Japan Classic 10 Day - One Life Adventures
Overview
Available languages
1 week 3 days
Mobile ticket
Japan is a magical place where old and new collide. A country full of incredible natural beauty, futuristic cities of neon, world-renowned food, and a culture steeped in tradition. Japan has a way of enveloping you from the moment you step off the plane. The unique culture and friendliness of the people will stay with you forever. From partying in the famous Shinjuku area of Tokyo to walking down the stone paths passing Geisha in the Gion district in Kyoto, One Life Adventures - Japan is a backpacking adventre tour and will show you the best of the country in 10 days. Starting in Tokyo and finishing in Osaka we explore the iconic areas of Japan plus some places off the tourist trail. By the end of the 10 days you would have lived and breathed the Land of the Rising Sun.
Want longer in Japan? Try our 14 day tour!
*Please note that this is an active, fast-paced, backpacking style tour with a lot of walking. Please make sure you're adequately prepared.
Additional Info
Public transportation options are available nearby
Travelers should have at least a moderate level of physical fitness
What To Expect
Welcome to Japan! Tokyo Time
Accommodations
Overnight at Sakura Nippori Hostel in twin bunks with a shared bathroom.
Food and Drinks
DINNER
Dinner
Senso-ji Temple
Tonight we'll take you out to feast on Japanese cuisines and meet the rest of your group. Once we've finished exploring, we'll head to Senso-Ji, which is one of the most important temples in Tokyo. This illustrious red temple is a feast for the senses especially when all the crowds have gone. Smell the incense and draw a fortune, visiting this temple in the evening is truly a special event.
Explore Tokyo: Harajuku, Yoyogi Park & Akihabara
Accommodations
Overnight at Sakura Nippori Hostel in twin bunks with a shared bathroom.
Food and Drinks
BREAKFAST
Breakfast
Senso-ji Temple
We'll start the morning off with an orientation class. You'll learn simple Japanese customs and phrases to help you dictate your way across the country.
Harajuku Station
Once we have learned all we need, we’ll head out to the birth place of Japanese teen pop culture Harajuku.
Meiji Jingu Shrine
We’ll then head into Yoyogi park, host of the beautiful Meiji Shrine.
Akihabara
After that we’ll make our way to Akihabara – Tokyo’s electric town -and be blinded by the all the neon lights and crazy shops in store.
Tokyo: Sushi Making Class & Shibuya Crossing
Accommodations
Overnight at Sakura Nippori Hostel in twin bunks with a shared bathroom.
Food and Drinks
BREAKFAST
Breakfast
LUNCH
Lunch
Tsukiji Fish Market
Today we’ll head to the world famous Tsukiji Fish Market. Tokyo is famed for its seafood delights and this market is the birthplace of Japan’s most famous food; sushi!
Tsukiji Fish Market
Once we have toured the facility, we will head over to our sushi making class where our guides here will teach you how to roll the perfect sushi and fry teriyaki!
Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building Observation Decks
After your sushi lunch we’ll head back to the hostel for a quick freshen up before heading to the incredible Shinjuku area for an unparalleled skyline of Tokyo.
Omoide Yokocho
After seeing the incredible Tokyo skyline from the observation deck we'll grab a quick meal of Yakitori and beer down the famous Omoide Yokocho alley, otherwise known as "Piss Alley".
Shibuya Crossing
We'll wrap up the day viewing the world-famous Shibuya Pedestrian Crossing.
Hakone: Mt Fuji Viewing & Romance Car
Accommodations
Overnight at a traditional Japanese guesthouse, twin rooms on tatami mats with a shared bathroom.
Food and Drinks
BREAKFAST
Breakfast
DINNER
Dinner
Hakone Ropeway
Today we leave Tokyo by the aptly named Romance Car to the stunning mountainous town of Hakone. After checking into our guesthouse accommodation situated in the mountains, we will spend the day exploring the surrounding areas on a variety of different transport including Cable Cars and Rope Ways to spot Mt Fuji.
Lake Ashinoko
After we disembark from the ropeway we head out onto a pirate ship to sail across Lake Ashi where on a clear day you can get an amazing view of Mt Fuji!
Hakone-machi
After a day of exploring and taking photos of Japan’s most famous mountain we’ll enjoy a typical Japanese Nabe dinner at our traditional guesthouse.
Takayama: Sake Tasting, Temple Stay & Old Town Tour
Accommodations
Overnight at a traditional Japanese temple. Rooms are multi-share in the temple on Tatami mats with a shared bathroom.
