“Worth it if you get a strong guide like Hiromi or Junko who knows transport and culture. Think twice if guide quality varies wildly and group discipline matters to you.”
- About £257/day across 9 days
- ~£2,703 all-in with a typical £387 flight from London (£300/day)
- At its lowest in the 90 days we've tracked it (£2,316)
- We only rate a price against this trip's own history once we've tracked it for 21 days — no guessing before that.
- Cheaper per day than 3 of 4 similar trips we compared
- 4.1★ from 11 traveller reviews
Price movement, fill and the all-in cost come from our own daily tracking— not the operator’s feed. You book on TourRadar; the live price always applies there.
About this trip
Nine days through Japan's cities and countryside, moving from the neon rush of Tokyo to a home-cooked farm stay, then on by bullet train to the historic streets of Kyoto and Hiroshima, finishing in Osaka's food-obsessed backstreets.
This is a trip built on contrasts — sumo and sake one day, quiet mountain views of Mt Fuji the next, then the pace of a working tea or vegetable farm where your hosts cook for you. It's a hands-on way into Japanese life, not just a checklist of sights.
You'll cover real ground on foot and by train, so it rewards travellers happy to keep moving and carry their own bags through busy stations.
What you'll do
- Take in Tokyo's energy before heading into the countryside
- Stay with a local host in Kawane or Gotemba, with home-cooked meals
- Visit a tea farm or help pick vegetables for dinner, depending on your homestay
- Catch views of Mt Fuji
- Ride the bullet train to Kyoto and Hiroshima and explore their history
- Finish in Osaka, known for its food scene
- Fast-paced and on-foot heavy — you'll need to be comfortable carrying your own luggage through train stations
- Double rooms in Japanese hotels tend to be compact (around 20 sqm), and a twin may be substituted during busy periods
- The Day 3 homestay varies by departure — some groups visit a tea farm in Kawane, others help with vegetable picking in Gotemba
Day by day
Exactly what you do each day, where you sleep, and how it flows — written by us, from the real itinerary.
What's included
- Guide: All group trips are accompanied by one of our group leader or local representative. The aim of the group leader or local representative 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 group leader or local representative however, due to the seasonality of travel, rare situations may arise where your group leader or local representative is new to a particular region or training other group leader or local representative. Your group leader or local representative 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 group leader or local representative can recommend a local guide service in most of the main destinations of your trip. , Due to Japan's popularity 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.
- Activities: Tokyo - welcome meeting and orientation walk Tokyo - Sensoji Temple Tokyo - Meiji Jingu Shrine Tokyo - Shibuya walking tour Kawane/Gotemba - Homestay & Home-cooked Dinner Kawane - Tea Farm Visit & Tea Brewing & Tasting (or Gotemba - Local farm and vegetable picking) Kyoto - Gion District walk Kyoto - Nishiki-Koji Market Kyoto - Fushimi Inari-Taisha Hiroshima - Okonomiyaki dinner Hiroshima - Saijo Sake Brewery Street visit & tasting Hiroshima - Miyajima Island Hiroshima - Peace Park & A-Bomb Dome Hiroshima - Peace Museum Osaka - Dotombori and Kuromon Street Food Walking Tour
- Transport: Public Bus, Metro, Local Train, Bullet Train
- Accommodation: RYOKANS : & MINSHUKUS: Japanese-style accommodation - ryokans or minshukus (traditional inn/guesthouse) 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 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 establishments 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 such properties. Extra fees will be charged if dirty marks are left on their beddings or towels that require professional cleaning. Some of such properties will only give 1 key for each room so you can leave the key at the reception so that you and your roommate won't have to conform to the same schedule when you are out exploring. , 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 (7 nights), Homestay (1 night)
- Meals: 1 breakfast, 3 dinners
- Activities: Other activities and services not included
- Flights: International flights are 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 Cover Genius to provide a hassle-free experience. More information can be found here (https://www.tourradar.com/travel-insurance).
How travellers rate it
Cheapest live departure per day, in £, recorded by our tracker since 17 Jul. Never a brochure “was” price.
Your free day in Tokyo
Landing early, staying on, or filling free time? The best-rated day experiences in Tokyo — you book on Viator (we may earn a commission).
Worth it if you get a strong guide like Hiromi or Junko who knows transport and culture. Think twice if guide quality varies wildly and group discipline matters to you.
- Top guides like Hiromi Charles and Junko handle transport seamlessly, share deep cultural knowledge, and source excellent affordable local food.
- Guide quality is wildly inconsistent; some lack English fluency, don't know public transport, miss itinerary locations, and struggle with group management.
- First hotel placement can be sketchy; one reviewer stayed in a red light district area, suggesting pre-booking checks needed.
- Group dynamics hugely affect the trip; inconsistent guides can't enforce schedule or manage disruptive members, shortening activities for everyone.
Distilled from real traveller reviews on TourRadar — we don't edit out the bad bits.
The same-vibe trips, side by side — price, value per day, and how each is moving. Only we can lay two operators' trips out honestly.
Sorted by fit — never by who paid. Price moves and availability come from our own daily tracking.
Departing in Aug is cheapest — from £2,315, about 29% below the priciest month (Oct).
Getting there
One-way so you can book your return whenever. Prices & booking shown on Trip.com.
Hotels in Tokyo
View more accommodationLive prices via Booking.com & partners, booked on their site — separate from your tour. We may earn a commission; it never changes your price.
On a budget?
Hostels in Tokyo for the night before your tour · 7 Aug – 8 Aug
Booked on Hostelworld, separate from your tour. We may earn a commission — it never changes your price.
Common questions
How long is Japan Highlights?
It's a 9-day trip. It starts in Tokyo and finishes in Osaka.
How much does Japan Highlights cost?
The land price starts from £2,316 per person for the 9-day trip. You book on TourRadar, where the live price always applies.
What will Japan Highlights really cost me all-in?
On top of the £2,316 land price, budget roughly £387 for a return flight from the UK — about £2,703 all-in before spending money. Most day-to-day meals out and optional activities are extra.
What's included in the price?
The price covers all your accommodation, 4 meals (1 breakfast, 3 dinners), transport during the trip, a group leader/guide. Anything the operator lists as optional or not included — see the full breakdown on this page.
What's not included?
international flights and travel insurance (required) are not included, so factor them into your budget. We show typical flight costs and can point you to insurance on this page.
How big is the group?
Groups are capped at around 12 travellers — a small-group trip, mostly solo 18–35s travelling to meet people, not a coach tour.
When does Japan Highlights run?
It runs across roughly 24 months of the year, so there's usually a departure to fit your dates. Check live availability and prices in the dates section above.
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