Intensive
Japan's Greatest Hits
Greatest hits, no padding, mostly trains.
- First visit
- Base cities: Tokyo · Kyoto · Osaka
- culture
- food
- urban
- history
Itinerary
Sacred Mountains of the North
- 9 nights
- Medium pace
- Interest-led
Medium pace
Tohoku keeps a quieter, older faith. This route reaches the Dewa Sanzan, the three sacred mountains where yamabushi ascetics still walk, with a base at Tsuruoka, plus the cliff-clinging temple at Yamadera and Sendai in between. Cedar avenues, stone steps, shojin meals at the pilgrim lodgings.
Yamabushi trails on the Dewa Sanzan, the cliff temple at Yamadera, Tohoku's quiet faith.
Trip facts
- Length9 nights
- PaceMedium
- Designed forInterest-led
- GatewaysIn and out via Tokyo
The route, city by city
Where you sleep and what each base is for. Load it into the planner to reshape the cities, dates, and day-by-day plan.
- Day 1Arrive
- Day 2Explore
The world's largest city and Japan's beating heart - an overwhelming, endlessly layered metropolis where every kind of Japan coexists.
- Day 3Travel in
- Day 4Day trip: Yamadera
- Day 5Explore
Tohoku's largest city, the 'City of Trees', gateway to Matsushima and famous for beef tongue cuisine.
A mountain temple town with 1,015 stone steps climbing a cliffside, where Matsuo Basho wrote his most famous haiku.
- Day 6Travel in
- Day 7Explore
A dignified castle town on the Japan Sea coast, gateway to Dewa Sanzan's three sacred mountains and celebrated for its local cuisine.
- Day 8Travel in
- Day 9Depart
The world's largest city and Japan's beating heart - an overwhelming, endlessly layered metropolis where every kind of Japan coexists.
Your JP Adventure
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