5Days WW Tour Information: Tour ID: GOT-003-EN Theme: Japan Gourmet Tours Season: Round Year Start: Osaka Finish: Osaka Group size: 2-8 Travel style: Family Vacations Summary Tours Destinations Osaka - Kyoto - Kobe - Naruto Tour Description W is for West. W is for Whirlpools. A part of our Gourmet Tours series, the double-double-u is ILJT s way to make your family adventure double as a fine dining experience! Focusing on West Japan, this itinerary is specially designed to take you on an exhilarating journey, from a classic tour around the historic sites in Kyoto and an amphibious bus ride around the metropolis of Osaka to a cross-island car drive to Awaji Island. Along this journey, you will see both man-made and natural spectacles such as the gold-plated temple and the Naruto whirlpools. And of course, all along the way, you will feast on some of the finest cuisine that Japan has to offer, including the famous Kobe beef and the best crab in Osaka! Why Wait? Come with us on an incredible family adventure in West Japan! Tour Highlights Experience Japan on two levels: cultural sightseeing and local dining Feast on the most famous crab dishes in Osaka Ride an amphibious bus around the biggest city in West Japan Visit an authentic old town that represents classic Kyoto Witness the great whirlpools of Naruto Have authentic, real Kobe beef from its place of origin...and many more!
Itinerary Day1: Osaka Arrival at Kansai International Airport Transfer to Osaka Hotel check-in Free day in Osaka Your driver and guide will be waiting to greet you at the airport. You will be transferred to Osaka using a private car, whereupon you will check into your hotel. You will then be given a briefing and a rundown on your itinerary. After the exhausting flight to Japan, the family deserves a good rest for the remainder of the day. Drop your luggage, catch a breather, adapt to the surroundings, maybe call your friends at home to share your excitement. In case you have not already done so, the first day is a good opportunity to exchange your currency for yen and rent a mobile/wi-fi router. Be sure to equip yourselves for your gourmet adventure on the days to follow! Day2: Kyoto Transfer to Kyoto Fushimi Inari Taisha Kinkaku-ji Lunch Kiyomizu-dera Higashiyama Hotel in Osaka 08:00 - Day start Your driver and guide will be waiting for you at the lobby. Departing Osaka in the morning, we will visit ye olde capital of the country, Kyoto. 09:00 - Arrival at Kyoto 09:00-10:30 - Fushimi Inari Taisha Your first destination is Fushimi Inari Taisha. Dating back to as early as the 8th century, this shrine is known for its mountain trails, which are covered by the so-called thousand torii gates (senbon torii). You can hike up the trails as far as you are willing to go, while counting and losing track of the number or torii gates with each step. The shrine architecture is also notable, with a giant torii gate more magnificent than the others as the entrance, and many statues of foxes, which are believed to be messengers of the gods.
In keeping with the spirit of a gourmet tour, here is a trivia. This shrine was built as a place of worship for Inari, the Shinto god of rice and fertility. The god lent its name to the shrine, and also to a kind of sushi called inarizushi. This sushi is different in that instead of having seafood for a topping; the rice ball is fully wrapped in fried tofu skin, accentuating the flavor of the rice while presenting it in the package of fried tofu, believed to be the favorite food of the god. 11:15-12:00 - Kinkaku-ji Next, you will leave for Kinkaku-ji, a temple whose shimmering golden reflection on the water has become symbolic of Kyoto. Originally built as a villa for the 3rd shogun of the Ashikaga government, Kinkaku-ji, now a temple will bedazzle you with its majestic gold-plated exterior.
12:45-14:15 - Lunch Next, you will enjoy a kaiseki lunch in downtown Kyoto. Kaiseki is a Japanese-style haute cuisine, serving a multitude of traditional Japanese dishes with careful emphasis on preparation and presentation. The resulting meal is a delightful combination of wonderful aesthetics and incredible flavor. The atmosphere in the kaiseki restaurant will convey an air of authenticity befitting of such meal and of the ancient capital in general.
14:30-15:30 - Kiyomizu-dera In the afternoon, you will visit Kiyomizu-dera, a venerated Buddhist temple which is more than a thousand years old. Built as a place to worship Kannon (the Goddess of Mercy), this place is best known for the views from its high wooden deck and the three sacred streams of water. Drinking from one of the streams is said to give you blessings. 15:45-17:00 - Higashiyama Last but not least, you will go to Higashiyama. The whole district is a preserved historic site, with wooden buildings, narrow pathways, and traditional shops. The traditional atmosphere is reminiscent of Kyoto during its days as the capital of Japan. Besides taking a stroll along the authentic streets, you can shop for local handicraft to bring home as souvenirs, or try out some of the local traditional snacks sold in the stalls. 18:00 - Back at the hotel in Osaka After a day of exploring classic Japan in Kyoto, we will drive back to the hotel in Osaka. Rest up, and prepare for a double-excitement on the next day! Day3: Kobe, Osaka Hotel check-out Osaka Duck Tour Namba (lunch) Transfer to Kobe Hotel check-in Dinner Hotel in Kobe 10:30 - Day start You will leave Osaka for a stay in Kobe, so be sure to finish the check-out procedures by this time. Your driver and guide will pick you up at the lobby. 11:15-12:45 - Osaka Duck Tour
Your first activity for the day is the Duck Tour. While not the edible kind, the duck here refers to the manner with which this tour is conducted - amphibiously. You will see many spots in Osaka on a bus that will travel both land and water, including the famous Osaka Castle and Japan Mint. The tour, which lasts around one and a half hours, is sure to be a source of excitement for both the children and the adults alike. 13:15-14:45 - Namba (lunch) We will then head for Namba, the center of the south area of Osaka. Namba is a famous entertainment district in Osaka, with its iconic Glico Man neon sign and, of course, the crab restaurant, Kani Doraku. The giant motorized crab on the front of the restaurant is a recognized symbol of Osaka, but the restaurant itself is not just for show. With various crab dishes ranging from raw crab delicacies to crab meat steaks, any lunch here will certainly be a meal to remember the city by.
