2020: Enhanced! Japan's Cultural Treasures

15 days
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Small Group Tour
Travel to Japan with O.A.T. and discover the country you’ve always dreamed of. Discover an Asian land both modern and ancient … where a colorful Shinto festival snakes past neon lights and Tokyo skyscrapers … a modern bullet train speeds past a farmer tending his rice paddies … a well-dressed businessman stops in a Buddhist temple to light incense … and majes...

Overview

Trip type
Small Group Tour
Lodging level
Standard - 3 star
Physical level
Moderate
Trip pace
Full schedule

Highlights

    • Explore Japan
    • Visit Asakusa
    • Visit Kinkakuji Temple
    • Visit Buddhist Temple

What's this trip about?

    Travel to Japan with O.A.T. and discover the country you’ve always dreamed of. Discover an Asian land both modern and ancient … where a colorful Shinto festival snakes past neon lights and Tokyo skyscrapers … a modern bullet train speeds past a farmer tending his rice paddies … a well-dressed businessman stops in a Buddhist temple to light incense … and majestic Mount Fuji provides an iconic backdrop for Hakone, where locals and travelers alike relax in volcanic hot springs. Our small group allows us to get an intimate glimpse of Japan's distinct culture, which we'll experience alongside the people that know it best—the locals. We'll find a unique fabric of life when our local Trip Experience Leader introduces us to local artisans that specialize in woodwork, a Buddhist monk who will guide us through Zen meditation, and a local family that will show us their traditions. They'll invite us into their markets, homes, and temples to share a piece of their country with us.

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Details

Itinerary focusClassic Highlights
Group sizeSmall Group - max of 16 people
Age rangeNo age restrictions
Flights and transportN/A
Start CityKyoto
End CityTokyo

Travel Themes

  • Cultural
  • Hiking & Walking
  • Train & Rail Journeys
  • Women Only

Destinations

Attractions

  • Hakone
  • Kanazawa
  • Kyoto
  • Tokyo

Activities

  • Culture
  • Educational/ learning
  • Festivals & Special Events
  • Historic sightseeing
  • History
  • Nature
  • Trains & Rail

Max Group Size

  • Max Group Size: 16

Trip includes

    • International airfare, airport transfers, government taxes, fees, and airline fuel surcharges unless you choose to make your own air arrangements*
    • All land transportation, including 3 rail transfers on bullet and local trains
    • Accommodations for 13 nights
    • 28 meals—daily breakfast, 9 lunches, and 6 dinners
    • 13 small group activities
    • Explore in a small group of 8-16 travelers (average group size of 14)
    • Services of a local O.A.T. Trip Experience Leader
    • Gratuities for local guides and drivers
    • 5% Frequent Traveler Credit toward your next adventure—an average of $349

View Similar Trips

Itinerary

Day 1: Depart U.S.
Depart the U.S. today on your overnight flight to Tokyo, Japan.

