Japan Tours and Itineraries

Japan rewards a well-built itinerary more than any country in Asia. These are the seven we build most: private, built for your party and your dates, with the flights, every train, the hotels and inns, the guides and the things that sell out on one booking in Australian dollars.

The itineraries

How a Japan itinerary is built

Japan is the easiest country in Asia to organise and one of the hardest to organise well, because the trains are so good that people try to see all of it in ten days and end up seeing the inside of the Shinkansen. Our approach is the same on every itinerary above: fewer places and longer stays — three or four bases in ten days, five or six in a fortnight; the route in the order the railway runs it, flying in via Tokyo and home from Kansai on an open-jaw ticket; luggage forwarded between cities so you carry a day bag; one ryokan night placed where it means most, or four on the route built for them; a licensed guide for the one Kyoto morning where a guide changes everything; and the things that sell out — the Ghibli Museum, teamLab, the popular inns, the kaiseki counters, sumo — booked before the flights. Every itinerary is private and built for your party; the pages above are the shapes we start from, and the variations section on each shows how far they flex. The things to do in Japan page is where you decide what goes in, and the first-time guide explains the country before you choose.

What every itinerary includes

• Return airfare from Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane, open-jaw where the route allows; premium economy and business on request; other cities via those three
• Every transfer, train, ferry and internal flight in the itinerary, reserved and ticketed
• Accommodation as described, chosen by district and by what the night is for, with the bed configuration confirmed in writing
• Guides on the days where a guide changes the day, and a driver where the country runs on drivers
• The entries and experiences that sell out, booked before departure
• Entry-requirement and medication checks for every traveller, a pre-departure pack six weeks out, and a day-by-day document with maps and timings
• A quote in Australian dollars, Australian consumer-law protection, and a Cooee contact in Brisbane throughout

When to go

Late March to mid-April for cherry blossom and mid-November to early December for autumn colour are the seasons people plan trips around, and they cost 30–40 per cent more than the fortnights either side; late May and early to mid-October give the same weather at a third less and are our default recommendation for a first trip with flexible dates. January and February are cold, clear, cheap and empty, and the season for the onsen route and for skiing. June is grey and cheap; July and August are hot and festival-filled; avoid moving between cities in Golden Week (29 April–5 May), Obon (mid-August) and the New Year week. The month-by-month guide goes deeper and the blossom timing guide explains how the seasons itinerary hedges the forecast.

Pricing

We quote each itinerary per departure in Australian dollars, with everything above included, so the figure you see is the figure you pay. We do not publish from-prices for international itineraries because the season and the accommodation tier move the total by thousands, and a from-price built on the cheapest week and the smallest room would be a number nobody actually pays. Each itinerary page explains what moves its price and links to the country’s costs guide, which sets out the underlying numbers line by line.

How to book

Choose an itinerary above, or tell us what you want and we will suggest one. Send your dates, your departure city and the party through the enquiry form or on 0409 661 342. We check the season against the route, confirm the hotels and inns that matter, and send an itinerary and a quote within two working days. A deposit holds it; the balance falls due before departure under our booking conditions; travel insurance is required.