Japan in 7 days: Tokyo, a Hakone ryokan and Kyoto, night by night

Three nights in Tokyo, one in Hakone, two in Kyoto: why this split and this order

A week gives you six nights, and every change of hotel costs part of a day, so this route keeps to three bases and two travel afternoons. Our destination guides set the yardsticks: five nights for Tokyo on a first trip, four for Kyoto and one ryokan night for Hakone. Six nights cannot meet all three, so the plan makes an honest cut. Tokyo gets three nights, which means two full days plus your arrival evening and a last morning; Hakone gets its one night; Kyoto gets two, enough for Fushimi Inari, a day in Nara and the east side at dawn, but not for Arashiyama and the west.

The order runs one way, from east to west. Land at Haneda, which GO TOKYO calls by far the most convenient airport for the city, about 15 km from the centre. Hakone lies on the way rather than off it: the Romancecar from Shinjuku reaches Hakone-Yumoto in about 80 minutes, and when you leave, the Hakone Tozan line runs down to Odawara, a stop on the Tokaido shinkansen to Kyoto. Kyoto comes last because it is the stop nearest the airport you fly home from: the Haruka runs from Kyoto Station to Kansai International Airport (KIX) in about 80 minutes, according to Kyoto's official guide.

That is why the flights matter as much as the hotels. With an open-jaw ticket, into Tokyo and out of Kansai, the last morning costs you one Haruka ride, ¥2,200 on JR West's discounted one-way ticket for visitors with a foreign passport when we checked on 2026-10-10. A return from Tokyo means riding back: about 130 minutes from Kyoto on the Nozomi, with a reserved seat listed at ¥13,970 on smartEX, the official online booking service, then the train out to Haneda, on a morning you would rather spend in Kyoto.

If temples matter more to you than a hot-spring night, drop Hakone and give Kyoto three nights. Take the Nozomi straight from Tokyo Station or Shinagawa to Kyoto on day 4 and sleep downtown, which our Kyoto accommodation guide recommends for stays of three nights or more; the extra day goes to Arashiyama and Kinkaku-ji, or Nijo Castle. Osaka, about 30 minutes from Kyoto by JR Special Rapid according to Kyoto's official guide, fits this week only as an evening out; our Osaka guide gives it two nights of its own, which belong to a longer trip. Whichever version you choose, book each hotel close to the station you arrive at: Shinjuku in Tokyo, Gora in Hakone and the Kyoto Station area.

Days 1 to 3: Tokyo by area, from a Shinjuku base

Sleep in Shinjuku for all three Tokyo nights. Our Tokyo accommodation guide picks it for anyone going on to Hakone, because the Romancecar leaves from its station, and GO TOKYO lists limousine buses from Haneda to Shinjuku Station at 55 minutes. Keikyu trains also run from Haneda's Terminal 3 to Shinagawa, on the Yamanote Line, in 11 minutes by Rapid Express. Set up an IC card such as Suica when you land, and keep the first evening close to the hotel.

Two full days mean planning by area, as our Tokyo guide does, and accepting that the west gets only an evening and a morning. Give day 2 to the old east: Senso-ji in Asakusa when the Main Hall opens, which the temple listed as 06:00, or 06:30 from October to March, when we checked on 2026-10-10; then the museums of Ueno at midday and the lanes of Yanaka late in the afternoon. Keep this day off a Monday, when the Tokyo National Museum closes.

Day 3 is the centre. Have breakfast at the Tsukiji Outer Market, whose site gives the early hours to professional buyers and lists public hours from 09:00 to 14:00, then walk through the Imperial Palace East Gardens, which close every Monday and Friday, and on to Ginza. The market follows the wholesale market's closing days, which our Tokyo guide lists. In the evening, see Shibuya Crossing under the lights and eat your way back through Shinjuku.

On the morning of day 4, walk to Meiji Jingu before the Romancecar. The shrine opens at sunrise, which it listed as 05:40 in October and 06:10 in November when we checked, so you can see the gravel approach under the trees and still catch a late-morning train. If you are sending big suitcases ahead to Kyoto, they need to leave the hotel on day 3; the luggage section below explains why.

Days 4 and 5: the Romancecar, a ryokan night and the Hakone loop

Take a late-morning Romancecar from Shinjuku: Odakyu puts it at about 80 minutes to Hakone-Yumoto, and every seat is reserved. Buy the two-day Hakone Freepass, which Odakyu listed at ¥7,100 from Shinjuku when we checked on 2026-10-10, including the Odakyu train to Odawara; you will not use its return half, since you leave westwards. The Romancecar seat costs ¥1,200 on top. Staying near Tokyo Station instead? Hakone Navi, the transport operator's visitor site, gives about 35 minutes on a Kodama shinkansen to Odawara and about 15 minutes on the Hakone Tozan line to Hakone-Yumoto, and the Freepass from Odawara costs ¥6,000. Have lunch in Yumoto, then ride the Hakone Tozan train up the valley, about 40 minutes to Gora.

