Your 14-Day Japan Itinerary

This two-week line across central Japan is for travelers who want the big cities balanced with mountain air, hot springs and thatched villages. The pace is moderate, with two- to four-night stays and every transfer under 5 hours. You’ll ride the shinkansen, the Odakyu line and Hakone’s mountain railways, the JR Hida limited express, Nohi highway buses to Shirakawa-go and Kanazawa, and the Hokuriku shinkansen plus Thunderbird express into Kyoto.

Days 1-4: Tokyo

Open with four nights in Tokyo, a city best taken one neighborhood per day rather than raced across. Pair Senso-ji in Asakusa with Tokyo Skytree, 20 minutes’ walk across the Sumida River; the 350-meter deck is worth the fee only on a clear day, when Mount Fuji shows on the western horizon. Visit Meiji Jingu on a weekend morning for a chance to see a traditional wedding procession under the cedars, then walk five minutes into Harajuku’s side streets for the crowds. Business hotels run ¥8,000 to 14,000 (US$55 to 95) a night, and dorms … read more 👉

This two-week line across central Japan is for travelers who want the big cities balanced with mountain air, hot springs and thatched villages. The pace is moderate, with two- to four-night stays and every transfer under 5 hours. You’ll ride the shinkansen, the Odakyu line and Hakone’s mountain railways, the JR Hida limited express, Nohi highway buses to Shirakawa-go and Kanazawa, and the Hokuriku shinkansen plus Thunderbird express into Kyoto.

Days 1-4: Tokyo

Open with four nights in Tokyo, a city best taken one neighborhood per day rather than raced across. Pair Senso-ji in Asakusa with Tokyo Skytree, 20 minutes’ walk across the Sumida River; the 350-meter deck is worth the fee only on a clear day, when Mount Fuji shows on the western horizon. Visit Meiji Jingu on a weekend morning for a chance to see a traditional wedding procession under the cedars, then walk five minutes into Harajuku’s side streets for the crowds. Business hotels run ¥8,000 to 14,000 (US$55 to 95) a night, and dorms in Asakusa cost half that.

Days 5-6: Hakone

Two nights in Hakone, about 90 minutes from Shinjuku on the Odakyu Romancecar, give you a loop through Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park by switchback train, cable car, ropeway and pirate-ship ferry. The ropeway swings over Owakudani’s sulfur vents, where eggs boiled black in the springs are sold by the bag. Stay at a ryokan or hostel with an onsen bath: soaking outdoors on a cold evening is the main event here, and Fuji views from Lake Ashi come and go with the weather.

Days 7-10: Takayama, Shirakawa-go and Kanazawa

The longest transfer, about 5 hours, runs from Odawara by shinkansen to Nagoya and then on the Hida express up a river gorge to Takayama. Two nights here mean two morning markets along the river and time in the Sanmachi lanes, where sake breweries hang balls of cedar at their doors and pour tastings for a few hundred yen. On day nine, take the 50-minute bus to Shirakawa-go, leave your bag in a locker at the bus terminal, and walk up to the viewpoint above the steep-roofed gassho farmhouses before continuing 75 minutes to Kanazawa the same afternoon. Two nights there cover Kenroku-en garden, the geisha teahouse lanes of Higashi Chaya and Omicho market, where a bowl of fresh seafood on rice runs ¥2,500 to 4,500.

Days 11-14: Kyoto

Take the Hokuriku shinkansen to Tsuruga and the Thunderbird express on to Kyoto, about 2 hours and 10 minutes. With three nights, focus on the eastern hills and the south: Kiyomizu-dera late in the day, when the setting sun lights the city from its terrace, and Fushimi Inari Taisha as a full morning hike rather than a photo stop. Day 14 is your departure, either 75 minutes to Kansai Airport or 2 hours and 15 minutes back to Tokyo on the Nozomi.

If Shirakawa-go feels too busy, Ainokura in the Gokayama area, a bus ride further along the same road, has a smaller cluster of thatched farmhouses where a few families still take overnight guests.