If you’re planning a two-week trip to Japan on your first visit, here’s an itinerary that mixes the best-known routes with some special places to make your trip unforgettable. Although the prices are approximate, you can also check the approximate budget you need for your 15-day trip to Japan, both for flights and for accommodation and expenses at your destination. Finally, if you want to know the best dates to travel to Japan, visit our section on when to travel to Japan, where we tell you about the different options for each season.
さあ行こう!
Where do I begin?
We know that planning a trip to Japan requires a lot of information and we are sure you have a lot of doubts about everything you are encountering. Therefore, the first thing we want to do at Asiahop is to simplify your life and get to the point with what is really important for your experience to be perfect. That said, what we detail below is a proposal for a basic first trip to Japan, but in Asiahop we design your trip to measure and we are experts in (almost) all the prefectures of Japan, so contact us for advice on any place in this wonderful country, from the northernmost Natural Parks of Hokkaido, to the most remote beaches in the south of the Okinawa archipelago.
On your first 15-day trip to Japan there are three major cities you must see: Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka. Our suggestion is that you spend half of your trip (between 7 and 8 days) discovering them at your leisure, alternating these stays with one-day visits to destinations close to each of them. For Tokyo, we recommend no less than 3 days, and for Kyoto and Osaka no less than 2 full days each. To find out more about what to do in each of these cities, visit our routes for Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka, or ask us to design your perfect experience.
Places near Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka
Perfect, we already have half of the trip decided, so let’s move on to the destinations that we will be interspersed near these cities, also popular places that you should not miss, and where, in principle, we do not need to stay, since we will be near the big cities we mentioned earlier. The first is Nikko, about two and a half hours from Tokyo, an ideal place to spend the day and enjoy one of the best-preserved religious sites in Japan, located in the middle of a spectacular natural park. The second, also easily accessible from Tokyo, is the Kamakura and Enoshima area, where you can visit the Great Buddha of Kamakura and enjoy a relaxing visit to tiny Enoshima, with its sea caves, shrines and beautiful views of Mount Fuji.
The third suggestion is Nara, just over half an hour from Kyoto, where you’ll be amazed by the imposing Tōdai-ji Temple and the shika deer that roam free in the city. And finally, we suggest Himeji, an hour from Osaka or Kyoto, where you can’t miss the imposing castle, a World Heritage Site, and a tour of Mount Shosha, where The Last Samurai was filmed.
Other destinations to include in my itinerary
As you can see, we have already decided a lot, so now we propose a short list of additional places further away from the big cities for you to choose from, where we do recommend spending at least one night during our 15-day trip to Japan:
- Near Tokyo is Hakone, a popular destination for couples with a wide range of ryokan and onsen resorts. There are beautiful views of Mount Fuji (on a clear day) and you can take a boat ride on Lake Ashi.
- Nagano is famous for its imposing Zenkōji Buddhist temple, and from there you can take a trip to see Japanese macaques bathing in the hot springs.
- The island of Miyajima is home to the famous Great Floating Torii of Itsukushima Shrine, and you can also hike to Mount Misen, which offers spectacular views. On the way to Miyajima you can spend half a day in Hiroshima for a more cultural and historical visit to the Peace Memorial Park and its museums.
If you want to enjoy a larger area at your leisure, we suggest including the Japanese Alps. In this case, at least two or three nights would be necessary to avoid rushing. In Kanazawa, don’t miss the elegant Kenroku-en garden, one of the most beautiful in Japan, and a stroll through the Higashi Chaya geisha quarter, with its traditional teahouses. You can also visit Takayama, a small town with a charming old town from the Edo period, and close to these destinations is the charming Shirakawa-go, a traditional village famous for its thatched-roof gassho-zukuri houses.
Do you want to travel 15 days to Japan and enjoy these places? Contact us and we will design the perfect experience for an unforgettable trip.