2026 Solar Eclipse Cruise:

with Sarah Rugheimer

FRANCE & SPAIN

with Robert Greenberg

ITALY

ENGLAND & FRANCE

D-Day: Courage, Conflict, and History in England and France  with Ed Lengel

Great Music Masters of Vienna: The Romantics

with Robert Greenberg

Enchanted England: Folklore, Fairy Tales, and Wonder

with Sara Cleto and Brittany Warman

with Keith Huxen

Exploring Cuba: From Trinidad 

to Havana

with Joyce Salisbury

Great British Mysteries: Conan Doyle, Christie, and More

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ENGLAND

FRANCE

CUBA

AUSTRIA

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DEPARTURE DATE AND PRICING

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The Itinerary

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Day 1 – Arrival in Osaka, Japan

Day 2 – Feudalism, Food, and Faith

Shitennoji Temple

Today begins with a welcome breakfast at which you will meet your fellow travelers and your Great Courses expert before exploring some of Osaka's most important landmarks with your local guide. Begin at the magnificent Osaka Castle, the 16th-century stronghold of the warlord who came closest to unifying Japan before the Tokugawa shogunate.

A walk through Dotonbori—Osaka's neon-lit entertainment district and culinary hub—includes lunch at a trendy restaurant, before a visit to Shitennoji Temple. Founded in 593 CE by Prince Shotoku, a great patron of Buddhism, Shitennoji marks the official state embrace of Buddhism and the beginning of its deep influence on Japanese culture. In late afternoon, transfer to the port to embark Le Soleal.

      Included Meals: Breakfast, Lunch on Tour, Dinner

     Accommodations: Le Soleal

Day 3 – Koraku-en, Kura, and Kagura

Koraku-en Garden

Your day begins by discovering the aesthetic and spiritual culture of Japan with visits to three of Okayama Prefecture's most important landmarks, beginning with the Koraku-en Garden, built in the late 17th century by the ruling Ikeda clan of Okayama. Recognized as of one of the three best landscape gardens in Japan, it is designed with wide lawns, tranquil ponds, and carefully placed teahouses that are best enjoyed while strolling.

After lunch at a traditional Japanese restaurant, visit Kurashiki Bikan Historical Quarter, an Edo-period merchant district of white-walled warehouses (kura), lattice-fronted townhouses, and stone bridges. Close your day at the Shinto Yuga Shrine, where you witness a purification ritual followed by a ceremonial kagura dance performed by worshippers in ornate costumes and masks praying for harmony and good fortune.

      Included Meals: Breakfast, Lunch on Tour, Dinner

      Accommodations: Le Soleal

Day 4 – Meditation Two Ways

'floating' torii gate

Early this morning, arrive at Miyajima Island, where you will start at the Daisho-in Temple for a session of traditional Zen meditation. Afterward, visit the nearby Itsukushima Shrine, a holy place of Shintoism since its inception, famous for its 'floating' torii gate. The shrine's design, incorporating the surrounding forest and the sea, is recognized as the standard of beauty against which other shrines are compared.

During lunch aboard, Le Soleal sails to Hiroshima for a reflective visit to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park and Museum, where exhibits tell the story of the profound and history-altering events of August 6, 1945. Some of the displays can be unnerving, but they serve to remind you of the awesome destructive power of modern warfare.

      Included Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

      Accommodations: Le Soleal

Day 5 – Beppu Baths and Bamboo

Chinoike Jigoku

Beppu is one of the most famous geothermal destinations in the world, a place where the nearly 3,000 hot spring sources scattered throughout the city are used for hot baths, steam vents, sand and mud baths, and even for cooking. There are also springs far too hot for human use, known collectively as the 'Hells of Beppu.' This morning, visit two of these 'hells'—Chinoike Jigoku, where the pool of reddish iron-rich mud looks like boiling blood; and Umi Jigoku, whose gurgling waters are a deep cobalt blue.

