Japan Tours
Kyoto Gardens & Rural Village Tour

 

Japanese Gardens in Autumn

Kyoto Autumn Gardens & Rural Villages Tour

A small group Japan Garden Tour plus Rural Villages, Crafts and Culture, fully escorted by an Australian Tour Director as well as an English speaking Japanese Tour Manager, who can tell you all about Kyoto and take you into the hidden treasures that you would never find without assistance.

Wednesday 18 November, 2009
Land Only Price AUD$7,998 ( Approx US$5,500 )

Click on any photo to enlarge it

Memoirs of a Geisha

The film Memoirs of a Geisha depicts many scenes of old Kyoto from around the 1930's. On this tour we will highlight these images for you.

Kyoto, ancient capital of Japan, is our focus for this unusual 11 days of exploring gardens, parks, castles and rural countryside, seeking the wonderful colours of autumn leaves.

Go to our internet Photo Gallery to see the beautiful autumn scenes from our past tour.



First Class Western Style Hotels & traditional Japanese Ryokan

We include 5 star western style hotel accommodation for our guests on this tour in Kyoto at The Okura Hotel, in Tokyo at The Prince Park Tower Hotel and additional night at another luxurious property overlooking Lake Biwa.

In addition, we have included as a cultural interlude, staying one night in a genuine country minshuku ( Inn ) located in a tiny rural village, where you can wander around the village dressed in your yukata and geta, enabling you to experience the atmosphere of a bygone era.

You will also be staying for one night in an authentic Ryokan, where you can relax in a traditional Onsen or natural hot water spa, whose mineral waters are reputed to cure most ailments from tired feet to aching joints.


Autumn Gardens , Fall Foliage

November is an impressive time to wander around the gardens, parks and temple grounds of Kyoto, Nara and Hikone Castle

You will be seeing Japan when its maples and other deciduous trees are displaying their brilliant red, orange and yellow fall foliage colours. Secluded gardens, parks and forest areas visited on this tour have been especially selected for their visual splendour in Autumn.

We have designed this itinerary for those people who want a more in depth look into Kyoto and staying in only one hotel in Kyoto but.... including an English speaking Japanese escort and entry fees to the best gardens, so that you get the most pleasure out of your visit to Japan.

A special appointment has been made for our guests to visit Saihoji ( The Moss Garden ) where visitors participate in a meditation ceremony with the Saihoji monks before a leisurely stroll through this quiet and tranquil garden, the epitome of a true Japanese Zen style landscape garden.

Ryoanji with its famous raked sand and stone garden, Kinkakuji with its outstanding Golden Pavilion and The Imperial Palace East Garden are just a few of the many spectacular gardens you will be visiting on this autumn gardens tour.



What else to see

To see the best and most elusive sights of Japan you must be prepared to walk.... and this we will do to discover galleries full of pottery by local ceramic artists, traditional arts and craft including black and gold lacquer ware, paper fans, textiles and Kimonos.

You will also visit one of the biggest Flea Markets in Kyoto where you can find real bargains, great antiques and fascinating things not found in shops. A superb museum displaying traditional craft products and how they are made will also be visited.

Enjoy some truly exquisite little restaurants, old canals, ponds full of Golden Carp, cobble stone alleys, streets made of steps and elegant department stores that all help to make this an all encompassing tour with something for everyone.

Discover the remains of old Edo period trails from the then capital city of Kyoto to the small town of Edo ( now called Tokyo ). Walk through little picturesque villages that still exude an atmosphere of a time gone by. This is an experience many independent travellers look for but never find. See old wooden houses, water wheels, mountain streams, terraced rice paddies, bamboo forest and country lanes where a glance through an open door could reveal a home business making tofu, bamboo screens or tatami mats.

Also, you will visit the ancient capital city of Nara to see the worlds biggest bronze statue of Buddha and Kasuga Shinto Shrine as well as Matsumoto Castle, Hikone Castle and Mt Fuji.

For Detailed Itinerary & Price Click Here

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