8 Day Guided Kumano Kodo Experience.
Walk the Sacred Kumano Kodo – A Journey Through Japan’s Spiritual Heart
March 22nd 2026 to March 29th.
Bookings Open Monday the 18th of August.
Walk the Sacred Path
Follow in the footsteps of pilgrims on Japan’s legendary UNESCO listed trail.
Step back in time and immerse yourself in the ancient beauty of the Kumano Kodo, one of only two UNESCO World Heritage listed pilgrimage trails in the world. This personally designed, small group adventure is strictly limited to just 12 guests, ensuring an intimate and truly memorable experience.
Hike Light, Travel Deep
With luggage transfers and a dedicated guide, your journey is focused on experience, not weight.
Your comfort is our priority. A dedicated guide will lead the way, and luggage transfers mean you’ll only need to carry a light day pack. Along the way, enjoy exclusive inclusions such as a private river cruise and an enchanting traditional musical performance at one of our hand-picked inns.
Luxury in Simplicity
Stay in traditional ryokans, soak in steaming onsens, and savour exquisite Japanese cuisine.
Over Eight days, you’ll journey through misty mountain paths, cedar forests, and tranquil villages, staying in traditional ryokans and soothing your body each evening in natural onsens. Each day begins with a hearty Japanese breakfast and ends with a special multi-course traditional dinner celebrating the region’s flavours.
Bookings Open Monday the 18th of August.
Step into Japan’s timeless beauty along ancient forest trails, where pilgrim paths lead to steaming onsens and welcoming ryokans. With every detail taken care of , from exquisite meals to intimate cultural experiences. This is your chance to slow down, connect deeply, and savour a truly once in a lifetime journey.
Begin the Journey Before You Depart
Before we set foot on the trail, we’ll connect and prepare with special pre-departure training Hikes and meet-ups in the Yarra Valley, including a weekend of hiking in Victoria’s stunning High Country.
This is more than a hike, it’s a cultural, spiritual, and sensory journey through Japan’s sacred mountains, designed to be savoured step by step.
Bookings Open Monday the 18th of August.
Day-by-day itinerary
Day 1 - Arrive Osaka, Welcome Dinner
Meet at the hotel in Osaka. This evening, meet your expert local guide in the lobby of your hotel. Together, you'll walk to a local restaurant for your Welcome Dinner, where the guide will prepare you for the tour ahead.
Meals: Welcome Dinner Accommodations: Western-style hotel
Day 2 - From Kyoto to the Kii Peninsula
We travel south from Osaka along the coast by train to Kii-Tanabe, then transfer by local bus to Takijiri. The UNESCO World Heritage site of Kumano Kodo became popular in the 11th century as a place of pilgrimage from Kyoto by Emperors. We continue with a 2-hour hike to the small mountain-top village of Takahara. From here we will head onwards to tonight's accommodation.
Walking: 4.5 km,
Elevation gain: 370 m,
175m of descent
Time required: about 2 hours
Meals: Dinner and Breakfast
Accommodations:
Minshuku or Japanese-style Lodge
Day 3 - Walk from Takahara to Chikatsuyu
Starting from Takahara, we continue eastwards along the Nakahechi pilgrimage trail. Along the path you pass small Jizo Bodhisattva statue and old Cha-ya (tea houses), which provided rest to pilgrims right up until the early 20th century.
We descend to the village of Chikatsuyu, where we will spend the night.
After dinner, a local Shamisen music group will treat us to a private performance.
Walking: 11.3 km
Elevation gain: 350 m of ascent;
360 m of descent Time required: 4 hours
Meals: Dinner and Breakfast Accommodations: Minshuku
Day 4 - Walk from Chikatsuyu to the Grand Shrine at Hongu
Today we will hike two scenic sections of the Kumano Kodo trail, passing ridge-top villages and Oji shrines. Nobles would rest at these sub-shrines to refresh themselves and compose poems. From Chikatsuyu we take a local bus to Hoshinmon-oji and walk to Hongu Grand Shrine. After visiting the shrine we pass through Dainichi-goe, a popular pilgrimage route since ancient times.
We stay overnight in a comfortable Ryokan with its own hot spring bath or 'Rotemburo'.
Walking distance: 9.7 km,
Elevation gain: 440m of ascent, 650m of descent
Meals: Dinner and Breakfast Accommodations: Onsen Ryokan
Day 5 - Boat ride on the Kumano River
We transfer by local bus to the Kumano River. Here we board a traditional wooden flat-bottomed boat to take us on a gentle one-and-a-half-hour ride along the Kumano River to the Hayatama Taisha Shrine, just as Imperial pilgrims did in olden times.
Afterwards, we will travel back by bus to Yunomine or Kawayu Onsen for another night at our hot-spring Ryokan. There will be time to soak in one of the natural hot spring baths before dinner.
Meals: Dinner and Breakfast Accommodations: Onsen Ryokan
Day 6 - Walk from Koguchi to Nachi Grand Shrine & Waterfall
Today we transfer to the village of Koguchi, and walk the final section of the trail over the Ogumotorigoe Pass with a glimpse the Pacific Ocean and then descend to Nachi-taki (waterfall) and Nachi Taisha (Grand Shrine), one of the three 'Grand Shrines of Kumano'.
From there we transfer by a short bus ride (30 minutes) to the fishing port of Kii-Katsuura for the night.
Walking distance: 14.5 km
Elevation gain: 980 m of ascent
920m of descent
Time required: About 6 hours
Meals: Dinner and Breakfast Accommodations: Japanese-style Hotel
Day 7 - By train to Kyoto; Farewell Dinner
We leave the Kii Peninsula this morning, travelling on the coastal rail line back to Kyoto, a journey of about four and a half hours.
