autumn tours of japan

Japan Autumn Leaves and Fall Foliage Tours 2027

Our Japan autumn tours for 2027 are two small group tours, led by our Tour Directors, twin share, at one inclusive price: all breakfasts, and all other meals as detailed in the itinerary. The Autumn Leaves Tour of Northern Japan travels for twelve days from the mountains above Sapporo to the gas-lit valley of Ginzan Onsen, with ten of its eleven nights at onsen ryokan, from 26 October to 6 November or 2 to 13 November 2027; the Autumn Leaves Tour of Japan travels for twelve days from Tokyo through Kanazawa and Kyoto to Osaka, from 23 November to 4 December 2027, and both of our autumn tours of 2026 are sold out. For Kyoto in autumn privately, on the dates you choose, The Private Collection offers four ready-made journeys, and the Custom Tour of Japan is created around your party alone.

2027 tour
The Autumn Leaves Tour of Northern Japan, 26 October to 6 November or 2 to 13 November 2027
2027 tour
The Autumn Leaves Tour of Japan, 23 November to 4 December 2027
Group
Limited to 8 guests, twin share
On your own dates
Classic Japan, eleven days
See the tours
A wide curtain waterfall spilling over a rock ledge into a forest of gold and orange autumn leaves
A waterfall in a forest of autumn colour
Red and gold maple leaves hanging over the edge of a grey tiled roof, fallen leaves resting on the tiles
Maple leaves over a tiled roof

Autumn in the north of Japan is a forest season. The Oirase Stream runs fourteen kilometres out of Lake Towada through beech and maple; at Nyuto Onsen the springs rise in a beech forest at the end of the road, where Tsurunoyu has received travellers for more than three centuries; and on the Mogami River a wooden boat follows the canyon the poet Matsuo Basho came down in 1689, on the journey he wrote as Oku no Hosomichi, the Narrow Road to the Deep North. In Kyoto the season belongs to the temple grounds of Higashiyama and Arashiyama, where the maples turn above moss and raked gravel.

the 2027 tours

Fall foliage tours of Japan, 2027

Two published tours with set dates, led by our Tour Directors; Classic Japan, private, through Tokyo, Kyoto, Kinosaki Onsen and Osaka on the dates you choose; and the Custom Tour of Japan for an autumn shaped around your party alone.

side by side

The autumn tours, side by side

Dates, length and route of each tour
TourDatesDaysWhere it goes
The Autumn Leaves Tour of Northern Japan26 October to 6 November 2027, or 2 to 13 November 202712 daysJozankei, Hakodate, Oirase, Towada, Kakunodate, Nyuto Onsen, Ginzan Onsen
The Autumn Leaves Tour of Japan23 November to 4 December 202712 daysTokyo, Kanazawa, Kaga · Yamashiro Onsen, Kyoto, Kinosaki Onsen, Osaka
Classic JapanThe Private CollectionOn the dates you choose11 daysTokyo, Kyoto, Kinosaki Onsen and Osaka

the northern autumn

What the autumn leaves tour includes

  1. Your Tour Directors

    From Jozankei to Ginzan Onsen they open the doors and take care of every arrangement, at every ryokan, every table and every transfer.

  2. The onsen ryokan of the north

    Ten of the eleven nights at onsen ryokan: above the Toyohira gorge at Jozankei, over its own spring in the beech forest at Tsuta Onsen, where two waters meet at Nyuto, and at Ginzan Onsen in an inn rebuilt inside by Kengo Kuma.

  3. The Mogami River, privately

    A wooden boat chartered for your group alone, through the canyon Basho came down in 1689, a boatman telling the river's story and your Tour Directors translating.

  4. Private vehicles and first-class rail

    A private vehicle on certain days, first-class seats on the Shinkansen beneath the Tsugaru Strait, a private chauffeur at New Chitose, and the rail south to Tokyo at the close.