The ryokan is what makes this night worth it, so book it before anything else. Our Hakone guide recommends Gora or Miyanoshita for a single night, in the middle of the loop. Choose a rate with dinner and breakfast and tell the inn when you will arrive. JNTO notes that an inn's shared baths are almost always free for overnight guests, while private *kashikiri* baths usually cost extra and are reserved in advance or at the front desk, and some rooms come with their own hot-spring bath; filter for those if you have tattoos or would rather not bathe with strangers.

Start day 5 early, with the cable car from Gora to Sounzan, about 10 minutes, and the Hakone Ropeway over the steaming valley of Owakudani, where you change gondolas; Hakone Navi gives about 15 minutes for each of its three sections to Togendai on Lake Ashi. The pirate-ship cruise crosses the lake in about 30 minutes to Moto-Hakone, for Hakone Shrine and, on a clear morning, Mount Fuji across the water. Then take the bus back down to Hakone-Yumoto and the Hakone Tozan line to Odawara, about 15 minutes.

From Odawara, Hakone Navi puts the shinkansen to Kyoto at about 170 minutes, with a change between a Kodama and a Nozomi, and smartEX listed a reserved seat at ¥12,100 on Hikari and Kodama trains at regular-season prices. Aim to leave Odawara by mid-afternoon and you will reach Kyoto for dinner.

This winter, check the ropeway before you go. Odakyu Hakone will run replacement buses between Owakudani and Sounzan from 7 to 24 December 2026, and between Togendai, Ubako and Owakudani from 12 January to 26 February 2027. The buses accept the Freepass but are expected to be very crowded, so in those weeks reach Owakudani by whichever half of the ropeway is still running.

Days 5 to 7: Kyoto, Fushimi Inari and Nara, then the flight home

For two nights, sleep in the Kyoto Station area. Our Kyoto accommodation guide recommends it for one or two nights, a late arrival and day trips by JR or Kintetsu, and this leg has all three: you arrive by shinkansen in the evening, day 6 runs along the JR Nara Line, and the Haruka leaves from the same station. The price is that evenings downtown or in Gion end with a ride back.

Begin day 6 at Fushimi Inari Taisha. Its paths through the torii are open twenty-four hours a day, Kyoto's official guide notes, and Inari Station on the JR Nara Line is right next to the shrine, two stops and five minutes from Kyoto Station, so go at first light, before the crowds. Afterwards, stay on the JR Nara Line to JR Nara Station; Nara's tourism association puts Nara Park 20 minutes from there on foot, or a short bus ride. If you go back to Kyoto first, the Kintetsu limited express reaches Kintetsu-Nara Station, eight minutes' walk from the park, in about 35 minutes, with a surcharge on top of the fare.

In Nara, follow the loop in our Nara guide: Kofuku-ji, then Todai-ji's Great Buddha Hall, which the temple listed at 07:30–17:30 from April to October and 08:00–17:00 from November to March, with adult admission at ¥800, then Nigatsu-do and Kasuga Taisha, with the deer all around you. That guide also explains how to feed the deer safely. Be back in Kyoto by late afternoon for an evening in Gion.

On day 7, if your flight leaves in the afternoon or evening, see the east side early. Kiyomizu-dera opens at 06:00, and Kyoto's official guide puts the Kiyomizu-dera area about 35 minutes from Kyoto Station, suggesting the JR Nara Line to Tofukuji and a change to the Keihan line for Kiyomizu and Gion. Walk down through Sannenzaka and Ninenzaka before the shops open, then collect your bags and take the Haruka to Kansai Airport, about 80 minutes. If your flight leaves from Haneda, take a morning Nozomi instead: about 130 minutes to Tokyo, stopping at Shinagawa, where Keikyu trains reach Haneda's Terminal 3 in 11 minutes.

Tickets and bookings: skip the rail pass, book a few seats

The 7-day Japan Rail Pass does not pay on this route. When we checked on 2026-10-10, the official site sold it for ¥50,000. The JR legs here come to a fraction of that: ¥12,100 for the shinkansen from Odawara to Kyoto at smartEX's regular-season price and ¥2,200 for the discounted Haruka ticket, about ¥14,300 in all, while the trip to Hakone is on Odakyu, which the pass does not cover. Even if you fly home from Tokyo and add a ¥13,970 Nozomi seat, you stay far below the pass price. Our Japan Rail Pass guide works through a longer week, Tokyo to Kyoto, Hiroshima and back, and finds the pass loses even there.

Buy as you go instead. smartEX sells Tokaido shinkansen seats online from abroad, for up to six people at a time, and you board with a QR code or a registered IC card; bookings can be changed free of charge before departure. Use an IC card such as Suica or ICOCA for local trains in Tokyo, Kyoto and Nara, the Hakone Freepass in Hakone, and JR West's discounted one-way Haruka ticket on the last day, which needs a foreign passport.

