"We're thrilled to have Peter leading this experience. With a long professional background in LGBTQ+ community building, advocacy, and group travel, Peter has spent years creating spaces where people feel genuinely welcomed, seen, and free to show up as their full selves. He brings warmth, intention, and a natural ease with people that makes even a group of strangers feel like old friends by day two." - Matthew Scheuller

What Airport Do I Fly Into? For this tour, we recommend flying into Tokyo's Haneda International Airport (HND) or Narita International Airport (NRT). We recommend arriving in Tokyo on March 23rd, or ideally one day before to have some time to rest and adjust before our welcome dinner that evening. The tour concludes in Osaka, so you'll want to book your return flight out of Kansai International Airport (KIX) in Osaka. Please keep this in mind when booking your international flights — flying into Tokyo and out of Osaka is the most seamless routing for this itinerary.

When Does the Tour Begin and End? The first official activity of the tour begins in Tokyo on March 23rd, 2027 at 5:30 PM with our welcome dinner. We recommend arriving in Tokyo earlier that day (or the day before) to allow time to settle in and adjust after your long-haul flight. The tour concludes in Osaka on March 30th, 2027 following hotel checkout. From there, you'll make your way to Kansai International Airport (KIX) for your flight home or onward to your next destination.

What Is The Cancellation Policy? If your booking is still pending (meaning the trip has not been confirmed yet), you're eligible for a full refund — including your 25% deposit. Once the trip is confirmed (after 10 travelers have booked), we will send you a confirmation notification and your deposit becomes non-refundable. If you need to cancel after confirmation, you'll receive a Credit Voucher to be applied to a new trip within 1 year of cancellation, for the 25% deposit amount paid (minus a $100 cancellation fee). Optional Add-ons can be added and are fully refundable up to 90-days pre-trip. After the 90-day mark before the trip, all payments become non-refundable, since hotels, transportation, and activities have already been paid for. Any exceptions at that point are at the discretion of our local partners. We strongly recommend purchasing travel insurance — it really is worth it.

Welcome Dinner — Included Meal We're so glad you're here! We'll gather as a group for our first evening together over a welcome dinner at a local Tokyo restaurant — a relaxed, delicious introduction to Japanese cuisine and the perfect way to meet your fellow travelers. This is where the trip officially, excitedly begins.

Overnight Accommodation at Hotel Groove Shinjuku We'll spend our first three nights at Hotel Groove Shinjuku, a stylish 4-star hotel in the heart of one of Tokyo's most vibrant and iconic neighborhoods — and one of the best possible home bases for experiencing everything this city has to offer.

Breakfast at the Hotel — Included Meal
The morning starts with a delicious buffet-style breakfast at Shinjuku Groove before the journey to Tsukiji Market!

Tsukiji Outer Market
One of Tokyo's most beloved culinary destinations — a maze of stalls selling the freshest seafood, street food, and local specialties you'll find anywhere in the city. We'll explore together and graze our way through before the main event.

Sushi Making Class — and Included Lunch
A hands-on introduction to one of Japan's most celebrated culinary traditions. We'll learn to prepare sushi rice, slice fish, and roll both maki and nigiri alongside expert local instructors — and then eat everything we made. One of those experiences that sounds fun on paper and turns out to be genuinely one of the highlights of the whole trip.

Asakusa & Sensoji Temple
Tokyo's oldest and most atmospheric neighborhood, anchored by the stunning Sensoji Temple — founded in 645 AD and still one of the most visited spiritual sites in Japan. Our guide will bring the history and significance of this remarkable place to life as we explore the temple grounds and the Nakamise shopping street.

Meiji Shrine
A completely different energy from the buzz of the rest of the day — a vast, forested Shinto shrine dedicated to Emperor Meiji, where the noise of the city falls away entirely and you're left with towering wooden torii gates and a genuinely peaceful atmosphere. A beautiful, grounding mid-day stop.

Shibuya Crossing
One of the most iconic intersections in the world. As evening falls, we'll watch the scramble crossing do its thing — hundreds of people moving in every direction at once, surrounded by neon and skyscrapers — and take in one of those only-in-Tokyo moments before heading back to the hotel.

Harajuku & Takeshita Street
Tokyo's youth fashion epicenter — loud, colorful, deeply weird in the best possible way. Takeshita Street is lined with crepe shops, vintage stores, quirky boutiques, and the kind of street fashion that you really have to see to believe. Embrace it.

Tokyo Gay Bar Tour in Shinjuku Ni-chome
For those with energy left (and you'll want to find some), we'll meet in the hotel lobby at 9 PM for a guided walking tour of Shinjuku Ni-chome — the heart of Tokyo's LGBTQ+ community and one of the most vibrant queer neighborhoods anywhere in the world. With over 400 bars packed into just a few city blocks, it's an unforgettable night out. Drinks are on your own — the good time is included.

