Japan in Autumn: Tokyo, Takayama, Shirakawa-go, Kanazawa and Kyoto in 11 Days

On arrival at Narita or Haneda airport, you are met and taken by private car to your hotel in central Tokyo. After check-in, rest or take a gentle walk around the neighborhood. Your guide will contact you to confirm the plan, share the latest autumn color reports along the route and give you a transport card for the trains and subway. In the evening, try a bowl of ramen or a simple izakaya near your hotel.Overnight: Tokyo

Visit the Meiji Shrine, set in a quiet forest, then walk to the nearby ginkgo avenue of Jingu Gaien, where two rows of trees turn bright gold in late autumn. Continue to Asakusa for Senso-ji, Tokyo's oldest temple, and the stalls of Nakamise Street. In the late afternoon, visit Rikugien, an Edo-period strolling garden whose maples are lit up in the evening during the autumn season.Overnight: Tokyo · Meals: B

Send your main luggage ahead to Kyoto and take the Shinkansen to Nagoya, then the scenic Hida limited express up the Hida River valley to Takayama, about four and a half hours in total. In the afternoon, walk through Sanmachi Suji, the preserved merchant quarter of dark wooden houses, small sake breweries marked by cedar balls above the doors and craft shops. Spend the evening at your ryokan or hotel, with time for a hot-spring bath.Overnight: Takayama · Meals: B, D

Start with the morning market beside the Miyagawa River, where local farmers sell vegetables, pickles and crafts. Visit Takayama Jinya, a former government office from the Edo period, then the Takayama Festival Floats Exhibition Hall to see the ornate floats used in the town's famous festival. In the afternoon, explore Hida Folk Village, an open-air museum of thatched farmhouses moved here from the surrounding mountains, beside a pond reflecting the autumn leaves.Overnight: Takayama · Meals: B, D

Take a bus of about 50 minutes to Shirakawa-go, a UNESCO World Heritage village of gassho-zukuri farmhouses, whose steep thatched roofs are built to shed heavy winter snow. Walk through the village, visit the inside of one of the larger houses and climb to the Shiroyama viewpoint for the classic view over the rooftops. In the afternoon, continue by bus to Kanazawa, about 75 minutes, and check in to your hotel.Overnight: Kanazawa · Meals: B

Visit Kenroku-en early, one of Japan's three great gardens, where ponds, stone lanterns and trees supported with ropes against the snow glow in autumn color. Walk through the grounds of Kanazawa Castle and on to Higashi Chaya, a district of old teahouses where you can see local gold-leaf craft. After lunch at Omicho Market, known for its fresh seafood, take the train to Kyoto, about two and a quarter hours.Overnight: Kyoto · Meals: B

Go early to Tofuku-ji, one of Kyoto's most famous autumn sights, where the wooden Tsutenkyo bridge looks over a valley filled with maple trees. Visit the temple's modern checkerboard moss garden. Later, walk through the tunnels of red torii gates at Fushimi Inari Shrine, climbing as far up the mountain as you like. Return to central Kyoto in the late afternoon and enjoy an evening walk through Gion.Overnight: Kyoto · Meals: B

Walk the Philosopher's Path from Ginkaku-ji, the Silver Pavilion, to Nanzen-ji, a large Zen temple with a brick aqueduct and a fine sub-temple garden. Next door, Eikan-do is known as the temple of autumn leaves, and its pond garden is spectacular in November. In the late afternoon, visit Kiyomizu-dera, whose wooden stage looks over a hillside of maples, and stay for the evening illumination if it is running during your visit.Overnight: Kyoto · Meals: B

Head west to Arashiyama, where maples cover the hills above the river. Walk through the bamboo grove and visit Tenryu-ji, whose garden borrows the colors of the mountain behind it, then the hillside temple of Jojakko-ji, known for its mossy steps under the maples. In the afternoon, visit Kinkaku-ji, the Golden Pavilion, and the rock garden of Ryoan-ji. The evening is free to explore the restaurants of Pontocho.Overnight: Kyoto · Meals: B

Take the train to Nara and walk through Nara Park, where deer wander freely beneath the trees, to Todai-ji, home to a giant bronze Buddha in one of the largest wooden halls in the world. Visit Kasuga Taisha, with its hundreds of lanterns, and the gardens of Isuien. In the afternoon, travel to Osaka, where your luggage awaits. Spend your last evening among the lights and food stalls of Dotonbori.Overnight: Osaka · Meals: B

Enjoy breakfast and some free time, depending on your flight. You are then taken to Kansai International Airport, about an hour away, for your flight home. November is also a good month in Vietnam, especially the north, and direct flights from Osaka reach Hanoi in about five hours if you would like to extend your trip.Meals: B