Ten days · A little breathing room
10-Day Japan Itinerary
Ten days lets you keep the classic spine and add one contrast: an onsen night in Hakone, the deer park at Nara, or the Peace Memorial and Miyajima in Hiroshima.
- Best route
- Tokyo → Hakone → Kyoto → Nara → Osaka
- Rail legs
- 3–4 journeys
- Typical budget
- $2,000–3,800 per person
- Pace
- Balanced with two slow days
The route that works
Four nights Tokyo, one night Hakone, three nights Kyoto, two nights Osaka. Hakone sits directly on the way west, so the onsen night costs you no extra travel time.
- ◆Hakone: ropeway over Owakudani, Lake Ashi, ryokan dinner
- ◆Nara: an easy half-day from either Kyoto or Osaka
- ◆Hiroshima: doable as a long day trip from Osaka if you skip Hakone
Luggage between cities
Use takuhaibin luggage forwarding from your Tokyo hotel to Kyoto and travel to Hakone with an overnight bag. It costs a few thousand yen and removes the worst part of Japanese rail travel.
When a rail pass starts to pay
Add Hiroshima and a nationwide pass gets closer to break-even. Price your exact legs before buying — regional Kansai-Hiroshima passes are often the better deal.
Turn this into your trip
Your dates, your budget, your interests — same route, built around you.
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