Japan in Bloom: Sakura Season

About This Program

An immersive journey through Japan's most spectacular cherry blossom season — from Tokyo's imperial gardens to the sacred temples of Kyoto — staying in palace hotels and legendary ryokan.

Few spectacles in the natural world rival Japan's sakura season, when the entire country transforms beneath a canopy of blush-pink cherry blossoms. This eight-day private journey captures the very peak of the bloom, moving through three of Japan's most extraordinary destinations — Tokyo, Hakone, and Kyoto — with each stage timed to coincide with the finest flowering conditions. In Tokyo, three nights at the Palace Hotel Tokyo place you steps from the Imperial Palace's celebrated moat, where centuries-old cherry trees reflect in the still water at dawn. Private guided exploration takes you through Shinjuku Gyoen's 1,500 trees, the lantern-lit hanami celebrations of Ueno Park, and the refined tranquillity of Koishikawa Korakuen garden. Evenings are devoted to Tokyo's extraordinary culinary scene, from a kaiseki dinner at a Michelin three-star restaurant to an intimate omakase sushi experience in Ginza. A private transfer carries you south to Hakone, where the iconic silhouette of Mount Fuji rises above a foreground of cherry blossoms. One night at Gora Kadan — a former Imperial Family summer villa now a Relais & Châteaux ryokan — offers a deeply restorative experience of traditional Japanese hospitality: private onsen baths, an exquisite kaiseki dinner, and the meditative stillness of a Japanese garden in full bloom. The journey culminates in Kyoto, Japan's cultural heart, where three nights allow unhurried exploration of the city's most celebrated sakura sites. The Philosopher's Path canal walk, the weeping cherry of Maruyama Park, and the bamboo groves of Arashiyama are experienced with a private guide who navigates the timing and crowds with expert precision. Dining in Kyoto reaches its zenith at Kikunoi Honten and Hyotei — two of the world's most revered kaiseki restaurants — where seasonal ingredients at the peak of spring are transformed into edible poetry.