Japan itineraries

Best in the cool season

The plains, the coast and the south — comfortable when the north is cold and dry.

• 5 days

  Best for: A first trip, or a stopover, that does not waste two of its five days on trains

  Japan in 5 days: Tokyo, Kamakura and Hakone

  Tokyo → Kamakura → Hakone → Tokyo

  Five days is a Tokyo trip with two day trips, not a Tokyo-and-Kyoto trip. Kamakura for the Great Buddha an hour south, Hakone for Fuji and an onsen, and no Shinkansen at all — which is exactly why it works.

  ≈ AED 2,300 / person Oct–Apr
• 7 days

  Best for: Working out that the rail pass no longer pays, and eating extremely well for very little

  Japan on a budget in 7 days: the rail-pass maths and konbini meals

  Tokyo → Kyoto → Osaka

  Japan stopped being expensive and nobody updated the advice. Business hotels for the price of a European hostel, konbini and gyudon meals that are genuinely good, and the rail-pass arithmetic that now usually says no — with the numbers to check it yourself.

  ≈ AED 1,850 / person Jan–Feb, Jun, Sep
• 8 days

  Best for: Winter travellers

  Hokkaido in winter: snow festivals, penguins and powder

  Sapporo → Otaru → Asahikawa → Furano

  February in Japan's snow country — the Sapporo Snow Festival, Otaru's candlelit canal, marching penguins in Asahikawa, a beginner-friendly powder day in Furano, and a steaming hell-valley onsen night.

  ≈ AED 4,150 / person Dec–Mar

Best in the warm season

The Himalaya, where the passes and the high valleys are only open once the snow clears.

• 9 days

  Best for: Second-time visitors

  Japan beyond the Golden Route: Kanazawa, Shirakawa-go and the Alps

  Kanazawa → Shirakawa-go → Takayama → Matsumoto

  The Japan most visitors miss — samurai Kanazawa, the thatched village of Shirakawa-go, Takayama's old town and morning markets, and Japan's finest original castle at Matsumoto — in one clean loop from Tokyo.

  ≈ AED 3,650 / person Apr–May, Sep–Nov

Also in Japan

• 2 days

  Best for: Two days that beat the crowds by starting before them, twice

  Kyoto in 2 days: Fushimi Inari, Gion and Arashiyama

  Fushimi Inari and southern Higashiyama → Arashiyama and the north-west

  Kyoto's famous sights are famous, so this plans around the hours they are empty — Fushimi Inari before seven, the bamboo grove before nine. Plus the geiko photography rules that now carry fines.

  ≈ AED 650 / person Apr–May, Oct–Nov
• 2 days

  Best for: Japan's best eating city, and the day trip to the deer

  Osaka in 2 days: Dotonbori, the castle and Nara

  Dotonbori and Namba → Osaka Castle → Nara or Universal

  Two days in the city Japan comes to eat in — Dotonbori after dark, the castle in the morning, and a second day that is either Nara's Great Buddha or Universal Studios. Plus the kushikatsu rule that is taken seriously.

  ≈ AED 650 / person Mar–May, Oct–Nov
• 3 days

  Best for: Three days arranged by rail line, so no hour is spent crossing the city twice

  Tokyo in 3 days: Shibuya, Asakusa and the waterfront

  Shibuya and Shinjuku → Asakusa and Ueno → teamLab and Ginza

  Tokyo is too big to wander — this plans it by geography, west on day one, east on day two, bay on day three. Which rail pass is a waste, what sells out weeks ahead, and the free observation deck that beats the paid ones.

  ≈ AED 1,150 / person Mar–May, Oct–Nov
• 5 days

  Best for: Three days of city done properly, and two day trips that are worth the train

  Tokyo in 5 days: the city, plus Kamakura and Nikko

  Shibuya → Asakusa → the bay → Kamakura → Nikko

  The same geography-first plan as three days, with room to go deeper — plus Kamakura's Great Buddha and Nikko's Toshogu, which are the two day trips that actually earn a day. Which to pick if you only want one.

