If you are going on Japan tours from Florida, it means you’d have to go to a major city on the East Coast or West Coast to connect Japan-bound flights due to lack of direct flights between Florida and Japan.
Japan Tours from Florida Made Easy
Very often, residents from Florida would travel to New York or Chicago to board flights bound for Tokyo. This makes the trip more expensive for residents from Florida. However, if you choose Laurus Travel as your Japan tour company, you can count on us for reliable guidance to track down the best air deals. This is especially true if you want to fly business class or premium economy.
Our fully guided Japan small-group tours feature small group size, premium accommodations, fine food, immersive actives, and more importantly, outstanding guide service. We have a number of Japan tours available. The 14-day Best of Japan below has been very popular.
Best of Japan Tour (14 days)
|
“On a scale of 1 to 5, this tour is 5. It exceeded my expectations.” | Testimonials |
Tokyo – Mt. Fuji – Hakone – Kanazawa – Takayama – Shirakawa – Kyoto – Nara – Osaka – Hiroshima – Miyajima – Tokyo
With a focus on history and culture, this premium small-group Japan tour showcases the best of the Land of the Rising Sun. From the present capital of Tokyo to the former imperial seat of Kyoto, Japan’s illustrious blend of ancient traditions with state-of-the-art modernity is on full display.
Important Features
- Small group size – average 16, maximum 20
- Experienced professional guides
- Premium hotel accommodations
- Quality Japanese & Western cuisines
- Sushi making lesson
- Kaiseki dinner with geisha dancer (maiko) performance
- Yakiniku (BBQ) dinner featuring premium Japanese beef
- No shopping stops
Meal Code: B = breakfast / L = lunch / D = dinner
Day 1/Mon: Departing Home City
The journey begins with your transpacific flight departing from a city of your choice. You’ll lose a day upon crossing the International Date Line.
Day 2/Tue: Arrival in Tokyo
Welcome to Tokyo!
Please make your way to the hotel on your own. Detailed up-to-date information on how to get to the hotel will be provided in the final update two weeks before departure. Private transfer can be arranged on request.
Day 3/Wed: Tokyo (B/L)
Tokyo, literally meaning “eastern capital” and officially named Tokyo Metropolis, is one of the most populous mega-cities in the world with a population of 14 million. Formerly known as Edo, the city has been the de facto seat of the Japanese government since 1603 when shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu chose the city for his headquarters. The shogun (general) was a hereditary commander ceremoniously appointed by the emperor but held real power over the country during the shogunate period between 1192 and 1867. Edo was renamed Tokyo after Emperor Meiji moved his seat from Kyoto in 1868 when the last shogun was forced to return power to the imperial court. The city covers an area of 2,187 square kilometres following the merger in 1943 of the city of Tokyo and Tokyo Prefecture.
Our full-day sightseeing begins at the plaza in front of the Imperial Palace. A stroll across the plaza accompanied by commentaries on the imperial family and the history of Tokyo gets the tour off to a good start.
We then proceed to Senso-ji, the oldest Buddhist temple in Tokyo dating back to 628.
After lunch, we drive through the ritzy Ginza shopping district on the way to Meiji Jingu, a Shinto shrine dedicated to Emperor Meiji (1852 -1912) and his wife.
We end the day with a visit to the observation deck atop the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building in Shinjuku. On a clear day, the visitor could see the peak of Mount Fuji which is located about 84 km to the west. The building complex completed in 1990 at a cost of US$1 billion consists of three main structures each taking up a city block. The architect of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building is Kenzo Tange (1913 – 2005), who in 1987 became the first Japanese to win the Pritzker Prize for Architecture.
Day 4/Thu: Tokyo – Mt. Fuji – Hakone – Tokyo (B/L)
We depart at 7:30 AM for a full-day excursion to Mt Fuji and Hakone.
Mt. Fuji, the highest mountain (3,776 metres) in Japan, is a two-hour drive from Tokyo. We stop by the Fujisan World Heritage Center to view the summit and learn about the history, formation and ecology of Mt. Fuji through exhibits and a short film. However, it is purely a matter of luck whether the summit is visible as Mt. Fuji is often shrouded in clouds. Our schedule does not include hiking the mountain – the trails are open between July and early September and it would take the average person at least six hours to hike to the summit even if one starts from the highest station at 2,305 metres above sea level.
We then proceed to Lake Ashi in Hakone for a half-hour cruise across the lake. This is followed by a 10-minute cable car ride that transports us to the station overlooking the sulphur-spewing Owakudani Geothermal Valley. On a clear day, the cable car ride provides stunning views of Mt. Fuji and its surrounding mountain slopes.
We expect to arrive back at the hotel around 6:00 PM.
Day 5/Fri: Tokyo – Kanazawa (B)
Enjoy some downtime before boarding the high-speed train (Hakutaka #561, 11:24/14:17) to Kanazawa. Be sure to grab some snacks for lunch before getting on the train.
On the shores of the Sea of Japan, Kanazawa is the capital of Ishikawa Prefecture. The city has a population of 463,000 and is considered a jewel of Japanese tourism that is often overlooked by foreign tourists due to its relatively remote location. Travellers coming here are richly rewarded with the well-preserved Edo-period city, where the samurai, merchants, geisha, and daimyo (lords) all left their mark.
Due to the proximity of the attractions, our sightseeing in Kanazawa is done exclusively on foot with occasional use of taxi to cover the short distances between some of the locations. Please expect to walk 5 to 8 km per day.
