Arrive on suggested flights into Osaka Itami Airport and transfer to your hotel in Kyoto (transfer from the airport to the hotel included in the tour price). Renaissance Tours or your travel agent can assist with your flights and other travel arrangements, including travel insurance (a condition of travel), pre- or post-tour accommodation, and a room category upgrade.

Once the imperial capital of Japan, Kyoto is renowned for its timeless cultural heritage and refined garden traditions. The city offers access to some of Japan’s most celebrated gardens, from the tranquil Zen landscapes of temple precincts to exquisite stroll gardens that reflect centuries of artistic and philosophical influence.

In the morning, join your tour leader Robin Powell and fellow travellers for a welcome briefing at the hotel before a visit to the ancient temple complex of Daitoku-ji. It is one of the best places in Japan to see a wide variety of Zen gardens, such as Daisen-in, a Zen contemplative garden. One part of the garden is an allegory, the other is designed for meditation.

After lunch, enjoy a guided walk through the secluded Gio-ji moss garden, a shaded, carpet-like garden featuring several species of moss, and the nearby Rakushisha cottage, a simple Edo-period poet’s retreat surrounded by persimmon trees.

Continue to Tenryu-ji Temple, a scenic area at the foot of Kyoto’s western mountains. Established in 1339, this Zen temple has been registered as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and has a beautiful landscape garden which features a central pond surrounded by the forested Arashiyama mountains.

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Today, visit two of Kyoto’s most celebrated temples, beginning with the iconic Kinkaku-ji (Golden Pavilion), a world-renowned Zen Buddhist temple with the top two stories completely covered in brilliant gold leaf. This UNESCO World Heritage site is known for the impressive reflection in the surrounding “Mirror Pond” (Kyoko-chi) and its history as shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu’s retirement villa.

Enjoy some free time to explore Nishiki Market, Kyoto’s vibrant covered food market known as “Kyoto’s Kitchen”.

Then, visit Komyo-in Temple, a peaceful sanctuary garden of the dry landscape style, where the interplay of moss, stone and sand evokes a deep sense of tranquillity. The garden is renowned for its vibrant display of moss that has earned it the nickname “Rainbow Moss Garden”.

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Travel south to the ancient city of Nara, Japan’s former capital. Visit the elegant Isuien Garden, a scenic, tranquil masterpiece known for its “borrowed scenery” (shakkei) technique. The garden features two distinct, interconnected spaces from the Edo and Meiji periods and houses the Neiraku Art Museum. Then, walk to the adjacent Yoshikien Garden, a traditional Japanese garden with a pond garden, moss garden and tea ceremony garden, all located on the site of former Kofukuji Temple priest residences.

After lunch, explore the historic Kasugataisha Shrine, famous for its thousands of stone and bronze lanterns, surrounded by the Kasugayama Primeval Forest, a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Return to Kyoto in the late afternoon and enjoy the evening at leisure.

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Begin the day with a visit to Kyoto Gosho, the Kyoto Imperial Palace, former residence of Japan’s imperial family until 1868. The complex, surrounded by a high wall on all sides, is a green sanctuary in the middle of the city with large gravel courtyards and a small pond garden.

Continue to Kyoto station and depart the city on the Shinkansen train to Tokyo (included in tour price), arriving at the hotel in the late afternoon.

Tonight, dinner is at a local restaurant.

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This morning, visit Nezu Shrine for the Bunkyo Azelea Festival. Explore its gardens with over 3,000 flowers and 100 varieties of azalea in full bloom, as well as stone-paved paths, small ponds and a tea house.

After lunch, enjoy a tour of the Imperial Palace East Gardens, part of the inner palace. The gardens are the former site of Edo Castle’s innermost circles of defence: the honmaru (main circle) and ninomaru (secondary circle). It is best known for blending history with nature, featuring massive original moats, stone walls and landscaped, flower-filled wooded areas that offer a quiet escape from the city.

Continue with a visit to Kiyosumi Teien, a renowned Edo-period “stroll-style” Japanese garden, famous for a large central pond and an extensive collection of valuable landscaping stones.

The evening is at leisure.

