CAPITALS OF JAPAN END KYOTO 08 DAYS - EUROPAMUNDO

Meals

• Welcome to Japan! Transfer by coach (SHUTTLE BUS) to hotel. Meeting with the guide.
• Later in the afternoon, we will pay a visit to this fascinating country by taking a trip on the metro (tickets included) to the Shinjuku district and see the crowds of people who use this modern and efficient collective transport system. Shinjuku is one of the most important nightlife districts.
• Return to the hotel by metro with our guide.
• Overnight stay at hotel
• Meals: Dinner

Meals

• After breakfast in the morning, we take part in a 5-hour trip with our guide to see this amazing city, with its hustle and bustle and extremely modern districts that coexist with quiet, peaceful areas.
• A brief stop at the Zojoji Temple to take a beautiful photograph of the Tokyo Tower. Pay attention to the hundreds of Jizos, stone traditional protecting deities who guide us on our travels, give power to those who are weak (such as children) and those in dangerous places, and who are dressed including hats, robes, and windmills.
• Then we head to the junction of Shibuya, a junction that is said to be the most crowded in the world. The Meiji Temple is dedicated to Emperor Meiji, his wife, and their spirits. We continue on our bus along the elegant street of Omotesando.
• We will edge the most beautiful part of the Imperial Palace and the gardens. Stop to visit the famous Nijubashi Bridge.
• We will pass through the district of Akihabara, the “electric town” with icons from the popular Japanese Manga and Anime culture, and then see Kokugikan, the Sumo stadium, home of this Japanese sport.
• We will also visit the Buddhist temple of Sensoji, the oldest and most important temple in Tokyo, with its 55-metre-high pagoda. Then we will have some free time to visit the traditional commercial street of Nakamise in the district of Asakusa.
• Return to the hotel
• Overnight stay at hotel
• Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
• NOTE: During the Japanese Olympics, accommodation may be given near Narita airport.

Meals

• After breakfast, transfer to the station to take the BULLET TRAIN to HIROSHIMA. It takes four hours to travel the 800 kilometers between both cities.
• Arrival at Hiroshima. This city is sadly known for the atomic bomb that fell on it in 1945 and which leveled the city. We will stroll around the Peace Memorial; the Dome of the bomb and we will visit the impressive Museum of Peace. After the war, we will seek peace by embarking on a ferry to the island “where men and gods live together”, with the sanctuary of ITSUKUSHIMA dedicated to the guardian of the seas, built partially over the sea.
• Time to visit the temple, stroll around its pretty center and have lunch.
• Return to our hotel in Hiroshima
• Overnight stay at hotel
• Meals: Breakfast, Dinner
• Note: The order of the visits in Hiroshima may vary without affecting their content.

Meals

• Today after breakfast, we will take a ferry to Shikoku Island, on a pleasant crossing that lasts two hours and a half and see the many islands that makeup Japan.
• In MATSUYAMA we will take the cable car up to its impressive castle. Afterwards, we will visit ISHITEJI, a beautiful Buddhist temple and a place of pilgrimage.
• In the late afternoon, we will visit DOGO ONSEN (admission included), a traditional Japanese bath facility built in the 19th century.Overnight stay at hotel
• Meals; Breakfast, Lunch

Meals

• After breakfast, we depart for KOTOHIRA, a Shinto shrine dedicated to the God of sailors and a place of pilgrimage. The shrine stands on Mount Zosu and is reached by climbing 785 steps.
• Afterwards in TAKAMATSU, we will visit RITSURIN, one of the prettiest gardens in Japan.
• Then, in NARUTO, we cross an impressive bridge over the sea, stopping on the way to admire the construction and walk on its glass floor with the sea 45 metres below us.
• Our road is surrounded by beautiful scenery and then crosses long bridges between islands over the sea.
• Arrival in KOBE, and proceed to the hotel
• Overnight stay at hotel
• Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Meals

• After breakfast in Kobe, we visited the Earthquake Memorial Museum, a place to remind the tragic seism that devastated the city in 1995 and its perfect reconstruction.
• Note: On some dates, the Earthquake Museum may be changed for the Sake Museum or a climb up Kobe Tower.
• Later we go on to Osaka. We will depart from this city to visit, MOUNT KOYA, one of Japan’s sacred mountains and Japan’s main centre of Shingon Buddhism. There are 120 shrines and monasteries on this mountain which is a magical place of pilgrimage.
• We will visit Okuno Mausoleum, a spiritual place and an immense cemetery in the wilderness that has more than 200,000 graves and a Kongobuji temple, built-in 1593.
• We will spend this night at a Buddhist monastery. The monks will offer us a Zen meditation session (Ajikan). There is a religious ceremony at the temple early in the morning if you wish to attend it.
• Overnight stay at hotel
• Meals: Breakfast, Dinner (vegetarian food)
• Note: We consider the sojourn at the monastery as an experience of great existential value. The rooms at this place are modest, without bathrooms, in the traditional Japanese style with tatamis. Bathrooms are communal. 

Meals

• Japanese breakfast at the temple. Then we leave early for KYOTO, to spend the whole day in the city, which was the capital of Japan between 794 and 1868 and home to the Imperial Court. During World War II the city was the only major Japanese to escape the bombardments, and so it still preserves its wealth of artistic heritage; the famous protocol restricting greenhouse gas emissions was signed in Kyoto in 1997.
• The visit includes a trip to one of the most important parts of the city. We will see the marvellous Shinto Shrine of Fushimi Inari, the Imperial Palace and Kinkakuji temple, “the golden pavilion” and its wonderful gardens.
• Free time before visiting GION, a busy traditional quarter famous for its Geisha.
• Overnight stay at hotel
• Meals: Breakfast,
• Note: If you already visited Kyoto on your circuit, our guide will offer you information and advice on visiting the other parts of the city unaccompanied.

Meals

• After breakfast, end of our services

• Accommodation in a 3 / 4 star hotel
• Travel by bus with an English-speaking guide
• Basic travel insurance and breakfast buffet
• Includes arrival transfer
• City tour in TOKYO, KYOTO
• Evening transfer: Shinjuku, the Traditional quarter of Gion
• Ferry: Hiroshima - Miyajima, Hiroshima- Matsuyama
• Funicular: Matsuyama castle
• High-speed train: Tokyo – Hiroshima
• Entry tickets as per the Itinerary
• 3 Lunch included in TOKYO, MATSUYAMA, TAKAMATSU
• 3 Dinners included in TOKYO, HIROSHIMA, MOUNT KOYA

• Airfare
• Visa cost
• GST
• TCS
• Anything that is not mentioned in the Itinerary