South Korea and Japan small group tour

Planet

Transport:
As you move from place to place, you’ll use public buses and series of trains, a popular form of public transport in Japan and an effective way to help lower your carbon footprint, mingle with the locals and soak up the scenic views as you make your way to the next location. There is no car travel at all. You will also cycle through Kyoto – a relaxing and slower paced visit. A lot of our activities are based on walking from place to place. These cycling and walking trips will provide you with light exercise - looking after your well being, while also reducing the carbon footprint on the planet - looking after the planet’s well being!

Accommodation:
All of the places we stay in are locally run and passionate about doing their part when it comes to the environment. In South Korea, we stay in hostels and spend 1 night in a temple stay, which is a great way to immerse yourself in a local South Korean tradition. Whilst you’re staying in each of these places, we encourage you to use local services on offer, this way your money goes straight into the local community and economy. While in Japan, we stay in hostels, guesthouses & spend 1 night in a traditional Ryokan, a great way to immerse yourself in a local Japanese tradition. Whilst you’re staying in each of these places, we encourage you to use local services on offer, this way your money goes straight into the local community and economy.

Nature:
We have many hikes included in the tour. We believe this is a wonderful way of seeing the place you are in and reducing carbon footprint and also the viewpoints throughout are definitely worthwhile. We add in a lot of hikes to our tours as we believe this is a great way to get the travellers to connect with nature and therefore hopefully cultivating an appreciation and a long lasting respect for it.

Top Tips:
Tap water is safe to drink in Japan so to all of our travellers we suggest packing a reusable water bottle to ensure you have water on hand at all times and help minimize the trail of plastic left behind. There are lots of refill points and most restaurants will also provide water bottle refills. We also recommend packing as light as possible, to help keep your carbon footprint low.

People

Local tour guides:
We use native and bilingual guides. By hiring local tour guides we help support the local people and provide employment opportunities. There are two Adventure Leaders in this tour, one in South Korea and one in Japan.

Local experiences:
Food is one of the most important elements of travelling. In South Korea, you’ll start learning about the local cuisine as soon as you meet the group - starting with Korean barbecue and our Adventure Leader will always be happy to give you recommendations for traditional restaurants. The temple stay and option for a Jjimjilbang experiences are a must have experiences while in South Korea that give you insight into the religion and culture. While in Japan, you’ll learn about the local cuisine with a sushi-making workshop and tantalize your taste buds with an intimate sake-tasting session.

As a sign of respect, we think that it is important for travellers to learn a few key words or phrases in the native language, so we offer classes to learn about the local culture including a calligraphy class in Japan and some basic language classes in South Korea and Japan.

All of our customers’ interactions are with local suppliers, and we promote integration between travellers and local people through our “unmissable” included activities and our optional activities, and opportunities for authentic cultural immersion.

Our Adventure Leaders are trained in ensuring that customers are aware of local customs and traditions, educating them on when it is appropriate to take photos and/or videos.