Home / Plan your trip to Japan
A CLEAR START TO YOUR JOURNEY
Plan your trip to Japan
Choose the planning step you need, from your first route idea to the details before departure.
Showing 1. Shape your trip
Make the trip work on paper first
← Choose another planning step
Start with a city base →
Go deeper into a region →
1. Count nights, not a wish list
Write down the arrival and departure airports, flight dates and available nights. Keep the arrival day light and avoid counting a long transfer day as a full sightseeing day.
2. Choose two or three priorities
Food neighbourhoods, historic sites, museums, nature and an onsen stay lead to different routes. Pick the experiences you most want, then group them geographically instead of trying to cover every region.
3. Choose your bases
For a first short trip, fewer hotel changes usually leave more time to explore. Compare the station-to-hotel walk, airport connection and access to your main sights—not just the city name or room photograph.
4. Reserve the limited pieces
Arrange accommodation, any timed-entry attraction you regard as essential, and transport that requires a reserved seat. Save cancellation conditions. Leave ordinary walks and flexible meals around those fixed points.
Choose a season for the places you want
← Choose another planning step
Spring
Hirosaki Park’s western moat turns into a corridor of blossom. Plan a walk beneath the trees rather than chasing one promised bloom date: flowering shifts each year, and northern Japan does not share Tokyo’s timetable. Pair the park with town streets and indoor choices if the flowers are early or late.
Summer
Walk beneath the huge paper streamers of Sendai Tanabata: the decorated shopping arcades are part of the festival experience, not just a route between sights. Choose the event first and check its dates before booking. Summer cities can be hot and humid, so balance outdoor celebrations with cooling breaks and a flexible weather plan.
Autumn
Lake Chuzenji in Nikko pairs yellow and orange woodland with open water and mountain views. Colour changes with altitude, species and the year: a lakeside walk and a lower-town visit may look quite different on the same trip. Keep a museum or food stop in reserve instead of making everything depend on peak foliage.
Winter
Towering snow sculptures turn Sapporo’s Odori Park into an outdoor winter gallery in the heart of the city. Choose a venue and take time to explore the sculptures, with warm-up stops along the way. Displays change each year; snow-country travel also needs suitable clothing and spare connection time, unlike a milder city itinerary farther south.
For any season, make a second plan for heavy rain or disrupted transport. Do not build an onward flight around the last possible ferry, mountain bus or winter train connection.
Choose nature and seasonal experiences →
Choose a festival by month →
Connect the airport, the cities and the last mile
← Choose another planning step
Kakidai · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2018
Airport to your first base
Haneda → Tokyo
The Keikyu railway connects through Shinagawa; the Tokyo Monorail connects to Hamamatsucho. Compare the onward route to your hotel before choosing, rather than assuming both arrive at Tokyo Station.
Narita → Tokyo
JR Narita Express services serve major Tokyo-area stations; Keisei Skyliner serves Nippori and Keisei-Ueno. Match the arrival station to your hotel, and distinguish a reserved airport express from a regular local service.
Kansai Airport → Osaka or Kyoto
Nankai is useful for Namba; JR services connect to Osaka-area stations and the Haruka serves Kyoto. Terminal 1 is connected to Kansai-airport Station; if you arrive at Terminal 2, include the terminal transfer before the train.
Understand what you are buying
An ordinary local-train fare and a reserved express journey are not the same purchase. On JR, Shinkansen and limited-express travel require the basic fare plus the relevant express charge, sometimes sold together. A seat reservation identifies a train, carriage and seat; a non-reserved ticket does not guarantee somewhere to sit. Some services are all-reserved.
A prepaid IC card is convenient on participating local railways and buses: load value and use it where accepted. It is not a nationwide unlimited pass and does not by itself buy a Shinkansen reservation. For a rail pass, compare the journeys it actually covers, the validity period and the seat-reservation rules against separate tickets before deciding it saves money.
At the station and beyond it
For a local IC-card journey, use the same card at entry and exit and keep enough balance for the fare; ask staff if the gate rejects it instead of forcing through. With paper tickets or a reserved service, follow the ticket’s train, date and seat details and the platform display. Leave time for large-station transfers.
