Best 12 Days Japan & Korea Delights

Take the Shinkansen from Shin-Osaka to Hiroshima — 340 km in around ninety minutes. The Peace Memorial Park and its museum sit at the hypocentre, with the skeletal Atomic Bomb Dome left standing as it was. A ferry then crosses to Miyajima, where the great torii of the Itsukushima Shrine stands in the water at high tide. Return to Osaka by bullet train.

A day in Osaka itself. The castle, rebuilt in concrete over its original stone base, is the photo stop; the Umeda Sky Building puts you on a floating observatory 170 metres up with the escalator running through open air to reach it. The evening is free in Dotonbori, under the neon and the running Glico man.

A day trip to the old capital. The Arashiyama bamboo grove is a walled path through stems that close overhead; Kinkakuji, the Golden Pavilion, is leafed in gold and doubled in its pond. Fushimi Inari climbs the hillside under thousands of vermilion torii donated by businesses over the centuries — the photo stop is at the base of the tunnels.

Todaiji at Nara holds the Great Buddha — fifteen metres of bronze in one of the largest wooden buildings in the world — and the park around it is full of sika deer that bow for a biscuit. Travel on to Nagoya in the afternoon for Nabana no Sato, a flower park whose winter illumination runs to millions of LEDs strung through tunnels and over the ponds.

The Owakudani ropeway crosses a live volcanic valley of sulphur vents and steaming ground — the black eggs boiled in the hot springs there are said to add seven years to your life. A cruise on Lake Ashi follows, and on a clear day Mt. Fuji stands over the far end of the water.

Ueno Park first, then Asakusa: Sensoji is the oldest temple in Tokyo, approached up Nakamise-dori between two rows of stalls that have been trading for centuries. A photo stop at the Skytree follows, then Odaiba on the bay for its scale replica of the Statue of Liberty, and teamLab Planets — a barefoot walk through water and mirrored rooms of projected light.

A day to spend as you like. Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea are both available as a paid option including the transfer, or stay in the city for Ginza, Shibuya Crossing, Harajuku and Akihabara on your own.

Check out and transfer to the airport for the flight to Seoul, with 20 kg of checked baggage and 7 kg in the cabin. A packed lunch travels with the group. Transfer to the hotel on arrival and take dinner at an Indian restaurant.

Gyeongbokgung is the principal palace of the Joseon dynasty, burned, rebuilt and restored, with the changing of the guard at the Gwanghwamun gate. Bukchon Hanok Village is the surviving quarter of tiled courtyard houses on the slope between Gyeongbokgung and Changdeokgung, still lived in. The afternoon runs out to Nami Island, a half-moon of tree-lined avenues on the Han reached by ferry.

North to the Demilitarised Zone. Imjingak sits just short of the line, with the Bridge of Freedom the prisoners crossed in 1953 and a theatre and exhibition hall on the division. The Third Tunnel was dug by the North under the border and is walked partway down. The Dora Observatory looks across the zone into North Korea itself. The rest of the day is free for shopping in Seoul.

Take breakfast, check out, and transfer to Incheon International Airport at 7:00 AM for the return flight. Your tour ends here.