Day/Date

Description

Remarks

00 / 05 May Mon

Singapore

Assemble and check in for your flight on Singapore Airlines to Nagoya this evening.

01 / 06 May Tue

Singapore/Nagoya/ Mie

SQ672 SINNGO

Dep 0120hrs

Arr 0900hrs

Depart by SQ672 0120/0900hrs for Nagoya this morning.

Enjoy the in-flight service and upon arrival, proceed for immigrations clearance (Japan Web) at Nagoya Airport this morning. Meet our guide and transfer by coach to Matsusaka, Mie prefecture (2 hrs).

Following lunch, we visit Matsusaka Castle built in 1588, now a symbol of Matsusaka with only its magnificent stone walls remaining. Cherry blossoms, wisteria, and ginkgo trees decorate the stone walls, making it popular with people throughout the year.

Next we visit the Kotai Jingu (Ise Jingu), which enshrines the most venerated deity in Shinto and enjoys the patronage of the Imperial family.   Nearby is Okage Yokocho, a side street in front of Ise Jingu, where local people express their gratitude for the surroundings and nature with traditional architecture and food.   We enjoy a stroll through Okage Yokocho before we check into our hotel follows by dinner at a local restaurant

O/N Kashiko-Jima Hotel Bay Garden or similar

Meal on Board

LD

02 / 07 May Wed

Mie

After breakfast, check out and explore a little more of Matsusaka as we approach Mikimoto Pearl Island, known as the birthplace of cultured pearl aquaculture. Located in Ise Bay, the island is owned by Mikimoto Pearl Museum Co., Ltd. We explore the facilities and activities such as visiting the Pearl Museum and watching traditional ama diving demonstration. After lunch, we participate in a 30-min workshop to learn and make hand cream using pearl conchiolin, which has a high moisturizing effect. Back to hotel later this afternoon to enjoy a rest before our transfer to local restaurant for dinner.

O/N Kashiko-Jima Hotel Bay Garden or similar

BLD

03 / 08 May Thu

Mie / Shirakawago/ Kanazawa

We check out and depart after breakfast for Kanazawa via UNESCO-listed Shirakawago village. At Shirakawago, the attraction is the village itself, replete with thatched roof houses called Gassho-zukuri built without using a single nail. Gassho-zukuri houses were built from the middle of the Edo Period to the beginning of the Showa. The village was designated nationally as an important traditional architectural preservation area and registered as a World Heritage Site in 1995. The oldest buildings are said to be 300 years old. After lunch, we continue our journey to Kanazawa and visit Higashi Chaya-gai district, Kanazawa’s biggest and most famous geisha district, with houses dating back to ancient times. Nowadays, the area houses a number of traditional teahouses as well as Kanazawa’s famous gold leaf store.   We check into our hotel after dinner.

O/N Hotel Mystays Premier Kanazawa or similar

BLD

04 / 09 May Fri

Kanazawa / Toyama

This morning after breakfast, we check out and enjoy a sightseeing tour of Kanazawa starting with Kenrokuen Gardens, one of Japan’s top three most beautiful gardens, featuring different scene to be observed with each season, from the plum and cherry blossoms in spring to flowers in summer. We then hop over to Omicho Market, Kanazawa's largest fresh food market since the Edo Period (1603-1868). Today, it is a busy and colorful network of covered streets lined by about 200 shops and stalls. While most shops specialize in the excellent local seafood and produce, you can also find flowers, clothing, kitchen tools and more on sale.   Following lunch at a local restaurant, we drop by the Oyama Shrine, with its mixture of European and Chinese design elements, dedicated to the spirits of feudal lord Toshie Maeda and his wife, Omatsu. Catch the wisteria bloom at the beautiful garden, originally designed by Kobori Enshu, a famous gardener and architect. Then we visit the Tonami Tulip Park where millions of blooms in a vast array of hues. The park's expansive tulip fields are neatly arranged into broad rows of red, yellow and orange (Blooming season is typically late April through May and is your chance to soak up spring and take some calendar-worthy photographs). We continue our journey to Toyama, famed for the World Heritage Gokayama villages (similar to Shiragawa) and Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route.   After dinner at a local restautant, we adjourn to our hotel to rest.