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Start the day with a visit to the Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum, primarily known for its 1933 Art Deco-style building, which was formerly the residence of Prince Asaka (son-in-law to Emperor Meiji). The museum features beautifully preserved, luxurious interiors, designed by French artist Henri Rapin, and a lush Japanese and Western-style garden oasis.

After lunch, stroll to the nearby Rikugien Garden, often considered Tokyo’s most beautiful Japanese landscape garden. Built around 1700 for the 5th Tokugawa Shogun, Rikugi-en literally means “six poems garden” and reproduces in miniature 88 scenes from famous poems.

Return to the hotel in the late afternoon and enjoy some free time before dinner at a nearby restaurant.

(BLD)

Begin the day with a visit to Koishikawa Korakuen, one of Tokyo’s oldest Japanese gardens. This landscape garden houses famous Japanese and Chinese scenes in miniature, dating from the early Edo period.

After some time for lunch at leisure, visit Meiji Jingu, Tokyo’s largest and most famous Shinto shrine. Located in an evergreen forest of approximately 70 hectares in the middle of Tokyo, the shrine is dedicated to the divine souls of Emperor Meiji and his wife, Empress Shoken.

Continue to Shinjuku Gyoen, originally a residence of the Naito family in Japan’s Edo period and now a national park. It features 58 hectares of gardens, ranging from English and French to traditional Japanese garden styles, with nearly 1,100 trees spread throughout the park.

Enjoy the evening at leisure.

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This morning, depart Tokyo and travel to Hitachi Seaside Park, overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Every year the park is covered by over 5 million nemophila flowers (baby blue eyes), transforming the fields into a never-ending blue ocean of blooms. The hilly grounds span 3.5 hectares and are almost completely filled with the little blue blossoms.

In the afternoon, continue to Lake Chuzenji, nearby the historic town of Nikko.

Check in to the hotel and enjoy some time at leisure before dinner at the hotel’s restaurant.

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Today, explore the rich history and heritage of Nikko, beginning with a guided visit to the Tamozawa Imperial Villa, one of Japan’s largest surviving wooden structures and a former summer retreat of the Imperial Family, with 106 rooms blending Edo, Meiji and Taisho period architecture.

Continue to the Tosho-gu Shrine complex, the elaborately decorated mausoleum of Tokugawa Ieyasu, the third of the three “Great Unifies” of Japan, and a UNESCO World Heritage site.

After lunch at leisure in the charming streets of Nikko old town, visit the Kanaya Hotel History Museum, one of Japan’s first lodging houses for foreign guests and now a museum showcasing furniture and elements from over 150 years.

In the afternoon return to the hotel and enjoy some time at leisure before dinner at the hotel’s restaurant.

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Spend the morning at Ashikaga Flower Park, hosting a spectacular annual wisteria festival. Known as fuji in Japanese, wisterias are said to be Japan’s oldest flowering tree. Considered the world’s finest collection of wisteria, over 350 trees in full bloom dangle from wooden trellises and create mesmerising displays of magnificent wisteria tunnels and arches. Marvel at the riot of colours, from pale red to purple and white, and admire the impressive “Great wisteria”, a 160-year-old wisteria tree.

After lunch at a local restaurant, return to the hotel for an afternoon at leisure, followed by dinner.

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This morning, check out of the hotel and drive to the breathtaking Ryuzu Falls, known for its dragon head shape.

Continue to Chuzenji Temple, founded in 784 CE and renowned for its six-metre tall Tachiki Kannon statue, carved from a rooted, standing tree.

After lunch at leisure, depart Lake Chuzenji for Tokyo, arriving in the mid-afternoon.

Tonight, celebrate the conclusion of the tour with a special farewell dinner with Robin and fellow travellers.

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Tour arrangements conclude with a transfer to Tokyo Haneda Airport for suggested flights to Australia (supplement applies to Narita Airport). Renaissance Tours or your travel agent can assist you with your flights and other travel arrangements, including additional nights’ accommodation either before or after the tour and travel insurance (a condition of travel).

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Note: At time of publication (April 2026), most but not all garden visits were confirmed. Private owners are reluctant to commit more than two to three months prior to the visit. Therefore, while we undertake to operate the tour as published, there may be some changes to the itinerary.