3 breakfasts, 1 lunch, 3 dinners

15

Eating is a big part of traveling. G Adventures understands the importance of breakfast to start your day, we strive to include a basic breakfast wherever possible. Included breakfasts will usually be asian style consisting of noodles or congee (rice porridge) or bread and eggs. Vegetarians will be able to find a range of different foods, although in some areas the choice maybe limited. Should breakfast not be included, your CEO can suggest some local options.

Travelling with G Adventures you experience the vast array of wonderful food that is available out in the world. Generally meals are not included in the trip price when there is a choice of eating options, to give you the maximum flexibility in deciding where, what and with whom to eat. It also gives you more budgeting flexibility, though generally food is cheap. Our groups tend to eat together to enable you to taste a larger variety of dishes and enjoy each other’s company. There is no obligation to do this though. Your CEO will be able to suggest favourite restaurants during your trip. While trekking in remote regions food is included, plentiful and made of fresh local ingredients.

For all trips please refer to the meals included and budget information for included meals and meal budgets.

You must be 18 to travel unaccompanied on a G Adventures tour. For minors travelling with a guardian over 21 years old, the minimum age is 12.

1. The most convenient way to get around Japan is by public transportation and on foot. The country’s train system is often considered one of the best in the entire world so the majority of our trips utilize this efficient train network. In this tour, you will need to be able to spend the majority of the day on your feet and carry your luggage through busy train stations and streets. On average, tours in Japan walk about 15,000 steps a day. Please ensure you are fit enough to carry your own luggage and spend most of the day on your feet.

2. Japan Rail Pass

Please note that only foreigners traveling as a tourist are able to use a Japan Rail Pass. If you are a Japanese citizen
esident or traveling on a student/business/military/diplomatic visa, please advise us at time of booking as you will not be able to take advantage of the rail pass.

3. Tattoos

Tattoos are not common or widely accepted in Japan. There is no cause for concern, but do your best to cover your tattoos when possible and note that you may not be permitted to enter public spas or onsens (hot springs).

4. Overnight Bag

While we ride the bullet train, your main luggage will be sent on Japan’s takkyubin service (luggage transfer) to the next destination. Please note, you will NOT have access to your main luggage for approximately 24-48 hours. You must pack an overnight bag with everything you’ll need until you’re reunited with your luggage the following day. Only one bag per passenger is permitted on the luggage transfer. If you have more, there will be an additional charge at the traveler’s expense.

5. Luggage size restriction – Effective from May 2020 onwards

All G Adventures tours in Japan use the world-famous Shinkansen bullet trains, which have a restriction on maximum luggage size. Your luggage must be less than 160cm in total. This is roughly the size that most airline companies consider as “carry-on baggage” and allow in overhead storage compartments.

We strongly recommend bringing a day pack or backpack to use during the day, in addition to your carry-on sized luggage. Please see “What to take” under Tour details for more information.

6. ACCOMMODATION NOTE:

Please be aware that properties we stay in with only two stories may not have elevators installed and climbing the stairs with your luggage will be necessary.

CEO (Chief Experience Officer) throughout.

Japan is one of the most populous countries in the world and space is at a premium. Therefore, hotel rooms are small! Additionally, many Japanese hotels do not have designated non-smoking rooms. Therefore, we ask hotels to deodorize rooms before check in. Please note rooms for couples usually still have two twin beds in Japan. Rooms with one large Queen or King bed are not common.

Ryokan are traditional inns found across Japan. Featuring tatami floors (soft mats of woven straw), futon beds, Japanese-style baths, cotton kimono (casual robe worn to lounge around or to head to the bath), and elaborate meals (often served in the comfort of your own room), a ryokan is the perfect place to experience traditional customs and hospitality. As ryokan are usually top tier accommodations, most guests stay only one night, often to celebrate a special occasion or holiday. Don’t be intimidated by the formalities inherent to a stay at a ryokan, your hosts will welcome you the same way they do all their guests. Have fun and enjoy this relaxing opportunity to learn more about Japan’s unique customs.

Minshuku are Japan’s answer to the Western bed and breakfast. Similar to ryokan, they have traditional features like tatami floors, futon beds, and Japanese-style baths. Minshuku are often family-run, and as such they offer a great opportunity to interact with local people and learn more about the nation’s customs. More affordable and simpler than ryokan, minshuku tend to have smaller guestrooms, shared bathroom facilities, and any included meals (traditional, local, and delicious) are served in a communal dining room.