  ≈ AED 2,100 / person Mar–Apr, Oct–Nov
• 7 days

  Best for: The better half of the Japanese year — longer, cheaper and calmer than the blossom

  Japan autumn leaves in 7 days: Nikko's koyo and Kyoto in November

  Tokyo → Nikko → Kyoto

  Koyo runs for weeks rather than days, which makes autumn the easier season to plan than sakura. Nikko in late October while it is still high and cold, Kyoto through November as the colour comes down the hills, and the night illuminations that are the best thing in the Japanese calendar.

  ≈ AED 3,650 / person Nov
• 7 days

  Best for: The two weeks the country is at its best, booked before anyone knows the dates

  Japan cherry blossom in 7 days: routed around the bloom forecast

  Tokyo → Kyoto → Osaka

  Sakura moves by a week or more each year and the forecast only firms up in March, which is the whole planning problem. How the bloom travels north, which Tokyo and Kyoto spots are worth the crowd, the night illuminations, and how to build a route that still works if you guess the week wrong.

  ≈ AED 4,050 / person Mar–Apr
• 7 days

  Best for: The standard route with every meal worked out, including the fish stock hiding in the vegetables

  Japan for vegetarians in 7 days: the dashi problem, solved

  Tokyo → Hakone → Kyoto → Osaka

  The hard part of vegetarian Japan is not finding salad — it is dashi, the bonito stock in almost every broth, dressing and simmered dish that looks meat-free. What to ask, what to avoid, where shojin ryori is worth a detour, and the chains that will feed you anywhere.

  ≈ AED 3,500 / person Apr–May, Oct–Nov
• 7 days

  Best for: The Golden Route done properly rather than the ten-day version with three days cut out

  Japan in 7 days: Tokyo, Hakone, Kyoto and Osaka

  Tokyo → Hakone → Kyoto → Osaka

  One week is enough for Tokyo, a night in the mountains at Hakone, the temples of Kyoto and a last evening eating in Osaka — if you accept that it is a four-stop trip and stop trying to add Hiroshima. The rail pass maths, the Hakone loop in the right direction, and what to book before you fly.

  ≈ AED 3,400 / person Mar–Apr, Oct–Nov
• 10 days

  Best for: First-time visitors

  Japan in 10 days: Tokyo, Hakone, Kyoto and Osaka

  Tokyo → Hakone → Kyoto → Osaka

  The Golden Route done properly — Tokyo's neon and shrines, an onsen night under Mt Fuji, Kyoto's temples, Nara's deer and Osaka's food — with the 2026 ticket, rail-pass and tax changes most guides haven't caught up with.

  ≈ AED 4,200 / person Mar–May, Oct–Nov
• 10 days

  Best for: A country where the trains are the attraction and the temples are optional

  Japan with kids in 10 days: Ghibli, trains and a slower Kyoto

  Tokyo → Hakone → Kyoto → Osaka

  The same four stops as the standard route, re-planned for small legs: Ghibli and teamLab instead of a third museum, one temple a day in Kyoto rather than six, luggage forwarded so nobody carries bags, and the shinkansen treated as an event rather than a transfer.

  ≈ AED 5,100 / person Mar–May, Oct–Nov
• 14 days

  Best for: The Golden Route with the two things everyone regrets missing: Kanazawa and Miyajima

  Japan in 14 days: Tokyo, the Alps, Kyoto, Hiroshima and Miyajima

  Tokyo → Nikko → Hakone → Kanazawa → Kyoto → Nara → Osaka → Hiroshima → Miyajima

  Two weeks is where Japan stops being a highlights reel. This adds Nikko's shrines, Kanazawa's samurai and geisha districts, Hiroshima and the floating torii at Miyajima to the Tokyo–Kyoto spine — and it is the one duration where the rail pass genuinely pays.

  ≈ AED 7,650 / person Mar–Apr, Oct–Nov
• 21 days

  Best for: Three weeks and a southern island most visitors never reach

  Japan in 21 days: the Golden Route, the Alps, Hiroshima and Kyushu

  Tokyo → Nikko → Hakone → Takayama → Kanazawa → Kyoto → Nara → Osaka → Hiroshima → Miyajima → Fukuoka → Beppu → Kagoshima

  Three weeks is enough to add the Japan Alps and the whole of Kyushu — hot-spring towns, an active volcano across the bay from a city of 600,000, and the oldest onsen in the country. The 21-day rail pass, the Alps bus route that closes in winter, and where to break the journey south.

  ≈ AED 11,000 / person Mar–May, Oct–Nov