South Korea & Japan

Visit South Korea and Japan on the trip of a lifetime! Take in the sights of Seoul on a guided walking tour, travel to the beach city of Busan, experience Japan's capital city of Tokyo, and learn more about the history and culture of Japan in Kyoto.
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Day 1 Start Tour
Day 2 Anyong Seoul
Meet your tour director and check into hotel
Day 3 Seoul
Breakfast
Details: Seoul guided sightseeing tour
The capital of South Korea is a huge metropolis where modern skyscrapers, high-tech subways and colorful pop culture meet Buddhist temples, richly adorned palaces and vibrant street markets. On your guided sightseeing tour of the city you’ll spend some time walking along Cheonggyecheon, an 11 km long modern stream that runs through downtown Seoul. The modern canal is a restoration of the stream that was once there during the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910). Insadong Street is one of the most memorable attractions in Seoul and offers a wide variety of goods that can only be purchased or appreciated in Korea: hanbok (traditional clothing), hanji (traditional paper), traditional teas, pottery and folk crafts. And you’ll get one of the most spectacular, 360 degree views of the city from the Seoul Tower and Observatory.
Details: Cheonggyecheon Stream Canal walk
Spend some time walking along Cheonggyecheon, an 11km-long modern stream that runs through downtown Seoul. The modern canal is a restoration of the stream that was once there during the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910).
Details: Naksan City Fortress Trail hike
The Seoul City Wall offers us a glimpse of Seoul’s long history. This footpath is characterized by its winding path which is also a trademark of Naksan Park. The trail links to the sections of Hanyangdoseong (Seoul City Wall), Naksan, and Hyehwa. Enjoy an open view of Seoul and the old fortress’ features.
Details: HiKR Ground visit
HiKR Ground was named by combining “Hi” and “Korea” with the concept of a playground (”Ground”). It is a promotional hall that takes a new approach by integrating Extended Reality (XR). The attraction provides a space for everyone to freely roam and enjoy everything HiKR Ground has to offer. The space is filled with technology aimed for the younger generation with smart technology applied to diverse Korea content, including the areas of hallyu, K-Pop, arts and more.
Details: Bukchon Traditional Crafts Center workshop
This experiential craft center offers a number of South Korean craft workshops. Try needle crafts, making accessories, hanji crafting, and more.
Details: Korean bibimbap and tteokbokki cooking class
Learn to cook with the foods that the country you are touring is most famous for. Join a professional chef in the kitchen to learn how to make delicious traditional dishes.
Day 4 Seoul--Busan
Breakfast
Haedong Yonggungsa Temple visit
Dongbaekseom Island excursion
Free time on Haeundae BeachNurimaru APEC House visit
Details: Travel to Busan via KTX (Korean Express Train)
Busan is a trendy city located by the sea and surrounded by mountains. It enjoys a mild climate with four distinct seasons. Being the second-largest city in the country, Busan is full of culture and tradition, and it provides a relaxed beach atmosphere. It's a great city for outdoor and nature lovers as well as for those who love art, history, unique cafe shops, and fun shopping. Don't forget to try the freshest seafood around, straight from the sea at the famous Jagalchi Fish Market!
Details: Dongbaekseom Island excursion
Dongbaekseom Island (Island of Camellias) is an island located off one end of Busan's famous Haeundae Beach. The island has several attractions, including the monument inscribed with a poem of scholar Choi Chi-won, the mermaid statue based on the legend of Princess Hwagok, and the Nurimaru APEC House. It also offers fantastic views of the Busan shoreline. As the name suggests, camellias burst into bloom everywhere on the island from winter to spring.
Day 5 Busan
Breakfast
Busan guided sightseeing tour
Yongdusan ParkBusan TowerJagalchi fish marketKukje marketBIFF Square
Oryukdo sunrise park
Drone show at Gwangalli beach (weekends only)
Details: Busan guided sightseeing tour
 Busan, a large port city in South Korea, is known for its beaches, mountains and temples. A few highlights you’ll see on this guided sightseeing tour are the Yongdusan Park, Busan Tower, Jagalchi fish market and Kukje market.
Day 6 Busan--Tokyo
Breakfast
Fly to to Tokyo
Details: Karaoke experience and dinner
Karaoke is a popular form of entertainment which originated in Japan. Immerse yourself in this environment, grab a mic, your favorite song and sing your heart out in a Tokyo karaoke venue.
Day 7 Tokyo
Breakfast
Tokyo guided sightseeing tour
Senso-ji temple visitMeiji Shrine visitHarajuku District visit
Details: Tokyo guided sightseeing tour
