Asia
Get a Personal Pick →Japan
99 destinations
City Akita
"Namahage demon masks crashing through doorways during new year while snow buries the town."
Water Amami Oshima
"Subtropical mangroves and black sugar shochu on an island the guidebooks forgot."
Water Amanohashidate
"A pine-covered sandbar that becomes a bridge to heaven viewed upside down."
Mountain Aso Caldera
"A volcano still breathing inside one of the world's largest inhabited calderas."
City Beppu
"Steam rising from every crack in the ground in a city that boils from below."
Mountain Chichibu
"Thirty-four cliff temples carved into mossy gorge walls an hour from Tokyo's chaos."
Mountain Daisetsuzan
"Japan's first autumn colour igniting an alpine plateau where bears and pikas roam unchallenged."
Mountain Dewa Sanzan
"Yamabushi mountain monks blowing conch shells through five-storey cedar forests."
City Fukuoka
"Yatai street stalls steaming under canvas where strangers share ramen at midnight."
Wilderness Furano and Biei
"Lavender fields stretching to the snow-capped horizon in ruler-straight purple rows."
City Ginzan Onsen
"Gas-lit ryokans lining a frozen gorge that looks like a Ghibli snow scene."
City Gokayama
"Thatched farmhouses once hid a secret gunpowder trade in snowdrifts three metres deep."
Water Hachijojima
"Subtropical volcanoes and black sand surf three hundred kilometres south of Tokyo by air."
City Hakodate
"A million lights viewed from a mountaintop over a narrow isthmus between two bays."
Mountain Hakone
"Hot spring ryokans perched above a volcanic lake with Fuji framed in the window."
City Himeji
"A white heron castle above cherry blossoms — the only original to survive four centuries."
City Hirosaki
"Apple orchards surrounding a moat where cherry blossoms form a pink floating carpet."
City Hiroshima
"Paper cranes piled a million deep beside a dome that refused to fall."
Wilderness Iriomote
"Subtropical jungle covering 90% of an island where the wildcat skulks and no road crosses."
Water Ishigaki
"Mangrove kayaks at dawn, coral snorkelling by noon, Yaeyama soba by sunset."
Mountain Iya Valley
"Vine bridges swaying over gorges so deep the river sounds arrive late."
City Izumo
"The shrine where eight million gods gather each October, leaving Japan godless."
Wilderness Jigokudani Monkey Park
"Snow monkeys soaking in volcanic hot springs while blizzards pile powder on their heads."
City Kagoshima
"Volcanic ash drifting like grey snow on a city living beneath an active cone."
City Kamakura
"A bronze Buddha meditating in open air since a tsunami stole his temple."
Mountain Kamikochi
"Turquoise river slicing through an alpine cathedral closed to cars year-round."
City Kanazawa
"Samurai and geisha districts untouched by war where gold leaf gilds everything, even ice cream."
City Karatsu
"A pottery town where enormous lacquered floats smash through the streets each November."
Wilderness Kawayu Onsen
"Dig your own hot spring in the riverbed — water bubbles up wherever you scrape."
Water Kerama Islands
"Water so transparent that sea turtles cast shadows on white sand ten metres below."
Water Kii-Katsuura
"A tuna port where the morning auction rivals Tsukiji and cave baths hide inside cliffs."
City Kinosaki Onsen
"Willow-lined canals and seven public baths where you wander in yukata and wooden clogs."
Mountain Koyasan
"Lanterns guiding pilgrims through 200,000 tombstones beneath millennium cedars."
Wilderness Kumano Kodo
"Thousand-year pilgrim trails through dripping cedar where stone guardians watch each step."
Wilderness Kunisaki Peninsula
"Stone Buddhas emerging from cliff faces on a volcanic peninsula the tourists never found."
Wilderness Kurokawa Onsen
"A ravine of cedar-shaded baths where one wooden pass unlocks three different ryokan pools."
City Kyoto
"Lantern-lit alleys where geiko vanish around corners and incense trails from every doorway."
City Matsue
"A lakeside castle city where Lafcadio Hearn heard ghost stories the West had never imagined."
City Matsumoto
"A black crow castle reflected in its moat against a wall of three-thousand-metre alps."
Water Miyajima
"A floating vermilion gate rising from the tide while deer sleep on the beach."
Water Miyako Island
"Coral limestone bridges spanning to tiny islands across water so blue it hurts to look."
City Murakami
"Salmon hanging in two-hundred-year-old drying houses, the air salt-sweet and amber."
City Nagasaki
"A harbour city layered in Dutch, Chinese, and Portuguese ghosts where the churches hid underground."
Water Naoshima
"A fishing island where pumpkins glow yellow and museums burrow underground."
City Nara
"Sacred deer bowing for rice crackers beneath the world's largest wooden building."
City Narai-juku
"A kilometre-long wooden post town where the street narrows until the Edo sky disappears."