After hotel check-in, we walk, or go by taxi (2 km, 6 minutes) if the weather is rainy, to Higashi Chaya district. This is one of the three preserved historical geisha districts in Kanazawa (along with Nishichayagai and Kazuemachi) where geisha still entertain today.
Day 6/Sat: Kanazawa (B/L)
Today’s sightseeing on foot begins at Omicho Market, Kanazawa’s largest fresh food market particularly well known for seafood.
From the market, Kanazawa Castle is just a few minutes away on foot. The restored castle was originally built in 1580 for Maeda Toshiie, the fourth son of a minor samurai who entered the service of a powerful daimyo at the age of 15 and quickly rose through the ranks. The castle was reconstructed multiple times due to fire damages throughout its history. The last time a fire destroyed the castle was in 1881.
The Hishi Yagura turret, Gojikken Nagaya warehouse and the Hashizume-mon Tsuzuki Yagura turret were faithfully restored in 2001 to their 1809 form using traditional construction methods. Today’s pillars are constructed from the Japanese Hinoki cypress along with the use of the massive American cypress as ceiling beams. The reconstructed buildings feature roof tiles made of lead mixed with a little copper for the sake durability and aesthetics.
From the castle, we walk across a bridge to enter Kenroku-en, which used to be part of the castle. One of the “Three Great Gardens of Japan” (Koraku-en in Okayama and Kairaku-en in Mito being the other two), Kenroku-en was developed from the 1620s to the 1840s by the Maeda clan, the daimyo that ruled the former Kaga Domain.
The restaurant for lunch is a 12-minute (700 metres) walk from the garden.
After lunch, we walk across the street to enter Nagamachi, a historical preservation zone where the residents still go about their daily lives among the remnants of a bygone age. A highlight of the neighbourhood is the restored Nomura Samurai House, whose small but supremely exquisite traditional garden delights visitors from around the world.
Guests who are tired of walking can go back to the hotel from the samurai house by taxi (1.4 km) for about 750 yen or US$5.
Day 7/Sun: Kanazawa – Shirakawa – Takayama – Kanazawa (B/L)
We set out at 8:00 for a full-day excursion to Takayama and Shirakawa.
Famous for its inns, sake breweries, food festivals and local folk art, Takayama (118 km southeast of Kanazawa) is a delightful town nestled amongst the Japanese Alps. Our sightseeing takes in an open-air market, Sanmachi Historic District, and Takayama Jin’ya – government house of the region during the Tokugawa shogunate period.
After lunch, we travel northbound in the direction of Kanazawa to visit Shirakawa. Situated in a picturesque river valley, Shirakawa village is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site known as Historic Villages of Shirakawa-go and Gokayama. The village’s gassho-style large houses with steeply pitched thatched roofs are said to be the only surviving examples of their kind in Japan.
Day 8/Mon: Kanazawa – Kyoto (B/L)
This morning we ride the express train (Tsurugi 15, 09:54/10:36; Thunderbird #16, 10:40/11:39) to Kyoto.
Nicknamed “City of Ten Thousand Shrines”, Kyoto (literal translation: capital city) served as Japan’s capital for more than one thousand years before the imperial court moved to Tokyo in 1868 with the onset of the Meiji Restoration (1868 to 1912, a historical period associated with the emergence of Japan as a modernized nation). Kyoto is a scaled replica of the Chinese Tang Dynasty’s capital Chang’an, present-day Xi’an. The Tang Dynasty (618 – 907) was a golden era in Chinese history and a time when Japanese adoption of Chinese culture reached its peak. Kyoto today, with a population of 1.5 million, forms a major part of the Kyoto-Osaka-Kobe metropolitan area.
Our first stop after lunch is Kinkaku-ji (Temple of Golden Pavilion). This is a Zen Buddhist temple and one of 17 locations comprising the Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto World Heritage Site.
We then proceed to the Arashiyama (Storm Mountain) area where our sightseeing takes in Tenryu-ji Temple and the Bamboo Forest. Located on the western outskirts of Kyoto, Arashiyama is famous for its immense natural beauty as well as its historical and cultural prominence due to the large number of well-preserved ancient Buddhist temples.
Japan Tours from Florida – Our Customers Say It Best
Our 14-Day Best of Japan Land Tour was a trip we will always cherish. Learning about the people, culture, history, and visiting the parks, palaces, shrines and Mt. Fuji met or exceeded our expectations! Laurus Travel is very helpful and responsive in preparing for the trip. Our guides were knowledgeable and attentive. The group was small so we got lots of attention. We left with many fond memories and too many photos! It was special and received our highest recommendation!
Patti & Mick H
Sarasota, Florida
We have recently returned from the Japan/South Korea tour. We were very fortunate to have Julius Yan as our tour leader! He is extremely knowledgeable, organized, engaging and totally dedicated to ensuring that everyone had a memorable trip. Prior to booking we were initially disappointed to learn that the tour had been shortened in Japan and South Korea had been added as an option. I must say we truly enjoyed the South Korean portion of the trip and were glad to have had the opportunity to go there. Japan was beautiful and the tour provides quite a variety of experiences. Everything from Mt. Fuji and the cherry blossoms, to sushi making, temples and shrines and some of the most beautiful gardens you could ever hope to see. We have traveled with Laurus before (to China) and would not hesitate to recommend them. The hotels, sights, and guides exceed expectations! Thanks Julius.
Pat B & Jim P
Jacksonville, Florida
