What is the Japan Discovery holiday, and what does it cost?
It is ten nights across Japan’s three great cities — four in Tokyo, three in Kyoto and three in Osaka — with a day trip to Mount Fuji and a day at Tokyo Disneyland, both included. You travel between the cities by bullet train on an included Japan Rail Pass, and stay at 4★ hotels with breakfast. Return flights between London and Tokyo are included. The advertised lead-in price is £1,899pp based on two sharing, for October 2026, January and February 2027; a 14-night version adding Hiroshima, Miyajima and Hakone starts at £2,399pp. Your exact price depends on dates, availability, room category and any options you add. It suits first-time visitors who want the classic route with the logistics already arranged. No advance visa is needed, and every booking is ATOL protected under licence 10713.
Why this route through Japan?
Because it is the order that works. Tokyo comes first, to land, adjust to the time difference and see the modern city — Shibuya, Sensō-ji and, on its own day, Tokyo Disneyland. Mount Fuji follows as a day trip before you leave the Tokyo area. Then the rail pass begins, and the bullet train takes you to Kyoto for temples and shrines, and on to Osaka for food and the castle.
The Japan Rail Pass is what makes the route easy. It covers the bullet-train journeys between the cities, so you are not buying tickets leg by leg.
Should you choose 10 nights or 14?
Ten nights covers the essentials: Tokyo, Mount Fuji, Kyoto and Osaka, at a pace that leaves room to breathe. It is the right choice for a first visit.
Fourteen nights adds Hiroshima and Miyajima, and Hakone, with a 10-day Japan Rail Pass instead of a 7-day one. It costs £500 more per person than the 10-night holiday in every month. Choose it if Hiroshima matters to you, or if you would rather see the country at a gentler speed. Nara and Hiroshima excursions, where applicable, are not included.
How much does the Japan Discovery holiday cost?
For ten nights, the advertised lead-in price is £1,899pp based on two sharing, for October 2026, January and February 2027. November 2026, March, June and September 2027 are £1,999pp; May and July 2027 are £2,099pp; and December 2026, April and August 2027 are the dearest at £2,199pp. The 14-night version is £500 more in each month, from £2,399pp to £2,699pp.
What the price buys: the flights, the Japan Rail Pass, 4★ hotels with breakfast, the Tokyo Disneyland ticket and the Mount Fuji day trip. What sits outside it: local subway and metro fares, lunches and dinners, Nara and Hiroshima excursions where applicable, and travel insurance. City transport and meals are the two costs to budget for.
Put another way, the 10-night lead-in works out at about £190 per person per night, and the 14-night lead-in at about £171 — with the flights, the rail pass, the hotels, the Disneyland ticket and the Fuji day trip all inside that figure. The longer holiday costs less per night because the flights are spread across more of them, so if you can spare the extra four nights, they are the better value.
When is the best time to go to Japan?
These are the World Meteorological Organization’s official averages for 1991–2020, supplied by the Japan Meteorological Agency.
November is the best balance. Tokyo averages 16.7°C with 7.4 rain days, and the holiday costs £1,999pp. January and February are the value months, at £1,899pp. December to February are Tokyo’s three driest months on both rain days and rainfall — cold, at around 10°C.
October is cheaper but wetter. At £1,899pp it matches the winter price, and at 22.0°C it is mild, but it is Tokyo’s wettest month by rainfall and falls within typhoon season, which GOV.UK says runs between June and December, peaking between July and September. High summer is hot: Osaka averages 33.7°C in August, and GOV.UK warns of heat exceeding 35°C in July and August.
Who is this holiday for — and who should look elsewhere?
It suits first-time visitors who want Japan’s classic route without planning the trains; families and couples who want Tokyo Disneyland built in; and anyone who would rather have the rail pass, the hotels and the Fuji day trip arranged before they fly.
It is less suited to anyone who wants a shorter first taste — our Tokyo and Kyoto twin-city experience is six or eight nights in two cities — or to anyone who would rather skip Disneyland for more temples. Our Japan multi-centre guide covers how to split the nights.
How does it compare with other ways to see Japan?
What is the Tokyo stay like?
You stay four nights at a 4★ hotel such as Shinjuku Washington Hotel or similar, with breakfast. The first full day pairs Shibuya, with its famous crossing, and Sensō-ji, Tokyo’s oldest temple. The next is Tokyo Disneyland, on your included ticket; the one after is the included day trip to the Fuji Five Lakes, at the foot of Mount Fuji. The mountain can be hidden by cloud, so keep your expectations about the view flexible.
What are Kyoto and Osaka like?
The bullet train takes you to Kyoto, where you stay three nights at a 4★ hotel such as Kyoto Tokyu Hotel or similar. Fushimi Inari, with its thousands of red torii gates, and Kinkaku-ji, the Golden Pavilion, make one day; the Arashiyama bamboo grove another.
Osaka follows, at a 4★ hotel such as Hotel Nikko Osaka or similar: Dotonbori, the neon-lit food street, for the evenings, and Osaka Castle for a day. The last day is free, or an optional day trip to Nara, which is not included.
What do you need to know before you travel to Japan?
- Visa. None in advance: GOV.UK says British visitors are given permission to stay on arrival for tourism, for up to 90 days.
- Passport. It only needs to be valid for the length of your stay, with a blank page for the entry stamp.
- Weather hazards. GOV.UK says typhoon season is between June and December, peaking between July and September, and warns of heat above 35°C in July and August.
- Time. Japan is nine hours ahead of the UK in winter and eight during British Summer Time.
- Money. The Japanese yen. Budget for local subway fares and meals, which are not included.
Entry rules and hazards are GOV.UK’s guidance, checked on 17 September 2026. Check the latest official requirements before you travel, as they can change.
How do you book, and how are you protected?
Tell us your dates, how many nights you would like — 10 or 14 — your departure airport and who is travelling, and your consultant will confirm a live price, the hotels and the payment schedule in writing before you commit. The package is protected under ATOL 10713, and you receive an ATOL Certificate setting out what is covered. ATOL protects the money you pay if a travel company fails; it is not travel insurance, which you should arrange separately. For more multi-city holidays, see our multi-centre holidays.
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