Wonders of Japan Tour: 7-Day Exploration for Families

Sagano Bamboo Forest, Kyoto, a picturesque grove in the middle of urban landscapes, Japan

What to expect on this itinerary

Designed for families who want to explore Japan in an exciting and immersive way, this customizable one-week Japan tour allows you to experience many of the best attractions that Japan has to offer. Traverse through the life-sized reproductions of Studio Ghibli characters, indulge your culinary desires at Dotonbori, and marvel at geishas and monkeys as they pass through the bamboo forest.

Countries Visited

Japan

Places Visited

Osaka, Kyoto, Tokyo, Hakone

Suggested Duration

7 Days

Customizable Itinerary

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Day 1

Osaka - Fulfill Your Culinary Desires

Osaka is a foodie’s paradise. It is also a city of incredible views and ancient crafts. When your flight lands at Kansai Airport, a private driver will greet and transfer you to your accommodation. Once you have had enough time to relax after your flight, your guide will lead you to Sumiyoshi Shrine, which is the oldest Shinto shrine in Japan. Dotonbori is a magical world for anyone who enjoys food because you can find anything your heart desires. There are a variety of gourmet restaurants here as well.

What's Included:

Transfer
Accommodation
Tour
Day 2

Osaka - Ascend the Umeda Sky Building

Day 3

Kyoto - The Arashiyama Bamboo Forest

Day 4

Kyoto - Authentic Samurai Experience

Day 5

Hakone - Submerge Yourself in a Private Onsen

Day 6

Tokyo - The Mysterious Ways of the Ninja

Day 7

Tokyo - Studio Ghibli & Departure

Trip Highlights

  • Indulge your culinary desires at a Michelin-starred restaurant in Dotonbori
  • Rise above the clouds for a panoramic view of Osaka from the Umeda Sky Building
  • Ascend Mt. Hakone over sulfuric steam before submerging yourself in a private onsen for ultimate relaxation
  • Marvel at the monkeys and geishas who pass through the peaceful Arashiyama Bamboo Forest
  • Treasure an authentic samurai experience as you immerse yourself in the culture
  • Immerse yourself in in the wondrous world of Studio Ghibli, where the characters are brought to life in a grand mansion

Starting Price

$3,900 per person (excluding international flights)

Your Zicasso trip is fully customizable, and this sample itinerary is a starting place for your travel plans. Actual costs are dynamic, and your selection of accommodations and activities, your season of travel, and other such variables will bring this budget guideline up or down. Throughout your planning experience with your Zicasso specialist, your itinerary is designed around your budget. You can book your trip when you are satisfied with every detail. Planning your trip with a Zicasso travel specialist is a free service.

What's Included

  • Accommodations
  • In-country transportation
  • Some or all activities and tours
  • Expert trip planning
  • 24x7 support during your trip

Your final trip cost will vary based on your selected accommodations, activities, meals, and other trip elements that you opt to include.

4.8

Verified Traveler Reviews

Based on 199 reviews

Japan Tour Review: Tokyo, Kanazawa, Kyoto, Nara, Osaka, Nagoya, Hakone, Ryokan, Baseball, Tea Ceremony, Local Cuisine, 16 Days

Zicasso's travel specialist and her team planned an absolutely outstanding 16-day trip for me and my family. We visited Tokyo, Ghibli Park (near Nagoya), Kanazawa, Kyoto (with day trips to Nara and Osaka), and then wrapped things up with two nights at a beautiful and luxurious ryokan in Hakone.

Communication leading up to the trip was clear and efficient, and whenever we had a question during the trip, we were able to get quick answers from our travel company's rep in Japan.

I would absolutely book another trip with this company.

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Japan Tour Review: Tokyo, Kyoto, Ghibli Museum, Fushimi Inari Gates, Sushi Making, Craft Workshops, Green Tea Farm, 12-Day Trip

Zicasso’s travel specialist did a fabulous job planning our 12-day trip to Japan! We took our two kids (12 and 14 years old) and worked together to come up with such an amazing and fun itinerary covering all of our interests.

In addition to seeing the sights around Tokyo and Kyoto, the travel specialist found us classes in and outside of the cities for sushi-making, Shibori fabric dyeing, and bamboo basket-making. We had the most wonderful guides, drivers, and translators take us to an organic green tea farm (an unexpected favorite!) and even managed to get tickets to the Ghibli Museum.

We had a phenomenal time and I look forward to working with this travel company again.