Please note that some of the traditional Japanese inns used on this tour only offer shared bathing facilities. This means that individual shower stalls will not be available, instead several shower stations are available in an open, same-sex bathing area. Shared bathhouses and onsen (hot springs) are an essential part of Japan’s culture, traditionally serving as a place for men or women to gather, relax, and discuss the days happenings.

We suggest that you pack as lightly as possible as you are expected to carry your own luggage. You will be walking with your luggage in busy public train stations to catch connecting trains, so it is highly recommended that you travel light and have easy to handle luggage and are capable of walking up and down the stairs with your luggage without any assistance.

We recommend keeping the weight of your bags between 10-15kg/22-30lb. Suitcases are not recommended for G Adventures trips. Most travellers carry a backpack or rolling bag of small to medium size. A large bag will be an inconvenience to you and will slow you down! You will also need a day-pack
ucksack to carry daily essentials like water, cameras, passport, etc.

It’s essential to pack as lightly as possible for rail travel in Japan. All G Adventures tours use the world-famous Shinkansen bullet trains, which have a restriction on maximum luggage size.

Any luggage brought on board must be less than 160cm in total (calculated as the sum of the height + width + depth of your luggage). This is roughly the size that most airline companies consider as “carry-on baggage” and allow in overhead storage compartments. We strongly recommend bringing a day pack or backpack to use during the day (for daily essentials like water, cameras, passport, etc.).

Please note that travellers who bring luggage that exceeds this restriction will be directly penalized by the Central Japan Railway Company. Any luggage between 160–250cm will require a fee of 1,000 JPY per luggage, for each leg of your train journey, and is strictly subject to availability. Any luggage over 251cm in total is prohibited on the Shinkansen trains.

If you absolutely must bring more than what fits into a single carry-on bag plus day pack, you may bring a second carry-on bag which also must be less than 160cm in total. Please note, however, that as with all G Adventures tours, you must be able to carry your luggage unassisted.

Please note, you will NOT have access to your main luggage for approximately 24 hours on this trip, as we utilize Japan’s takkyubin service to conveniently and reliably transfer luggage from one location to another throughout the country and avoid hauling large bags on crowded trains. You must pack an overnight bag with everything you’ll need until you’re reunited with your luggage the following day. Only one bag is permitted to be sent on the luggage transfer. If you have more, there will be an additional charge at the traveler’s expense.

Every traveller is different and therefore spending money requirements will vary. Some travellers may drink more than others while other travellers like to purchase more souvenirs than most. Please consider your own spending habits when it comes to allowing for drinks, shopping and tipping. Please also remember the following specific recommendations when planning your trip.

Walk the Tottori Sand Dunes, where wave-etched ridges rise to panoramic crests with Sea of Japan vistas. Feel the wind shape sculptural lines beneath your feet as light ripples across the sand.

Learn about the San’in Kaigan Geopark and how currents and rivers formed this rare coastal desert. Pause to photograph wind-carved patterns and the contrast of blue sea, tawny slopes, and wide sky.

Visit the harbour fish market to watch crates of gleaming catch—especially prized Matsuba crab—arrive straight from offshore boats. Vendors call out the day’s specials as knives flash and scales rattle.

Absorb the speed and rhythm of a working port and see how the region’s cold currents shape its cuisine. Travellers often opt to sample fresh seafood in simple market eateries (at additional cost).

Participate in a tea ceremony led by a host who demonstrates precise whisking of matcha and the etiquette of a tatami tea room. Savor calm rhythms that embody Zen-influenced hospitality.

Continue with a lantern-lit walk through Gion, admiring wooden machiya townhouses and the subtle elegance of geiko culture. This experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour.

Visit Zenko-ji Temple, a 7th-century pilgrimage site that shaped the city of Nagano. Walk through incense-scented precincts to the main hall, where worshippers have gathered for over a millennium.

Discover a temple renowned for welcoming all, regardless of sect, and learn how its rituals and legends reflect Japan’s enduring Buddhist heritage. Carved guardians, burnished wood, and rhythmic chanting create an atmosphere of contemplative calm.

Be greeted in Hagi with a heartfelt welcome ceremony before settling into your community homestay. Meet your host family, step onto tatami floors, and share home-cooked regional dishes that showcase sea and farm bounty.

Hear how this former castle town preserves traditions amid rural change, and learn everyday customs—from seasonal festivals to table manners. Your stay directly supports local livelihoods through responsible tourism.

Pedal on a guided cycling tour through Hagi’s samurai-era lanes, passing earthen walls, white-walled storehouses, and citrus groves perfuming the air. Follow quiet roads to viewpoints along the Sea of Japan coastline.

