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Our Team Steppes Travel is made by the people who work here. Incredible holidays are made possible because of their vast travel experience and the great enthusiasm they bring to their work.
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Our Tour Experts We carefully select our experts based on their knowledge, companionship and influence, ensuring that you can travel with the most knowledgeable leaders in the field.
Tokyo
Tokyo is an exciting and lively metropolis that thrives off people and life. It is futuristic yet charming and offers up excitement and energy at every turn with some truly weird and wonderful sites.
Tokyo is an example of modern Japan testing the boundaries of tradition. One of the largest and busiest cities in the world, visitors are greeted by buildings constructed in every available space and raised expressways winding across the urban landscapes high above crowded walkways.
The public transport system is bewilderingly efficient, eateries range from traditional street food to Michelin standard and skyscrapers and temples sit alongside picturesque waterways and parks.
About Tokyo
At dusk, neon lighting brings a surreal glow to the city. Once a city that lived by its rivers and canals, during the Edo period almost all commerce came to the capital on waterways and although less so now, river traffic is on the increase again.
Interesting sights in the city include the current Imperial Palace, located on the former site of Edo Castle, a large park area surrounded by moats and massive stone walls in the centre of Tokyo. Today it is the residence of Japan’s Imperial Family. The Senso-Ji Temple, popularly known as Asakusa Kannon, is Tokyo’s most sacred and spectacular temple.
A shopping street of over 200 metres, called Nakamise, leads from the outer gate to the temple’s second gate and is a treasure trove of traditional wares. It has a history of several centuries. Visit Tsukiji Fish Market, the world’s biggest seafood market where giant tuna can be sold for thousands of pounds.
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Experiences
Group tour
Nature, Culture, Science with New Scientist
Join us on a special 12-day journey across cutting-edge Japan in autumn to see exceptional landscapes, visit top universities and immerse yourself in the many cultural highlights of this innovative country. Travel from lively cities to…
Group tour
Winter Wildlife Photography with Sue Flood
Enjoy Japan’s winter wildlife exploring Central Honshu and Northern Hokkaido with wildlife and travel photographer, Sue Flood. The diversity of landscapes of Hokkaido are home to growing populations of red foxes, sika deer, whooper swans and…
Meet our experts
A passion for travel runs right through every one of our experts - meaning they're always ready with first-hand insight about their specialist countries.
Paul Craven
Being from a family with Army connections I can from an early age remember travelling. From camping in Europe and then later being sent to boarding school when we lived in Germany at the age of eight, complete with shorts, long socks, a cap and my suitcase. In appearance not too dissimilar to the children evacuated to the countryside during the blitz. Later, my father’s postings took us to Nepal where we had to transit Delhi and Kathmandu where we were sometimes stranded for days and Hong Kong from where I travelled in 1983 through China for two months. Talk with our experts
- 01285 601 784
Clare Higginson
It was my passion for languages that first encouraged me to leave the UK behind and grab my rucksack. Since then, it’s been a mixture of intriguing cultures, jaw-dropping landscapes and the wonder of seeing animals in their natural habitat that sees me continuously extending my travel wish list. I also seek adventure; exploring the deep blue or hiking a peak often winning favour. Although it’s my time horse herding in Mongolia that I regularly want to relive. Talk with our experts
- 01285 601 784
Kyoto
Kyoto offers the classic image of Japan, traditional wooden houses, weeping cherry and the sound of geta (wooden soled shoes) on the…
Mount Fuji and Hakone
This area is most famous for Japan’s most sacred mountain, Mount Fuji but is also a beautifully scenic region dotted with hot…
Japanese Alps
Located in the heart of Japan between Tokyo and Kyoto and stretching to shores of the Sea of Japan, the Japanese Alps…
Okinawa and the Southern Islands
A temperate year-round climate, white sandy beaches, rural solitude and some magnificent coral reefs.
Hokkaido and Sapporo
Hokkaido is the second largest, northernmost and least developed of Japan's four main islands.
Why Choose Steppes?
Our knowledge and expertise sets us apart. So too our curiosity. A curiosity of the world and of you, and your passions. It is this that drives us to create a journey that is really bespoke to you, all the while ensuring we travel and operate sustainably.
Are you ready to discover extraordinary?
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