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Japan · 14–18 days

Japan for first-timers: Tokyo, the Alps & Kyoto

How to string the classics into one well-judged loop — neon cities, mountain ryokan and the bullet train — without rushing.

Japan is easier to travel than most first-timers expect: spotless, punctual, and laced together by the fastest trains in the world. The classic first trip is a loop — Tokyo, out into the mountains, then Kyoto and the old capital — finishing with a day in Osaka or Hiroshima. The temptation is to chase every city; the better trip picks three or four bases and lingers.

Three decisions do almost all the work: when you go, how many bases you allow yourself, and whether the rail pass is right for your route — which, since the 2023 price rise, it usually isn't. Get those three right and Japan is one of the most forgiving countries on earth to travel in.

When to go

Japan's seasons are unusually distinct, and the month you pick changes the trip more than the route does:

• Late March to early April — cherry blossom. Extraordinary, and the busiest fortnight of the Japanese year. The front moves north over several weeks, so Tokyo and Kyoto peak around late March to the first week of April and the timing shifts by up to two weeks year to year — you cannot book it precisely, only probabilistically. Accommodation needs booking six months out and prices roughly double.
• Late April to early May — Golden Week, the one to avoid. A run of national holidays when the whole country travels at once. Trains sell out, hotels are full and everything costs more. If your dates are fixed inside it, book absolutely everything the moment you can.
• May and October — the quiet sweet spots. Warm, dry, clear and far less crowded than the two headline seasons, with none of the humidity. If you have no particular attachment to blossom or maple leaves, these are the two best months to book.
• Mid-June to mid-July — the rainy season (tsuyu). Not a washout, but humid and grey, with hydrangeas and mossy temple gardens at their best. Cheap and quiet.
• Late July and August — hot, and genuinely so. Mid-30s with high humidity in the cities, which makes long temple days unpleasant. This is the season for the mountains, Hokkaido, and the summer festivals — and for climbing Mt Fuji, which is only open for about two months from early July.
• Mid to late November — autumn leaves. Kyoto's kōyō is as good as the blossom and lasts longer, peaking in the second half of November. Busy but manageable, and the light is beautiful.
• January and February — snow, and the best value of the year. Clear cold days, empty temples, and the world's most reliable powder skiing in Hokkaido and Nagano. Kyoto in the snow is a genuine bucket-list sight and almost nobody plans for it.

How long, and a sensible route

Two weeks is ideal; ten days works if you're disciplined. The mistake is not distance — the trains are fast — it's base count: every hotel change costs you a morning to check out, move and check in, and four moves in ten days means four lost mornings. Three or four bases, minimum three nights each where you can.

• Tokyo (4 nights) — neighbourhoods over sights. Shibuya and Shinjuku after dark, the old temple district of Asakusa, the shrine and side streets around Harajuku, Yanaka for what the city looked like before the war. Base yourself near a Yamanote line station and the whole city opens up. A day trip to Hakone (hot springs and, on a clear day, Fuji) or Nikko (mountain shrines in deep cedar forest) is worth one of the four days.
• The Japan Alps (2–3 nights) — the stretch people remember longest. Takayama's preserved merchant streets and morning market, the thatched farmhouses of Shirakawa-go, and one night in a ryokan with a proper onsen and a multi-course kaiseki dinner. If you'd rather substitute, Kanazawa — Kenroku-en garden, a samurai district and a great modern art museum — is easier to reach and nearly as good.
• Kyoto (3–4 nights) — a thousand temples and a real risk of temple fatigue, so ration them. Fushimi Inari at dawn before the tour groups, Arashiyama's bamboo and the Ōkōchi Sansō garden, Nanzen-ji and the Philosopher's Path, Kiyomizu-dera in the late afternoon. Use it as a base for Nara (an hour; the great bronze Buddha and the bowing deer) and for Osaka if you'd rather not move hotels.
• Osaka or Hiroshima (1–2 nights) — Osaka for street food and unpretentious energy; Hiroshima for the Peace Memorial Museum, which is one of the most affecting hours available anywhere, and the floating shrine gate at Miyajima across the water.

