Thinking of an independent tour of Japan?

For independent travellers

If you'd like advice putting together a tailored tour of Japan, please get in touch. I can organise something for you to follow in the style that suits you. Or, if you have your own group that would like to be guided (and I'm not guiding others), then I could be at your service. In fact, my next tour is for a group just like that, with special requests for sightseeing and food experiences - It should be great! Some places I can recommend that I have experienced, but are not part of my organised tours include:

Hokkaido in Winter, where you can combine skiing with touring experiences, such as walking on drift ice on the Sea of Okhotsk (pictured).

Northern Kyushu, which is a great place to enjoy rural landscapes, hot spring resorts and experience traditional pottery villages such as Onta.

Yakushima Island off southern Kyushu, which is World Heritage listed, is a wonderful place to do some serious hiking in ancient cedar forests, with views of the ocean all round.

 

Prayers for Mt Ontake hikers

Recently, you would have heard the terrible news of Mt Ontake blowing its top in Central Japan, killing nearly 50 hikers. On that day, I happened to be touring with fellow travellers just in a nearby valley. We didn't see or feel anything that day, but it was a reminder that Japan does face very powerful natural forces from time to time. I wish everyone safe travels wherever they may be in the world.

 

 

Tour report: City Lights & Alpine Trails, Sept 2014

Once again, I was lucky to enjoy a great trip from Kyoto to Tokyo via the Japan Alps with a terrific group of fellow travellers. The weather gave us a great walking day on the ancient Nakasendo from Tsumago to Magome in the Kiso valley (pictured). Here is some feed-back from two travellers:

Riki made our trip enjoyable because of his delightful personality, his kind-ness, and his extensive knowledge of Japan - Helen

I enjoyed the variety of city & country. Your intimate knowledge of Kyoto, Japanese food and customs was in-valuable - Anne

 

Bookings for 2015

My 2015 tours are now filling and my Classic Sakura tour has just sold out.

Sakura Highland in April
four spaces
City Lights & Alpine Trails in May
four spaces
North to Kamui Mintara in May-June
six spaces
Combined Walking Tour in May-June
four spaces

My 2015 Autumn Tours later in the year are available. Remember, my tours are guaranteed to depart with just two travellers, so if you have a travelling buddy, you can book ahead and organise your flights with confi-dence knowing that your trip will run.