It’s the tour you’ve asked us for – a combination of the must-see cities of Kyōto and Tōkyō, with highlights of Japan’s best-loved trails – the Kumano Kodō and the Nakasendō! Enjoy a combination of more relaxed hiking with cultural discovery, more included meals, and special experiences, as you walk the trail with one of our expert local guides.

Your adventure also offers a deeper discovery of the unique culture surrounding each. We’ve selected routes suitable for fit and active travellers, with none over 4 hours in duration, and, aside from one strenuous day to sample more advanced hiking, the route is accessible with moderate ascents and descents.

Sample the best of Japan's most famous hikes on an itinerary that combines the highlights of both routes with the must-visit cities of Kyōto and Tōkyō, with special features including:

• Dining on an ekiben, or train station bentō lunch, as you travel through the mountains
• Learning about the locally powerful governors of the Kiso Valley and visit one of the great checkpoints of the Nakasendō

In Kyōto, we walk along a stunning gorge and through the back lanes of the picturesque district of Arashiyama, famous for its bamboo grove, before the special treat of a lunch with a maiko, or apprentice geisha. The world of the geisha is notoriously difficult to enter. We’ll learn about the artistic training the maiko undergo and their strict regime as a geisha-in-training. We’ll then enjoy a walk in the Gion district – home to many teahouses where the geisha and maiko perform and live. Next, we travel south to the Kumano region, where we discover Kumano Kodō as we travel from coast to coast on the Kii peninsula.

This pilgrimage route, at over a millennium old, was followed first by emperors and later by Shinto and Buddhist pilgrims. Vermilion shrines and natural wooden temples, as well as stone jizo and torii are scattered through the green of the forest like so many gems that call to you from the centuries. It’s little wonder that the route is one of just two UNESCO-designated World Heritage routes of pilgrimage. If you’ve hiked the other, the Camino de Santiago, you might wish to explore its Japanese counterpart. We will dine on the freshest local ingredients in inns and onsen and enjoy the best way to end a day of great hiking – a natural hot spring bath!

We then continue to the Nakasendō Trail, where we enjoy village-to-village hiking along a historic route. The Nakasendō trail linked Kyōto to Tōkyō during Japan’s feudal period. It was the ‘road through the mountains’ travelled by feudal lords and their retinues, samurai, merchants, and travellers. Along the route were 69 ‘post towns’, where weary travellers could rest before continuing on the next leg. We hike between the most picturesque of these.

When we aren’t on the trail, we learn more about the local culture with visits to historical sights, and learn the stories of those that travelled these routes. We travel as the locals do, on foot, and by local transportation, allowing us to meet local people and learn about their lives. With no more than 13 travellers on each departure, you enjoy an intimate discovery of Japan, and stay in inns that would not be possible with a larger group.

After our hike on the Nakasendō, we travel onward to the castle town of Matsumoto. Here we explore this imposing delight before we enjoy a lunch with an artisanal miso producer. We then dive head-first into modernity, taking one of Japan’s Limited Express trains to Tōkyō and in doing so, leap from historic to modern Japan.

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