Japan with Mount Fuji & Hiroshima

The adventure begins: we take off from Miami bound for fascinating Tokyo. Prefer to leave from another city? Ask us for the fare. We recommend getting to the airport at least 4 hours before your flight so the trip starts stress-free.

Welcome to Tokyo! When you arrive in Japan's capital, a representative meets you and takes you to your hotel. The rest of the afternoon is for soaking up the city's energy: its lights, its modern neighborhoods and its unique mix of tradition and cutting edge.

We tour Tokyo with our guide for about five hours: Zojoji Temple with Tokyo Tower behind it, Shibuya Crossing, Meiji Shrine, Omotesando Avenue, the Imperial Palace gardens with Nijubashi Bridge and the Akihabara district. We ride up the Tokyo Skytree (entry included) and finish in Asakusa at Sensoji Temple and Nakamise Street. At 6:30 p.m. we take the metro (tickets included) to Shinjuku to experience its nightlife, with dinner included at a local restaurant.

We travel to Mount Fuji, starting at Arakurayama Sengen Park, with its pagodas and the volcano's most famous view. In Kawaguchiko we visit Fuji Sengen Shrine, take a boat ride on the lake and drive up to the Fifth Station at 2,305 meters (7,562 ft). We spend the night at a ryokan, a traditional Japanese inn with an onsen, with dinner included.

Following the lakeshore we reach Iyashi no Sato Nenba, a mountain village destroyed by a typhoon in 1966 and rebuilt as an open-air museum. We admire Shiraito Falls, among the most beautiful in Japan, and in the Nagoya area we visit the Toyota Museum (entry included). We continue to Kyoto for the night.

A full day in Kyoto, Japan's imperial capital from 794 to 1868 and the only major city spared from bombing in World War II. We visit Arashiyama and the Togetsukyo Bridge, the Zen temple of Tenryuji and its bamboo forest, Fushimi Inari Shrine, the Imperial Palace and Kinkakuji, the Golden Pavilion. We end with a stroll through Gion, the traditional geisha district.

In Nara we visit Todaiji, a Buddhist temple from the year 752 with its giant Buddha, surrounded by the deer that roam the park freely; lunch included at a local restaurant. Next we see Horyuji, a UNESCO World Heritage Site considered Japan's oldest Buddhist temple. We reach Osaka in the early afternoon and in the evening stroll through Dotonbori, its neighborhood of neon and nightlife.

We go inside massive Himeji Castle (entry included), a jewel of Japanese castle architecture, followed by lunch included at a local restaurant. In Okayama we visit Korakuen, one of Japan's most beautiful gardens, with ponds, waterfalls and teahouses, and cross the river to Okayama Castle, rebuilt in 1966 (exterior only). Free afternoon in the city.

We stroll through Kurashiki and its historic center, which keeps the charm of another era. In Hiroshima we walk through the Peace Memorial and the Atomic Bomb Dome and visit the Peace Museum, then take the ferry to Miyajima to see Itsukushima Shrine, built partly over the sea, with time to explore and have lunch. Back at our hotel in Hiroshima, dinner is included.

We board the iconic bullet train, which covers 800 kilometers (500 miles) in just four hours. We arrive in Tokyo around 2:00 p.m., with the afternoon free to keep exploring the city.

At the scheduled time, transfer to the airport for your flight home. We return with suitcases full of temples, castles and Japanese landscapes.