Platinum The Flower and Sun of East Asia “South Korea and Japan” (ICN-HND) with Turkish Airlines 9 nights Seoul (3) – Osaka (3) – Kyoto – Nara – Tokyo (3) – Mount Fuji - Hakone | All tours and entrance fees included

Platinum Far East’s Flower and Sun “South Korea and Japan” (ICN-HND) with THY

Seoul (3 nights) – Osaka (3 nights) – Kyoto – Kobe – Nara – Tokyo (3 nights) – Mount Fuji – Hakone

9 nights 11 days | All tours and entrance fees included

Day 1 | Istanbul

Meeting in front of the Turkish Airlines counter at Istanbul Airport international departures terminal at 23:20. Our overnight stay will be on the plane.

Day 2 | Istanbul – Seoul

After our ticket, baggage, and passport procedures, we fly to Seoul at 02:20 with Turkish Airlines flight TK0090. Arrival at Seoul Incheon Airport at 18:20 local time. After passport and baggage procedures, transfer to our hotel by our vehicle. We complete our check-in procedures and settle into our rooms. Our overnight stay will be at the 4* Hotel Samjung Gangnam (or similar) in Seoul.

Day 3 | Seoul | [B]

After breakfast at our hotel, we depart for the Seoul tour. Our first stop will be Gyeongbokgung Palace. Built in 1395, the palace is considered the largest, most beautiful, and most magnificent of the Five Great Palaces built by the Joseon Dynasty. Inside the palace, we will also have the opportunity to see the National Folk Museum. Our next stop will be Namsangol Hanok Village. A residential district of modern Seoul, this village is famous for many restored traditional Korean houses called Hanok. After our visit here, we continue our tour with Myeong-dong, Korea’s most famous shopping and fashion district. After seeing this street full of shops and restaurants, our next stop will be the Insa-dong area. The lively center of Insa-dong is the main street closed to vehicle traffic. The street is lined with tea houses and Korean restaurants, as well as shops selling traditional products such as pottery, tea, and handmade “hanji” paper. The unusual Ssamziegil Complex has cafés, walls decorated with paintings, and stairs leading to a rooftop terrace. The Hakgojae Gallery exhibits modern artworks. At the end of our tour, we return to our hotel. Our overnight stay will be at the 4* Hotel Samjung Gangnam (or similar) in Seoul.

Day 4 | Seoul | [B]

After breakfast at our hotel, we depart to take the DMZ (Korean Demilitarized Zone) tour. On this tour, where we will visit the military zone established on the border between North and South Korea, we will learn about Korean history and culture. After the military zone, Imjingak Park will be our second stop. After the Freedom Bridge inside the park, used by North Korean prisoners of war who were sent back to their country, we will visit the 3rd Infiltration Tunnel, discovered in 1978, dug by North Korea 73 meters below the border. After exiting the tunnel, we will head toward the slopes of Dora Mountain and visit the Dorasan Observatory built there. From the observatory, we will be able to see North Korean territory and the border line. At the end of our visit, we return to Seoul. Following our return, our first stop will be the N Seoul Tower, a communication tower and observation point. After reaching the tower by cable car, we will be able to view the city from Seoul’s highest point. Our next stop will be Bongeunsa Temple, which has a history of 1,200 years. Bongeunsa, considered a cornerstone of Korean Buddhism, is among the attractions drawing tourists to the area with one of Seoul’s largest statues, Maitreya, and its library housing 3,479 sacred Buddhist texts. After that, we will see the Starfield Library and the Gangnam Style Statue located in the same complex. At the end of our tour, we return to our hotel. Our overnight stay will be at the 4* Hotel Samjung Gangnam (or similar) in Seoul.

Note: Since the Korean Demilitarized Zone is a military area, there is a possibility that it may be closed on the tour day without prior notice. In this case, an alternative program will be arranged instead.

Day 5 | Seoul – Osaka | [B]

After breakfast at our hotel, we complete our check-out procedures and transfer to Seoul Incheon Airport. After our ticket, baggage, and passport procedures, we fly to Osaka at 15:10 with Korean Air flight KE725. Arrival at Osaka Kansai Airport at 17:00 local time. After passport and baggage procedures, transfer from the airport to our hotel by our vehicle. We complete our check-in procedures and settle into our rooms. Our overnight stay will be at the 4* Hotel Plaza Osaka (or similar) in Osaka.