A sensible 14-night shape

• Nights 1–4 · Tokyo. Land, walk, eat, sleep badly, adjust. Asakusa and the east on day one, Shibuya–Harajuku–Shinjuku on day two, a day out to Hakone or Nikko on day three, and whatever you've fallen for on day four.
• Nights 5–7 · Takayama and the Alps. Shinkansen and a limited express in. Morning market and the old town, then Shirakawa-go by bus, and a ryokan night with an onsen and a kaiseki dinner.
• Nights 8–11 · Kyoto. Fushimi Inari at first light, Arashiyama early on another day, one day out to Nara, and one deliberately empty day for a neighbourhood, a market and a long lunch.
• Nights 12–13 · Hiroshima and Miyajima. Under two hours by shinkansen from Kyoto. Peace Park and the museum on the afternoon you arrive, Miyajima the next day.
• Night 14 · Osaka. One night of street food in Dotonbori, then out of Kansai airport in the morning — no backtrack to Tokyo.

Fly open-jaw if you can: into Tokyo (Haneda or Narita) and home from Osaka's Kansai airport. Doubling back to Tokyo for a flight costs you the better part of a day for nothing. To compress this to ten nights, drop Hiroshima and one Tokyo night. To stretch it to eighteen, add Kanazawa and a second Alps night rather than another city — the extra days should buy slowness, not another base.

The rail pass question

The Japan Rail Pass used to be an automatic buy. Since the roughly 70% price rise in October 2023, it usually isn't — and this is the single most common way people overpay for a Japan trip.

The arithmetic is simple: a 7-day pass now costs roughly the same as a Tokyo–Kyoto–Hiroshima–Osaka run of individual tickets, so the pass only wins if you're covering more ground than that inside the window, or doubling back. For the standard one-way loop above, individual shinkansen tickets are generally cheaper. Price your actual route before you buy anything, and consider the regional passes instead — the JR East, JR West and Hokuriku Arch passes are much better value if your trip stays in one part of the country.

Either way, get an IC card — Suica, Pasmo or ICOCA — for city trains, buses, lockers and convenience stores. The simplest route is the digital version in Apple or Google Wallet, which you can set up before you fly and top up from your phone; physical card supply for visitors has been intermittent since 2023, and the Welcome Suica is the fallback at the airport. Note that IC cards do not cover shinkansen travel — book those separately, and reserve seats if you're travelling with luggage or in high season.

What to book before you leave home

Japan runs on reservations far more than most visitors expect, and several of the best things are gone weeks out:

• Ryokan in the Alps and Hakone — the good ones have a handful of rooms and go months ahead, especially for autumn and blossom.
• The Ghibli Museum in Mitaka and the Ghibli Park near Nagoya — timed tickets, released on a fixed monthly schedule, gone within minutes.
• teamLab in Tokyo and Shibuya Sky at sunset — both timed, both sell out.
• Sumo, if a tournament falls in your dates — there are six a year, and only three are in Tokyo.
• Any restaurant you have specifically read about. Small counters seat eight people and take bookings a month ahead; many won't book for foreign visitors directly, which is what hotel concierges are for.
• Mt Fuji, if you intend to climb it — the Yoshida trail now requires a paid online reservation and caps daily numbers, and the season is only July to early September.

Good to know

• Carry some cash — Japan is far more card-friendly than it was, but small restaurants, shrines, markets and rural buses are still cash-only. 7-Eleven ATMs take foreign cards reliably; many bank ATMs don't.
• Travel light, and forward your bags. Stations mean stairs, and shinkansen luggage space is limited and now partly reservation-only for oversized cases. The takkyubin courier services will send a suitcase hotel-to-hotel overnight for a modest fee — use it for the Alps leg and travel with a daypack.
• Etiquette is gentle but real. Quiet on trains and phone calls not at all; shoes off in ryokan, temples and homes; no tipping, ever, and no eating while walking. Tattoos still bar you from some public onsen — look for tattoo-friendly baths or book a room with a private one.
• There are almost no public bins. Carry your rubbish until you find a convenience store, which is what everyone else is doing.
• An eSIM beats pocket Wi-Fi now — cheaper, nothing to collect or return. Google Maps is superb for Japanese trains, down to the platform and the carriage.
• Learn the convenience stores. 7-Eleven, Lawson and FamilyMart are genuinely good — coffee, onigiri, egg sandwiches, cash, tickets and parcel drop-offs. They will feed you well on the days you can't face a decision.
• Book the Fuji view twice. The mountain is cloud-covered more often than not, and clearest in winter. If seeing it matters, give yourself two chances on different days rather than one perfect plan.