Overnight Accommodation at Hotel Groove Shinjuku

Breakfast at the Hotel — Included Meal
The morning starts with a hearty buffet-style breakfast at Shinjuku Groove. Eat well! You'll need your energy for exploring today!

Overnight Accommodation at Hotel Groove Shinjuku Our final night at Hotel Groove Shinjuku before we board the bullet train to Kyoto tomorrow morning. Rest up — it's going to be a big day.

Breakfast at the Hotel — Included Meal

A final breakfast at Shinjuku Groove before we check out and head to board the Shinkansen!

Shinkansen Bullet Train: Tokyo to Kyoto — Included

Reserved seats on the Nozomi No. 23, departing Tokyo Station at 10:12 AM and arriving Kyoto Station at 12:23 PM. The 2hr 11min ride is one of the great travel experiences in Japan — and honestly in the world. Grab a window seat if you can. We recommend picking up a bento box from one of the many vendors inside Tokyo Station before boarding — it's a

quintessentially Japanese way to travel and the station food is genuinely excellent.

Higashiyama Historic District

Our first stop in Kyoto is one of its most magical — the beautifully preserved stone-paved lanes of Higashiyama, winding uphill past wooden machiya houses, small craft shops, pottery studios, and tea houses. It's the closest thing to old Kyoto you'll find anywhere in the city, and our guide will give it the context and storytelling it deserves as we make our way through.

Yasaka Shrine

At the end of Higashiyama's famous sloping lanes sits Yasaka Shrine — one of Kyoto's most beloved Shinto shrines, known for its stunning vermilion gate and iconic lantern-lit main hall. With over 1,350 years of spiritual history and a central role in the famous Gion Matsuri festival, it's the kind of place that stops you mid-step and makes you very aware of where you are.

Nishiki Market

We finish the afternoon at Nishiki Market — nicknamed "Kyoto's Kitchen" — a five-block covered market stretching through the heart of downtown Kyoto with over 100 shops and stalls selling fresh seafood, seasonal produce, pickles, Japanese sweets, skewered street food, and Kyoto specialties like yuba and matcha everything. Graze, explore, and stock up on snacks for the days ahead.

Overnight Accommodation at Solaria Nishitetsu Hotel Kyoto Premier

We'll check into the beautiful Solaria Nishitetsu Hotel Kyoto Premier, a refined hotel situated along the Kamo River in the heart of Kyoto — an 18-minute walk from Yasaka Shrine and perfectly positioned for everything we have planned over the next two days. Your luggage is already waiting. Dinner is on your own tonight — your guide will have plenty of recommendations, and Kyoto's restaurant scene will not disappoint.

Breakfast at the Hotel — Included Meal

A full breakfast at Solaria Nishitetsu Hotel Kyoto Premier before we head out for the day. Fuel up — it's a big one.

Arashiyama Bamboo Grove

One of the most photographed and genuinely otherworldly natural attractions in all of Japan. Towering bamboo stalks stretch as far as you can see, the light filters through the dense canopy in the most extraordinary way, and the sound of the leaves rustling overhead is somehow both eerie and completely peaceful. It's one of those places that looks incredible in photos and somehow even better in person.

Tenryuji Temple

Right alongside the bamboo grove sits Tenryuji, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of Kyoto's most significant Zen Buddhist temples, founded in 1339. Its celebrated Sogenchi Garden — designed by the legendary Zen monk and garden designer Muso Soseki — is a masterpiece of Japanese landscape design, with a central pond perfectly framed by the Arashiyama mountains in the background. Our guide will bring the history and philosophy of this extraordinary place to life.

Lunch — Included Meal

A included lunch before our afternoon experiences. Your guide will have details on location and what to expect — Kyoto's cuisine is as refined and seasonal as any in Japan, and lunch here is never just lunch.

Tea Ceremony Wearing Kimono

One of the most uniquely Japanese experiences of the entire trip. We'll dress in traditional kimonos — the process of putting one on is a cultural experience in itself — before being guided through the ancient ritual of the Japanese tea ceremony, known as chanoyu. A tea master will walk us through every precise and graceful step, from the handling of the utensils to the proper way of drinking the matcha. Every gesture has meaning, every movement has intention. It's meditative, beautiful, and with this group, absolutely guaranteed to also be a little ridiculous and a lot of fun.

Kiyomizudera Temple

We close the day at Kiyomizudera — one of Kyoto's most iconic and beloved temples, founded in 780 AD and part of the UNESCO World Heritage site of Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto. Its famous wooden stage juts out from the main hall 13 meters above the hillside below, offering breathtaking panoramic views over the city and the surrounding forested mountains. The temple grounds also include the Otowa Waterfall, where visitors drink from three streams said to bring health, longevity, and success. Take your time here — it earns it.

