Experience the best of Nikko

Nikko lies in the mountains of Tochigi Prefecture, in a national park of forests, lakes and waterfalls. Its shrines and temples are a World Heritage site, led by Toshogu, the mausoleum of the shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu, whose buildings are covered in gold leaf and carvings, among them the three wise monkeys and the sleeping cat. The red-lacquered Shinkyo Bridge crosses the Daiya River at the town's edge.

Rinnoji temple's Sanbutsudo hall holds three huge gilded Buddhas, and Taiyuin is the mausoleum of the third shogun, Iemitsu. Up a road of forty-eight hairpin bends lies Lake Chuzenji, where the 97-metre Kegon Falls drop from a cliff, and the marshes of Senjogahara and the hot springs of Yumoto lie beyond. The Kinugawa hot-spring resorts are to the south.

Yuba, the skin that forms on heated soy milk, and soba noodles are the Nikko specialities, with shaved ice made from natural ice in summer, and sake brewed with mountain water. The temple grounds blaze red and gold in late October and early November, winters are cold and snowy, and spring cherry blossoms come late in the hills.