Japan
A fishing island turned open-air museum, then one of only two pilgrimage trails in the world UNESCO-listed
Japan
A journey far from the classic Tokyo-Kyoto circuit: Naoshima, once an industrial island in the Seto Inland Sea transformed since the 1990s by the Benesse Foundation into an open-air museum blending monumental artworks with Tadao Ando's architecture, then the Kumano Kodo, a network of pilgrimage trails over a thousand years old that shares with the Camino de Santiago the rare status of a UNESCO World Heritage walking route.
When
April to June | Sept to Nov
Price
From 3 400€ excl. flights
(based on 2 people sharing)
How long
6 nights
Ideal length
Days 1-2
The first chapter unfolds on Naoshima, a small island in the Seto Inland Sea that was sinking into industrial decline before the Benesse Foundation decided, starting in 1992, to install museums and contemporary artworks rather than conventional tourist infrastructure. Yayoi Kusama's yellow polka-dot pumpkin sitting on a pier, now one of Japan's most photographed symbols, is only the prelude to a museum complex designed by architect Tadao Ando, partly buried into the hillside to preserve the landscape.
Day 1
The Benesse Art Site and Tadao Ando's architecture
A visit to the largely underground Chichu Art Museum and the Benesse House Museum, two works by architect Tadao Ando that engage in dialogue with pieces by Monet, James Turrell, and Walter De Maria.
Day 2
The art village and transformed houses
A stroll through the fishing village of Honmura, discovering the Art House Project, former buildings converted into art installations, before a stop at Yayoi Kusama's yellow pumpkin.
Days 1-2
The road to the Kii Peninsula to walk a stretch of the Kumano Kodo, a network of pilgrimage trails laid out over a thousand years ago through a cedar forest, linking three major Shinto shrines. This path shares with the Camino de Santiago the very rare status of a UNESCO-listed walking route rather than a single monument, a twinning formalised in 1998 between the two pilgrimage routes.
Day 1
A hike to the great Kumano Hongu shrine
A walk along the Nakahechi stretch of the Kumano Kodo, through a forest of century-old cedars, to the great Kumano Hongu shrine, one of the pilgrimage's three spiritual pillars.
Day 2
Nachi Shrine and its sacred waterfall
A visit to Nachi Shrine, built facing Japan's tallest single-drop waterfall, venerated as a Shinto deity for centuries, before a night at a traditional inn offering a hot spring bath.
Other trips built in the same spirit — more to draw inspiration from.
8 nightsKyoto to Tokyo: Old Japan, New Japan
Temples at dawn, neon at midnight
Explore Trip
6 nightsJapan: The Japanese Alps, Takayama and Shirakawa-go
A village of centuries-old steep-roofed farmhouses, nestled in the mountains of central Japan
Explore Trip
Custom tripsCreate your own itinerary
Our Travel Experts will help you create a completely bespoke itinerary. Just tell us what you want. We'll make it happen.
Create trip
