We flew with Cathay Pacific Airways and found their economy seats to be very comfortable. They offered decent leg room, even when the seat in front was fully reclined. Onboard there was also an excellent entertainment system with a wide selection of TV, films and games. 

We changed planes in Hong Kong, the airport was large and modern with lots of food/drink/shopping options to pass the time. The airport’s Sky-Bridge offers a great view of the city in the distance and is a nice place to watch planes coming and going. 

Overview: Konnichiwa! We were met on arrival by our local Trailfinders representatives who put all our train/bus tickets etc into our hands and helped us navigate the correct metro line to the nearest station for our hotel. We stayed at the 5* Mesm Tokyo, an elegant hotel which I would highly reccomend, in a quieter area of the city overlooking gardens and a river. 

After a fun first night in Tokyo, we had a morning to explore by ourselves. We walked over to the lively Tsukiji Outer Market in Ginza and spent some time sampling various local delicacies including pork buns, wasabi, mochi and delicious shaved iced. We headed up to Asakusa to see the older side of Tokyo and visited the Senso-ji Buddhist temple and the iconic Kaminarimon (Thunder Gate). 

Our afternoon was spent on a guided city tour, for our first stop we visited the Meiji-Jingo Shinto shrine set in a tranquil forested park. Next, we headed to colourful Takeshita Street in Harajuku where I tried a giant 7-layer rainbow candy floss and received enough of a sugar hit to fuel me through the rest of the day! 

We paid a visit to the famous Shibuya Scramble Crossing before our guide handed us over to our next experience, the Tokyo Street Food Tour. In the local neighbourhood of Ebisu we visited three small restaurants where we sipped sake, sampled sashimi and slurped some ramen before finishing up with ice cream in traditional Japanese flavours.

Highlight: After a long and packed day, we weren’t quite done. Thoroughly stuffed but riding high off jet lag and sugar, we headed to the historical bar district of the Golden Gai, known for its narrow streets and quirky Izakaya (tiny bars/eateries usually only seating 6-8 people or so). We finished off the night with a fun, impromptu closing time singalong.

Interesting fact: Tokyo used to be called Edo. The name was changed to Tokyo (meaning "eastern capital") in 1868 when the emperor moved the capital from Kyoto to Edo. 

Top Tip: You’ll need more time than you think to even scratch the surface of this sprawling metropolis. Leave plenty of time to get from A to B and add an extra day here if you possibly can. The metro is relatively easy to navigate as most signs and directions are helpfully in English. Uber and taxis are readily available, but a little punchy.

Overview: We took the metro from by our hotel to Tokyo’s main station and hopped on our first bullet train (Shinkansen). Nagano has an older, alpine feel with lower buildings and the alps as a backdrop. 

On arrival we headed straight Zenkoji Temple. Here we got the chance to experience a Goma Fire ceremony where we were invited to write our wishes on wooden sticks, drop them in the fire to send them to the deities whilst monks chanted sutras. That evening we stayed at 4* Hotel Metropolitan Nagano, which is conveniently attached to the JR station making arrival nice and easy - buses also depart from in front of the station. 

Interesting fact: Nagano hosted the 1998 Winter Olympics, and you’ll find lots of memorabilia dotted around town.

Top Tip: Luggage forwarding makes travelling between destinations so much easier, especially when facing multiple changes or stopping for some sightseeing enroute.

Overview: Takayama old town is charming and quiet with narrow streets and cute wooden houses. We met a local guide for a ‘food and culture walking tour’ where we learnt about the old town’s history, festivals and local crafts and sampled sake, miso and beautiful sweets that are served at tea ceremonies.

We headed back to our ryokan, 4* Honjin Hiranoya Kofukan, and changed into our ‘yukatas’ to relax before dinner - a traditional multi course meal with seasonal and local ingredients. Fully stuffed yet again we headed back to our rooms for a sound night’s sleep on our futons.

Interesting Fact: Takayama, is renowned for its sake brewing, thanks to its ideal natural conditions (mountain water, climate, high quality rice) and historical brewing practices.

