Japan tours from Vancouver – geisha, sakura & festival
Japan tours from Vancouver – that’s what we have been offering for many years. If Japan tours from Vancouver are indeed what you are looking for, you’ve just found the right tour company in Laurus Travel. We are a Vancouver based tour company focusing on travel to East Asia and consider Japan one of our key destinations. We welcome you to drop by and speak to our Japan travel experts – we do have Japanese-speaking staff.
Direct Flights to Japan from Vancouver
There are four airlines offering direct flights between Vancouver and Tokyo. They are Air Canada, WestJet, Japan Airlines, All Nippon Airways and ZIPAIR, a low-cost Japanese airline owned by Japan Airlines. With ZIPAIR, you can fly between Vancouver and Tokyo roundtrip with a lie-flat seat for less than $3,000 but you’ll have to pay for checked luggage and in-flight meals.
Our Japan tours are sold as land packages but upon request we can include international flights with any of the above-mentioned air carriers. We are particularly proud of our record in tracking down the best business class deals available.
Our Japan tours are run in a small group (10-20 participants) environment. They are conducted by professional Japanese and Canadian guides carefully chosen by the owners of Laurus Travel. We stay at centrally located first-class and boutique hotels. Included group meals are quality Japanese and Western fares in decent restaurants where you normally don’t see other tour groups.
Among the current Japan tours we offer, the 19-day Class Japan Tour has been popular among customers from Vancouver.
Classic Japan Tour from Vancouver (19 days)
Tokyo – Mt. Fuji – Hakone – Kanazawa – Shirakawa – Takayama – Kyoto – Nara – Osaka – Hiroshima – Nagasaki – Naha – Tokyo
Kanazawa Castle during cherry blossom season
Conducted by expert guides, this tour is your quintessential introduction to the ancient land of the Rising Sun. The itinerary focuses on culture, history, good food and hiking.
Important Features
- Small group size (average 15, maximum 20)
- Expert professional guides
- No shopping stops
- Immersive cultural activities
- Quality Japanese and Western cuisines
- Special dinners featuring maiko performance
19-day Classic Japan Itinerary
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 information will be provided in the pre-trip update one month before departure.
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 (April 2022) in the city proper. 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 Senso-ji (Shallow Grass Temple), the oldest Buddhist temple in Tokyo dating back to 628.
We then drive through ritzy Ginza shopping district to arrive at the plaza in front of the Imperial Palace (the palace itself is closed to tourists) for a stroll.
After lunch, we tour the grounds of the tranquil 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 inside the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building in Shinjuku. On a clear day, the visitor should be able to see the peak of Mount Fuji which is located about 84 km to the west.
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 short 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)
This morning is set aside for you to recover from jet lag and explore at your own pace.
We highly recommend the museums centred around Ueno Park including the top-rated Tokyo National Museum and The National Museum of Western Art.
Testimonials
We arrived home yesterday safe and sound. Thank you for a wonderful tour in Japan!
Based on what we heard from our friends about their trip to Japan with your company last year we knew we had picked the right company in choosing Laurus Travel for our own Japan vacation. We couldn’t have asked for a better experience. Your company delivered as promised and then some. There is no doubt in our mind that we received superior value for our money. Upon checking with the others in the group, we learned that our fellow travelers all felt the same. Laurus Travel should be proud of itself because this is the opinion from a bunch of seasoned travelers who have gone on tours with a large number of tour companies.
Thank you again for a wonderful trip!
Janice and Sheldon R
Calgary, Alberta
