Japan,
the first time.

Pick a season and how long you have. These are the plans that simply work. Not offbeat at all. For that, there's Offbeat Japan.

The best all-round season. Leaves turn in the mountains in October and reach Kyoto in late November.

2 plans for 2 months in autumn

Japan, End to End

60 daysAll year For big trip and nature loversSapporo 4 → Furano and Biei 2 → Hakodate 2 → Matsushima 2 → Ginzan Onsen 1 → Tokyo 8 → Nikko 2 → Hakone 2 → Matsumoto 2 → Takayama 3 → Shirakawa-go 1 → Kanazawa 3 → Kyoto 8 → Nara 1 → Osaka 3 → Naoshima 2 → Hiroshima 3 → Fukuoka 2 → Nagasaki 2 → Kagoshima 2 → Okinawa 5

The Long Stay

60 daysAll year For slow travellers and city loversTokyo 14 → Nikko 2 → Hakone 2 → Matsumoto 3 → Kanazawa 4 → Kyoto 15 → Osaka 5 → Naoshima 2 → Hiroshima 4 → Miyajima 1 → Fukuoka 5 → Nagasaki 3

60 daysAll yearMost popular

Japan, End to End

Two months is enough to see almost all of it, top to bottom, without rushing a single place.

For big trip and nature lovers

60days
21places to sleep
44 h 05on trains

Day by day

Days 1 to 4
Sapporo

Worth it. The Snow Festival in early February, or cool air and flower fields when the rest of Japan melts in summer.
Skip. Taking the train from Tokyo. It is eight hours. Fly, it is ninety minutes.
Eat. Miso ramen, Genghis Khan lamb barbecue and soup curry.
2 h by train
Days 5 and 6
Furano and Biei

Worth it. Lavender fields in July, and the impossibly blue pond at Biei.
Skip. Coming without a car. The fields are spread out and the buses are slow.
Eat. Melons, lavender ice cream and local cheese.
5 h 30 by train
Days 7 and 8
Hakodate

Worth it. The night view from Mount Hakodate, and a seafood breakfast at the morning market.
Skip. Going up the mountain at the very peak of sunset. Arrive 30 minutes before, or queue for an hour.
Eat. Squid sashimi, seafood bowls and salt ramen.
3 h 20 by train
Days 9 and 10
Matsushima

Worth it. A boat between the two hundred pine-covered islets of the bay, then Zuigan-ji and its cave shrines.
Skip. Eating oysters anywhere but here in winter. They are the local pride.
Eat. Grilled oysters, and Sendai's beef tongue.
3 h by train
Day 11
Ginzan Onsen

Worth it. One night in a wooden inn on the river when the gas lamps come on, ideally under snow.
Skip. Visiting for an hour at dusk with the crowds. Sleep there or come in the morning.
Eat. Soba, and dinner at your inn. The village is tiny.
3 h 30 by train
Days 12 to 19
Tokyo

Worth it. Asakusa before 8am, then an evening walking the backstreets from Shibuya to Harajuku.
Skip. Paying for the Skytree. The Metropolitan Government towers in Shinjuku have the same view for free.
Eat. Sushi, ramen, tempura, and the food halls in department store basements.
2 h by train
Days 20 and 21
Nikko

Worth it. Toshogu, the most lavish shrine in Japan, then the bus up to Kegon Falls and Lake Chuzenji.
Skip. A weekend in late October. The road to the lake becomes a three-hour traffic jam.
Eat. Yuba, delicate tofu skin, served every possible way.
3 h 30 by train
Days 22 and 23
Hakone

Worth it. One night in a ryokan with a hot spring bath and dinner in your room. Splurge here, not in Tokyo.
Skip. Coming as a day trip to see Mount Fuji. It hides in cloud more often than not.
Eat. Black eggs at Owakudani, soba in Hakone-Yumoto, a kaiseki dinner at your ryokan.
3 h 30 by train
Days 24 and 25
Matsumoto

