Japan: Tokyo, Kyoto, the Alps and Hiroshima

Intercontinental flight from Italy and arrival in Tokyo. Transfer to the hotel, included in the trip: from Haneda airport the centre is about half an hour away, from Narita it takes about an hour and a half. The rest of the day is free to rest. With its metropolitan area, Tokyo is home to more than 35 million people, yet it is also one of the safest big cities. For a first outing, the streets around the hotel are enough: a konbini, the convenience stores open day and night, or the food floor of a department store.

A day of visits with an Italian-speaking guide. It starts at the Sky Lounge of Yebisu Garden Place Tower, in Ebisu, with views over the city from the top floors. Then Meiji Shrine, dedicated to the emperor who led Japan's modernisation: you enter beneath large wooden torii, into a forest of about 100,000 trees donated from all over the country. In Asakusa, Sensō-ji, the oldest temple in Tokyo, founded according to tradition in 628, and the Kaminarimon gate with its huge red lantern.

A free day. One idea: in the morning, the Shibuya crossing, where up to 3,000 people cross at each green light, and the statue of Hachikō the dog. On foot you reach Harajuku, with the youth fashion of Takeshita Street, and the tree-lined avenue of Omotesandō. In Shinjuku, the free observatory of the Metropolitan Government Building is at 202 metres; in the evening, the alleys of Omoide Yokochō and Golden Gai, with bars that seat just a few people. On request we arrange a private guide or an experience, such as a tea ceremony.

A free day, suited to a trip out of town that we arrange on request. Nikko, about two hours north by train, lies in the mountains: Tōshō-gū shrine, the mausoleum of the shōgun Tokugawa Ieyasu, is covered in gilded carvings, including the three monkeys who see, hear and speak no evil. Alternatively Kamakura, about an hour away, seat of the shōguns between the 12th and 14th centuries: its great bronze Buddha, more than 11 metres tall, has stood in the open since 1498, when a tsunami destroyed the hall around it.

Departure from Tokyo to the Mount Fuji area. At 3,776 metres, Fuji is Japan's highest peak. It is an active volcano, quiet since the eruption of 1707, and since 2013 it has been a UNESCO site as a sacred place and a source of inspiration for artists such as Hokusai. The summit is best seen under a clear sky, more common in the colder months. Then the shinkansen to Kyoto: the Tōkaidō line, opened in 1964 just before the Tokyo Olympics, was the first high-speed railway in the world.

A day of visits in Kyoto with an Italian-speaking guide and entry fees included. Kinkaku-ji, the Golden Pavilion, is covered in gold leaf and reflected in its pond; today's building is the 1955 reconstruction, after the fire of 1950. Sanjūsangen-dō holds 1,001 statues of Kannon in a wooden hall about 120 metres long. At Fushimi Inari shrine, dedicated to the deity of rice, the paths run beneath thousands of torii donated by families and companies, among statues of messenger foxes.

Departure for Nara, Japan's capital in the 8th century. Tōdai-ji houses a bronze Buddha about 15 metres tall, inside a hall that is among the largest wooden buildings in the world. More than a thousand deer live in the surrounding park, regarded for centuries as messengers of the gods. On to Osaka, the city the Japanese associate with eating well. A free evening in Dōtonbori, along the canal, among neon signs and street-food stalls selling dishes such as takoyaki, octopus balls.

Train from Osaka into the Japanese Alps: the last stretch follows the valley of the Hida River, through gorges and woods. Takayama is a mountain town that in the Edo period was ruled directly by the shōgun. The Sanmachi district keeps its dark wooden merchant houses and old sake breweries, recognisable by the ball of cedar sprigs hanging at the entrance. Hida beef, the local speciality, is worth trying. On request, at a supplement, a night in a ryokan with a traditional dinner.

In the morning, the market along the Miyagawa River, with stalls of vegetables, pickles and crafts. Then Shirakawa-go, a UNESCO site: its gasshō-zukuri farmhouses have thatched roofs so steep they recall two hands joined in prayer, built to bear the winter snow. On to Kanazawa, which makes almost all of Japan's gold leaf. Here Kenroku-en garden is considered one of the three finest in the country, and the Higashi Chaya district keeps its 19th-century wooden teahouses.

A long day, with three cities. From Kanazawa you reach Himeji: the castle, known as the White Heron for the pale plaster of its walls, dates from 1609 and has never been destroyed by war or fire. In 1993 it was among Japan's first UNESCO sites. By shinkansen you continue to Hiroshima, in about an hour, to visit the Peace Memorial Park, the Atomic Bomb Dome and the museum, which tells the story of 6 August 1945 and its aftermath. In the evening, a train to Tokyo or Osaka, depending on the return flight.

Transfer to the airport, included in the trip, and intercontinental flight back to Italy.