Your private vehicle picks you up in Matsuyama and takes you to explore the Shimanami Kaidō, crossing the dramatic bridges between the islands. On Ōmishima, you visit one of Japan’s most celebrated Shintō shrines. Tonight’s accommodation is Japanese-Western fusion ryokan, with an onsen rotenburo overlooking the Kurushima Straits. It’s known for its excellent seafood and friendly staff. Dinner is included.

Included: Dinner

After breakfast (included), you drive to Matsuyama, where you visit the hilltop castle with its amazing view over the city. From here, you drive to Uchiko, with its lovely historic streets of merchant’s houses. Here you can try making washi paper by hand. You can choose to stay in a traditional home in town, or an old farmhouse out in the countryside. Dinner (included) is served at your accommodation.

Included: Breakfast, Dinner

After breakfast (included), you go to nearby Ōzu and visit Garyū Sansō, a villa whose elegant décor tells a story. Next stop is the Ehime Museum of History and Culture with its engaging recreations of Shikoku throughout the ages. Then the journey takes you to the idyllic Shimanto River where you embark on a covered boat to glide over the calm, reflective water. You stay at a luxurious ryokan on a hill above the river mouth where the Shimanto flows into the Pacific. Dinner (included) is at your accommodation.

Included: Breakfast, Dinner

After breakfast (included), you explore the southwestern coastline of Kōchi, with its dramatic rock formations, plunging cliffs, and pilgrimage temples. For a change of pace, you can try your hand at preparing Kōchi’s signature cuisine, katsuo no tataki. Lunch (included) is what you make. In the evening, you visit a popular local izakaya for dinner (not included). Your accommodation is the same as Day 3.

Included: Breakfast

After breakfast (included), you travel along the coast of the vast Kōchi bay, visiting the fishing port of Kure with its traditional market. From here you drive into Kōchi city and visit pilgrimage temple No. 31 Chikurin-ji, a lovely leafy temple with a tall red pagoda. Then you head into Tokushima Prefecture, to stay at a remote farmhouse on the mountain slopes of Oku-Iya. If you like, you can help your hosts with chopping wood, harvesting vegetables, and preparing meals. Dinner (included) is at your accommodation.

Included: Breakfast, Dinner

After breakfast (included), you tour the sites of Iya from your base at the farmhouse, visiting the famed vine bridge, exploring the mountainside hamlet of Ochiai, and the deep gorge at Ōboke. You stay another night at the farmhouse. Dinner (included) is at your accommodation.

Included: Breakfast, Dinner

After breakfast (included), you say farewell to your hosts in Oku-Iya and head into Kagawa Prefecture, to Kotohira. Here you climb the many steps to Konpira Shrine, visit the Kinryō Sake Museum, and have fun making Kagawa’s favourite food, udon noodles. Tonight’s accommodation is a traditional townhouse in Tadotsu, which was once a geisha teahouse. Dinner (included) is at a local restaurant.

Included: Breakfast, Dinner

After breakfast (included), you visit Ritsurin, one of Japan’s most celebrated gardens, where the feudal lords of Takamatsu once took their leisure. Here you can enjoy tea overlooking one of the many lakes. From here, you head to Naruto, taking a boat out into the famous whirlpool under the massive Naruto Straits Bridge. The tour ends in Tokushima city.

Included: Breakfast