  5. The table

    Twenty meals, among them kaiseki at the onsen ryokan and a farewell kaiseki in the gas-lit valley of Ginzan Onsen.

Every entrance and every arrangement in between comes at one inclusive price: all breakfasts, and all other meals as detailed in the itinerary. $3,500 per person secures your place; the balance is due 95 days before departure. Safe, secure, encrypted payment, by card or bank transfer.

hotels and ryokan

Where the autumn tours stay

Every hotel and ryokan is named on its tour. Where its page is written, the name leads to the rooms, the onsen and the setting. Our guide to the hotels and ryokan of Japan.

The Autumn Leaves Tour of Northern Japan

The Autumn Leaves Tour of Japan

Classic Japan, The Private Collection

The places on the way

questions

Autumn tours of Japan, your questions answered

What is the best fall foliage tour of Japan?

For the colour of the north, the Autumn Leaves Tour of Northern Japan: twelve days through Hokkaido and Tohoku, from the gorge at Jozankei to the Oirase Stream, the beech-forest springs of Nyuto Onsen and a private boat on the Mogami River, with ten of its eleven nights at onsen ryokan. For Kyoto in autumn on set dates, the Autumn Leaves Tour of Japan, twelve days from Tokyo to Osaka. For Kyoto in autumn, privately and on your own dates, Classic Japan: Tokyo, Kyoto, Kinosaki Onsen and Osaka in eleven days, with your own Tour Director.

When are the 2027 autumn tours?

The Autumn Leaves Tour of Northern Japan runs from 26 October to 6 November or from 2 to 13 November 2027, and the Autumn Leaves Tour of Japan from 23 November to 4 December 2027. Both of our autumn tours of 2026 are sold out. How the colour moves through Japan, region by region, is set out in when Japan's autumn colour peaks.

How much does an autumn tour of Japan cost?

Each tour carries one inclusive price per person, twin share, set out on its own page: the Autumn Leaves Tour of Northern Japan and the Autumn Leaves Tour of Japan. The price covers all breakfasts, and all other meals as detailed in the itinerary. It covers every night in luxury hotels and ryokan, your Tour Directors, private vehicles, first-class rail, and every activity and every entrance on the itinerary. $3,500 per person secures your place, and the balance is due 95 days before departure. Payment is safe, secure and encrypted, by card or bank transfer.

Is there a small group fall foliage tour of Japan?

Limited to 8 guests, a truly small group tour. The Autumn Leaves Tour of Northern Japan travels with your Tour Directors from Jozankei to Ginzan Onsen, and the Autumn Leaves Tour of Japan travels the same way from Tokyo to Osaka. Every guest is eighteen or over, and every place is twin share, for a couple or two friends travelling together.

Can we see the autumn leaves of Kyoto on a private journey?

Yes. Classic Japan takes Tokyo, Kyoto, Kinosaki Onsen and Osaka in eleven days, privately and on the dates you choose, with your own Tour Director. It is one of the four journeys of The Private Collection. An autumn shaped around your party alone, on a route of your own, is the Custom Tour of Japan.

How many days do you need for a fall foliage trip to Japan?

Ten days to two weeks lets the colour be met at an easy pace. The Autumn Leaves Tour of Northern Japan is twelve days, from the mountains above Sapporo to the gas-lit valley of Ginzan Onsen, with ten of its eleven nights at onsen ryokan. Classic Japan, private and on your own dates, is eleven days through Tokyo, Kyoto, Kinosaki Onsen and Osaka.

Do you arrange flights?

You book your international flights, and we advise on the routing and the flights that land you in good time for the first evening. The Autumn Leaves Tour of Northern Japan arrives at New Chitose, near Sapporo, and ends in Tokyo, by the Yamagata Shinkansen.

the japan edition

Further reading

Begin with an enquiry

Tell us which tour or journey you have in mind, and how many of you are travelling.

Every season, side by side: all our luxury Japan tours. Private, on your own dates: private tours of Japan.