In the afternoon, we will drive to Kobe, one of the main port cities in Japan. It is an attractive city with many modern design elements, and it is famous for its beef. 16:00 - Arrival at Kobe Upon arrival, you will drop your luggage at the hotel and proceed on exploring Kobe. 16:30-17:30 - Meriken Park You will visit Meriken Park, a waterfront park in Kobe which boasts a futuristic design with its two main landmarks employing a modern architectural concept. The first is Kobe Port Tower, which looks like a giant water tower with red steel frames. The tower is an icon of Kobe itself, and visitors can go to the top for a view of the city from the observatory. The second is the Kobe Maritime Museum. On top of the all-white building is a massive steel framework which is shaped like a sail. Together, the sight of the two structures with clashing colors provides an interesting contrast to the tranquil sea just behind you.
18:00-19:30 - Dinner Finally, you will enjoy dinner in a Kobe beef restaurant. Kobe beef is a special grade of beef (wagyu) from cattle originally raised in Kobe. These cattle are massaged with sake and are fed a daily diet that includes large amounts of grain. This produces extraordinarily tender, finely marbled, and richly flavorful meat. In fact, the beef has become so famous throughout the world that it became the namesake of an internationally celebrated basketball star.
20:00 - Check into the hotel in Kobe At the end of the day, we will drive back to the hotel to complete your check-in. On the next day you will go on a day-trip to Naruto, one and a half hours away by car from Kobe. Day4: Naruto, Osaka Hotel check-out Transfer to Naruto Hotel New Awaji Great Naruto Bridge Transfer to Osaka Hotel check-in 10:00 - Day start As you will return to Osaka for another stay, please check out of your hotel in Kobe in the morning. Your driver and guide will be expecting you at the hotel lobby. You will then be transferred to Naruto, a city in Tokushima Prefecture. 11:30 - Arrival at Naruto The main attraction at Naruto is its whirlpools, formed by the currents between the Pacific Ocean and the Seto Inland Sea. The whirlpools will form once in about every six hours and last roughly 90 minutes. Another gourmet-related trivia: Naruto lent its name to a popular fish cake which has a red spiral pattern on it to represent the whirlpools. The fish cake narutomaki is a popular ramen topping. It is also said that the fictional character Naruto was named after this dish, with his surname Uzumaki meaning whirlpools.
11:30-17:30 - Hotel New Awaji (lunch) You will be spending the daytime at Hotel New Awaji, a resort hotel near the sea. The hotel boasts luxurious indoor hot spring baths (onsen) with a pleasant view of the ocean, as well as unique seafood cuisine that uses local ingredients taken from the sea nearby. As the hotel offers a day-trip program, you can spend some quality time with your family here until it ends at 6 PM. Relax your muscles, soothe your nerves, and relieve your fatigue in the healing waters of the onsen!
The restaurant itself can be used until 2 PM. It offers a selection of delicacies, including the local Awaji beef and seafood, and especially the somen (thin wheat noodles). The Awaji-shima somen, made using a legendary technique with 170 years of history, has a small diameter of only 2mm. It is served in a thick,
creamy bouillabaisse soup made from the bones of sea bream and stewed with quality seafood ingredients such as scallop and octopus. The result is a very rich noodle experience that you cannot find anywhere else. Schedule dependent - Great Naruto Bridge As the schedule of the whirlpools changes every day, we will adjust our departure using the publicly available information to arrive in time for the spectacle. We will drive to the Great Naruto Bridge (Onarutokyo), from the walkway under which you can have a bird s eye view of the magnificent vortexes, some as big as 20 meters in diameter. The bridge itself is among the largest suspension bridges in the world, with a main span as long as 876 meters. This is the perfect spot to take enviable pictures with the whole family! 19:00 - Check into the hotel in Osaka After a both relaxing and exciting day, we will drive to Osaka where you will stay for your last night in Japan for the trip. Day5: Osaka Free day in Osaka Hotel check-out Transfer to Kansai International Airport By now, you have tried out some of the best cuisine that the Kansai region has to offer. You will have free schedule to roam around Osaka at your leisure before checking out. Your driver will pick you up at the hotel to get you to the airport. We hope you return home satisfied in more ways than one! Pricing 2 pers: 3 pers: 4pers: 5 pers: 6-8 pers: USD 2,841 USD 2,108 USD 1,741 USD 1,521 USD 1,431 ***PRICE ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT PRIOR NOTICE. FIND OUT ABOUT THE BEST PRICES FROM US. Price Includes 4-star hotel with breakfast (4 nights) Airport transfer on arrival (private car) with a briefing session Airport transfer for departure (private car) Full-day escort and private car with driver on days 2, 3, and 4 Lunch on days 2, 3, and 4 Dinner on day 3 Entrance tickets on guided days Price does Not Include Air Tickets to Japan (separate charges based on seasonal ticket price & airline)
Insurance in Japan Transportation on free days Any additional meals, transportation and entrance tickets outside the ones included Personal expenses such as laundry and phone bills ***Purchase of flight ticket to Japan and visa application is available upon request. Price base on seasonal ticket price & desired airline. Find out about the best prices and get useful tips from us.