Jangling neon and tranquil temples, radical fashion choices and quietly practiced traditions. Japan's sprawling, chaotic capital combines cutting-edge technology with an age-old culture, generating a directed energy and graceful drive unique to Tokyo. See what all of the buzz is about with a local licensed guide. Start with a whiff of the miraculous at the Senso Temple, where sacred incense smoke is said to have curative powers. Built to commemorate Emperor Meiji and his empress, the Meiji Shrine is one of the most important Shinto shrines in the country. Yearly festivals bring various groups to its iris garden and Treasure House, including the "Seven-Five-Three Festival," in which young children arrive dressed in mini kimonos.
Details: Meiji Shrine visit
View the Meiji Shrine, dedicated to the deified spirits of Emperor Meiji and Empress Shoken. Emperor Meiji was the first emperor of modern Japan, born in 1852 and ascending to the throne in 1868 at the peak of the Meiji Restoration when the power was switched from the feudal Tokugawa government to the emperor.
Day 8 Tokyo
Breakfast
Details: Odaiba island excursion
Odaiba is man-made island in Tokyo offering incredible view of the Tokyo skyline and is home to state of the art museums, shopping and entertainment.
Details: TeamLab Planets visit
TeamLab Planets is a museum comprised of 4 large-scale artwork spaces and 2 gardens created by art collective teamLab. Visitors go barefoot and immerse themselves in the vast artworks together with others. The artworks change under the presence of people, blurring the perception of boundaries between the self and the works. Other people also create change in the artworks, blurring the boundaries between themselves and the works, and creating a continuity between the self, the art, and others.
Details: Gundam Statue
See the iconic large-scale anime figure.
Details: Akihabara Electric Town visit
Take a trip to the Akihabara district, a mecca for electronic goods and home to Japan's otaku (diehard fan) geek culture. Explore the thousands of shops dedicated to anime, manga and video games.
Day 9 Tokyo--Kyoto
Details: Travel to Kyoto via Shinkansen bullet train
Jump on the fastest train in the world and zip to Kyoto. The Shinkansen "bullet" train, inaugurated in 1964 and continually improved ever since, can travel up to 200 miles per hour. The newest versions use aviation technology to decrease wind resistance and noise, ensuring a safe, comfortable -- and fast! -- ride.
Details: Nara excursion
Nara can be an eye-opening experience. The enormous 50-foot bronze Buddha statue in Todai-ji was dedicated in AD 752 by having a priest symbolically "open his eyes" by scrambling up and painting them in (the original paintbrush remains at the temple); strings dangling off the brush allowed the dignitaries on the ground to hang on and participate in the action. The sense of "more is better" continues at Kasuga Shrine, where a thousand intricate bronze lanterns hang prettily off the building. Don't bother the wild deer roaming the adjacent Nara Park -- once considered messengers of the gods, they are still a nationally protected treasure.
Details: Todai-ji temple visit
Todai-ji is one of Japan's most famous and historically significant temples and a landmark of Nara. The massive building houses one of Japan's largest bronze statues of Buddha (Daibutsu). At 15 meters tall, the seated Buddha represents Vairocana and is flanked by two Bodhisattvas.
Details: Kasuga Grand Shrine visit
Nara’s most celebrated Shinto shrine.
Day 10 Kyoto
Breakfast
Kyoto guided sightseeing tour
Kinkaku-ji temple (Golden Pavilion) visitFushimi Inari Taisha visit
Details: Kyoto guided sightseeing tour
With over 2,000 Buddhist temples and shrines still intact, Kyoto shines as one of the best preserved Imperial cities in Japan. Visit the famous Zen Buddhist Temple Kinkakuji, or Golden Temple, that gets its name from the pure leaf gold that covers the top two floors. Next, head to Inari, the main shrine of the god of business, and see the thousands of red torii, or Japanese gates, that snake their way up the hill to the inner shrine. The Sanjusangendo Temple offers visitors an unusual and unbelievable sight. Its main hall is filled with 1,000 life-size statues of soldiers of the Thousand Armed Kannon which stand to protect the main deity of the temple.
Details: Arashiyama Bamboo Grove visit
The Arashiyama Bamboo Grove is one of Kyoto’s top sights and for good reason: standing amid these soaring stalks of bamboo is like being in another world.
Details: Arashiyama Monkey Park visit
Explore this mountain-top park with breathtaking view of Kyoto. In an interesting reversal of the usual zoo set-up, where animals are in cage, here, visitors can enter a gated area to approach monkeys that roam free in the wilderness on the outside.
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Day 11 End tour
Breakfast
Travel by bus to Osaka

