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A licensed guide who knows which order makes the Matsushima boats, the temples and Sendai fit your clock. The highest-rated day tour in the region.
The region's sights are spread across three towns and two railway lines. A guide's real value here is sequence: which boat, which temple first, and when to cut Sendai short to make the ship.
Both pins on one map, so the distance is a fact rather than a feeling.
Counted from the moment you step off the gangway. The hour before all-aboard is not in this bar; it is already set aside.
20 minutes each way is the honest figure for this ride, not the optimistic one. If your ship is late, cut the 5 hr 20 min in the middle. Never cut the hour at the end.
Booked before you sail — there is no tour desk at the pier. Booking through this link supports the site.
Each one is a finished day we have walked and timed, with this stop in it. Read the route rather than assembling it yourself.
Each of these still lands you back aboard with the hour to spare.
See · ~4hSome 260 pine-topped islets in a shallow bay, counted as one of Japan’s three classic views since the 17th century.
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Do · ~5.5hArrive at Matsushima from the water, as the poet did in 1689: the boat leaves Marine Gate Shiogama on the hour and takes about fifty minutes through the islands.
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Eat · ~2.5hBuy rice at one stall and slices of tuna and whatever else looks good at the others.
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Just docked? — the gangway toolStart from your shipThe ride from every berthAsk the editorGlossary