Day 2: Arrive Tokyo, Japan
Destination: Tokyo Accommodations: Lotte City Hotel Kinshicho or similar Afternoon/Evening: An O.A.T. representative will greet us at the Tokyo airport upon arrival—usually between 2:45pm and 8:30pm—and assist with the approximately 1.5-hour transfer to our hotel in ...
DAY 3: Tokyo • Meet former sumo wrestler
Destination: Tokyo Meals: Breakfast and Lunch Accommodations: Lotte City Hotel Kinshicho or similar Breakfast: Served at the hotel starting at 7am, featuring a combination of Japanese and Western options. Morning: We’ll meet with our Trip Experience Leader for a ...
Day 4: Subway ride • Taiko drumming experience • Explore Asakusa
Destination: Tokyo Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner Accommodations: Lotte City Hotel Kinshicho or similar Activity Note: Because of limited space, we recommend you pack an overnight bag on Day 4 for the next two nights in Hakone. On Day 5, the rest of your luggag...
Day 5: Tokyo • Overland to Hakone • A Day in the Life of Ashigawa Village
Destination: Hakone Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner Accommodations: TKP Hotel & Resort Rekutore Hakone Gora or similar Activity Note: Total travel time to Hakone is approximately two hours, but we will make a three-hour stop along the way. Breakfast: Serve...
Day 6:  Hakone • Local interaction with fisherman at Lake Ashi
Destination: Hakone Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner Accommodations: TKP Hotel & Resort Rekutore Hakone Gora or similar Activity Note: Alternative activities may be substituted for some of today’s visits depending on weather conditions and the museum's hours ...
Day 7: Hakone • Bullet train • Express train to Kanazawa
Destination: Kanazawa Meals: Breakfast and Dinner Accommodations: Hotel Kanazawa or similar Activity Note: Find the rest of your luggage waiting at our hotel in Kanazawa this afternoon. Breakfast: Served at the hotel beginning at 7:30am, featuring a combination o...
Day 8: Kanazawa • Converse with Fukushima evacuee • Meet temple master • Omicho Market
Destination: Kanazawa Meals: Breakfast and Lunch Accommodations: Hotel Kanazawa or similar Breakfast: Served at the hotel beginning at 7am, featuring a combination of Japanese and Western options. Morning: We begin our exploration of Kanazawa at around 8:30am whe...
Day 9: Kanazawa • Optional Gokayama tour
Optional Tour Destination: Kanazawa Meals: Breakfast Accommodations: Hotel Kanazawa or similar Breakfast: Served at the hotel beginning at 7am, featuring a combination of Japanese and Western options. Morning: Today you have the freedom to spend a day in Kanaza...
Day 10: Kanazawa • Tea with local family • Train to Kyoto
Destination: Kyoto Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner Accommodations: Aranvert Hotel or similar Breakfast: Served at the hotel beginning at 7am, featuring a combination of Japanese and Western options. Morning: At about 9am, we'll split into smaller groups and de...
Day 11: Kyoto • Kinkakuji • Sushi-making in Kameoka
Destination: Kyoto Meals: Breakfast and Lunch Accommodations: Aranvert Hotel or similar Activity Note: Kinkakuji Temple is typically crowded with tourists. Accommodations in Kyoto are quite small. Breakfast: Served at the hotel beginning at 7am, featuring a combi...
Day 12: Kyoto • Optional Nara tour
Optional tour Destination: Kyoto Meals: Breakafst Accommodations: Aranvert Hotel or similar Breakfast: Served at the hotel beginning at 7am, featuring a combination of Japanese and Western options. Morning: Today is free for you to explore Kyoto on your own. If...
Day 13: Kyoto • Visit Buddhist Temple • See the Arashiyama Bamboo Grove
Foundation Visit Destination: Kyoto Meals: Breakfast and Lunch Accommodations: Aranvert Hotel or similar Activity Note: This day includes an uphill walk of 200 steps to reach Senkoji Temple. Travelers do not have to participate in this walk. Arashiyama Bamboo Gro...
Day 14: Kyoto • Nijo Castle
Destination: Kyoto Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner Accommodations: Aranvert Hotel Breakfast: Served at the hotel beginning at 7am, featuring a combination of Japanese and Western options. Morning: At about 9:30am, we’ll depart for Nijo castle, traveling for ap...
Day 15: Return to U.S. or begin Hiroshima post-trip extension
Meals: Breakfast Breakfast: Served at the hotel beginning at 7am, featuring a combination of Japanese and Western options. Morning: Today, you will transfer to the airport in the late morning for your flight home from Osaka. Or, if you're continuing on our optional...

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Dates & Availability

Price From $5,095
Price per day$340
Last Updated: 0/21/2020

Check Current Availability, prices, specials with Overseas Adventure Travel (O.A.T. Tours).

The total tour cost includes the tour price (regular or promotional) and the compulsory local payment. The promotional price is subject to change. Check directly with the operator for the latest price offer. The tour operator requires you to pay only the tour price to purchase your travel. The compulsory local payment will be paid when you join the trip. All prices are based on double, twin or triple share occupancy. Solo passengers will be accommodated in a double, twin or triple room according to availability with a passenger(s) of the same gender. Single supplement only needs to be paid if the passenger does not want to share and requests their own room. Discounts can only be applied at the time of booking and cannot be added at a later date, regardless of any changes made to the original booking.

Prices may vary due to local taxes and trip seasonality. Click "Request Info" to inquire directly with the tour operator for the final trip price.

Overseas Adventure Travel (O.A.T. Tours) Reviews & Ratings

4.9/5  Excellent
Excellent
442
Great
13
Average
8
Disappointing
0
Terrible
7
R

Refuse to Refund After Cancelation

Apr 2020

Written on

Refund not given after cancelation dur to COVID 19

Wife's trip to Japan was scheduled and paid for in April, 2019. Everything on track until her trip was canceled due to COVID19. She has had three calls with OAT incl...

