.

Insurance

Insurance is not included. Travel insurance is required for this tour. Please make sure you are adequately covered. If you require travel insurance, TourRadar has partnered up with World Nomads to provide a hassle-free experience. More information can be found here (https://www.tourradar.com/travel-insurance).