summer tours of japan

Japan Summer Tours 2027

We run two summer tours of Japan in 2027, both in Hokkaido, the cool north of the country. The Summer Tour of Hokkaido is twelve days through Biei, Lake Shikotsu, Noboribetsu, Lake Toya, Otaru and Sapporo, 25 June to 6 July or 11 to 22 July 2027, at $18,500 per person. The Wild North Tour of Hokkaido is eleven days to Shiretoko and Lake Akan, 27 July to 6 August 2027, at $21,500 per person. Both are twin share, one inclusive price: all breakfasts, and all other meals as detailed in the itinerary. Your Tour Directors are beside you every day.

2027 tours
The Summer Tour of Hokkaido and the Wild North Tour of Hokkaido
From
$18,500 per person, twin share
On your own dates
Pure Hokkaido, $21,600 per person, twin share
See the tours
Rows of pink, yellow and red flowers striping a rounded hillside, snow-streaked mountains beyond
Flower rows on the hills of Biei
A tall sea stack and low rocks in clear turquoise water below green cliffs at Cape Kamui, Shakotan
The summer coast of Hokkaido, Cape Kamui

Summer divides Japan as winter does. While Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka sit in the heavy heat of the season, Hokkaido runs a full climate class cooler: the Japan Meteorological Agency classes its climate as subarctic, the cold Oyashio Current chills its Pacific coast, and the island is largely spared tsuyu, the long rainy season. The lavender of Furano, grown in Hokkaido since the 1930s, colours the hills; Lake Shikotsu, the clearest lake in Japan, keeps the light; and in the east the roadless coast of Shiretoko, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is read from the water.

the 2027 tours

The summer tours of 2027

Two published tours with set dates, led by our Tour Directors, and Pure Hokkaido, nine days through the onsen towns of the south-west, private and on the dates you choose.

side by side

The two summer tours, side by side

Dates, length, route and price per person of each tour
TourDatesDaysWhere it goesPrice, per person
The Summer Tour of Hokkaido25 June to 6 July 2027, or 11 to 22 July 202712 daysBiei, Lake Shikotsu, Noboribetsu Onsen, Lake Toya, Otaru, Sapporo$18,500 per person, twin share
The Wild North Tour of Hokkaido27 July to 6 August 202711 daysSounkyo, Shiretoko, Lake Akan, Kushiro, Noboribetsu, Lake Shikotsu$21,500 per person, twin share
Pure HokkaidoThe Private CollectionOn the dates you choose9 daysHakodate, Noboribetsu, Otaru and Sapporo$21,600 twin share

All prices are in US dollars.

on both tours

What every summer tour includes

  1. Your Tour Directors, every day

    From the first evening to the final departure, beside you at every ryokan, every table and every transfer.

  2. Onsen at the water's edge

    Both tours stay on the shore of Lake Shikotsu at Ao no Za, an all-suite ryokan with an onsen in every suite, and at Takinoya in Noboribetsu; the Summer tour adds a lake-facing suite above Lake Toya, and the Wild North a ryokan above the Sea of Okhotsk at Shiretoko.

  3. Shiretoko from the water

    On the Wild North, a boat up the roadless eastern shore of the Shiretoko peninsula, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the engine idled to a hush, and the wildlife of the strait and the tideline.

  4. The island's distances, in comfort

    A private chauffeur at the airport, arriving and departing, and on certain days a private vehicle and your luggage sent ahead to the next hotel, so the island's distances pass in comfort.

  5. The northern table

    Kaiseki in a private dining room at Takinoya in Noboribetsu, cold sea urchin at a fisherman's counter on the Shakotan coast, and the seafood of the northern coasts at every turn.

For each tour, every activity, 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 summer 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 Summer Tour of Hokkaido

The Wild North Tour of Hokkaido

Pure Hokkaido, The Private Collection

The places on the way

questions

Japan summer tours, your questions answered

Is Hokkaido worth visiting in summer?

Yes, for the cool of it above all. While Tokyo and Osaka sit in heavy heat, Hokkaido runs a full climate class cooler and is largely spared the rainy season, and its summer is spread across mountain, lake, marsh and coast: the lavender of Furano and the fields of Biei, Lake Shikotsu, the onsen of Noboribetsu, and in the east the national parks of Shiretoko and Akan. More in summer in Hokkaido (opens in a new tab).

Is July too hot to visit Japan?

In Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka July is hot and humid, often in the thirties Celsius. Hokkaido is the exception: Sapporo's afternoons are usually in the mid twenties, the coasts are cooler still and the evenings fresh, which is why both of our summer tours are in the north.

What is the best Hokkaido summer tour?

For a first summer in the north, the Summer Tour of Hokkaido: twelve days from the flower fields of Biei and Furano to a suite with its own onsen on Lake Shikotsu, fireworks over Lake Toya and the blue of the Shakotan coast. For the wilder east, the Wild North Tour of Hokkaido: eleven days to the coast of Shiretoko, read from the water, Lake Akan and the Ainu community on its shore. The same northern country in spring is the cherry blossom tour of Hokkaido.

When are the 2027 summer tours?

The Summer Tour of Hokkaido has two departures, 25 June to 6 July 2027 and 11 to 22 July 2027, and the Wild North Tour of Hokkaido runs from 27 July to 6 August 2027. The availability calendar shows every open date.

How much does a summer tour of Hokkaido cost?

The Summer Tour of Hokkaido is $18,500 per person and the Wild North Tour of Hokkaido $21,500 per person, twin share, one inclusive price: 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, 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.

Are the summer tours small group tours?

Limited to 8 guests, a truly small group tour. Every guest is eighteen or over, and every place is twin share, for a couple or two friends travelling together.

Can we see Hokkaido privately in summer, on our own dates?

Yes. Pure Hokkaido, a journey of The Private Collection, is nine days through Hakodate, Noboribetsu, Otaru and Sapporo on the dates you choose, with a Tour Director beside you every day, at $21,600 per person, twin share. A summer shaped around your party alone, on a route of your own, is the Custom Tour of Japan.

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 Summer Tour of Hokkaido arrives at and leaves from New Chitose, near Sapporo; the Wild North arrives at Asahikawa and leaves from New Chitose.

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, and we reply in person with the itinerary and the next step.

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