J

Joan

Jan 2020

Written on

I thoroughly enjoyed the Enhanced! Japan's Cultural Treasures tour.

I thoroughly enjoyed the Enhanced! Japan's Cultural Treasures tour. Our guide Katy did an excellent job. You see several of the "must-see" sights that attract a lot ...

R

Regina

Dec 2019

Written on

Most Memorable Moment

Trip was great. The guide went over and beyond his dutie. We were able to ...

S

Sharon

Dec 2019

Written on

A wonderful experience!

I just loved this trip. We saw so many beautiful sites, had many hands-o...

P

Peter

Dec 2019

Written on

Great trip

Great trip and your guide. Enjoyed traveling with others in group. Japan is a great destination.

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Other Overseas Adventure Travel (O.A.T. Tours) Reviews

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Policy over practical customer service. zero customer service

Dec 2023

Overseas Adventure Travel (O.A.T. Tours) Company Reviewsby Overseas Adventure Travel (O.A.T. Tours)

don't expect humanity or common sense

This letter is effectively what was communicated no less than 8 times in writing and conversation to OAT representatives up the chain, beginning 19 days before the t...

Overseas Adventure Travel (O.A.T. Tours) Company Reviewsby Overseas Adventure Travel (O.A.T. Tours)

Trip of a Lifetime

Our recent Tanzanian Safari was indeed the trip of a lifetime. Saw the big 5, met the wonderful locals and spent 5 days in the Serengeti. Saw many lions, zebras, gi...

T

Terry

Feb 2023

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Be careful

Booked for July and gave them $12,000. They talked us into early arrival and then come back to us a two months later saying we can't offer. We have to keep our airli...

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Overseas Adventure Travel (O.A.T. Tours)

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Overseas Adventure Travel offers unique small group adventures worldwide to Americans over 50. By land and sea, we explore on—and off—the beaten path with a resident OAT Trip Leader, immersing ourselves in local cultures, sampling unique modes of transportation, and staying in authentic lodgings that reflect the essence of your destination. Grand Circle Small Ship Cruises serves both our GCT and OAT brands with an award-winning fleet known for exceptional value and high-quality experiences in Europe, Asia, Africa, and South America. Custom-designed according to our travelers’ specifications, our fleet includes 50+ small river and ocean-going ships that we own or privately charter.

Grand Circle Corporation is a global enterprise—comprised of a family of travel companies—committed to changing people’s lives by offering high-impact experiences to our travelers and building local communities through philanthropy, social entrepreneurship, and volunteerism.

Simply by traveling with OAT, you support the work of the nonprofit Grand Circle Foundation, which was created with the mission of changing people’s lives through travel—both those of our travelers, and of the people who welcome us so warmly into their homelands.

Journey with the Leader in Adventure Travel and Watch Your Dreams Take Flight: It is the stuff of dreams: gazelles bowing to lap at a glassy pool in the Serengeti as the vast sky turns purple with night, the tiered splendor of the Himalayas, rising behind a Tibetan monastery. Dreams like these are everyday realities for OAT travelers, thanks to the principles which ground every OAT adventure: value, choice, discovery, and carefully paced itineraries.

Our Value puts your travel dreams within reach: OAT can help you realize your travel dreams for a lot less than you thought possible. Together with our regional offices located throughout the world, we’ve been able to establish long-term relationships with many local vendors and hotels. Buying direct brings down our costs—and allows us to pass the savings on to you. And negotiating directly for hotel space also allows us to secure as many single room allotments as possible for our solo travelers. That way, we can also extend our great value to solo travelers. In fact, we offer the best value for solo travelers, guaranteed.

The Choice is yours: You’ll always have plenty of choices with OAT. We offer you a breadth of awe-inspiring travel destinations—from the peaks of the Andes to the sweeping desert sands of the Sahara to the rugged natural beauty of Iceland. You'll also enjoy more trip extension choices than ever before—like hiking to ancient monasteries in Bhutan or discovering the Moai monolithic rock statues on Easter Island. You have plenty of choices within each adventure, too, including several interesting optional tours. And the free time we’ve woven into our itineraries allows you plenty of opportunities for independent exploration. You can shop, unwind, perhaps linger at a sidewalk café, visit an interesting gallery or museum, or explore a cobbled street that caught your eye earlier in the day. You can do as much or as little as you want on an OAT adventure—the choice is yours.