Common questions

When is the best time to visit Japan?

The two headline seasons are cherry blossom in late March to early April and autumn leaves in the second half of November — both beautiful, both busy, and both worth booking six months ahead. If you have no particular attachment to either, May and October are the quiet sweet spots: warm, dry, clear and far less crowded. Avoid Golden Week in late April to early May, when the entire country travels at once and trains and hotels sell out. Midsummer is genuinely hot and humid in the cities, and January and February are the best value of the year — empty temples, clear cold light and excellent snow in Hokkaido and Nagano.

How many days do you need in Japan?

Two weeks is ideal for a first trip and lets you pace Tokyo, the Japan Alps and Kyoto without rushing, with a night or two in Hiroshima or Osaka to finish. Ten days works if you're disciplined and stick to three bases. The limiting factor is not distance — the trains are extremely fast — it is base count: every hotel change costs you a morning, so three or four bases at three nights each beats six at two. Any less than ten days and you're better off doing Tokyo and Kyoto properly than trying to see everything.

Is the Japan Rail Pass worth it?

Usually not any more, and this is the commonest way people overpay for a Japan trip. After the roughly 70% price rise in October 2023, a 7-day pass costs about the same as individual tickets for a Tokyo–Kyoto–Hiroshima–Osaka run, so the pass only wins if you're covering more ground than that inside the window or doubling back. Price your actual route first, and look at the regional passes — JR East, JR West, Hokuriku Arch — which are far better value if your trip stays in one part of the country. Separately, get an IC card (Suica, Pasmo or ICOCA, ideally the digital version in Apple or Google Wallet) for city trains, buses and convenience stores. IC cards don't cover shinkansen travel, so book those individually and reserve seats in high season.

What do you have to book before you go to Japan?

More than most people expect. Good ryokan in the Alps and Hakone have very few rooms and go months ahead. The Ghibli Museum and Ghibli Park release timed tickets on a fixed monthly schedule and they vanish within minutes. teamLab and Shibuya Sky at sunset both sell out. Sumo only runs six tournaments a year, three of them in Tokyo. Any restaurant you've specifically read about will be an eight-seat counter taking bookings a month out — and often not from overseas visitors directly, which is what a hotel concierge is for. And if you mean to climb Mt Fuji, the Yoshida trail now needs a paid online reservation and the season is only July to early September.

Do you need to speak Japanese to travel in Japan?

No. Signs and station announcements on the main routes are in English, Google Maps handles the trains superbly — down to the platform and the carriage — and a translation app covers menus and shops. A few polite words go a long way, but Japan is very easy to travel without the language. The genuine friction points are cash-only restaurants and telephone-only restaurant bookings, neither of which is a language problem exactly.

Is Japan good for a group trip or a honeymoon?

It's excellent for both, with one caveat each. For groups, the trains make it easy to move six or eight people without hiring anything, but Japanese hotel rooms are small and mostly built for two — so groups do better with a rented house in Kyoto and a couple of adjacent city hotels than with the villa-style booking that works in Europe. Restaurants are also small: a table for eight needs booking well ahead, and splitting into two tables of four is normal and often better. For a honeymoon, the pairing that rarely misses is a few nights in Tokyo followed by a private-onsen ryokan in the mountains and then Kyoto — and a ryokan room with its own bath is worth the upgrade. The thing that goes wrong on both is the sheer number of timed bookings; give everyone one place to find them.

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