Japan Tours
Kyoto Gardens, Japan Inland Sea, Shodoshima Island & Rural Village Tour

 

Japanese Gardens in Autumn

Kyoto Autumn Gardens, Inland Sea & Shodoshima Tour

A small group Japan Garden Tour of Kyoto plus the Inland Sea and Shodoshima island, 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.

Every year for the past 26 years we have been taking people to Japan to see the best autumn foliage and the most impressive autumn gardens. This is not a cheap DIY tour. If you are a discerning traveller who appreciates the benefits of being on an escorted small group tour, private charter coach transportation and staying in specially selected accommodation with all breakfasts included .. ask us to send you a brochure now !

Thursday 22 November, 2012
Tour Price AUD $6,400 ( Tour starts and finishes in Kyoto )

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 12 days of exploring gardens, parks, temples, villages 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.

More photos taken on our previous Japan Tours can be seen on our Toursgallery facebook and on our DestMgt YouTube site.


First Class Western Style Hotels & traditional Japanese Ryokan

We include 4 star western style hotel accommodation for our guests on this tour in Kyoto at The Rihga Royal Hotel, in Shodoshima at a traditional Japanese style Ryokan and an extra 2 nights at another luxurious property overlooking Lake Biwa.

Whilst staying in the Shodoshima Ryokan you can wander around the grounds and nearby village dressed in your yukata and geta, enabling you to experience the atmosphere of a bygone era.

You will also be able to 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.

If you are a solo traveller and would like us to find you a rooming companion .. so that you can avoid paying a single supplement, tell us now.


Autumn Gardens , Fall Foliage

End of November is an impressive time to wander around the gardens, parks and temple grounds of Kyoto, Nara, Takamatsu, Okayama and Shodoshima.

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. Do not believe anyone who tells you that the best autumn coloured foliage in Kyoto is seen on 1st of November.

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, Ritsurin and Korakuen Garden are just a few of the many spectacular gardens you will be visiting on this autumn gardens tour.



Shodoshima or Shodo Island

Located in the Inland Sea of Japan, Shodo Island or Shodoshima is famous as the setting for the antiwar novel Twenty-Four Eyes, and was the first area of Japan to successfully grow olives. Shōdoshima is also known for its soy sauce production and you can even buy soy sauce flavoured ice cream.

Shōdoshima has an area of 153 km² , a coastline of 126 km and is the 19th largest island in Japan, second largest in the Seto Inland Sea.

Here we visit Kankakei Gorge with its craggy rock cliffs, get spectacular views from the Kankakei Ropeway and walk the autumn foliage trail looking for troops of monkeys. We also visit the former movie set used for making the film Twenty-Four Eyes .

Members of this tour will also be visiting a cave temple hidden deep in the forest clad mountains, where we have arranged for an exclusive Buddhist ceremony performed by the resident monks.

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.

Walk through picturesque rural areas, 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 visiting the world famous MIHO Art Museum with its international art treasures on display.

For Detailed Itinerary & Price Click Here

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