Intensive
Japan's Greatest Hits
Greatest hits, no padding, mostly trains.
- First visit
- Base cities: Tokyo · Kyoto · Osaka
- culture
- food
- urban
- history
Itinerary
Rural Japan, Off the Line
- 10 nights
- Medium pace
- Interest-led
Medium pace
Ten nights where the shinkansen does not stop. Nikko's forest shrines, the temple town of Nagano, Takayama's wooden streets and the thatched farmhouses of Shirakawa-go, then Kanazawa's old quarters and a Kyoto finish. The Japan between the big cities.
Where the shinkansen doesn't stop. Forest shrines, thatched farmhouses, Kanazawa's old lanes.
Trip facts
- Length10 nights
- PaceMedium
- Designed forInterest-led
- GatewaysIn via Tokyo, out via Osaka
The route, city by city
Where you sleep and what each base is for. Load it into the planner to reshape the cities, dates, and day-by-day plan.
- Day 1Arrive
- Day 2Day trip: Nikko
The world's largest city and Japan's beating heart - an overwhelming, endlessly layered metropolis where every kind of Japan coexists.
A UNESCO World Heritage mountain shrine complex of overwhelming opulence, built to enshrine Tokugawa Ieyasu, unifier of Japan.
- Day 3Travel in
- Day 4Explore
The 1998 Winter Olympics host city, home to Zenko-ji - one of Japan's most visited pilgrimage sites - and gateway to mountain resorts.
- Day 5Travel in
- Day 6Day trip: Shirakawa-go
A mountain town frozen in the Edo period, with preserved merchant streets and world-famous spring and autumn festivals.
A UNESCO World Heritage gassho-zukuri farmhouse village in a mountain valley, most spectacular under winter snow.
- Day 7Travel in
- Day 8Explore
The 'Kyoto of the north' - a preserved castle town with Japan's most-visited garden, a samurai district, and exceptional seafood.
- Day 9Travel in
- Day 10Depart
Japan's ancient capital - 1,200 years of temples, gardens, geisha districts, and craft traditions in a city that still feels imperial.
Your JP Adventure
Plan a trip to Tokyo
Turn this into a day-by-day route. Tabi-Kun shapes a personalised Tokyo itinerary around your dates, pace, and interests, free to start.
Plan a trip to Tokyo →Make this trip yours
This itinerary is a starting point, not a final answer. Load it and the planner lets you change the cities, the dates, the pace, and the day-by-day plan before you generate your route.
Plan smarter
Free tools to pressure-test this trip before you book.