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Japan Travel Review: Tokyo, Hakone, Mount Fuji, Mount Inari, Sushi Class, Samurai Experience, Carpentry, Museums, History, Art, Culture, 14 Days

Zicasso's travel designer had less than three months to bring an amazing trip to life. Our goal was to experience the history, art, culture, and people of Japan. Mission accomplished!

There were so many highlights shared by our exceptional guides and drivers, who felt like friends and family by the trip's end. Some experiences surprised us with their creativity, joy, and value (slapstick sumo skits in Tokyo, the samurai sword experience, sushi class, open-air and Venetian glass museums in Hakone, and especially the Himeji Castle master carpenter tutorial). Though in our late 70s, walking five to seven miles per day and climbing 766-oot sacred Mount Inari weren't an issue.

The veracity of this review is paramount... the only experience we would forgo was spelunking (crawling) in the cold, wet lava cave, as in our ignorance, we were out of our element. We found joints we did not know we had! We are focused on collecting memories, not things. This fabulous trip achieved that goal. Thank you!

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Japan Travel Review: Tokyo, Kyoto, Kintsugi, Meditation, 1 Week

Zicasso’s travel specialist helped us put together a great family trip to Japan. He created the perfect itinerary based on our likes/dislikes and was easy to communicate with. We enjoyed our tour with our guide in Tokyo and were especially delighted that the travel specialist personally guided us around Kyoto. Both he and our guide showed us parts of these cities off the beaten track. The travel specialist is incredibly knowledgeable about Japan and his passion for the culture is contagious.

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Japan Travel Review: Kyoto, Hakone, Osaka, Tokyo, Monkey Park, Bamboo Forest, 10-Night Trip

Zicasso’s travel specialist is amazing! She went out of her way to plan the best trip for 11 of us to Japan. She listened and understood exactly what we wanted. She is sweet and truly cares. Not only this, but she responds quickly.

As an added bonus, the travel company was reasonable, especially for all that was included. We were spoiled and had a driver and guide for most of the trip, so we did not have to worry about anything. We were also booked at lovely hotels, with delicious breakfasts and spacious rooms.

We absolutely loved our guide in Osaka and Kyoto. She was wonderful! She even got us hand warmers and gifts for Christmas! She was relaxed, positive, and went with the flow. She stayed later at times for us too! Our driver in Tokyo was able to get us a last-minute restaurant reservation for lunch because there was one more type of food we wanted to try there. He was very kind and flexible with us in Hakone too. Our guide in Tokyo was also very nice! Thank you to the team for our trip of a lifetime!!!!!

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Japan Vacation Review: Kyoto, Osaka, Hakone, Hiroshima, Tokyo, Mt Fuji, Fall Foliage, Tea Ceremony, Food Tour, Bullet Train, 36-Day Trip

We (A and B) had an amazing, once-in-a-lifetime, 36-day trip to Japan and were very grateful we found Zicasso’s travel specialist to help us plan our itinerary.

The travel specialist made sure that all our travel arrangements were well thought out and his instructions were (mostly) straightforward. He was a good listener and helped us craft an itinerary that totally suited our needs. We had about four sessions (hours) on Zoom with him before our trip to iron out details. A company that does customized tours was exactly what we were looking for and that is what we got. This way, we had a lot of say in where to go, how long to stay, how we wanted to spend our time, and what attractions we wanted to see. He told us ours was the longest trip to Japan he had helped arrange.

The trip was amazing and we were blessed to be able to see the spectacular fall foliage everywhere we went, Mount Fuji on numerous days, and many beautiful places, as well as eat authentic Japanese food and immerse ourselves in Japanese culture. In addition to all that, we had many days on our own where we were able to meet up with 12 friends of B in three different cities, people B met 45 years ago in Japan.

All the arrangements made for us by the travel company were fantastic, including local transportation, drivers in every city, and train and shinkansen rides. The accommodations were excellent too and we especially appreciated that the location of our hotels was very convenient and in the best areas. The two stays in ryokans in Hakone and Miyajima were unique and special.

Every single local guide we had was fantastic. They were all knowledgeable, friendly, personable, helpful, and kind. The drivers were terrific too and we enjoyed meeting them and talking with them.

We highly recommend this travel company if you are looking for a customized, comprehensive, and fun tour of Japan.

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Customizable Itinerary

This is a sample itinerary to inspire a personalized trip designed with your travel specialist.

28,000+ Verified Traveler Reviews