Japan Cherry Blossom Special

What we work through with you

1. Your dates and priorities

   Tell us when you want to visit Tokyo & Kyoto, Japan, who is travelling and what you would change in the outline below.

2. The route and pace

   We discuss the 7D / 6N starting itinerary, your preferred stays and how much you want to fit in. Any changes depend on availability and are agreed in your written plan.

3. Your written quote

   Review the final arrangements, total price, inclusions and payment and cancellation terms before booking. An enquiry does not reserve this trip.

The route we start from

These are the stages published for this trip. A stage can cover part of a day or several days; it is not a separate travel day.

1. Stage 01

   Tokyo

   Land in Tokyo and go more or less straight to Ueno Park, which has around a thousand cherry trees and is where the city does hanami properly: tarpaulins down, food out, and offices sending their newest recruit ahead at dawn to hold the ground. An easy first evening under the canopy.

2. Stage 02

   Tokyo Blossoms

   The Meguro river in the morning, where roughly eight hundred trees lean over four kilometres of canal and the branches meet overhead. Then Chidorigafuchi, the old moat beside the Imperial Palace, where you can take a rowing boat out under the blossom. Both are lit after dark, and the night version is a different thing entirely.

3. Stage 03

   To Kyoto

   The Shinkansen to Kyoto, about two hours fifteen, which is itself part of the trip: reserved seats, a bento bought on the platform, and Fuji out of the right-hand window if the sky is clear. Maruyama Park in the evening for the great weeping cherry in the middle, floodlit.

4. Stage 04

   Kyoto Pink

   The Philosopher's Path, a two-kilometre canal walk from Ginkaku-ji south, lined the whole way with cherry trees that drop petals into the water. Kiyomizu-dera in the afternoon, whose wooden stage stands out over a hillside that turns pale pink from below.

5. Stage 05

   Arashiyama

   Arashiyama on the western edge: the bamboo grove early, before the paths fill, then the Togetsukyo bridge with blossom along both banks and the mountain behind. The monkey park is a twenty-minute climb and gives you the whole city from above, with macaques.

6. Stage 06

   Free Day

   Free. Nara is forty-five minutes away and has Todai-ji, which holds a fifteen-metre bronze Buddha inside the largest wooden building of its kind, plus around a thousand deer that bow for biscuits. Osaka is the other option, and it is the one that involves more eating.

7. Stage 07

   The Return

   Fly home. Sakura is forecast rather than scheduled, so the exact dates move with the front as it travels north, and we book to follow it. Seven days spent under trees that flower for about a fortnight and have organised an entire culture around the fact.

What this trip lists

Use these inclusions and exclusions when reviewing your quote. The displayed price starts from ₹2,14,999 per person; your written quote confirms the total for your dates and arrangements.

Read this trip’s booking terms →