Takayama
Today we board the bullet train, a soaring feat of engineering that throws you across the countryside. We’ll take a bullet train to Nagoya, and then a scenic train journey will take us past the stunning mountains all the way to the UNESCO World Heritage town of Takayama. Our accommodation tonight is in a stunning Japanese temple. Never before would you have stayed in more beautiful surroundings, your bed will be on simple tatami mats.
Harada Sake Brewery
In the afternoon we’ll head out for some traditional Sake tasting and you can even treat yourself to some infamously tasty Hida beef. After all of that you get a real chance for you to focus on your mindful experience as you sleep soundly in the temple with most rooms offering views of a traditional Japanese garden. Optional: There are traditional onsens in the area you can visit.
Morning Market Walk, To Kyoto! Gion District Walking Tour
Accommodations
Overnight at Kyoto Ryokan Hostel in Pod Style Hostel
Hida-Takayama Miyagawa Morning Market
In the morning your guide will walk you around the beautiful old town and village of Takayama and show you to the morning market on the banks of the Miyagawa River.
Gion
We'll then board the train back to Nagoya and take our final bullet train to Kyoto. Famous for its shrines, temples and Geisha’s, Kyoto is a sure fire way to find your inner peace and get lost exploring its small alleyways. In the evening, we’ll walk around Kyoto’s Gion district, known for Geisha’s (Japan’s traditional art form of entertainment), if you are lucky enough, you might even spot one.
Kyoto: Kiyomizu-Dera, Fushimi-Inari & Tea Ceremony
Accommodations
Overnight at Kyoto Ryokan Hostel in Pod Style Dorm with shared bathroom
Fushimi Inari-taisha Shrine
We'll rise early in the morning and take the subway to Fushimi-Inari Shrine. We arrive early to escape the bustling throng of tourists and work our way through the mountain exploring corridors of never-ending red gates.
Kiyomizu-dera Temple
After we'll make our way to Kiyomizu-Dera temple, one of Japan's most famous temples. A stunning bamboo and wooden complex that sits high on the mountainside. After coming back to the hostel and eating breakfast, you'll have the whole afternoon to explore the amazing town of Kyoto!
Kyoto: Golden Pavilion! Zen Garden & Kendo Class
Accommodations
Overnight at Kyoto Ryokan Hostel in Pod style dorm with a shared bathroom.
Kinkakuji Temple
This morning we'll head to the incredible Golden Pavilion, a beautiful gold laden building, surrounded by lakes which showcase a stunning reflection of the building.
Daitoku-ji Temple
After well head to Daitoku-Ji, a quiet group of buildings and temples, away from the main tourist districts. Here we'll visit a zen garden.
Kyoto Budo Center
In the afternoon we head to a traditional Kendo class housed in the dojo where it all began. Your authentic Bushido instructor, a descendant of a Japanese Samurai Warrior, will teach you the way of this respectful martial art, before finishing with a guided meditation reflection to finish off this incredible day.
Bamboo Forest, Monkey Mountain, Osaka Dotonbori Food Tour
Accommodations
Overnight at WBF Namba Motomachi Hotel - twin share room
Food and Drinks
DINNER
Dinner
Bamboo Forest Street
In the morning, we'll beat the crowds and take the train to the Arashiyama district. This stunning district is flanked by mountainous valleys with a river working its way through the middle. We'll start off by wandering through the Instagram worthy bamboo forest, where towering bamboo makes for a beautiful wander through this area.
Monkey Park Iwatayama
Next up, we climb the steps up to Monkey Mountain to check out the incredible Japanese macacques in this area.
Arashiyama
Once we make our way down, we’ll board a private row boat and explore the valleys the traditional Japanese way.
Dotonbori Tsuribori
We’ll then jump on the train and head to Osaka. After checking in we will head out into the Dotonbori area, a wild ride of an inner city complex, the ‘kitchen of Japan’ will take you in with its lights, colours, food and people and after our food tour you won’t want to leave. There is no better way to view this incredible, living, breathing city than tasting your way through it.
Osaka
In the evening we’ll wrap up our tour with one final Japanese tradition – Karaoke!
Depart
Food and Drinks
BREAKFAST
Breakfast
Osaka
After nursing your head from last nights antics, its time to say goodbye to your group and the new friends you have made from your tour. We hope we have shown you the best that Japan has to offer. If you're continuing your travels with us, we cant wait to see you in Sri Lanka or The Philippines, or if you're returning home, we hope we have at least inspired you to #exploremore Meals - Breakfast Want longer in Japan? Try our 14 day tour!
