Nishiki Market , Kyoto Kenrokuen garden , Kanazawa
DAY 9 • Kanazawa • Optional Gokayama tour Enjoy free time to explore Kanazawa on your own , or join a full-day optional excursion to Gokayama — a UNESCO World Heritage Site . This village in the remote Chubu Mountains is renowned for its distinctive gassho-zukuri-style homes with steeply pitched thatched roofs . Meals : B | Hotel Kanazawa or similar
DAY 10 • Kanazawa • Home-Hosted Visit : Tea with a local family • Train to Kyoto Enjoy a Home-Hosted Visit with a local family , sitting down for tea and a firsthand glimpse of Japanese life . Some of our hosts are accomplished tea ceremony masters , are skilled
ADVENTURE HIGHLIGHT in Japanese calligraphy , cultivate bonsai trees , or fold origami . After , ride the rails to Kyoto , Japan ’ s ancient imperial capital . This city remains an important cultural center today , and has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site .
Meals : B , L , D | Hotel Vista Premio Kyoto Nagomitei or similar
DAY 11 • Kyoto • Arashiyama Bamboo Grove • Kinkakuji • Nijo Castle Explore the Arashiyama Bamboo Grove before we visit Kinkakuji , the Temple of the Golden Pavilion . Then , visit Nijo Castle this afternoon .
Meals : B , L | Hotel Vista Premio Kyoto Nagomitei or similar
DAY 12 • Kyoto • Nara • Matcha tea experience Explore Nara , visiting Todaiji Temple , a UNESCO World Heritage Site and home to an aweinspiring , 52-foot Buddha statue . You may even meet the tame and friendly “ bowing ” deer that roam here . Then , visit a local tea company for a matcha tea-making demonstration and a hands-on experience of grinding your own green tea using a mill stone .
Meals : B , L , D | Hotel Vista Premio Kyoto Nagomitei or similar
DAY 14 • Kyoto • Fushimi Inari Shrine • Meet a sushi chef Visit Fushimi Inari Shrine this morning , one of Japan ’ s most iconic sites . Comprised of a winding path of 10,000 vermillion torii ( gates ), the shrine snakes its way up a heavily forested mountain . Then , take part in a sushimaking lesson .
Meals : B , L , D | Hotel Vista Premio Kyoto Nagomitei or similar
DAY 15 • Return to U . S . Transfer to the airport in Osaka for your flight home . Travelers taking our optional Hiroshima : City of Peace post-trip extension will transfer to Hiroshima by bullet train today , while travelers taking our optional Osaka to Hiroshima by Bullet Train post-trip extension will transfer to Osaka via private motorcoach .
Meals : B
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On Day 5 , spend A Day in the Life of Ashigara , and meet the locals of this rural mountain town .
DAY 13 • Kyoto • Zen Temple Head to Senkoji Temple to practice Zen meditation with a monk .
Meals : B , L | Hotel Vista Premio Kyoto Nagomitei or similar
30 Japan ’ s Cultural Treasures