Page 3 - Demo

Day 1 London to Tokyo, Japan. Fly by scheduled flight.Day 2 Tokyo. Arrive and transfer to our hotel in Tokyo for a two night stay. The remainder of the afternoon is at leisure. Meet this evening for dinner in the hotel. (D)Day 3 Tokyo. This morning after breakfast we will begin our exploration of Tokyo, starting with Asakusa, Tokyo%u2019s %u2018Old Town%u2019. We will visit Sensoji, Tokyo%u2019s oldest temple and spend time in Nakamise, a shopping street that has been providing temple visitors with a variety of traditional snacks and tourist souvenirs for centuries. We will then visit the famous Meiji Shrine. Located within a forest it feels as if you are miles away from one of the biggest cities in the world rather than in the middle of it. After lunch in a local restaurant we will continue to the newly renovated Edo Museum that has recently reopened. The museum%u2019s permanent exhibition vividly illustrates Tokyo%u2019s past (known as Edo until 1869). (B, L)Day 4 Tokyo to Kushiro. Today we transfer to the airport for the short domestic flight to Hokkaido, the northernmost of Japan%u2019s main islands. Landing in Kushiro we transfer to our hotel where we will stay for two nights. Dinner this evening will be at a local restaurant. (B, D)Day 5 Kushiro. This morning we will set out to explore the Kushiro Marshland National Park which was established in 1987 to support the habitat of the endangered Japanese crane. Thought to be extinct, a group of 20 birds was discovered in the marshes around Kushiro in 1926 and through conservation efforts they have made a dramatic recovery and there are now more than 1,000 birds, the only known population. We will start our visit to the National Park at the observatory for views across the marshes. After lunch at a local restaurant we will visit the Onnenai Visitor Centre to learn about the park%u2019s history and work. From here we will travel to the Akan International Crane Centre where we will hope to see Japanese cranes and witness their spectacular dance. Afterwards we will visit the Kushiro City Museum before returning to the hotel for an evening at leisure. (B, L)Day 6 Kushiro to Sapporo. After breakfast we will depart Kushiro by train for Sapporo, the capital of Hokkaido. The journey will take us along the coast before turning inland to views of snow-covered mountains and fields. While on the train enjoy a Japanese bento box for lunch. On arrival in Sapporo we transfer to the hotel, our base for the next four nights. Every winter Sapporo is home to the Sapporo Snow Festival which started in 1950 when high school students built snow sculptures in Odori Park. Since then it has grown and developed into a major event attracting over two million visitors from around the world. With our local guides we will explore the snow festival taking in the large snow and ice sculptures, some are incredibly intricate and some have even reached over 25 metres wide and 15 metres high. After exploring the festival we will continue to dinner. (B, L, D)the itinerarySensoji Temple, TokyoSapporo by night from Mount MoiwaRed-crowned cranes, Kushiro Marshlands