Luxury gourmet tour

1st July 2010

InsideJapan launches new
Gourmet Deluxe tour

InsideJapan Tours has pulled out all the stops in the creation of its first luxury small group tour. The exclusive 11-night Gourmet Deluxe trip is aimed at travellers with a passion for fine food and culture and includes unique Japanese experiences, such as dinner with a geisha and First Class Bullet train travel, and accommodation in some of Japan’s very finest hotels and traditional ryokan inns.

“InsideJapan Tours is renowned for providing quality and value for money and this tour is no different”, comments Alastair Donnelly, Inside Japan Tours’ Director. “We’ve taken great care to design what we believe is the best small group tour on the market for people who like to travel in style. Our team has a lot of experience in creating luxury tailored trips and we’ve put together a small group tour to meet the demand for guided luxury travel in Japan. Gourmet Deluxe provides some uniquely Japanese cultural experiences and I am confident that it will prove to be a foodie’s delight”.

Initially with a one-off departure in November to coincide with the autumnal changing of the leaves, the tour combines some of Japan’s classic sights with a few hidden gems. It begins in style in Tokyo with a stay at the Mandarin Oriental, arguably the capital’s finest hotel, then heads through the Japanese Alps to the small city of Kanazawa, with its samurai history and stunning gardens, you’ll stay at one of Japan’s most luxurious ryokan, The Kayotei.

Offering an opulent taste of the country, the ryokan staff provide the highest quality of service and food while the rooms themselves are Japanese in style with elegant décor. The Kayotei is surrounded by beautiful forested mountains and views of the vivid red and gold maple leaves can be enjoyed to the full from the indoor and outdoor hot spring baths. After Kanazawa, it’s on to the cultural capital of Kyoto for four nights at the chic Granvia Hotel, before returning for the final night in Tokyo.

A range of exclusive cultural encounters include a guided tour of Tsukiji fish market (soon to be closed to the public) with the chance to enjoy the freshest sushi breakfast; joining one of Tokyo’s expert chefs for a cooking lesson and some more fine food; a tea ceremony; Japanese washi paper making; fine sake tasting, a meal at Tokyo Nihonbashi Yukari, which is headed up by its rising star chef Kimio Nonaga and caters to the Imperial Palace; Michelin-starred dining at either the Hamadaya restaurant or Sense at the Mandarin Oriental, both in Tokyo, and – the most exclusive - a private evening in the company of geisha. While in Kyoto you’ll be joined for dinner by a geisha who will perform traditional dances and chat to you through your interpreter: this is not a tourist show but one of the most prized of services in Japan.

Departing on 5 November, Gourmet Deluxe includes 11 nights’ hotel and ryokan accommodation with breakfast (five nights in Tokyo, two nights in Kanazawa, four nights in Kyoto) five evening meals, two lunches, Tsukiji fish market visit with sushi breakfast, tea ceremony, sake tasting, Japanese cooking lesson and noodle-making class, geisha evening, First Class bullet train travel and all transport between destinations, luggage forwarding, a full-time tour leader for the duration of the trip plus professional guides for five days. Priced £5,000 pp, there is a maximum of 12 places available. Excludes flights which start from £560 pp with Alitalia and can be booked through InsideJapan Tours.

To book and for more information call 0117 314 4620 or visit www.insidejapantours.com.