Book in this order. The Hakone ryokan first, as soon as your dates are fixed. Then the Romancecar seat and the shinkansen from Odawara; if your suitcase measures between 161 and 250 cm in total (length, width and height), JR Central requires a seat with an oversized baggage area on the Tokaido shinkansen, at no extra cost, and charges ¥1,000 if you board with such a bag without one. Of the timed-entry sights in our city guides, only two fit this week: teamLab Planets in Tokyo, which sells tickets for a set date and admission time, if you want it for an evening; and, in the three-night Kyoto version, the Honmaru-goten Palace at Nijo Castle, which can be seen only with a web ticket bought in advance, on sale from 30 days before your visit.

Luggage: send the big cases ahead to Kyoto

Hakone is the one awkward night for luggage, with a mountain train, a cable car, a ropeway and a boat in a day. The easiest fix is to send large suitcases from your Tokyo hotel straight to your Kyoto hotel and travel to Hakone with an overnight bag; JNTO notes that most major hotels can arrange delivery to your next hotel at the front desk. Do it early. Yamato Transport asks customers sending luggage to a hotel or ryokan to send it at least two days before the check-in date, and up to three depending on the distance, and only if the property agrees to accept it. So hand the cases over on day 3 at the latest for a Kyoto check-in on day 5, ask the desk whether two days are enough, and tell your Kyoto hotel they are coming.

If you keep your cases with you, use Odakyu's Hakone Baggage Delivery Service at Hakone-Yumoto Station. When we checked on 2026-10-10, bags left at its counter by 12:00 reached the hotel the same day, at ¥1,500 per regular bag (up to 140 cm and 15 kg) or ¥2,500 for a large one (up to 200 cm and 30 kg), and could be collected at the station between 13:30 and 18:30 after check-out. The service covers only hotels affiliated with Odakyu, so ask when you book the ryokan, and remember the shinkansen's oversized-baggage rule above.

In Kyoto, the city's Hands Free Kyoto service delivers bags from Kyoto Station to your accommodation the same day if you complete the procedure before 14:00, and back to the station on the day you leave. Arriving from Hakone in the evening, you will be past the 14:00 cut-off, which is one more reason to sleep near the station.

The 7 days at a glance

This is an editorial plan, not a timetable. Keep the last morning free if your flight leaves before the afternoon.

• Day 1 — Arrive at Haneda: limousine bus to Shinjuku (about 55 minutes) or Keikyu to Shinagawa, an IC card, dinner near the hotel. Night: Shinjuku.
• Day 2 — The old east (not a Monday): Senso-ji at opening, the museums of Ueno at midday, Yanaka late in the afternoon. Night: Shinjuku.
• Day 3 — The centre: breakfast at the Tsukiji Outer Market from 09:00, the Imperial Palace East Gardens (closed on Mondays and Fridays), Ginza; big cases sent to Kyoto; Shibuya and Shinjuku after dark. Night: Shinjuku.
• Day 4 — To Hakone: Meiji Jingu at sunrise, the Romancecar to Hakone-Yumoto (about 80 minutes), lunch, the Hakone Tozan train to Gora, a bath and dinner at the ryokan. Night: Hakone.
• Day 5 — The loop and the shinkansen west: cable car and ropeway over Owakudani, the boat to Moto-Hakone and Hakone Shrine, down to Odawara and on to Kyoto (about 170 minutes). Night: Kyoto.
• Day 6 — Fushimi Inari and Nara: the torii at first light, the JR Nara Line on to Nara, Todai-ji and Kasuga Taisha, back to Kyoto for an evening in Gion. Night: Kyoto.
• Day 7 — Home: Kiyomizu-dera at 06:00 and the lanes below it, then the Haruka to Kansai Airport (about 80 minutes), or a morning Nozomi to Tokyo for a Haneda flight.

Seasons: blossom, Golden Week, summer heat and autumn leaves

Spring and autumn are the best weeks for this route and the busiest. The Japan Meteorological Agency's normal full-bloom dates are 31 March in Tokyo and 4 April in Kyoto, though in 2026 the trees peaked earlier, on 28 and 30 March. Kyoto's autumn colour starts in mid-November, and JNTO warns that the city can be particularly busy at the end of the month. In those weeks, book the ryokan and the Kyoto hotel as soon as your dates are firm.

Avoid Golden Week if you can: in 2027 the holidays fall on 29 April and from 3 to 5 May, according to the Cabinet Office, and the Hakone Ropeway expects congestion on fine days then, on three-day weekends and in the autumn-leaf season. June to mid-July is Tokyo's rainy season. In high summer GO TOKYO warns that temperatures can rise above 35°C, and Kyoto's official guide says days over 35°C have become more common in its basin, so sightsee early and rest at midday. In winter, plan Hakone around the ropeway works described above.