Day 6 | Osaka – Kyoto – Osaka | [B]

After breakfast at our hotel, we depart for the Kyoto tour. After about a 1-hour journey, our first stop will be the Kinkakuji Temple, also known as the Golden Pavilion. Covered with gold leaf, this three-story pavilion is one of Kyoto’s most famous and well-known historical structures and is regarded worldwide as a perfect example of the Kitayama garden art style. Thanks to these features, it was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1994 as an important cultural asset of Kyoto, the former capital. We will continue our tour with the Kiyomizu-dera Temple, a Buddhist temple also known as the pure water monastery. The temple offers beautiful views of the distant city of Kyoto, as well as many cherry and maple trees that burst into a colorful sea in spring and autumn. The main hall, built together with the stage without using any nails, houses the temple’s principal object of worship, a small statue of the eleven-faced, thousand-armed Kannon. After free time for lunch, we will visit the Sannenzaka and Ninenzaka streets leading up to Kiyomizu-dera Temple. Sannenzaka is a stone-paved pedestrian path and a tourist attraction. Surrounded by traditional buildings and shops, the path is usually used together with a similar road, Ninenzaka. Sannenzaka is a narrow sloping road lined with about 60 shops and restaurants selling Kyoto’s traditional products and foods. There are also important shops where visitors can experience Japanese culture up close, including Ochaya (tea houses) where tea ceremonies are held, and make-up of Geiko (the name given to geishas in Kyoto) and Maiko (Geiko apprentices). In the final part of the tour, we will visit Gion, Kyoto’s famous geisha district. At the end of the tour, return to Osaka and our hotel. Our overnight stay will be at the 4* Hotel Plaza Osaka (or similar) in Osaka.

Day 7 | Osaka – Kobe – Nara – Osaka | [B]

After breakfast at our hotel, we depart for the Kobe tour and Nara tour. Our first stop on the Kobe tour will be the Kiku-Masamune Sake Museum (subject to being open). At Kiku-Masamune, which has remained committed to producing only dry sake since the Edo Period, we will both see the stages of sake production and taste it. Nearly all of the equipment in the museum is classified as a “national tangible folk cultural asset,” allowing visitors to learn more about the lives and work of sake producers. Then we continue our tour with the Kobe Nunobiki Herb Gardens, Japan’s largest botanical garden, with seasonal flowers and magnificent mountain views. After the park, we will go to Kobe Harborland Umie shopping center, where we will have free time for lunch. After lunch, we head to Nara. We begin our Nara tour with a visit to Nara Park. Nara Park is a public park located at the foot of Mount Wakakusa. Established in 1880, it is one of Japan’s oldest parks. More than 1,200 wild Sika deer roam freely in the park. Because of these deer, it is also called the deer park of Nara. After the park, we continue with Todai-ji Temple. Todaiji is not only the largest wooden structure in the world, but it also houses the world’s largest Buddha statue, known in Japanese as Daibutsu. At the end of our tour, return to Osaka and our hotel. Our overnight stay will be at the 4* Hotel Plaza Osaka (or similar) in Osaka.

Note: When leaving the hotel for the tour this morning, we need to leave a small overnight bag in our room. The large suitcases we leave at the hotel will be transferred to our hotel in Tokyo before us and will arrive the next day.

Day 8 | Osaka – Tokyo | [B]

After breakfast at our hotel, we complete our check-out procedures and begin the Osaka tour. Our first stop will be Osaka Castle, built in the 16th century and having played an important role in the unification of the Japanese nation. The castle is located within a park that covers an area of approximately two square kilometers and includes plenty of green space, sports facilities, a multi-purpose arena (Osakajo Hall), and a shrine dedicated to Toyotomi Hideyoshi. The park often becomes one of Osaka’s most popular spots during the cherry blossom season, which usually takes place in early April. Then we will see Dotonbori, which has become Osaka’s entertainment center. After visits to Dotonbori and the city’s main shopping district Shinsaibashi, we will have free time for lunch. After free time, transfer to Shin-Osaka train station. With the world’s first high-speed train, Shinkansen, we arrive at Tokyo Shinagawa train station after an approximately 3-hour journey. From here, transfer to our hotel by our vehicle. We complete our check-in procedures and settle into our rooms. Our overnight stay will be at the 3* Villa Fontaine Tokyo Kayabacho (or similar) in Tokyo.