O/N Kitaro Onsen Hotel or similar (Deluxe)

BLD

05 / 10 May Sat

Toyama – Alpine Route / Nagano

We check out and depart from hotel after breakfast this morning and transfer to Tateyama Station (475 msl), start point of the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route that takes you through epic landscapes, lush green valleys and past a few of the highest peaks in Japan. The whole mountain range of Alpine route is covered in snow. One of the best things to do in Tateyama Kurobe Alpine is walk through the majestic snow corridor. We start our ‘adventure’ by taking the cable car to Bijodaira (977 msl) known for primeval forest containing multi-century old cedars and beech trees. We then transfer by the Tateyama Highland Bus up the mountain roads and past the tree line to Murodo - 2450 msl (Throughout this ride, keep an eye out for the Shomyo Falls viewpoint and the Sendo Cedar, one of Japan’s 100 biggest trees). Reaching Murodo bus terminal, explore the snow corridor walk that is steps away from the terminal! We then continue by the Tateyama Tunnel Trolleybus through the mountain and once emerge, hop outside for a view of the valley below to see the lake and Japan’s highest dam, the Kurobe Dam (1470 msl). And finally, we hop on the Kanden Electric Tunnel Bus through another mountain to Ogizawa Station (1433 msl) where our coach transfers us to dinner at a local restaurant in Nagano. We arrive at our hotel and check in for the next 2 nights.

(Our full Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route takes us at least 7 hours.

O/N Hotel Metropolitan Nagano or similar (Deluxe)

BLD

06 / 11 May Sun

Nagano

After breakfast at hotel, we enjoy a sightseeing tour of Nagano visiting the Zenkoji Temple founded in the 7^th century and stores the first Buddhist statue ever to be brought into Japan when Buddhism was first introduced in the 6^th century. Enjoy lunch at one of Nagano’s popular wineries follows by a winery tour. Nagano grapes are well suited to the terroir, and Nagano wine brings out the best in them (Nagano is the largest producer of Merlot in Japan). At Garyu Park, Yoshino cherry trees are normally appreciated but you can also find irises, wisteria, rhododendrons, hydrangeas, and Mt. Garyu’s beautiful pine trees that look like sleeping dragons. Finally let’s indulge in red, ripe strawberries until you are stuffed. Pick and eat as many strawberries and varieties as you want in the warm greenhouse of a local strawberry farm (You are not allowed to take home the strawberries you pick, so eat up)

Enjoy dinner at a local restaurant before back to hotel to rest.

O/N Hotel Metropolitan Nagano or similar (Deluxe)

BLD

07 / 12 May Mon

Nagano / Takayama

Following breakfast, we check out and board coach for Hakuba. Located in the beautiful region of Azumino and set against the background of the Japanese Northern Alps, Daio Wasabi Farm is the one of the largest producers of wasabi in Japan. Covering an expansive area, multiple large water-filled fields of wasabi are dissected by clear streams of water and walking paths, along which are free to explore. Daio Shrine and wooden water wheels on the Tade and Yorozui Rivers – the setting for a scene in Kurosawa Akira’s 1989 film ‘Dreams’ – add to that idyllic atmosphere. We then make a photo stop at Matsumoto Castle, one of the grandest castles in Japan with its five-tiered, six-story main tower, built in late 16th century before we adjourn for lunch. After lunch, enjoy a stroll along the Azusa River, a mostly flat terrain at Kamikochi (1500 msl), offering some of Japan's most spectacular alpine scenery (look out for birds and monkeys too). We then transfer to Takayama for dinner and overnight.

O/N Washington Hotel Plaza Hida Takayama or similar

BLD

08 / 13 May Tue

Takayama / Nagoya

Checkout out after breakfast and transfer to Nagayo. But first visit the Takayama Old Town beautifully preserved with many buildings and whole streets of houses dating back to the feudal ages, when the city thrived as a wealthy merchant town.   Check out the morning market (asaichi) held on a daily basis, in front of the Takayama Jinya and along Miyagawa River selling local crafts and farm products. We leave for Nagoya for lunch at a local restaurant follows by free time for shopping around the central area and before we check into our hotel. Dinner at a local restaurant.

O/N Hotel Mystays Nagoya Sakae or similar

BLD

09 / 14 May Wed

Nagoya/Singapore

SQ671 NGOSIN

1025/1600hrs

An early check out this morning (boxed breakfast) as we head out by coach for Nagoya Airport (90 mins). We check in for our flight this morning and return home to Singapore late this afternoon.

B

Meal on Board

Based on min 20 pax/max 24 pax

Member

Per person

Non Member

Per person

Twin Share Basis

$5,370.00

$5,450.00

Single Room Supplement

$6,050.00

$6,130.00