Following these geothermal displays, travel to Beppu City Traditional Bamboo Crafts Center, where the techniques of weaving bamboo employed are much the same as they were 700 years ago. You will see master craftsmen at work and browse exhibits that showcase the growth of the craft from weaving simple objects like baskets and trays to creating designer furniture and large-scale sculptures.

      Included Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

      Accommodations: Le Soleal

Day 6 – Strolling Gardens, Sex, and Shintoism

Nanraku-en Garden

Your exploration of Uwajima begins at Nanraku-en Garden, a strolling garden in the same tradition as Okayama's Koraku-en, where the highlight is a demonstration of the traditional art of Japanese calligraphy and an opportunity to try your hand at creating some simple characters.

At Taga Shrine, an ancient Shinto shrine where people would come to pray for health, longevity, and fertility, you will have the opportunity to visit the Dekoboko Shindo, a museum dedicated to expressions of human sexuality, including both fertility symbols and erotica from around the world. A short walk from the museum brings you to the Warei Shrine, known for its large stone torii gate and pleasant gardens.

      Included Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

      Accommodations: Le Soleal

Day 7 – Ancient Trees, Abundant Species

Yakushima

The small circular island of Yakushima (about 17 miles across) contains a truly amazing variety of ecosystems—ranging from subtropical coastal areas to nearly alpine forests on the peaks of mountains that rise to 6,500 feet. Designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1993, the island's unique biodiversity is described in detail at the Yakushima World Heritage Conservation Center and at the Yakusugi Museum, both of which you will visit. The museum is largely devoted to the famous Yakusugi cedar trees, a number of which are over 1,000 years old—and one, Jomon Sugi, at least 2,000.

      Included Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

      Accommodations: Le Soleal

Day 8 – Sakurajima, Sengan-en, and the Shimazu Family

Sengan-en Garden

Your full-day excursion in Kagoshima is divided between a morning visit to Mount Sakurajima, one of the world's most active volcanos, and an afternoon stroll through Sengan-en Garden, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

On Mt. Sakurajima, which rivals Etna for frequency of activity, visit the Arimura Lava Observatory, built on top of a lava flow created by a major eruption in 1946. Follow a trail through the lava, stopping along the way for sweeping views of the city across Kagoshima Bay. Returning to the mainland, pause for lunch at a traditional Japanese restaurant, and then visit Sengan-en Garden, built in 1658 next to the residence of the Shimazu family, whose later generations were instrumental in the industrialization of Japan during the Meiji era.

      Included Meals: Breakfast, Lunch ashore, Dinner 

      Accommodations: Le Soleal

Day 9 – Memorials, Merchants, and a Mansion

Nagasaki Peace Memorial Park

Your last day in Japan starts with a visit to Nagasaki's Atomic Bomb Museum, which chronicle's the city's devastation from 'Fat Man,' the second of the two nuclear bombs dropped on Japan in August 1945, and to Ground Zero and the Nagasaki Peace Memorial Park, where a collection of sculptures from around the world both commemorate the horrors of the bomb and look forward to a world where such weapons are never used again.

At nearby Dejima, visit the open-air museum that tells the story of the tightly knit community of Dutch traders who were the only contact between Japan and the Western world during the Tokugawa period of official isolation. End your tour at Glover Mansion and Garden, home to a community of Westerners living in Nagasaki in the 19th and 20th centuries. Glover's garden is said to be the inspiration for the setting of the opera Madame Butterfly.

      Included Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

      Accommodations: Le Soleal

Day 10 – Busan, South Korea | DISEMBARK

After breakfast aboard, disembark and transfer to Gimhae International Airport (PUS), for flights homeward.

      Included Meal: Breakfast

Day 11 – Copenhagen | Disembark

After breakfast aboard, disembark and transfer to Copenhagen International Airport (CPH) for flights homeward.

      Included Meals: Breakfast

Day 12 – Disembark

After breakfast aboard, disembark and transfer to the Humberto Delgado Airport, is (LIS), in Lisbon, Portugal, for flights homeward.

      Included Meals: Breakfast

January 8–15, 2028

March 2–10, 2027

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Secrets of Japan: Sacred Lands and World Heritage

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