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.

4 plans for 1 month in autumn

30 daysAll year

Sapporo to Okinawa

From the snowy north to the tropical south. Land in Sapporo, end on a beach, and eat your way down the whole country.

For island and food lovers

30days
11places to sleep
21 h 10on trains

Day by day

Days 1 to 3
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.
3 h 45 by train
Days 4 and 5
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.
4 h by train
Days 6 to 10
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 15 by train
Days 11 to 15
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.
30 min by train
Days 16 and 17
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.
1 h 25 by train
Days 18 and 19
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 15 by train
Days 20 and 21
Matsuyama

Worth it. A bath at Dogo Onsen, one of the oldest hot springs in Japan, then the castle on its hill.
Skip. Skipping the evening. The old bathhouse is at its best lit up after dark.
Eat. Tai-meshi, sea bream rice.
4 h by train
Days 22 and 23
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 24 and 25
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 26 and 27
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 28 to 30
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.