the expert japan itinerary

A custom Japan itinerary, planned to the day before you fly.

Our experts plan every day of your journey from your answers: the towns and the order to take them, the trains, the rooms worth asking for and a table for every evening, each with how to reserve it. You book it and travel it on your own.

From $550

With you in seven working days, one revision included

Begin your itinerary Read a day from an itinerary

Journeys of up to fifteen days, across the whole of Japan

the planning

Japan is easy to visit and hard to plan well.

The trains run to the minute and the cities are calm, and still the decisions gather: which towns and in what order, which side of the carriage sees the mountain, which ryokan room is worth asking for, and how to reach a counter of eight seats that takes no booking online and none in English. The famous places fill by mid-morning, and each has its own quiet hour.

Most people give it weeks of evenings and still arrive unsure of the plan. Our experts give you a single document, with every decision made and the reason for it written beside it.

why experts

Three ways to plan it

On your own: Guidebooks, forums and booking sites, read an evening at a time, much of the best of it in Japanese, with no way to tell which advice still stands.
With an AI planner: Fast and fluent, and written from whatever is already published. It cannot know which ryokan room has the cypress onsen, which counter takes a booking from abroad, or that a garden closes on the day you planned it, and it sounds equally sure either way.
With our experts: The people who plan and run our journeys through Japan. They know the routes, the rooms and the tables, and every booking route and every timing in your document is set to your own dates.

a day, as written

Day five in Kyoto, from a winter itinerary

A short passage from an itinerary written for a couple returning to Japan in winter. The whole document covers every day of the journey, every booking and every train.

A traveller walking up a snow-dusted lane of wooden houses towards the lit five-storey pagoda of Higashiyama, Kyoto, at night — The pagoda lane in snow, Higashiyama, Kyoto

Day five, Kyoto

A couple, returning, in winter

MorningBreakfast: A slow breakfast in the room, with the Yasaka pagoda rising over the roofs of Higashiyama in the winter light. The lanes beneath it are twelve minutes from your door, mapped on the facing page.
10:30The morning: A taxi to the foot of the Philosopher's Path, then the canal north on foot to Ginkaku-ji, about forty minutes at an easy pace. Inside, take the upper path through the moss for the view over the city.
12:15Lunch: Yudofu, tofu simmered at the table, in a quiet room near Nanzen-ji. Reserve it when you book your hotel, as the facing page shows, and ask for the room on the garden.
16:30Tea: A private tea ceremony for two in a sub-temple, given in English; how to reserve it is on page twenty-two. Shoes stay at the step.
18:30Dinner: Kaiseki at an eight-seat counter in Gion, the menu of the month. Your hotel's concierge reserves it from the note on the facing page; arrive five minutes early and leave scent off for the evening.
TonightTomorrow: Cases to the front desk for the courier to Kanazawa, so that you take the train with a day bag.

Our group of six had a tour designed by Luxury Japan Travel, with restaurants and hotels beyond what we expected. A personal journey through Japan, planned just for us.
James Ong, Singapore
The itinerary went beyond what we had hoped for. It sent us to places we would never have found on our own, and it was easy to book everything ourselves.
Michael and Sarah, United Kingdom
A detailed plan that made our trip. The knowledge showed in every stay, and it was clear enough that we made all the arrangements ourselves.
David Chen, Australia

sample pages

From the itineraries we write

A lane in Kyoto at dusk
An open-air bath in winter
An onsen valley in Kyushu
Tokyo at night
A ryokan room in the morning light

what you receive

A working document, written for you

The shape of each day: Every day planned from morning to evening: what to see, in what order, and where the day should slow down.
Where to stay: Our recommended hotels and ryokan for every night, with the room to ask for. If yours are already booked, every day is planned from their door.
Where to eat: Our recommended restaurants in every town, with what to order and how to reserve.
The trains: Set out in full, platform by platform, with which side the view is on and how to travel light between cities.
Before you fly: The bookings that fill early, the way in from the airport, and the transit card and eSIM to buy before you land.
The reading in: What you are looking at, and what most people walk past.

how it works

From your answers to your itinerary

Tell us everything
Answer our questions online, at your own pace: your dates, who is travelling, how you like to move, eat and rest, and anything already booked. You pay at the end.
Our experts plan it
We plan every day in full, checking each booking route, train and opening against your dates.
Your itinerary arrives
By private link, in seven working days. Read it, send everything you would change in one list, and the revision is included.

the fee

From $550 for the whole itinerary

One document carries every decision you would otherwise make over weeks of evenings: the towns and their order, the rooms worth asking for, every train and a table for each night, every one of them set to your own dates.

Included: The whole itinerary
Revision: One full revision is included
Delivery: Seven working days, by private link
Length: Up to fifteen days; longer is a Custom Tour of Japan

Begin your itinerary

All prices are in US dollars.

questions

Questions before you begin

Skiing? The Japan ski itinerary is written the same way, for Niseko, Hakuba and Myoko.

What is the Expert Japan Itinerary?

A custom Japan itinerary, planned to the day by the people who plan and run journeys through Japan, and travelled by you. It sets out every day, the hotels and the room to ask for, the restaurants, every train and transfer, and how to reserve each one. From $550, delivered in seven working days.

Why use a Japan itinerary planner instead of planning it myself or with AI?

You can plan it yourself, and many people spend weeks of evenings doing it. An AI planner writes quickly from what is already published, but it cannot tell you which ryokan room is worth asking for, which restaurant takes a booking from abroad, or when a garden is closed. In yours, every booking route and every timing is set to your dates.

Is it written for us, or is it a template?

It is written for you from your answers: your dates, who is travelling, your pace, what you eat and anything already booked. Two couples on the same dates receive two different itineraries.

Can you plan around hotels we have already booked?

Yes. The document is designed around them, with every day planned from the door of the hotel you chose.

What if we want changes?

One full revision is included: read the itinerary, send everything you would change in one list, and we revise it as a whole.

Do you book anything for us?

The itinerary is written for you to book and travel yourself, and every hotel, train and table comes with how to reserve it. If you would rather the whole journey were ours to run, that is the Custom Tour of Japan.

How long can the journey be?

Up to fifteen days, anywhere in Japan. A longer journey is a Custom Tour of Japan. If you ski, the Japan ski itinerary is written the same way.

Tell us how you like to travel, and we will write the rest.

From $550, with you in seven working days.