A shuttle bus picks you up at Takamatsu Airport or the station at Kotohira and takes you to Kotohira’s best ryokan. Located at the foot of a mountain, you have a separate villa to yourself with its own hot spring bath. The ryokan is a short walk from Konpira Shrine. Dinner (not included) is at a local restaurant.

After breakfast (included), your private vehicle picks you and you drive to Yashima, a fascinating table-top mountain overlooking the city of Takamatsu and the Seto Inland Sea. You stroll around the extensive grounds of Yakushima-ji Temple, one of the 88 Shikoku Pilgrimage temples. After lunch (not included), you drive to Ritsurin Garden where the feudal lords of Takamatsu once took their leisure. You can take a boat out on the lake and have tea in one of the elegant villas around the garden. Then you drive back to Kotohira and try your hand at one of the local crafts including lost-wax dyeing, fan making, or creating the delightful sugar sweets called wasanbon. Dinner (included) is served at your accommodation.

Included: Breakfast, Dinner

After breakfast (included), you check out and explore nearby Konpira Shrine, spread out over the mountain behind your ryokan. Climbing the many steps is rewarded by an amazing view over Kagawa. Konpira Shrine has several museums of fine art in various styles. On the approach to the shrine is the Kinryō Sake Museum where you can learn how sake is made and have a tasting. You also visit an authentic kabuki theatre and see how the special effects work. After lunch (not included), you head south into Kōchi, and check into a comfortable auberge in the hills. Dinner (included) is at your accommodation.

Included: Breakfast, Dinner

After breakfast (included), you drive to Mt. Godai above Kōchi city and visit Chikurin-ji Temple, one of the most beautiful of the 88 Shikoku Pilgrimage temples with its two Buddhist-inspired gardens. It’s a short walk from Chikurin-ji to the Makino Botanical Gardens, created in honour of Dr. Makino Tomitarō, a botanist who discovered many orchids. The hot house and outdoor grounds are full of remarkable flowers year round. There’s also a museum documenting the life of the eccentric Doctor. After lunch (not included), you drive to Katsurahama Beach with its large statue of Kōchi hero Sakamoto Ryōma. The last stop is Kōchi Castle, one of the most complete Edo period castles in Japan. Then you drive back to your accommodation where dinner (included) is served.

Included: Breakfast, Dinner

After breakfast (included), you check out and drive to Ōboke in Tokushima where you cruise down the gorge on the Yoshino River, admiring its dramatic rocks. After lunch (not included), you drive to Iya Valley and walk across the swaying vine bridge and visit the waterfall where the Heike refugees remembered the old days in Kyōto. In Iya, you have the choice of staying in an old farmhouse, or an onsen ryokan. The remote farmhouse on the mountain slopes is not conventionally luxurious, but it offers the luxury of Japanese authenticity. If you like, you can help your hosts with chopping wood, harvesting vegetables, and preparing your meal. At the onsen ryokan, you can opt for a room with its own outdoor onsen bath. Dinner (included) is at your accommodation.

Included: Breakfast, Dinner

After breakfast (included), you tour the sites of Iya, exploring the mountainside hamlet of Ochiai with its thatched cottages and fields carved into the extreme slopes. You also visit Nagoro, the Village of Dolls, known worldwide for its unique handmade figures arranged in lifelike poses. You make your own lunch of soba noodles with the help of a local grandmother. At the Higashi-Iya Museum of Local History and Folklore, you learn about the traditional livelihood of this remote region. You stay another night in Iya. Dinner (included) is at your accommodation.

Included: Breakfast, Dinner

After breakfast (included), you say farewell to your hosts in Oku-Iya and drive to Wakimachi, with its streets of merchant houses from the Edo period. Here you can try indigo dyeing and make a souvenir that you’ll be glad to use. Then you head to Naruto to visit Honke Matsuura sake brewery, home to the popular Narutotai brand. You can visit the old brewery and enjoy a tasting. You can also drop into the old soy sauce brewery just across the street. Naruto is known for its whirlpools, and you take a boat out to see them up close and experience the rapid current of the straits. Then you drive to a stylish ryokan hotel on a hilltop overlooking the Naruto Strait and its great suspension bridge. After checking in, you say goodbye to your driver. Dinner (included) is at your accommodation.

Included: Breakfast, Dinner

After breakfast (included), you check out and a shuttle bus service is available to take you to Naruto Station.

Included: Breakfast