Options
Japan Classic 10 Day - One Life Adventures
What‘s Included
Lunch
Tipping
Pre and post tour accommodation
Arrival and departure transfers
International Flights
Travel Insurance
Cancellation Policy
All sales are final. No refund is available for cancellations.
Reviews
181 reviews
Total reviews and rating from Viator & Tripadvisor
Incredible Tour – Beth is the Best
Venture37420747627,Jun 11, 2026
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00An unforgettable 14 days in Japan! The tour was packed with incredible adventures and perfectly organised. Our guide, Beth, was amazing—she gave the best recommendations for food, shrines, and anime shops during our free time. Travelling solo, I was thrilled to make so many lifelong friends along the way. Bring comfortable shoes and prepare for an amazing time!
Great tour!
S5748YXkayk,Jun 4, 2026
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00Japan is a beautiful country, and this 14-day Intro Travel tour allowed me to see so much of it in a relatively short space of time. There is a lot of travelling involved, but that's the only way to experience such a great mix of cities, towns, and rural areas across the country. Be prepared to get plenty of steps in, but that definitely helps balance out all the amazing food you'll be enjoying along the way! The tour offers a fantastic mix of culture, food, nightlife, city life, and rural experiences, giving you a real feel for what Japan has to offer. Beth was a fantastic tour leader. She shared so much insight into Japanese culture, history, and everyday life, which made the experience even more worthwhile. Her knowledge and enthusiasm really enhanced the trip and helped us get the most out of every destination. Overall, I would highly recommend this tour to anyone wanting to experience the highlights of Japan while travelling with a great group and an excellent guide. The tour was good value and didn’t feel crowded.
✨ friends✨
mattiass864,Jun 3, 2026
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00A great experience with many cool sights and experiences. We were givin free time and a list of places to visit so we never felt lost, and would help us plan free time trips. I did the two week tour with Beth. The tour group got very close and it was very friendly.in osaka I recommend for convayer belt sushi "KURA SUSHI Shinsekai Tsutenkaku Branch くら寿司 新世界通天閣店" it's cheep and a really cool experience.
Amazing trip ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
carlysC6078RK,Jun 2, 2026
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00I had an amazing time on the Japan Classic 14-day trip. The tour took all the stress out of planning and navigating busy stations, allowing us to fully enjoy the experience. Our tour guide, Beth, was so friendly and knowledgeable, making the trip both interesting and fun. I'll definitely miss her! I made some wonderful friends along the way while exploring such a fantastic country. This was the most full-on tour I've ever done, with plenty of walking and travelling on public transport, so it is tiring but it was 100% worth it. I would highly recommend it to anyone wanting to experience the best of Japan.
5/5 - I would do it again
Tomasz C,Jun 1, 2026
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00I can highly recommend the 14-day Japan tour with One Life Adventures. It was an amazing experience from start to finish. The tour is very well-organized. It is intense, but deeply satisfying, and you get to see most of Japan's famous spots. The pace is quite fast, but the itinerary is flexible. If you want to sleep in, it is absolutely no problem to skip a morning or evening activity. There is plenty of free time to catch up, which you can use for your own plans, a nice lunch, or just a quick nap. The accommodation was great and varied, ranging from really good hotels to a traditional night at a Buddhist temple, which was a truly unique experience. The planned group activities, like the sushi-making class and the kendo lesson, were absolutely top-notch and super fun. I have to give a special shout-out to our guide, Beth. She is incredible and makes the impossible look easy every day. She knows every walking route, train transfer, and exit of those massive Japanese stations like the back of her hand. She keeps the group disciplined when necessary, but she is also just great fun to hang out with. She has a lot of knowledge about Japanese history and culture. Plus, she takes amazing photos of everyone—she is so good that even the locals wanted to line up for a picture! Thanks to her, there wasn't a single moment where the tour felt disorganized. As a non-native English speaker, I was a bit unsure at first, but I never felt left out for even a second. Beth speaks with a very clear, Southern English accent that was very easy for me to understand. Whenever I missed something, she happily repeated it without any issue. The whole group atmosphere was very welcoming. If you are thinking about booking this trip, just do it. It really is an adventure of a lifetime!
Japan
I9567QFbrookes,May 31, 2026
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00Did the 14 day Japan trip. I had an amazing time in Japan and thoroughly enjoyed the whole trip. The country is beautiful, with so much culture, history, and incredible sights to experience. A special thank you to our tour guide Beth who was absolutely lovely throughout the trip. She was friendly, knowledgeable, organised, and always happy to help with any questions. She made everyone feel welcome and ensured that everything ran smoothly. The trip was very well planned, with a great balance of sightseeing, activities, and free time. I made wonderful memories and learned so much about Japan. I would highly recommend this tour to anyone considering visiting Japan.