Top Tip: Takayama offers a great opportunity to experience a ryokan at least once on your trip - typically this will be a western style building with a Japanese Style Room (sliding screen doors, tatami mats and futons and a hand shower) but some can offer Western Style beds to make your stay more comfortable.

Overview: If you stay in Takayama before Kanazawa you will inevitably travel by bus and make a stop en route at the UNESCO world heritage site of Shirakawa-go. The bus took less than an hour from Takayama and made for an interesting couple of hours wondering around the little town famed for its little thatched roof houses.

Another hour on the bus and we arrived at Kanazawa, with its nickname ‘Little Kyoto’ it is a more relaxed city famed for its local crafts, gardens and castles. That evening we stayed at 4* Kanazawa Sainoniwa Hotel, surrounded by pretty gardens this hotel is a short ride away from the hustle and bustle of the city, its rooms are a fusion of Japanese and Western styles. On arrival we were pleased to see the luggage we forwarded from Nagano was waiting obediently in our rooms.

The city is easy to navigate by bus or foot (there is a Loop bus that hits all the main sites). On our first evening we explored the winding streets and local bars of the Samurai district. We then had a full day to visit the famous Kenrouken Gardens and neighbouring Kanazawa Castle.

Top Tip: You can pick up a free guided tour of either the castle or the gardens - they are run by English speaking volunteers, and you do not need an advance reservation.

Overview: If Tokyo is Japan’s glitzy show off big brother, Kyoto is its glamorous, modest sister. We stayed near the Sanjo metro station, which was a great base for all the sites we wanted to visit.

Our first experience in Kyoto was a tea ceremony, and what an experience it was! We were whisked into a changing room where we chose kimonos, had our hair glammed up and posed for a little photo shoot before heading down to the tearoom where we listened to the historical rituals and etiquettes of the traditional tea ceremony, finally we tried our hands at a little origami.

In the evening we opted for a free-walking tour (tip at the end based on your experience) of the geisha districts - a very insightful experience where I learnt a lot including that there are approximately 1000 geishas remaining in Japan, a significant decline from the estimated 80,000 in the 1920’s. After the tour we strolled along the Kamo River famed for its cute little bars and restaurants with riverside terraces. The following day we visited several of Kyoto’s shrines and temples and did a spot of retail therapy before a quick freshen up at our hotel so we could hop on a train down to Osaka.

Highlight: Our visit to iconic Fushimi Inari Taisha, a shrine dedicated to Inari, the Shinto god of rice. Famous for its thousands of red tori gates, this must be one of the most photographed spots in the whole of Japan. We woke up early to avoid the crowds and weren’t disappointed.   

Interesting Destination Fact: Kyoto was the capital of Japan for over a 1000 years and is home to over 300 temples and shrines.

Top Tip: Kyoto makes a fantastic base for many side trips - consider adding extra nights here to include time to visit Nara, Osaka, the bamboo forests and more!

Overview: The journey took just over an hour from Kyoto to Dotonburi, an area renowned for its food and nightlife of which we sampled both with full gusto. In search of the elusive ‘Osaka jiggly cheesecake’ (google it) we raced around sampling Okonamiyaki and other delights before zipping back up to Kyoto for our final night. 

With so much to see and do in Japan it’s very tempting to try and cram everything in, consider the pace of your trip carefully and think about adding in some rest days to really make the most of your time. Travelling by rail allows you to soaking up the scenery, and is the best way to explore the country. 

There is a perception that Japan is quite a costly destination, however I was honestly surprised by local costs - they weren’t dissimilar to those in the UK. A beer averaged £4-7 and a decent meal with a soft drink was £15-20.

Cherry blossom and the Autumn leaves seasons are busy (for good reason) but consider other quieter periods. June-August can be hot and humid with a chance of rain, but our trip in July meant the trains and sites were considerably less crowded. Winter in Japan is a surprisingly comfortable time to travel, it also offers the best views of Mount Fuji.

Finally, it is no wonder that Japan is such a popular choice of destination, it really is a country like no other! I truly hope this will not be my last visit to this incredible place. 

Arigato Japan!