Day 9 | Tokyo | [B]

After breakfast at our hotel, we start the Tokyo tour. Our first stop will be the Asakusa Temple, also known as the Senso-Ji Temple, a Buddhist temple considered one of Tokyo’s oldest and most colorful temples. Also called Santa-jama (Temple of the Three Gods), the temple is very popular with both tourists and locals. It is one of the few temples that survived the bombings in the final year of World War II in Tokyo, and therefore its original structure has remained intact. Built in 1649, the temple was said to have been made to honor the three brothers who were deified after finding a statue of the goddess Kannon in a river. We will also see the shopping street called Nakamise in the area. After free time for lunch, we will visit the Meiji Shrine, a Shinto shrine dedicated to the spirits of Emperor Meiji and Empress Shōken. After this, we will tour Shibuya, one of Tokyo’s most crowded districts. One of the city’s most important places for young people, Shibuya stands out with its developed structure, cafés, and world-famous stores. After our tour, we return to our hotel. Our overnight stay will be at the 3* Villa Fontaine Tokyo Kayabacho (or similar) in Tokyo.

Day 10 | Tokyo – Mount Fuji – Hakone – Tokyo | [B]

After breakfast at our hotel, we depart for the Mount Fuji and Hakone tour. We will begin our tour with Mount Fuji, located 2.5 hours away. Mount Fuji, which earned its place on UNESCO’s World Heritage List in 2013, is considered Japan’s highest mountain and the sacred symbol of the country. Although Mount Fuji is generally thought of as a single mountain, it actually consists of three separate volcanoes. Located on the island of Honshu and on the border between Shizuoka and Yamanashi prefectures, Mount Fuji is only 100 kilometers from Tokyo and can even be seen from tall buildings in Tokyo on a clear day. After the breathtaking view of Mount Fuji, we head toward the town of Hakone. We begin our Hakone tour with the volcanic formation called Owakudani Valley. Owakudani is a valley located around a crater formed during Mount Hakone’s last eruption about 3,000 years ago. Today, most of the area is an active volcanic zone with sulfuric smoke, hot springs, and hot rivers. We will take the cable car up from Togendai and enjoy the view of this stunning valley. After free time for lunch, we move on to Lake Ashi. After a pleasant boat ride of about 30 minutes on the lake aboard a wooden pirate ship, we return to Tokyo and our hotel by our vehicle. Our overnight stay will be at the 3* Villa Fontaine Tokyo Kayabacho (or similar) in Tokyo.

Day 11 | Tokyo – Istanbul | [B]

After breakfast at our hotel, we complete our check-out procedures and continue with the Tokyo tour. The first place we will see on our tour will be the Tokyo Imperial Palace, which includes many buildings such as the Main Palace, the private residences of the Imperial family, archives, a museum, and administrative offices. The Tokyo Imperial Palace was built on the site of an old castle where the Shogun resided in the 15th century. In the 19th century, when Emperor Meiji moved the royal household from Kyoto to Tokyo, this area also became property of the royal family. Since most of the buildings were destroyed in World War II, the oldest remaining items in the palace today are only 50 years old. Then we continue our tour with a visit to Akihabara, one of Tokyo’s world-famous districts. Akihabara is an extremely crowded shopping district famous for its electronics stores of different kinds, from small street stalls to very large shopping centers. After our tour in Akihabara, also known as the city of electronics, we will have free time for lunch. After free time, we continue our tour with the Ginza district, one of the city’s most popular shopping areas filled with luxury boutiques as well as first-class cocktail and sushi bars. At the end of our tour, transfer to Tokyo Haneda Airport. After our ticket, baggage, and passport procedures, we fly to Istanbul at 22:05 with Turkish Airlines flight TK0199. Our overnight stay will be on the plane.

Day 12 | Tokyo – Istanbul

Arrival at Istanbul Airport at 05:45 local time and end of our tour. We say goodbye, hoping to meet again on our next distinguished and enjoyable trip.

Explanations of abbreviations: [B] = Breakfast, [L] = Lunch, [D] = Dinner