Water Naruto
"Whirlpools the size of boats spinning between two islands where the tides collide."
Wilderness Nikko
"Gold-encrusted shrines hidden in cryptomeria forests where a sleeping cat guards the gate."
Mountain Niseko
"Powder so dry and deep that falling feels like sinking into cold silk."
Water Noto Peninsula
"Salt-farming terraces, lacquerware villages, and thousand-year rice paddies on a forgotten coast."
Wilderness Oirase Gorge
"Fourteen waterfalls threading through autumn beech in a gorge carpeted with moss and ferns."
Water Oki Islands
"Cliff-girt islands in the Sea of Japan where exiled emperors and bullfighting survive."
Water Okinawa Main Island
"A subtropical kingdom with its own language, martial art, and the longest-lived people on Earth."
City Onomichi
"A hillside temple walk above a strait where cats outnumber tourists on the stone steps."
City Ouchi-juku
"Thatched-roof houses lining a mountain highway frozen since the samurai stopped passing through."
Water Rebun Island
"Alpine wildflowers blooming at sea level on a wind-battered island at Japan's edge."
Mountain Rishiri Island
"A solitary volcanic cone rising from the Sea of Japan like a misplaced Fuji."
Water Sado Island
"An exile island where gold miners, taiko drummers, and crested ibis coexist in fog."
Water Sasebo and Kujukushima
"Two hundred pine-capped islands scattered across a bay like a spilt jar of green marbles."
Wilderness Shikoku Pilgrimage
"Eighty-eight temples circling an entire island — walk it and your sins dissolve."
Water Shimanami Kaido
"Six bridges island-hopping across the Inland Sea on a bicycle lane suspended over blue."
Water Shimoda
"Perry's black ships forced Japan open here; now it's white sand and sleepy surf."
Wilderness Shirakami-Sanchi
"Eight thousand years of virgin beech forest untouched by axes or roads."
City Shirakawa-go
"Thatched farmhouses steep as praying hands buried in snow up to the eaves."
Wilderness Shiretoko Peninsula
"Brown bears fishing salmon from waterfalls on a peninsula where the road simply ends."
Water Shodoshima
"Olive groves and soy sauce breweries on a Mediterranean mirage in the Inland Sea."
Mountain Takachiho
"Columnar basalt gorge where the sun goddess hid and the night dance never stopped."
City Takamatsu
"The udon capital where the best noodles in Japan cost less than coffee."
City Takayama
"Morning market mist rising over a merchant town where sake breweries outnumber convenience stores."
Mountain Takeda Castle Ruins
"Stone ramparts floating above a sea of clouds at dawn — Japan's Machu Picchu."
Water Taketomi Island
"Water buffalo pulling carts through coral-walled lanes on a turquoise atoll."
Water Tanegashima
"A surf island where Japan launches rockets and Portuguese sailors first brought firearms."
Water Tatami Ridge (Kumejima)
"Hexagonal basalt slabs stretching into turquoise shallows like a giant's abandoned floor."
Mountain Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route
"A corridor carved through twenty-metre snow walls that tower above the bus roof."
Water Teshima
"A single raindrop museum on a terraced island where art and rice paddies merge."
Wilderness Togakushi
"A ninja village hidden behind a tunnel of 400-year-old cedars on a sacred mountain."
City Tokushima
"An entire city dancing through the streets for four August days, feet pounding together."
Water Tomonoura
"A harbour so perfectly preserved that Miyazaki drew Ponyo's world from its waterfront."
Wilderness Tono
"A folklore valley where kappa haunt the rivers and every barn shelters a horse god."
Wilderness Tottori Sand Dunes
"Saharan dunes piled against the Sea of Japan coast where camels walk the beach."
City Tsumago
"A Nakasendo post town frozen in the Edo period where no wires cross the sky."
Wilderness Tsushima
"An island closer to Korea than Japan where leopard cats stalk forests of ancient camphor."
City Tsuwano
"Koi swimming through the stone-lined gutters of a valley town the Meiji era forgot."
Mountain Unzen
"A volcanic hot spring town where Christian martyrs were boiled and the earth still steams."
Wilderness Yakushima
"Ancient cedar forest wrapped in mist where roots swallow granite boulders whole."
Mountain Yoshino
"Thirty thousand cherry trees blooming up a sacred mountain in pink tidal waves."
Legendary Destination
Unlock with PremiumLegendary Destination
Unlock with PremiumLegendary Destination
Unlock with PremiumLegendary Destination
Unlock with PremiumLegendary Destination
Unlock with PremiumLegendary Destination
Unlock with PremiumLegendary Destination
Unlock with PremiumLegendary Destination
Unlock with PremiumLegendary Destination
Unlock with PremiumLegendary Destination
Unlock with PremiumLegendary Destination
Unlock with PremiumLegendary Destination
Unlock with PremiumLegendary Destination
Unlock with Premium