Worth it. The black castle, one of only twelve originals left, with the Alps behind it.
Skip. Skipping the inside. The steep wooden stairs to the top are half the fun.
Eat. Soba, the pride of the Shinshu region.
2 h 30 by train
Days 26 to 28
Takayama

Worth it. The old merchant streets early in the morning, Hida beef for lunch, and a sake brewery tasting.
Skip. Sanmachi street between 11am and 3pm. Walk it at 8am instead.
Eat. Hida beef, as sushi, steak or on a skewer.
50 min by train
Day 29
Shirakawa-go

Worth it. A night in a thatched farmhouse, when the day buses have gone and the village goes quiet.
Skip. A tour bus at midday. Take the first public bus from Takayama or Kanazawa.
Eat. Hoba miso, grilled on a magnolia leaf.
1 h 15 by train
Days 30 to 32
Kanazawa

Worth it. Kenrokuen garden at opening time, the Higashi Chaya teahouse district, and sushi at Omicho Market.
Skip. Treating it as a small Kyoto and rushing it in half a day. It has its own pace.
Eat. Seafood bowls, and snow crab from November to March.
2 h 10 by train
Days 33 to 40
Kyoto

Worth it. Fushimi Inari at 7am or after dusk. Keep climbing past the halfway point and you have it to yourself.
Skip. The Arashiyama bamboo grove at midday. It is a short path and you shuffle through it shoulder to shoulder.
Eat. Kaiseki, tofu, obanzai home cooking and matcha everything.
45 min by train
Day 41
Nara

Worth it. The Great Buddha at Todai-ji, then the quiet walk up to Nigatsu-do for the view.
Skip. Buying deer crackers by the station entrance. The deer there are pushy. Walk deeper into the park first.
Eat. Kakinoha sushi, wrapped in persimmon leaves.
40 min by train
Days 42 to 44
Osaka

Worth it. Eating your way through Namba and Shinsekai at night. This is the city for it.
Skip. Going inside Osaka Castle. It is a 1931 concrete rebuild with a lift. Enjoy it from the park.
Eat. Takoyaki, okonomiyaki, kushikatsu. The local motto is eat till you drop.
2 h 30 by train
Days 45 and 46
Naoshima

Worth it. A whole island of museums and art by the sea. Rent an electric bike and take it slowly.
Skip. Coming on a Monday. Most museums are closed and the island empties.
Eat. Island cafes and fresh fish. Book dinner, places close early.
2 h by train
Days 47 to 49
Hiroshima

Worth it. Two unhurried hours in the Peace Memorial Museum, then okonomiyaki, layered the Hiroshima way.
Skip. Doing it as a day trip from Kyoto. It deserves more than a rushed afternoon.
Eat. Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki, and oysters.
1 h 05 by train
Days 50 and 51
Fukuoka

Worth it. Ramen at a yatai street stall by the river, shoulder to shoulder with locals.
Skip. Expecting big sights. Come to eat, and use it as the door to Kyushu.
Eat. Hakata tonkotsu ramen, mentaiko and motsunabe hot pot.
1 h 30 by train
Days 52 and 53
Nagasaki

Worth it. The Peace Park, the old trading post of Dejima, and the night view from Mount Inasa.
Skip. Squeezing it into one day from Fukuoka. The city only makes sense slowly.
Eat. Champon noodles and castella sponge cake.
2 h 30 by train
Days 54 and 55
Kagoshima

Worth it. Sakurajima, the volcano smoking across the bay. Take the 15-minute ferry and walk its lava fields.
Skip. Wearing white. On ash days the whole city gets a light grey dusting.
Eat. Kurobuta black pork, and shirokuma shaved ice.
1 h 30 flight
Days 56 to 60
Okinawa

Worth it. Turquoise water, a different history and a different food. Rent a car and drive north.
Skip. Staying only in Naha. The best beaches and the aquarium are an hour and a half up the coast.
Eat. Goya champuru, Okinawa soba and taco rice.