Best Places To Travel In The Fall World – It’s a new dawn for the land of the rising sun. After two years of some of the world’s strictest travel restrictions, including the Olympics without spectators in 2021 and all tourism closing until June this year, Japan recently stopped requiring guided tours for international visitors and doubled the number of arrivals. Did it 50,000 people a day. While there are still several important steps involved in entering the country (see “Good to Go”), this fall is a great time to ease your way in.
I love autumn in Japan, with its bright red maple leaves, bright yellow gingko trees, and bright orange persimmons hanging out to dry. It’s still warm enough to be outside, where you’re no longer expected to wear a mask, while the seasonally inspired menus and thermal pools can relax. Bonus: The current exchange rate (about 140 yen to the dollar) makes the low hotel rates even more favorable this time of year.
Best Places To Travel In The Fall World
Here are some of my favorite fall destinations in Japan, plus new deals and attractions throughout the year.
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Despite its iconic skyscrapers and bustling urban atmosphere, the capital has many quieter enclaves where you can enjoy the colors of autumn, which usually arrives in mid-November. A good place to start is around the Imperial Palace, which includes the maple-filled East Garden. month
The 144-acre Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden, formerly owned by the imperial family, is adjacent to the busy Shinjuku Station. Its array of greenhouses and formal gardens reveal year-round beauty, but the Japanese Gardens and Momijiyama (“Maple Mountain”) to the east burst with crimson maples in autumn.
The gardens are free to visit, but two private desert retreats are also worth a visit. Admission to the Nezu Museum, which houses a treasure trove of pre-modern Japanese and East Asian art, costs about $10 and includes access to a large garden with moss-covered stone pathways leading to a pond and several rustic tea houses Let’s go It costs less than $3 to visit Rikugion, about 22 acres clustered around a central pond; Created for the shogun in the early 18th century, his gardens were originally inspired by 88 scenes from Japanese poetry.
At the Tokyo Peninsula in front of the Imperial Palace, you can naturally see elegant arrangements of fallen leaves and seasonal and locally-harvested vegetarian dishes from the Peninsula’s new Buddhist-inspired menu.
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The Tokyo Prince Hotel is a surprisingly cool and affordable option near Tokyo Tower and the compact Shiba Park, which has its own
It’s hard to think that anything can beat the shimmering reflection of the Golden Temple of Kinkakuji in the adjacent pond, but your mandatory Instagram photo may be framed by scarlet maple leaves. Even more striking are the autumn colors at Kiyomizudera Temple, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and Tofukuji Temple, where the nearly 700-year-old Zen gate is one of the oldest in the country.
Around 1,000 trees around Kiyomizu-dera temple change color from mid-October to early December; View them from the spectacular 43-foot-high terrace or from the nearby Koyasu Pagoda, which also overlooks the temple. The red and gold leaves take on an extra sparkle during the last two weeks of November, thanks to lighting during the extended nighttime hours. Don’t miss sampling the clear water from one of the three streams diverted from Ottawa Falls, after which this “temple of pure water” is named.
At Tofukuji, a major Zen temple, gazes over the colorful treetops of the valley towards the 328-foot-tall Tsutenkyo Bridge. You can also shell out for admission (about $5) to walk across the covered bridge, but if that seems too congested, take your time wandering the sprawling campus gardens.
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The new 114-room Roku is the first Hilton in the Kyoto area, as part of its luxury brand LXR Hotels & Resorts, on the former site of an artists’ colony. The views of the Tagakamine Mountains and the Tenjin River are inspiring, while the rooms are private
The pool and Roku Spa provide relaxation. For autumn, a 10-course Chef’s Table menu at the hotel’s French-Japanese restaurant, Tenjin, includes Kyoto duck, Japanese mushrooms and salmon.
Centrally located, Hotel Okura Kyoto offers comfortable Western-style rooms and an indoor pool, as well as a variety of restaurants including Pitoresque, which combines a French menu with great mountain and city views. From $146.
Hida Takayama, a charming and walkable mountain town west of the Olympic city of Nagano, is where Hida Kokubunji Temple really goes to sleep. There, a giant gingko tree, said to be more than 1,000 years old, turns bright yellow from about mid-October to mid-November as it climbs over old buildings.
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A mix of evergreens and maples form a colorful quilt draped around Hida no Sato (Hida Folk Village), an open-air historical museum with more than 30 traditional buildings, many with steep thatched roofs.
Terraces that resemble a hybrid of a Swiss chalet and a Cotswold cottage. From late October to early November, the museum lights up the trees at night.
While there are more strenuous hikes in the Hida Mountains (called the Japanese Alps) that leaf peepers will love, I enjoyed Higashiyama’s easiest 2.2-mile Hida Takayama hike, which winds through showy maples and hardy pines. leads to temples and sanctuaries. , Afterwards, find one of the city’s seven breweries for a tasting, and try one of the many restaurants serving their own grilled Hida beef, the silky local version of Wagyu beef.
For a more leisurely Japan cruise (or just a bucket list blast), consider traveling on a small cruise ship or private jet.
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The 120-passenger Coral Adventurer focuses on Japan’s small coastal towns and remote islands. The 14-night Japan tour begins in Guam and heads to Iwo Jima, the mostly uninhabited Ogasawara Islands and the Izu Islands, where the volcano Hachijojima is known for its hot springs and distinctive taiko drumming; The 14-night Through the Heart of Japan cruise hugs the coast and visits cities from Tokyo to Fukuoka. Australian Cruise Line’s 16-night voyage through Japan’s Ryukyu Islands visits interesting ports in the Tokara, Kerama and Okinawa island chains before passengers disembark in Taiwan.
) aboard a 52-passenger large aircraft with overnight stays in luxury hotels. There are many experiences to be had amid particularly breathtaking scenery in autumn, including riding the Hakone Cable Car up the smokestack of Mount Owakudani and cycling through picturesque villages in Nara Prefecture, known for their deer and temples Known for. Highlights of the city include an omakase dinner by a master chef in Tokyo and a guided walking tour of Gion, Kyoto’s geisha district.
Travel writer and guidebook author Jean Cooper lives in Hawaii, where she volunteers with the Hawaiian Islands Humane Society and St. Louis. James Community Dining.
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