Temple lanes, mountain baths and gardens

Your journey to Japan begins at London Heathrow, where you board a daytime nonstop flight to Haneda with JAL, ANA or British Airways. The flight takes approximately 13 hours 50 minutes, with the night spent on board and arrival planned for tomorrow morning. Travel down from Edinburgh separately, leaving room in your arrangements for the Heathrow departure. We recommend having breakfast before boarding and keeping a warm layer within reach, so that your main bag can stay closed once you settle into your seat.

You arrive at Haneda this morning and travel into Tokyo after collecting your luggage. The Keikyu journey to Shinagawa takes approximately 15 minutes; the onward journey to Nihonbashi comes afterwards. A taxi is an alternative if you prefer to keep your bags with you for the whole transfer. At the boutique hotel, leave your cases and take out only what you need for the afternoon. We recommend a meal nearby before setting off for Asakusa, with time to sit down after the flight.

After breakfast, head to Yanaka for a morning on foot. Low houses, temple entrances and small plots of greenery sit along its quieter lanes; bicycles lean beside doorways, and pots narrow the space between a front wall and the street. Start with a walk past the temples, stepping into an accessible forecourt if you would like to look more closely. From the lane, tiled roofs and wooden gates often give only a partial view of what lies inside. We recommend walking without headphones here, so that you can hear approaching bicycles on the narrow streets.

Meet your English-speaking private guide for a day across Tokyo, beginning at Meiji Shrine when it opens at sunrise. The broad approach passes beneath wooden torii and into trees, with gravel underfoot and the city gradually screened by the trunks. At the shrine courtyard, let your guide explain the gestures you see before deciding whether to join in. You can also stand back and watch visitors approach the offering area. Beginning here leaves room for questions before the busier streets later in the day.

Leave your main suitcases with the Nihonbashi hotel for takkyubin forwarding to Kyoto, taking a smaller bag for your stay in Hakone. Include clothes for both nights, toiletries and the things you will need until you meet the cases again. Keep passports, medication and valuables with you. Delivery on the Tokyo–Kyoto route is usually the next day, allowing the cases to arrive ahead of you; the receiving hotel details and luggage labels form part of your travel arrangements.

After breakfast at the ryokan, begin at the Hakone Open-Air Museum, which opens at 9:00. Sculpture stands across sloping lawns, with trees and the surrounding hills forming the background. Walk around a piece that interests you, noticing how its outline changes as the open space behind it gives way to a wooded slope. The outdoor setting rewards moving slowly between works. We recommend keeping the morning here focused, leaving room for the mountain transport and a return to your bath before dinner.

After breakfast, leave the ryokan for Odawara by the local railway and bus route appropriate to its location. Your reserved Hikari Shinkansen then takes you to Kyoto in approximately two hours. Bring something to read and keep a drink beside your seat; with the main cases already forwarded, the station changes should be easier to manage. The train journey is the main appointment this morning, so we recommend continuing directly to the hotel after arrival rather than adding a stop near Kyoto Station.

Meet your English-speaking private guide for an early start in Higashiyama, beginning at Kiyomizu-dera from 6:00. The temple's wooden stage projects from the hillside on a framework of tall supports, with the city beyond the trees. Look first at how the building sits against the slope, then follow the visitor route for another view of the structure. Your guide can place the temple within Kyoto's religious life while you have time to look, before the day's busier flow of visitors develops.

After breakfast, make your way to a private Urasenke-style tea ceremony. Your host introduces the utensils and guides you through the preparation and drinking of matcha. Watch the cloth fold around a utensil, the whisk move through the tea, and the bowl turn in the host's hands. We recommend asking about a movement that interests you while leaving room to observe the sequence. You do not need to know the gestures beforehand; follow the explanation and handle the bowl as your host demonstrates.

Leave Higashiyama early for Arashiyama and begin in the bamboo grove at dawn. The stems rise close together on either side of the path, with joints marking their height and leaves meeting overhead. When the air moves, you may hear the canes and foliage brush against each other. Walk through before stopping for photographs at a place where others can pass. Looking upwards gives a different sense of the grove from the familiar view straight along the path, especially where daylight filters through the canopy.

After breakfast, leave your cases for forwarding from Kyoto to Kanazawa and take your overnight essentials with you. Keep the destination address and luggage receipt in your travel folder, along with the rail reservations. Today's journey begins on the Thunderbird to Tsuruga, where you change to the Tsurugi Shinkansen for Kanazawa. The combined rail journey takes approximately two hours. Follow the transfer signs at Tsuruga with your smaller bag, then settle into the reserved seats for the next part of the trip.

Begin in Kenrokuen, taking the early opening if it suits you or arriving during regular hours from 8:00. Paths lead between ponds, planted slopes and pine trees, with stone lanterns and bridges drawing the eye across the water. Stop at a pond edge and look for the reflection of a branch before following the path around it. In November's lower light, the shadows beneath the pines can stay dark while the open water catches the sky. Leaves may add colour, though the shape of the planting gives you plenty to see whatever the season's progress.

After breakfast, leave your bags at the ryokan and visit Omicho Market before your train. Seafood counters give the morning its focus, with fish laid on ice, shellfish in trays and vendors preparing their displays. Walk through a few aisles before choosing where to stop; the market is a working place, so keep clear of deliveries and customers waiting at a counter. We recommend looking for a small meal or snack that appeals rather than booking a long lunch before the journey.

Have breakfast at your Shinagawa hotel as your departure arrangements allow, then collect your cases for the journey to Haneda. Keep the smaller bag beside you while you make a final pass through the room: charging cables, the bathroom shelf and the bedside area are useful places to look. Put anything needed during the flight within reach before closing the main cases. We recommend leaving the morning free of sightseeing, so that breakfast, packing and the airport journey can follow each other without another appointment.