OAT Difference

Adventure Travel: Adventure travel with OAT is a journey beyond the familiar, one that takes you into the very heart of a destination—to meet people where they work and live.

OAT Advantages: Journey with the leader in adventure travel and watch your dreams take flight, thanks to the principles which ground every OAT adventure: value, choice, discovery, and carefully paced itineraries.

Small Groups, Big Discoveries: When you discover the world in an OAT small group, you’ll journey off the beaten path to the places the big tour groups miss—and enjoy an intimate, discovery-filled adventure filled with personal connections, shared experiences, and treasured memories.

Trip Leaders: No matter where in the world you venture with OAT, you'll have one of our resident, expert Trip Leaders by your side. All are fluent in English and possess the skills, certification, and experience necessary to ensure an enriching adventure.

Airport Transfers: We’ve listened to your feedback, and will now offer international airport transfers to and from your hotel to our travelers who choose to purchase their own airfare on OAT adventures as part of our Personalize Your Trip program, which allows you create the OAT adventure that's right for you.

Personalize your trip: OAT travelers have long expressed the desire to decide exactly where they’re going, how they get there, and when they wish to leave. That’s why we developed a variety of choices that enhance the value of every trip we offer, allowing you to create the adventure that works best for you.

Traveling solo? Enjoy your own room or cabin—at no extra cost: You’re in control of your travel dreams—and we’re making them more affordable than ever: Maybe you prefer the freedom of solo travel—or maybe you and your usual traveling companion can’t agree on a destination. Whatever the reason, you don’t have to put your travel dreams on hold. When it’s time to go it alone, you’ll never pay a Single Supplement to have your own room or cabin with OAT.

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Logistics

Accommodation

Lotte City Hotel Kinshicho TKP Hotel & Resort Rekutore Hakone Gora Hotel Kanazawa Aranvert Hotel

Transportation & Flights

Walk over city streets, through gardens and markets, and within temples and shrines in which the ground may be uneven and stairways may lack handrails Travel by 24-passenger air-conditioned minibus (no toilet on board), shinkansen (bullet train), subway, local train, and 250-passenger boat Public transportation is used on the trip extensions in Tokyo and Hiroshima, often at subway stations with no escalators or elevators,

Transportation & flights

Walk over city streets, through gardens and markets, and within temples and shrines in which the ground may be uneven and stairways may lack handrails Travel by 24-passenger air-conditioned minibus (no toilet on board), shinkansen (bullet train), subway, local train, and 250-passenger boat Public transportation is used on the trip extensions in Tokyo and Hiroshima, often at subway stations with no escalators or elevators
Cancellation policy
If you need to cancel your trip for any reason, please call us as soon as possible, and follow up in writing. You are also required to return any airline tickets that may have been issued to you. Cancellation refunds will be calculated as of the date we receive your written cancellation. We will issue your refund in the manner in which we received your payment. If you paid your deposit by credit card and your balance by check, your refund will be divided accordingly. Refunds are generated manually by our accounting department to ensure accuracy. Please allow for a 30-day processing period before receiving your refund. There is a non-refundable, $300 per person processing fee for each trip you cancel, which reflects our costs of administering a reservation. Other cancellation fees depend upon your trip type and time of cancellation.
Travel Insurance
We strongly recommend purchasing travel insurance alongside your travel package to safeguard against unforeseen circumstances such as medical expenses, trip cancellations, and other contingencies. It offers you peace of mind and ensures you are prepared for unexpected events that may occur before or during your journey
Visa requirements
Visa requirements vary depending on your country of origin and your country of destination. It is your responsibility to familiarize yourself with the relevant requirements. For a handy tool that can help you quickly find the requirements, please visit this link .
Meals Included
13 Breakfasts, 8 Lunches and 6 Dinners
Age Requirements
No age restrictions
Additional Information
*Airport transfers are only available for travelers arriving and departing to/from the same airport and on the same arrival/departure dates as the main trip. Daytime temperatures are typically between 50-60°F in early spring, 85-100°F in summer, and 50-70°F in fall
Trip ID
overse-EnhJapOat

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