The bucket-list things to do — and who runs each one.
Here’s the bucket list for your day ashore: the most extraordinary thing to do at each stop, who runs it, and how to book it direct — so you can weigh it against your ship’s excursion and pick what suits you.
In port at Maizuru, the bucket-list move is Fushimi Inari: Private After-Hours Walk Through 10,000 Torii Gates. Below: 2 bucket-list things to do on a Maizuru port day — worth weighing against whatever your ship offers.
Ascend Kyoto's most iconic mountain shrine through a seemingly endless corridor of vermillion torii gates — at dawn or dusk, with a private guide, before the crowds arrive. This is the single most photographed — and most misunderstood — site in Japan.
We have not yet verified a bookable operator and price for
this one, so we are not quoting either.
Stand before Kyoto's gilded temple floating on its mirror pond, then sit in contemplative silence before the world's most famous Zen rock garden — all in a single private morning with an expert cultural guide from Maizuru port.
We have not yet verified a bookable operator and price for
this one, so we are not quoting either.
Lose yourself in the cathedral silence of Arashiyama's towering bamboo grove, explore the UNESCO-listed Zen garden at Tenryu-ji, then board the Sagano Romantic Train for a breathtaking river gorge journey through ancient forest.
Book itKyoto: Arashiyama Bamboo, Matcha, Monkeys & Temple Tour$40 per person
Cruise to Amanohashidate — a 3.6 km pine-clad sandbar ranked as one of Japan's Three Views — then ascend to the clifftop Kasamatsu Park to see it framed between your legs as a 'bridge floating to heaven.' A uniquely Japanese perspective literally unlike anything else on earth.
Book itKyoto/Osaka: Amanohashidate & Ine Funaya & Miyama Day Tour$53 per person
Glide by boat through Ine's extraordinary 'funaya' — 230 traditional boathouses built directly over the sea, where fishing families have lived for centuries with the ocean as their front door. This hidden bay is one of Japan's most important preservation districts.
We have not yet verified a bookable operator and price for
this one, so we are not quoting either.
Step inside a Kyoto machiya townhouse transformed into a living samurai and ninja museum — dress in armour, handle genuine Edo-period weapons, and receive a private lesson in the way of the sword from a trained instructor. Rated 4.7/5 by nearly 2,000 guests.
We have not yet verified a bookable operator and price for
this one, so we are not quoting either.
Your day in MaizuruNothing picked yet — tick what you fancy
$0for two, booked direct
Now plan the rest of it
You know what to do on the day. Here is the trip it belongs to —
each one opens as a whole plan, not a list: where to fly in, every port, what it runs.