Day 1: Hong Kong, China
Hong Kong is a bustling metropolis known for its stunning skyline and vibrant culture. Explore Victoria Peak for panoramic views, visit the bustling markets of Kowloon, and take a ferry ride across Victoria Harbour. Visit the Hong Kong Museum of History and enjoy the diverse culinary scene. In the evening, experience the Symphony of Lights show.
Day 2: Day at Sea
Days at sea are the perfect opportunity to relax, unwind, and catch up with what you’ve been meaning to do. So whether that is going to the gym, visiting the spa, whale-watching, catching up on your reading, or simply topping up your tan, these blue sea days are the perfect balance to busy days spent exploring shoreside.
Day 3 – Keelung, Taiwan, China
Located on the north coast of Taiwan, and embraced by lush green mountains, Keelung City is Taiwan’s second-biggest port and a major gateway to Taipei’s glittering lights and spectacular skyscrapers. It can get a little damp here at times – the city is known as the “Rainy Port” after all, but even the elements fail to dampen the spirits in this Taiwanese hotbed of tradition, modernity, and rich culture. Keelung is famous for its Mid-Summer Ghost festival, when dragons decorated with flowers and spitting pyrotechnics are paraded through the streets.
Flickering lanterns glitter on the water’s waves, creating a beautiful, ethereal scene. If you do linger in Keelung, witness the city coming to life as the sun dips – and Keelung Miaokou night market floods with people below a blinding wash of lights. Most will choose to take the ride to the country’s capital, Taipei, and visit this mesmerizing modern city, which blends influences from around the world. A quirky city of museums and countless bustling markets. Stands and stalls work late into the night, serving up every food you can imagine. Wander between the salivating smells and rising flames of open fires, which cook up everything from fried oysters to chicken and fish pastries – as you ride the all-out sensory assault of the city’s bustling markets. Incredible temples are sprinkled across Taipei, such as Bao-An Temple, a peaceful, incense-infused place of colorful artistry. The country’s heritage is reflected in towering new architecture like the tiered pagoda of the Taipei 101 skyscraper, which dominates the skyline from every angle.
Day 4-5: Day at Sea
Another day at sea provides the perfect opportunity to rejuvenate. Enjoy the serene ocean views, partake in a cooking class, or pamper yourself with a spa treatment. Attend a lecture on the upcoming destinations and enjoy the exquisite cuisine offered onboard.
Day 6-7 : Incheon (Seoul), South Korea
The bright lights of neighbouring big city Seoul might burn brightly but Incheon, just 27 kilometres away, has nothing to be ashamed of. The coastal city was the first to open its borders to the world in 1883, and as such has always enjoyed a special relationship with the west. So much so that it was granted “English Status” in 2007, with many residents priding themselves on their command of the language. A frenetic and exciting hybrid of Chinese and Korean heritage, it is said that Jjajangmyeon (black soy bean noodles), South Korea’s de facto national dish originates from here. Try a steaming bowl from one of the many vendors, then walk it off with the short 15-minute stroll from Chinatown to the traditional Sinpo Market for different kind of sensational feast. The city is steeped in history, notably in recent times during the Korean War.
Day 8: Day at Sea
Another day at sea provides the perfect opportunity to rejuvenate. Enjoy the serene ocean views, partake in a cooking class, or pamper yourself with a spa treatment. Attend a lecture on the upcoming destinations and enjoy the exquisite cuisine offered onboard.
Day 9: Busan, South Korea
A tapestry of kaleidoscopic colors, intense seafood flavors, and urban beach bliss, Busan rolls across a glorious natural setting on the Korean Peninsula’s southeast. One of the biggest and busiest ports in the world, 3.5 million people call South Korea’s second city home, and the amiable locals help to lend the city its quirky, offbeat outlook. A spacious, playful, and cosmopolitan place, Busan is a lively, livable city, cradled by lush mountains and endless ocean scenery.
Haedong Yonggung Temple nestles on a dramatic cliffside, just above the crumbling rocks and crashing waves of the East Sea. Dating back to 1376, the temple’s multi-story pagoda is adorned with lions – each representing a different emotion. Elsewhere, lanterns glitter in the night sky around Mount Geumjeongsan, freshly released from the beautiful Beomeosa Temple, which was established in AD 678. The hillside shantytown of Gamcheon Culture Village has completed an improbable transformation, blossoming from a sea of makeshift homes for Korean war refugees, into a colorful explosion of creativity and curiosity. Local artists have been let loose to create interactive installations, and the entire area is now an expansive canvas for expression.
Lose yourself among vibrant alleyways of flamingo-pink, lemon-yellow, and baby-blue painted facades in this unique area. Sample bibimbap, fiery-hot beef, and rice, from street food vendors, before relaxing on one of South Korea’s best beaches – Haeundae’s banana bend of sand. Metallic skyscrapers offer an unusual backdrop to this pristine expanse of golden powder and are mirrored by elaborate sandcastles and sculptures during the annual sand festival – when spontaneous water fights and firework displays also take place. Gwangalli Beach is another urban option, laying out spectacular views of the reaching Gwangan Bridge – the country’s second largest bridge. At night, 16,000 bulbs bathe this “engineering marvel in color.”
