The Classic Autumn Tour 2026 runs from 22 November to 5 December – 14 days and 13 nights.
The route reads like a neat first guide to Japan, not a frantic count of the whole nation.
Guests spend four nights in Tokyo. The plan includes Sensoji, Asakusa, local trains and lesser-known parts of the city. A day in Kamakura adds temples, shrines, a bamboo grove, matcha and sea air at Enoshima.
The route then slips away to Hakone. A ryokan stay near Lake Ashi brings hot-spring bathing, a kaiseki dinner and the prospect of Mount Fuji views. The mountain, being both majestic and mischievous, may choose to appear. Sensible travellers admire the lake in the meantime.
From Hakone, the group travels through Tokyo to Kanazawa. Gran Class seats aboard the Hokuriku Shinkansen are listed for that leg. Kanazawa rewards a slow look. Its castle, samurai quarter, geisha district and gold-leaf craft give the city much more than good looks.
Kenrokuen is the main draw and one of Japan’s three most famous gardens. The tour then heads to Takayama and Gokayama. Its gassho-zukuri farmhouses have steep thatched roofs and preserve a rare rural building style. Japan Holidays has not named which Gokayama village the group will visit.
Kyoto brings the grand close. Four nights leave room for Nijo Castle, Kinkakuji and Kiyomizudera. Day trips run to Kurashiki and Okayama. At Korakuen Garden, guests see another of Japan’s three great gardens. Okayama Castle stands next door.
The last full day heads into the countryside at Shigaraki, one of Japan’s six ancient pottery centres. A tea plantation, galleries, local ceramics and the Miho Museum put craft at the heart of the day. Lunch is served in Shigaraki ware. It may settle the old question of whether the plate can upstage the meal.
Tour leader Juliane Suzuki spent almost 20 years living and working in Japan as an interpreter, returning to Australia in 2015. That background matters. A good tour escort does more than count heads at a station. The real value lies in explaining customs and smoothing small problems. It also lies in knowing when the group needs insight, rest or a decent coffee.
The price covers 13 nights in four-star accommodation, daily breakfast, eight lunches and four dinners. It also covers listed tours, transfers and entrance fees, plus two luggage-forwarding services. The group should have eight to 12 guests. The trip ends in Kyoto, not Tokyo.