Soak up the town’s measured pace as you glide past shrines and pottery shops famed for Hagi-yaki. Gentle terrain and ample photo pauses make this an easy, immersive window into everyday life and Edo-period streetscapes.

Learn traditional paper-making in a coastal workshop where artisans craft UNESCO-recognised washi. Stir mulberry pulp, pull sheets with mould and deckle, and press the fibres to create your own textured keepsake.

Hear how washi sustained local livelihoods and ceremonial life, from shoji screens to calligraphy. This hands-on craft experience connects you to centuries of patient skill along the scenic Iwami coast.

Walk under thousands of torii gates at Fushimi Inari Taisha, where vermilion tunnels climb Mt Inari toward hilltop shrines. Fox guardians flank lantern-lit paths, creating a mesmerizing play of light and shadow.

Discover how merchants and farmers dedicated gates to Inari, deity of prosperity and rice. Pause at lookouts for broad views over Kyoto, then follow leafy loops past teahouses and quiet sub-shrines.

Soak in a traditional onsen near Nagano, letting mineral-rich waters ease travel-tired muscles amid an alpine setting. Learn simple bathing etiquette that keeps this communal ritual serene.

Choose indoor cedar tubs or open-air baths where steam rises into mountain air. Note: some venues have tattoo restrictions; your CEO can advise suitable options. This experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour.

Visit the Sand Museum to see ephemeral sculptures carved from dune sand—cathedrals, faces, and cities rendered in astonishing detail. Learn about the artists and techniques behind these monumental works.

Afterward, head to the slopes to try sandboarding with basic instruction, feeling the rush of descent against the wide coastal dune landscape. This experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour.

Ride up to Shibuya Sky for a 360-degree panorama of Tokyo’s urban sprawl, from the towers of Shinjuku to distant Mount Fuji on clear evenings. Gaze down at the Scramble Crossing as it pulses with life.

As the city lights ignite, capture the neon-drenched skyline from the open-air rooftop stage. This experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour.

Explore the capital’s cutting edge on a guided orientation walk through neon-bright Shinjuku, over the world-famous Shibuya Crossing, and into Harajuku’s pop-culture streets. Experience the skyline, street style, and creative energy that define contemporary Tokyo.

Along the way, spot sleek department stores, hidden laneway eateries, and bold street fashion. Your CEO shares context on postwar rebirth, subcultures, and the city’s layered identities—an energizing primer to Tokyo’s ever-evolving urban theatre.

Visit the Jigokudani Monkey Park to watch wild Japanese macaques warming themselves in steaming hot springs amid a forested alpine valley. A gentle trail leads to the pools where the troop socializes, forages, and soaks—pure mountain tranquillity.

Learn how the macaques adapted to winter by taking the waters, and observe their surprisingly human gestures from respectful distances. In every season, the play of mist, pines, and red-faced monkeys creates a scene of quiet, snowy-on-sen magic.

Step inside Matsumoto Castle, a National Treasure famed for its black-lacquered walls and original 16th-century keep. Climb the steep timber stairs to peer across moats and up to the snow-capped Japanese Alps.

Hear stories of samurai defense as you pass arrow slits and stone drops, feeling the creak of centuries-old floorboards underfoot. This striking “Karasu-jo” reveals Japan’s feudal engineering and elegance in a single formidable silhouette.

Begin your journey by meeting your CEO and fellow travellers for a relaxed small-group welcome. Get practical guidance on navigating Japan—etiquette tips, cashless quirks, and how to confidently ride Japan Rail—so you can focus on the experiences ahead.

Hear a succinct overview of the route from Tokyo to Kyoto, with pointers on regional specialties to try and customs to observe. This friendly briefing sets the tone for a trip that blends local insight with seamless, small-group discovery.

Travel to ancient Nara to visit Todai-ji’s Great Buddha, a colossal bronze seated within one of the world’s largest wooden halls. Explore temple precincts steeped in early Japanese Buddhism.

Wander shaded paths among the friendly deer of Nara Park and admire lanterns, pagodas, and UNESCO-listed temples. This excursion is at additional cost and bookable on tour.

Walk the Arashiyama Bamboo Grove as green canes sway overhead and light filters into a living corridor. The whisper of leaves and footfalls creates a meditative rhythm.

Stroll the UNESCO-listed Tenryu-ji gardens, a masterpiece of Zen design with views to the Arashiyama hills and the Oi River. This experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour.