16 Day Cherry Blossom Dreams - Westward Course
Sat. 28 March 2009                                                                           
ex. Adelaide, Brisbane, Cairns, Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney

Economy Class Twin Share $ $10,267 cost per person
Business Class Twin Share $ 15,207 cost per person
(plus Airport Taxes & Charges)
Single supplement $1,522

This Deluxe Cherry Blossom Dreams Tour has been
designed for our customers to not only catch the cherry blossoms at their best and to experience some new features which have never been offered before by anyone else, but to enjoy a level of luxury that only Japan can offer. Experience a proper Kyoto style Kaiseki multi-course dinner at a traditional restaurant with accompaniment of a young geisha and a special traditional dance performance just for JANESCO members. Stay in the best hotels, experience luxury lakeside and mountain resorts, and enjoy exquisite meals. Stroll through exotic locations in Kyoto familiar to many travellers from movies such as “Memoirs of a Geisha”. Visit hidden places which other package tours do not offer.


Day 1 SYDNEY/NARITA
Day flight to Narita airport and transfer to Tokyo Hotel.
Day 2 TOKYO
Morning sightseeing of Tokyo tour by chartered coach. Visit Tokyo Tower and Asakusa temple and stroll down the colourful Nakamise shopping street, Ueno and lunch at local restaurant. Remainder of the day is free. Welcome cocktail with light dinner at private lounge at the hotel overlooking the Imperial Palace at sunset.
Day 3 MT. FUJI & HAKONE
Travel to Mt. Fuji by chartered deluxe motor coach and enjoy picturesque Hakone including the lake Ashi cruise and ropeway. Stay at hotel by the lake and wake up to a view of Mt. Fuji. Dinner at hotel

Day 4 TOKYO-TAKAYAMA
Travel to Tsumago village in the Kiso valley, a town seldom visited by group tours, where cars are banned and signs of modernity such as power lines are hidden to maintain the
old style ambiance. After strolling along the old streets and soaking up the atmosphere, travel on to another old town, Takayama whose isolation has allowed Edo period streets, lined with tiny shops, museums and eating places, to survive to this day. Stay at Mountain resort.
Dinner at Hotel.
Day 5 TAKAYAMA-SHIRAKAWAGO
Enjoy Takayama’s Morning market. Travel to Shirakawago Ogimachi, a small world heritage listed village, nestled in the mountains beside a pristine mountain river. Enjoy a traditional home dinner and breakfast, during your stay overnight in a centuries old thatched roof farm house, including sleeping Japanese style on futon and a traditional Japanese bath.
Day 6 SHIRAKAWAGO-KANAZAWA
After a morning walk around the village, travel to Kanazawa by motorcoach. Visit a Japanese traditional ricepaper work shop. After checking in and lunch at the hotel in Kanazawa, make a visit to the famous 21st Century Art Museum or visit the local bustling Omichi Market
Day 7 KANAZAWA
Sightseeing tour to Kanazawa’s old geisha district, Gold Leaf and Kutani pottery workshops , Kanazawa’s Kaga Yuzen Silk Kimono painting workshop and museum, the former samurai residential area and the Kenrokuen garden which is one of Japan’s most famous gardens.
Day 8 KANAZAWA- MT.KOYA
Leave Kanazawa by train for Osaka and travel on to Mt. Koya by motorcoach. Visit Kongobuji, Banryu-tei, and Okuno-in where it is believed that Kobo-taishi is still in eternal meditation after almost 1,200 years. Japanese style accommodation with high quality, traditional Rooms. Enjoy vegetarian meals
Day 9 Mt.KOYA-KYOTO
Morning, travel from Mt. Koya to Kyoto’s south-west Sagano Arashiyama district by motor coach, including moss gardens, bamboo forest
walk-way, small farm houses, a pottery, Japanese rice paper, hand made clay bell specialist shop, a bamboo craft shop, and a taste of the Kyoto countryside.
Day 10 KYOTO
Full day sightseeing tour of Kyoto visiting the Golden Pavilion, Nijo Castle, Heian Shrine. Lunch at hotel. Afternoon, visit Kiyomizu temple
overlooking the city. Part of the fun of visiting Kiyomizu temple is the approach to the temple along the steep and busy lanes of Kyoto’s atmospheric old Higashiyama district.
Day 11 KYOTO-HIMEJI-KURASHIKI-KYOTO
Full day tour Travel by a Bullet train to Himeji, to visit the famous and beautiful Himeji Castle which is the best preserved castle in all of Japan. Travel then to Kurashiki a well preserved Edo period mercantile town. Enjoy a stroll through this fascinating town Then travel back to
Kyoto by Bullet train.
Day12 KYOTO
Free at leisure. Optional tours available with English speaking guides.
1.Hiroshima Miyajima 1 day —¥14,700, min 2 people
2.Nara Afternoon Tour half day—¥6,600, min 1 person.
Afternoon tea at hotel at your leisure. Evening free .
Day13 KYOTO–
Morning, visit Fushimi-inari Shrine which serves as the head of 40,000 Inari shrines all over Japan. Red torii shrine gates line the path, so close together that they form what resembles a tunnel leading all the way to the top of Mt.
Inari. Later visit the bustling Nishiki food arcade, Kyoto’s restaurant provedores’ street. Special dinner at traditional Japanese Restaurant, accompanied by geisha. Enjoy chatting and special performance. After dinner, stroll to
Gion Geisha district.
Day14 KYOTO - TOKYO
Late morning, travel to Tokyo by bullet train for arrival in Tokyo early afternoon. Remainder of the day is free. Tour coordinator will help organise your activity. Farewell dinner at Hotel.
Day 15 TOKYO-AUSTRALIA
Enjoy your last day in Japan with some last minute souvenir hunting or some optional half day activity. Perhaps follow your escort to Meiji shrine and Omotesando promenade of Harajuku, where Tokyo’s old & new cultures meet. Late afternoon, leave hotel for Narita by motorcoach. Depart for Australia.
Day 16 AUSTRALIA
Morning Arrival. Interstate passengers connecting flight. 		 

 

Basic Tour Package includes:

  • Return airfares
  • Luxury 5 STAR accommodation:The Imperial Hotel Tokyo & The Kyoto Hotel Okura and the best available in the region (4 star or better)
  • Total of 27 meals included - Breakfast (15) Lunch (3) Afternoon tea (1) Dinner(8)
  • Welcome drinks at private lounge of Imperial hotel.
  • First class 7 Day Japan Rail pass. ( including first class seats on Bullet trains)
  • Baggage porterage — one piece.
  • All transfers and admissions for sightseeing as specified
  • Tokyo morning sightseeing tour with English speaking guides and half day tours (Day15).
  • Mt. Fuji & Hakone tours with Lake Ashi cruise and Ropeway ride. Stay by the Lake Ashi.
  • Takayama sightseeing including Takayama’s famous morning market. Stay at Mountain Resort
  • Tsumago (Kiso) sightseeing.
  • Shirakawago ( World Heritage) Ogimachi, sightseeing of the village, farm house stay with home cooked meals.
  • Kanazawa half day tour of Kenrokuen Garden, Samurai residential area and visit to Kimono silk painting house.
  • Visit to Mt. Koya Sightseeing tour and Monastery accommodation with vegetarian meals.
  • Kyoto full day sightseeing tour to visit Golden Pavilion, Heian Shrine, Philosopher’s walk and Kiyomizu temple. Teppan Yaki lunch at hotel.
  • Visit to Fushimi Inari shrine and to Nishiki food arcade and down-town area.
  • Kyoto half day sightseeing tour to Sagano-Arashiyama districts.
  • Special traditional dinner at Japanese Restaurant with accompaniment of young Geisha , traditional dance performance and chatting.
  • Evening walking tour of Gion geisha district of Kyoto