For hundreds of years, samurai, monks, and nobles journeyed between Kyoto and Tokyo alongside the Nakasendo—the 330-mile “street via the mountains.” As soon as bustling with foot visitors and feudal drama, this historic path is now a quiet ribbon winding via forested hills and rural hamlets, removed from Japan’s well-trodden vacationer paths.

Immediately, a brand new form of traveler walks it—these in search of one thing slower, quieter, and extra immersive. To comply with the Nakasendo is to stroll within the footsteps of retailers and warriors, poets and pilgrims—and to jot down your individual story into its centuries-old panorama.

Walk Japan, a tour firm recognized for its “off-the-beaten-path” routes via Japan, leads a exceptional 11-day, 10-night journey alongside probably the most scenic and storied stretches of the traditional path. Their Nakasendo Way tour winds via distant countryside, over the Alps of Japan, and into time-preserved villages.

Alongside the best way, vacationers will study concerning the function of the pathway within the Edo Interval and the story behind necessary battles in Japanese historical past. And on the finish of every day, strolling footwear are eliminated and ft are elevated in conventional Japanese inns, that are famend for his or her meals and care.

Strolling Nakasendo Approach is, fairly merely, one of the crucial peaceable—and spectacular—methods to see Japan. It’s a route that’s famend for its cherry blossom timber, which bloom alongside the path between March and Might. 

Though Nakasendo Approach is an 11-day journey, Stroll Japan is obvious that it’s a stroll, not a trek. It’s appropriate for anybody who can stroll for 4 to 6 hours in consolation. Transportation is obtainable for many who want a relaxation day and baggage is shipped forward to the following vacation spot every morning. Nakasendo Approach was rated an Exercise Stage 3 and Technical Stage 3 on a scale of 1–6 by Stroll Japan, which means members ought to be capable of stroll between 6.2 miles to 16 miles (or 4 to 6 hours) every day. The route contains some quick ascents and descents and takes place on quite a lot of paths, together with pavement, free gravel, and forest trails. Strolling poles are really useful. 

Stroll Japan’s Nakasendo Approach is a small-group tour with a most of 12 members and no minimal. It’s accessible from March to June and once more from September to November, nevertheless it’s best done in the spring, when the cherry blossoms deliver an added contact of magnificence and coloration.

Along with Nakasendo Approach, Stroll Japan’s unique route, the tour firm presents over 38 guided and self-guided excursions that weave through rural Japan, together with the five-day Kiso Road stroll, which is an abridged model of Nakasendo Approach.

Pricing for the Nakasendo Approach strolling tour begins at 575,000 JPY (or simply beneath $4,000 USD). Extra info on the route, in addition to a map, will be discovered at nakasendoway.com.