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 year

The Long Stay

Two weeks in Tokyo, two weeks in Kyoto, and slow weeks in between. Rent apartments, live like a local, take day trips.

For slow travellers and city lovers

60days
12places to sleep
23 h 05on trains

Day by day

Days 1 to 14
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 15 and 16
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 17 and 18
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 19 to 21
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.
3 h by train
Days 22 to 25
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 26 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.
30 min by train
Days 41 to 45
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 46 and 47
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 48 to 51
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.
45 min by train
Day 52
Miyajima

Worth it. Sleeping on the island. The floating gate at high tide, after the day visitors have gone, is the real thing.
Skip. Arriving without checking the tide times. At low tide the gate stands in mud.
Eat. Grilled oysters, anago rice and maple-leaf cakes.
1 h 40 by train
Days 53 to 57
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 58 to 60
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.