Private Japan tours for seniors and elderly parents
Japan rewards those who take it slowly.
Japan is one of the most comfortable countries in the world for older travellers: immaculate, calm, courteous and easy to move through. The best way to see it slowly is a private journey, with your own car and driver, rooms chosen for comfort and your own Tour Director, so each day holds only what you came for.
for the whole family
For your parents, and everyone who travels with them
For many families this is the journey talked about for years: your parents, your children, three generations at one table for a kaiseki dinner served course by course. A private journey is made for your party alone, so one day can hold a long morning in a garden for those who love to walk and an afternoon of relaxation for those who would rather not, with everyone together again at dinner.
We plan, organise and run every tour. Nothing on your journey belongs to someone else's timetable, so nobody is ever hurried to keep up with it.
the pace
Days that never hurry
Slow mornings
No day begins early unless you wish it to. Breakfast is slow and quiet, and the first place of the day is one worth the wait.
A car that waits
A private car and driver meet you on arrival and wait at every door, so the way from the car to each garden, temple and table is as short as it can be. On certain days your luggage is sent ahead to the next hotel, and you never stand at a front desk.
Fewer places, longer stays
The best journeys at this pace stay longer in fewer places: three nights in Kyoto rather than two, an afternoon given to the onsen, an evening with nothing planned at all.
Somewhere to sit
Wherever a view deserves lingering over, there is a bench, a tea house or a veranda to take it in from. Tea can be prepared for you in ryurei, the tea ceremony at a table, first presented in Kyoto in 1872 so that guests could take tea seated in chairs.
where you stay
Rooms chosen for comfort
You stay in the finest luxury hotels and ryokan in Japan, each one chosen personally by us for its luxury, its comfort and its setting.
For your parents, each room is chosen for comfort first: beds rather than futon if they prefer, a room close to the lift, and where it suits them, a suite with its own onsen, so the bath is theirs at any hour.
one of our own
Your Tour Director
Your Tour Director takes care of every arrangement and reads each day as it unfolds: when to linger and when to slow down, which path is gentler, which table is quieter.
accessible travel
Japan, for every traveller
questions
Japan for seniors, answered
What is the best way for seniors to see Japan?
On a private journey, at a gentle pace. A car and driver at the door, fewer hotels with longer stays, rooms chosen for comfort and your own Tour Director take away almost everything that makes travel tiring, and leave Japan.
Is Japan good for elderly travellers?
Yes, very. Japan is immaculate, calm and courteous, its cities are built with lifts and level entrances, and its trains run with remarkable punctuality. The temples, gardens and ryokan ask for more walking and more care, and a private journey plans every day around that.
Can we travel to Japan with our elderly parents?
Yes, and it is one of the loveliest ways to see Japan. Your parents travel at their own pace, with a car that waits, beds rather than futon if they prefer and your own Tour Director, and the whole family simply enjoys being there together.
How much walking is there on a private tour of Japan?
As much or as little as you wish. Each day is planned around how far everyone likes to walk, the car goes as close as it can to every garden and temple, and where a place asks for too much walking there is almost always another as beautiful that does not.
Can three generations travel together?
Yes. A private journey is made for one party of any size, with rooms side by side where the hotel allows, a pace that suits the eldest and something in every day for the youngest.
Are your small group tours suitable for older travellers?
Yes, for travellers who are comfortable on their feet for part of each day. Our published tours keep a gentle pace, with slow mornings, luggage sent ahead and time on your feet in gardens and temple precincts. For a pace entirely your own, The Custom Tour of Japan is created around you.
What is a Tour Director?
The most sought-after doors in Japan, and its most exclusive places, open only from within. Your Tour Director opens them: one of our own, fluent in English and Japanese. They enhance every day, turning a beautiful journey into a deep and authentic experience of Japan.
begin
Begin your journey
Tell us who is travelling, what you would love to see, and anything that helps us plan for you. The Custom Tour of Japan begins with the Journey form and continues on a call with our team, and everyone travelling is welcome to join it.