Day 10: Fukuoka (Kyushu Island) and Kanmon Strait Passage, Japan
Boasting Japan’s heady cocktail of hot springs, gourmet food, abundant nature, and spiritual history, Kyushu Island has all the advantages of the mainland, while enjoying its own identity. The island is the third largest of Japan’s five island provinces and prides itself on having everything you could expect from the Land of the Rising Sun. The capital of the island, Fukuoka, is Japan in a bite-sized morsel.
As one of the country’s most strategic ports – it is closer to Seoul than Tokyo – the city has enjoyed a somewhat prestigious status over the years, including two unsuccessful Mongol invasion attempts in the 13th century. Some scholars suggest that the city is also the first place the Imperial Family set foot, although actual proof of this is scarce. What is certain however is that it was once the home of the samurai, with many samurai-related spots found all over the city.
A trip to the Kyushu National Museum will allow budding actors to try on traditional costumes and channel their inner feudal lord, while local shrines, tranquil Zen gardens, and castle ruins all offer a chance to relive the city’s glory days. The city itself is made up of two smaller towns (Fukuoka and Hakata), and despite unification in 1889, Hakata is still considered the center. A 2018 survey ranked the city number 22 on the “world’s most livable cities” list, due to its excellent shopping, outstanding food, excellent transport links, good museums, “feeling of openness”, green spaces, and friendly, safe, environment.
Sail through the eye of a needle while cutting through this fabled passage of Japanese water, separating Kyushu from the country’s largest island, Honshu. The two islands brush up against each other here, parted only by the scenic S-bend of water. Sail below the mighty span of sweeping suspension bridges like Kanmonkyo Bridge, while transiting this hugely important and strategic thread, which links the Sea of Japan with the Inland Sea.
Day 11: Day at Sea
Japan’s third-biggest city has thrown off its shackles and stepped out of the shadows to light up the sky with glaring neon signs and a larger-than-life outlook. Giant octopuses cling to buildings and bustling restaurants pack in the crowds in this great and garish place, which is Japan at its most friendly, extroverted, and flavorful. So dive in headfirst to experience an all-out sensory assault of delicious food, shopping cathedrals, and glittering temples.
Dotombori Bridge bathes in the multicolored, jewel-like lights of signage-plastered buildings, and the neon lights dance on the canal’s waters below. Osaka is known as the nation’s kitchen, and the Kuromon Ichiba Market has served as the city’s spot to tuck in for almost 200 years. Full of street food stalls – try pufferfish, savory Okonomiyaki pancakes, or ginger and onion-flavoured octopus, among the endless feast of exotic flavors.
Osaka Castle is another of the city’s landmarks, built in the 16th century by Toyotomi Hideyoshi. A modern museum now waits inside, where you can learn about the country’s history, and why this castle is a symbol of Japanese unity.
Be sure to take the elevator up to the observation deck for a panoramic view of Osaka’s spread. A colorful park encloses the castle and blooms with an ocean of pale pink cherry blossoms during the season – the elegant black tiers rising from the pink haze below is one of Osaka’s most alluring visions. Kyoto’s peaceful cultural treasures and temples are also just a short jaunt away on Japan’s sleek trains, should you wish to explore further afield.
Day 14: Day at Sea
Day 15: Tokyo, Japan
Dense and delightful, there’s nowhere else like Japan’s kinetic capital – a city where ancient traditions blend seamlessly with a relentless pursuit for the future’s sharpest edge. See the city from above, as elevators rocket you up to towering viewing platforms, from which you can survey a vast urban ocean, interspersed with sky-scraping needles. Look out as far as the distant loom of Mount Fuji’s cone on clear days.
Futuristic – second-accurate – transport seamlessly links Tokyo’s 14 districts, while the glow of flashing advertisement boards, clinking of arcade machines, and waves of humanity flowing along its streets, adds to the sense of mesmerizing, dizzying, and glorious sensory overload. One of Tokyo’s most iconic sights, don’t miss the flood of people scrambling to cross Shibuya’s famous intersection.
Join the choreographed dance, as crowds of briefcase-carrying commuters are given the green light to cross at the same time – all bathed in the light of massive neon advertisements. The culture is immensely rich and deep, with 7th-century, lantern-decorated temples, stunning palaces, and tranquil scarlet shrines waiting below cloaks of incense and nestling between soaring skyscrapers.
Restaurants serve up precisely prepared sushi, and wafer-thin seafood slivers, offering a unique taste of the country’s refined cuisine. Settle into traditional teahouses, to witness intricate ceremonies, or join the locals as they fill out karaoke bars to sing the night away. In the spring, cherry blossom paints a delicate pink sheen over the city’s innumerable parks and gardens.
Please note itinerary may be subject to change.*