In Kyoto we enjoy a Farewell Dinner with our guide.
Meals: Farewell Dinner and Breakfast
Accommodations: Western-style Hotel
Day 8 - End of tour and depart from Kyoto
On our final day, we say farewell in Kyoto after breakfast at the tour hotel. Your guide will be on hand to offer assistance and advice for travelling to the airport if you have homeward flights, or on onward travel if you are extending your stay in Japan..
Meals: Breakfast
Your Curated Kumano Kodo Experience Includes:
Handpicked Accommodation – Stay in a selection of charming hotels and authentic Japanese-style inns (ryokan and minshuku), featuring serene tatami-mat rooms that embody Japan’s timeless elegance.
Exquisite Dining – Enjoy daily breakfasts and carefully selected traditional dinners, highlighting the regional flavours of the Kumano Kodo.
Seamless Travel – All transport between tour locations included, from the speed and comfort of bullet trains to scenic local journeys by bus or taxi.
Expert Local Guidance – Be led by a full-time, English-speaking guide with deep knowledge of the trail’s history, culture, and hidden gems.
Cultural Access – Entry to temples, museums, and other landmarks as noted in the itinerary, plus an exclusive private shamisen performance.
Travel Light – Daily luggage transfer for one item per person, so you carry only your day pack while hiking.
Pre-Departure Connection & Training – Three group training hikes in Victoria’s picturesque Yarra Valley, easily accessible from Healesville. Dates to be confirmed
High Country Weekend Escape – A two-night stay in comfortable lodge-style accommodation at Mount Buller, featuring two longer training hikes and a memorable group dinner. Dates to be confirmed.
Not Included in Your Journey
To give you the flexibility to tailor parts of your experience, the following items are not included in the tour price:
International flights to and from Japan
Airport transfers at the beginning and end of your trip
Lunches, allowing you to explore and enjoy local dining at your leisure
Drinks with meals, snacks, and other personal purchases
Entry to any museums, temples, or attractions not listed in the itinerary
Comprehensive travel insurance (required for all participants)
Investment in Your Journey
This exclusive small group experience is strictly limited to just 12 guests. To reward early commitment, we are offering a tiered early bird rate:
First 4 bookings – $8,990 per person ONLY 2 LEFT.
Final 8 places– $9,990 per person (full package price)
All prices are per person, twin share. For those seeking additional privacy, a single room upgrade is available in Osaka and Kyoto for a premium of $500.
To secure your place, there will be a $1650 deposit, with the balance payable in 2 installments, due October and January.
With inclusions carefully curated for comfort, cultural immersion, and exclusivity, this journey represents exceptional value for an unforgettable, once-in-a-lifetime experience.
Bookings Open Monday the 18th of August.
Secure your place today
With such limited availability, the opportunity to join this remarkable adventure will not last.
Tour notes
Single rooms
On these small-group guided tours, solo travellers paying the single supplement will be guaranteed solo-occupancy rooms at all of the Western-style hotels on tour. As tatami-mat rooms are culturally less intimate spaces than Western bedrooms, it is customary for Japanese travellers to share with acquaintances; we follow this Japanese custom and may ask solo travellers to share a tatami-mat room with another group member of the same gender.
Meals
Most meals will be Japanese cuisine. Vegetarian options are available, but limited. Strict vegetarian diets, vegan diets, or gluten free diets will be difficult to accommodate due to the pervasiveness of the fish-based stock dashi and the use of soy sauce and miso in Japanese cuisine. Breakfast at Western-style hotels will feature more familiar choices.
Daily Luggage Transfer
This service is convenient as it allows the travellers to have access to their luggage each evening, and to be able to walk with a smaller day pack only. They will have to bring their luggage with them to the start of the trail, and to carry the luggage from the last inn in Kii-Katsuura to Kyoto.
As a general guide, we recommend you bring a small to medium size suitcase on wheels, as well as a medium/small size backpack. Please note that your tour price includes forwarding of one larger item of baggage per person, with a maximum weight of 15kg. If you choose to travel with two pieces of luggage, then your tour guide will help you arrange forwarding the larger luggage from Osaka to Kyoto and simply ask them to pay locally.
Accommodation notes:
The following types of accommodation are used on this tour:
Hotel (Osaka, Kyoto, Kii-Katsuura)
A modern western-style hotel is used in Kyoto. The rooms are generally smaller than equivalent hotels in the West. Our city hotels have en-suite facilities, air-conditioning and TV; most have fridges in rooms. The hotels in Kii-Katsuura are a wonderful blend of Japanese and western styles.
Ryokan and Minshuku (Takahara, Yunomine Onsen, Kawayu Onsen, Chikatsuyu)
Ryokan and Minshuku are traditional Japanese-style inns. They may be in modern concrete or older wooden buildings but the rooms are always in the Japanese style with Tatami (straw) matting floors, and Futons laid out in the evening for sleeping. Dinners are served together, usually in the dining room, and are exquisitely prepared multi-course meals. Some Ryokan have en-suite bathrooms, though older buildings generally offer shared facilities. Smaller inns offer domestic-scale bathing tubs used privately in turn by guests; larger inns offer communal spa-style baths, segregated by gender. They are the classic Japanese experience.
Japanese Style Lodge (Kii-Tanabe)
Japanese-style lodge converted from a former school building. Constructed in Kusunoki (camphor trees), the building has a distinctive rustic appearance. With an emphasis on eco-tourism, the lodge is actively involved in local agriculture and your dinner this evening is made with locally-sourced ingredients. The lodge provides non-smoking rooms for guests; each with a private toilet and bathroom attached and Wi-Fi is available.
