The trip
Cherry blossom season in Japan is short and hard to predict. The trees bloom for about a week, peak for a few days, and the date shifts every year depending on how cold the winter was. Japan takes it seriously. The forecast is national news, there are blossom maps on TV, and offices send their newest employee out at dawn to hold the picnic spot.
We built this trip around the usual timing: Tokyo tends to peak in the last week of March, and Kyoto a few days later. Starting in Tokyo and working west gives us the best shot at catching the trees at their best in more than one place. If the bloom comes early or late, we shuffle the order.
Fair warning: this is the busiest season of the year, and the famous spots are packed. We start early, plenty of mornings before 7am, so you see the Philosopher's Path or the Chureito Pagoda before the tour buses arrive. You'll walk a lot, often 15,000 steps a day, and you'll sleep very well.
Highlights
- A hanami picnic under the trees in Ueno Park, done the way locals do it
- Mount Fuji behind the Chureito Pagoda, if the clouds cooperate
- A night in a traditional ryokan with an onsen and a kaiseki dinner
- Kyoto's Philosopher's Path at dawn and Maruyama Park's weeping cherry by lantern light
- Himeji Castle, the best-preserved original castle in Japan
Day by day
Texas to Tokyo
A long flight that lands the following afternoon. Train into the city and a gentle first evening around the hotel.
Tokyo
Morning in Ueno Park for hanami, with a picnic of convenience store treats (Japanese convenience stores are a highlight in themselves). The old Yanaka neighborhood after lunch, then Asakusa and Sensō-ji at dusk.
Tokyo
Shinjuku Gyoen, the most beautiful garden in the city, with dozens of cherry varieties. Then the Shibuya crossing and a department store food hall. After dark, the lanterns along the Meguro River, where the branches arch over the water and the whole thing glows pink.
Mount Fuji & the ryokan
Out to Lake Kawaguchiko and the 398 steps up to the Chureito Pagoda. Then check in at a ryokan: yukata robes, hot spring baths and a many-course kaiseki dinner served in your room or a private dining room.
To Kyoto
Bullet train to Kyoto. Your big bags go ahead by courier, so you travel light. Late afternoon at Fushimi Inari, climbing up through the torii gates after the day crowds thin out.
Kyoto
Up early for the Philosopher's Path, a canal walk lined with cherry trees. Ginkaku-ji, Nanzen-ji and its brick aqueduct, and in the evening the lit-up weeping cherry in Maruyama Park and a walk along Shirakawa in Gion.
Arashiyama
Early to the bamboo grove, then Tenryū-ji and its garden. Free afternoon. Kyoto rewards people who just wander.
Nara
The deer of Nara Park, who bow if you bow first (and then mug you for a cracker), and Tōdai-ji, home to one of the largest bronze Buddhas in the world.
Himeji to Osaka
Himeji Castle, which is spectacular with blossoms in the moat. On to Osaka for the evening and the neon of Dōtonbori. Try the takoyaki.
Hiroshima & Miyajima
A day trip by bullet train. The Peace Memorial Park and Museum in the morning, then the ferry to Miyajima for the "floating" torii gate and the island's tame deer.
Osaka
A free day: Kuromon Market, Osaka Castle, or a train back to Kyoto for anything you missed. Farewell dinner.
Home
Flights from Kansai, arriving home the same day.
What's included
✅ Included
- Round-trip economy airfare from DFW or IAH
- 10 nights in hotels plus 1 night in a ryokan, double occupancy
- Breakfast daily, 3 lunches and 5 dinners, including the kaiseki dinner
- Rail pass travel on the bullet trains, plus local transit cards
- Luggage forwarding between Tokyo and Kyoto
- Local English-speaking guides and all listed entry fees
➖ Not included
- Most lunches and 6 dinners
- Personal shopping (Japanese stationery stores are dangerous)
- Tips (not customary in Japan, but your WeSellATour leader appreciates them)
- Single supplement (from $1,250) and travel insurance
Good to know
No one controls the bloom. We set these dates from years of bloom records, and we adjust the order of the trip when the forecast shifts. Some trees will be at their peak, and some will be just past it or not quite open. It's beautiful either way.
Pack light. You'll be on trains and up and down a lot of stairs. Most hot springs ban visible tattoos, so if you have one, let us know and we'll book a private bath.