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    Day 11 Start extension to Hiroshima and Miyajima
    Breakfast
    Travel to Hiroshima via Bullet train
    Hiroshima guided sightseeing tour
    Atomic Dome visitPeace Memorial Park visitPeace Memorial Museum visitHiroshima Castle visit
    Yakisoba dinner
    Details: Hiroshima guided sightseeing tour
    Tour the extraordinary city that suffered an unimaginable destruction and incredible rebirth to become the thriving city it is today. At Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, see the Peace Memorial Museum and the Atomic Bomb Dome, the skeletal remains of a pre-blast building, for an idea of the catastrophic effects the Atomic bomb had on the city. The park, museum, and Atomic Bomb Dome act as a symbol of peace and as a memorial for those who died.
    Details: Atomic Dome visit
    The Atomic Bomb Dome, formerly the Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall, was destroyed by the world's first atomic bomb dropping. It was called the "Atomic Bomb Dome" for its distinctive domed steel frame and was included in UNESCO's World Heritage List in December 1996 as a symbol of the devastation caused by the first atomic bomb in the history of humankind. It represents the importance of the abolition of nuclear weapons and lasting world peace.
    Details: Peace Memorial Park visit
    Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, located in the center of Hiroshima City was built in its current location near the hypocenter of the atomic bombing during WWII on August 6, 1945. The park is home to many memorials and monuments, including the Cenotaph for the A-Bomb Victims, the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, the Hiroshima National Peace Memorial Hall for the Atomic Bomb Victims.
    Day 12 Miyajima
    Miyajima excursion
    Itsukushima Shrine visitSenjokaku Pagoda visitShopping on Omotesando Street
    Details: Miyajima excursion
    Glide through the tranquil waters, past the iconic red Torii gate and into the realm of the sacred at the Itsukushima Shrine. As you step off the ferry you will be greeted by the “messengers of the deities”, or the tame Miyajima deer, that are always found wandering around the shrine. After visiting this impressive structure browse through the many craft stores, bakeries and street-food carts on Omotesando Street - see if you’re brave enough to sample a traditional dish of conger eel.
    Day 13 End tour
    Travel to Osaka by train
    Tour Includes:
    • Round-trip airfare
    • 9 overnight stays (11 on extension) in hotels with private bathrooms
    • Breakfast daily
    • Dinner daily
    • Full-time services of a professional tour director
    • Internal flight
    • Guided sightseeing tours and city walks as per itinerary
    • Visits to select attractions as per itinerary
    • Tour Diary™
    • Local Guide and Local Bus Driver tips; see note regarding other important tips
    • Note: On arrival day only dinner is provided; on departure day, only breakfast is provided
    • Note: Tour cost does not include airline-imposed baggage fees, or fees for any required passport or visa. Optional excursions, optional pre-paid Tour Director and multi-day bus driver tipping, among other individual and group customizations will be listed as separate line items in the total trip cost, if included.

    We are better able to assist you with a quote for your selected departure date and city over the phone. Please call 1.888.378.8845 to price this tour with your requested options.

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    7962.00 total fee
    Basic Options


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