Your destination station may not be the destination itself. Rural sights and onsen towns often need a bus, shuttle, ferry or walk afterwards. Write down the final stop, where to board, how to pay and the return departure before setting out. A timetable gap matters more than the distance on a map.
Tokyo to Kusatsu without a car →
Hakone without a car →
Beppu station to Kannawa →
Pick the base, then the room
← Choose another planning step
City hotel
Useful when you want flexible meal times and a station-based itinerary. Check room size, bed arrangement, luggage space and the actual walk from the station exit, especially for a late arrival.
Ryokan
Choose this when the stay itself is part of the trip. Check whether the plan includes dinner and breakfast, the dinner arrival deadline, beds or futons, and whether the bath is shared, privately reservable or attached to your room.
Guesthouse, hostel or apartment-style stay
Compare the private and shared spaces: sleeping room, bathroom, kitchen and reception arrangements. Save the check-in method and access instructions before arrival rather than assuming there is a staffed desk all night.
For any stay, confirm the total for your party and dates, cancellation deadline, meal arrangement and accessibility needs. A “private bath” in a property description does not necessarily mean your booked room has one.
Understand private-bath room types →
Phone and camera rules for Japanese onsen →
Compare the ryokan stays covered here →
Beds or futons in a Hakone ryokan →
Set up the everyday details
← Choose another planning step
Money
Carry a payment card plus some yen; acceptance varies by shop, machine and rural service. If withdrawing cash, use an ATM that accepts your card’s network and review the fee shown before confirming. Keep small notes or coins available for places that cannot take your card.
Phone and saved information
Choose roaming, a compatible SIM/eSIM or a pocket Wi-Fi device before you rely on online maps. Check that the phone is unlocked where required, the plan covers your device and dates, and how activation or return works. Save your hotel address, reservations and essential directions offline.
Luggage
Choose between carrying, storing and forwarding. For a locker, check bag size and collection access; availability is not guaranteed. For delivery, confirm the receiving accommodation, destination date and service cutoff before paying, then keep the receipt and pack what you need until the bag arrives.
Access needs
Plan the whole route, not only the train: station exits, lifts, gradients, toilets, room layout and the final walk. Describe the assistance or equipment you need when arranging a stay or transport; a general “accessible” label may not answer your specific requirements.
Documents and disruption
Keep your passport, any required entry documents, travel insurance details and emergency contact information together. Entry requirements depend on the traveller and can change; complete any required official procedure for your own circumstances. On travel days, check service notices and follow local emergency instructions rather than relying on an old itinerary.
Hakone luggage before check-in →
Plan meals and dietary needs →
Three route shapes you can adapt
← Choose another planning step
Use these suggested routes as a starting point. Add the actual arrival and departure days around them, then remove stops if the transfers leave too little time.
Five nights: one city base
Stay in Tokyo or a Kansai city. Five nights normally gives you four full days between arrival and departure: use three for different neighbourhoods and keep one for a nearby outing, a museum or a weather-flexible food day. Keep arrival and departure plans light rather than counting them as extra full sightseeing days.
Eight nights: Tokyo and Kansai
Divide the stay roughly between Tokyo and Kyoto or Osaka, with a separate transfer day between the regions. From the Kansai base, choose Kyoto, Osaka or Nara days according to your interests; you do not need a different hotel in each city.
Ten nights: two cities and a slower stop
Keep the two main bases, then add one or two nights in a place that lies sensibly on the route. Hakone can break a Tokyo–Kansai journey, while Kinosaki is a dedicated side trip from Kansai rather than a quick stop on the main line. Protect the arrival time if dinner is included.
Tokyo and Kanto planning →
Kyoto, Osaka and Kansai planning →
One night in Hakone →
Kinosaki stay planning →
Use the guides here to shape your route and everyday arrangements. Entry procedures and travel-day disruptions are separate from itinerary advice: complete the requirements for your circumstances and follow current service notices.
Places, experiences and practical ways to get there.