Planning your first trip to Japan: route, hotels and booking order

Start with the nights you actually have

Count the nights in Japan, then choose the route. For a first ten-day visit, a useful starting point is four nights in Tokyo and five in Kyoto, arriving in Tokyo and leaving from Kansai. If both flights use Tokyo, reserve the final night back in Tokyo rather than adding a long train ride before the flight.

Arrival, transfer and departure are not full sightseeing days. Once the nights work, choose the hotel areas and reserve any must-do timed attraction before filling the flexible days.

One week: one main base is a useful default

JNTO recommends a single base such as Tokyo or Osaka for trips of a week or less, with nearby places visited as day trips. Around ten days to two weeks, Tokyo and Kansai become a more realistic combination. These are starting points, not minimum-stay rules: choose fewer stops if you want slow mornings, need step-free transfers or are travelling with small children.

Use an actual ten-day route before adding more stops

Our ten-day plan has a flexible arrival, three full Tokyo days, a Tokyo–Kyoto transfer, and four full days based in Kyoto before departure. It includes a different ninth-night allocation for travellers flying home from Tokyo. Use that as a starting point, then cut or swap days for your own priorities.

Choose the airports before fixing the direction

For a Tokyo-and-Kansai route, compare entering one region and leaving the other against a return flight to the same airport. A different departure airport can remove a long backtrack, but only if its flight price and final transfer work for you. Do not book the last intercity train and an international flight as a tight connection. Check the airline’s required airport arrival time and the exact transfer from your hotel.

Book a base, not just a famous neighbourhood

Choose hotels against the stations you will actually use. Record the nearest station, exit, luggage route, check-in time and late-arrival instructions. On transfer days, allow for packing, checkout, station navigation and the onward hotel journey; the Shinkansen ride is only one part of that day. Keep cancellable options until the route is settled.

Choose the Tokyo hotel area for the trip you will actually make

Compare Shinjuku and Shibuya for western-city evenings, Ueno for an eastern base and Narita access, and Tokyo Station for an onward Shinkansen journey. The best choice depends on the airport route and where you want to spend the evenings, not a single best-neighbourhood label.

Price the journeys before buying a pass

List dated intercity journeys first. The national JR Pass is not an all-transport ticket, and Nozomi and Mizuho require an additional special ticket when used with it. Separate city transport and non-covered services from the pass comparison. A stored-value city transport card and an intercity reservation do different jobs.

Choose the mode for each complete journey

Compare intercity trains with flights for a distant addition, then test individual tickets or a regional pass against the actual route. Keep city transport and luggage arrangements separate from national-pass coverage.

Measure the suitcase before reserving the train

For the Tokaido Shinkansen, ordinary oversized luggage over 160 cm and up to 250 cm in combined length, width and height needs an oversized-baggage seat reservation. A normal seat reservation does not automatically include that space. Check the operator’s special rules for strollers, instruments and sporting equipment rather than treating them as ordinary suitcases.

Before departure: make an offline arrival sheet

Save your hotel address in Japanese, the airport-to-hotel route, booking references and the operator’s disruption page. Check passport and entry requirements with the relevant authorities for your nationality and circumstances; this checklist is not an entry-eligibility assessment. For any must-do attraction, check the actual venue, ticket release rules and opening dates before arranging a distant day trip.

When to travel changes what to book first

Golden Week, Obon and the New Year holidays are busy domestic travel periods. JNTO also notes that winter conditions differ sharply between snowy regions and Pacific-side cities. Start with your actual destinations and dates, not a nationwide blossom or foliage promise. Check current weather and transport notices again close to travel.

Choose the region

Compare a city-led first trip with a regional or island-focused holiday.

Plan Tokyo to Kyoto

Work through the boarding station, luggage reservation and final hotel transfer.

Test the JR Pass against your route

Use a dated journey basket rather than counting the total length of the holiday.

Source check

Official planning and railway pages checked on 23 October 2026. Route-shaping suggestions are editorial recommendations; fares, schedules, entry rules and availability must be checked for your travel dates.