Interesting, educational, fun, beautiful and so much more than I expected!
Johanne A,May 31, 2026
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00I absolutely loved this tour, I don’t even know where to begin! I did the 14 day classic tour as a solo traveller, and i just had an amazing time with an incredible tour guide, Beth!💗 She showed us around Japan, and had some much information to share about the history of the places we visited, as well as hidden food spots and ideas for what I could do in my free time! Furthermore, the itinerary is full of soooo many different things, nature, animals, food, temple stays, city tours and shopping, and I therefore feel that I have seen the best and most that Japan has to offer! This trip has really inspired me to want to visit Japan again, but I would definitely do the exact same tour again if I get Beth as my tour guide again! In my opinion is this a great trip to see and experience Japan, while having fun, meeting new people, learning about the history, visiting famous places and lastly taking amazing photos! Beth will literally lay on the ground to get the perfect photo of you infront of some famous place!😆 the places we stayed at are really nice and had a good placement for whatever you want to do, they were close to the public transportation and in beautiful districts. The itinerary is usually almost full most days, which I found good because then I got to see so much cool and experience things such as Kendo and cooking sushi! 🍣 ⚔️ However when we had free time to do our own things Beth provided many different recommendations on what to do, and she helped plan the things you want to do if you have anything special in mind! And the restaurant recommendations were definitely used by all of our group, I loved every place that we went to. So if you are thinking of going to Japan I 110% recommend booking the 14 day tour, and hopefully you get Beth as your guide!
The adventure of a lifetime
Zoe N,May 30, 2026
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00I recently completed the 14-day Japan tour with One Life Adventures, and it was honestly one of the best experiences I’ve ever had. A huge part of that was our tour guide, Beth. She was incredibly friendly, accommodating, and knowledgeable throughout the entire trip. Considering this was her first tour back in over a year, she did an amazing job and made everyone feel comfortable and included from day one. Nothing ever seemed like too much trouble, and she always had great recommendations and alternatives whenever plans needed to change. The tour itself was brilliantly organised and struck the perfect balance between structured activities and free time. I loved having the opportunity to explore with different people from the group depending on what we felt like doing each day, while still getting a fantastic insight into Japanese culture. It was a great mix of social experiences, sightseeing, and cultural immersion. My favourite destination was Kyoto. It was absolutely stunning, and the temples, traditional streets, and atmosphere made it a real highlight of the trip. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to see Mount Fuji due to the weather, but that was completely out of anyone’s control. Beth was fantastic at adapting the itinerary and suggesting alternative activities, which in my case led to a visit to a wonderful art museum that I probably wouldn’t have discovered otherwise. Overall, I can’t recommend One Life Adventures highly enough. The combination of an amazing itinerary, a fantastic group of people, and Beth’s excellent guidance made this a truly unforgettable experience. If you’re considering a tour of Japan, this is one you won’t regret booking.
Great Experience in Japan
Travel53325737785,May 27, 2026
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00This was my first time going on an international tour and One Life Adventures made it an amazing experience. The itinerary made my experience of Japan truly wonderful, I appreciated the mix of city and nature time, as well as the modern and historical cultural aspects. I enjoyed the mix of tour time and free time, it was exactly what I needed to experience Japan to the fullest. Our tour guide Cameron was a great guide- friendly, knowledgeable, and helpful. He did a wonderful job guiding the group through the crowds, was very communicative about the tour schedule and meeting spots, and had great suggestions for free time activities. He was also very helpful in explaining how to navigate the Japanese rail system. I've been a big fan of Japanese food for a long time and I found both the provided meals and suggested eating spots to be a great showcase of Japanese cuisine. My tour experience makes me interested in choosing One Life Adventures for future tours.
A brilliant first tour experience
johndY9106IE,May 26, 2026
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00This has been the best first experience of Japan (and a solo tour trip) that I could ask for. All aspects of the tour itself have exceeded my expectations by a long way, from the people I've met, to the places we visited, to the food we ate. Our tour guide, Beth, was fantastic in making sure we were all getting the most out of the tour, keeping us all informed on the itinerary, sharing an incredible amount of knowledge, giving free time recommendations, and going the extra mile in many cases. The memories made here will last a lifetime. All of this has left me already thinking of what solo tour trip I will do next.
Related Experiences
Operated by One Life Adventures