Overnight Accommodation at Solaria Nishitetsu Hotel Kyoto Premier Our final night in Kyoto. Dinner is on your own — your guide will have recommendations, and the neighborhood around the hotel is full of excellent options for every budget and appetite.

Breakfast at the Hotel — Included Meal

A final breakfast at Solaria Nishitetsu Hotel Kyoto Premier before we check out and hit the road. Eat well — it's a long and full day ahead.

Nara Park

Our first stop is one of Japan's most charming and genuinely unexpected experiences. Nara Park is home to hundreds of wild sika deer who roam freely through the grounds, considered sacred messengers in Shinto tradition and completely unbothered by the presence of humans. They will walk up to you. They will nudge you for snacks. They will bow back at you if you bow first — yes, really. It's delightful and a little surreal and absolutely one of those moments you'll be telling people about when you get home.

Todaiji Temple & the Great Buddha

Within Nara Park sits Todaiji Temple — one of Japan's most historically significant Buddhist temples, originally founded in 728 AD — and inside it, the Great Buddha. The Daibutsu is a monumental bronze figure of Vairocana Buddha standing approximately 15 meters tall, cast in 752 AD, housed in what remains one of the largest wooden structures in the world. Standing in front of it is one of those moments where the scale of something completely overrides your ability to think about anything else. Our guide will give you the full story behind this remarkable place.

Transfer from Nara to Osaka (approximately 1 hour)

Osaka Castle

From Nara we continue on to Osaka, stopping at the magnificent Osaka Castle — originally constructed in 1583 by Toyotomi Hideyoshi and one of Japan's most iconic landmarks. Surrounded by a vast park with cherry trees and massive stone moat walls, the castle's main tower soars above the city and houses a fascinating museum covering the castle's history and the unification of feudal Japan. It's grand, beautiful, and surprisingly moving as a piece of living history.

Dotonbori

We finish the day in Dotonbori — Osaka's most famous entertainment district and the spiritual home of the city's legendary food culture. Neon signs, mechanical crabs, the iconic Glico Running Man, and wall-to-wall takoyaki, okonomiyaki, and every other Osaka street food specialty you've been looking forward to trying. This is Osaka at its most alive and most itself. Tonight is yours to eat, explore, and take it all in — dinner is on your own, and you will not struggle to find something incredible.

Check In at voco Osaka Central After the tour wraps up, we'll check into the sleek and centrally located voco Osaka Central — our home base for the final two nights of the trip, perfectly positioned in the heart of the city for everything ahead.

Overnight Accommodation at voco Osaka Central

Free Day in Osaka

Osaka is one of those cities that has a completely different energy depending on which direction you walk out of the hotel. Street food, vintage shops, covered shopping arcades, neighborhood shrines tucked between apartment buildings — the city has endless layers and today is your chance to find your own. Peter and your guide will be available all day with suggestions and recommendations.

Breakfast at the Hotel — Included Meal A glorious breakfast spread at VOCO Osaka Central before we enjoy the day.

Shinsekai Neighborhood Tour

At 4:00 PM we'll meet in the hotel lobby and head out together to Shinsekai — one of Osaka's most distinctive and atmospheric neighborhoods. Developed in the early 20th century with influences from both Paris and New York, it has evolved into something entirely its own — a retro, neon-lit, wonderfully gritty district centered around the iconic Tsutenkaku Tower and famous for its kushikatsu restaurants, old-fashioned arcades, colorful signage, and the kind of lived-in local energy that feels completely removed from the tourist trail. It's a fascinating, fun, and deeply Osaka way to spend the final hours of the trip before dinner.

Farewell Dinner — Included Meal

At 6:00 PM we'll sit down together for our farewell dinner — the meal where we go around the table, share our favorite moments, and somehow try to wrap up a week that felt like a month in the best possible way. This is the night that always sneaks up on you. One minute you're arriving in Tokyo wondering what the week will bring, and suddenly you're here, at the last dinner, not quite ready for it to be over. We'll linger as long as we want. There's nowhere else to be.

Overnight Accommodation at voco Osaka Central

Our final night at voco Osaka Central. Take your time getting back. Osaka at night is still very much alive, and so are you.

Breakfast at the Hotel — Included Meal

One last breakfast at voco Osaka Central before the journey home. Eat well, take your time, and soak up the last few minutes of the trip.

End of the Japan SideQuest.

Japan has a way of getting under your skin — the precision of it, the beauty of it, the kindness of its people, the feeling that every single detail has been thought through — and we hope this week gave you a real taste of all of it. We'll miss you already. See you on the next one. 🌏

Departures & Onward Travel All departures are from Kansai International Airport (KIX) in Osaka. Transfer to the airport is on your own — the hotel concierge will be happy to assist with arrangements. We recommend giving yourself plenty of time, as KIX is approximately 50 minutes from central Osaka by train.