Japan is not hard to enjoy; it is hard to choose. These are the twelve places we send Australian travellers most, ranked roughly in the order a first trip should meet them, with honest notes on how long each needs and how they combine into a route that works.
Japan is one of the most varied countries a traveller can visit, and one of the most forgiving: the trains run to the minute, the cities are safe at any hour, and the distance between a neon crossing and a thousand-year-old temple is often a single subway stop. The difficulty is not finding good places. It is choosing between them, because a ten-day trip cannot hold more than four or five bases without turning into a train timetable. This guide ranks the twelve places we send Australians most, explains what each one is actually for, and shows how they combine — so you can build a first trip that fits, or a second trip that goes somewhere new.
The order is roughly the order we would suggest for a first visit, not a scoreboard. Everything below number four is a matter of taste and time.
1. Tokyo
The biggest city on earth, and the easiest to enjoy.
Tokyo is where most trips begin, and it deserves more than the two nights people give it. It is not one city but a ring of them joined by the Yamanote line: Shinjuku for the skyscrapers, the bar alleys of Golden Gai and the quiet of the Gyoen garden; Shibuya for the crossing and the youth culture behind it; Harajuku and Omotesando for fashion and the Meiji Shrine forest; Asakusa for the Senso-ji temple and the last of old Edo; Ginza for the department stores and the sushi counters; Ueno for the museums and the park. Each is a day.
What surprises first-timers is the calm. Tokyo is dense but it is not loud, it is spotless, it runs on politeness, and the neighbourhoods between the famous ones — Yanaka, Kagurazaka, Shimokitazawa, Kichijoji — are villages with temples and bathhouses and shops that have sold one thing for a century. The food is the best in the world by any measure, at every price. And it is the base for three of the best day trips in the country: Nikko, Kamakura and Hakone.
Best for, and how to fit it in
- Three nights minimum, four if you take a day trip
- Base in Shinjuku, Shibuya or Tokyo Station for transport; Asakusa for atmosphere
- Do the teamLab and Skytree bookings weeks ahead
- The Yamanote line and a Suica card are all the navigation you need
2. Kyoto
The cultural capital: 1,600 temples, 400 shrines, 17 World Heritage sites.
Kyoto was Japan’s capital for a thousand years and was spared the bombing that flattened the other cities, so it holds the country’s past in a way nowhere else does. The eastern hills (Higashiyama) hold Kiyomizu-dera, the Philosopher’s Path, Ginkaku-ji and the geisha district of Gion; the west holds Arashiyama’s bamboo grove and Tenryu-ji; the north the Golden Pavilion and Ryoan-ji’s rock garden; the south Fushimi Inari’s ten thousand torii gates. Nishiki Market feeds the city and Pontocho lights it at night.
Kyoto is also the city where the crowd problem is worst and the fix is simplest. The famous temples open at 8 or 9; be there. By eleven the buses from Osaka have arrived and the same courtyard is a different place. And use the hills: Ohara, Kurama and Takao are thirty minutes north and have temples as fine as the centre’s with almost no one in them. In blossom and colour season, book a year out or stay in Osaka.
Best for, and how to fit it in
- Three nights minimum; four is better; many travellers wish they had done five
- Base in Gion or Higashiyama for atmosphere, near Kyoto Station for trains
- Fushimi Inari at dawn, the eastern temples at opening, Arashiyama in the late afternoon
- Day trips: Nara (45 min), Uji (20 min), Osaka (15 min by Shinkansen)
3. Osaka
Japan’s kitchen, and its friendliest big city.
Osaka is Kyoto’s opposite: loud, funny, commercial and completely unbothered about being cultured. It is the food city — takoyaki and okonomiyaki in Dotonbori, kushikatsu skewers in Shinsekai, the best-value sushi and the most relaxed izakaya in the country — and the nightlife city, with Namba and Shinsaibashi running late. Osaka Castle is a reconstruction but the park around it is one of Japan’s great blossom spots; Universal Studios Japan (and its Super Nintendo World) is the theme park most Australian families come for; the Kaiyukan aquarium is the best in the country.
Osaka’s other virtue is logistical. It has the cheaper hotels of the Kansai region, an airport with direct Australian flights, and Kyoto, Nara, Kobe and Himeji all within an hour. A trip that flies into Tokyo and out of Osaka, sleeping in Osaka for the Kyoto days, is the most efficient first itinerary there is.
Best for, and how to fit it in
- Two nights, or use it as the Kansai base for five
- Base in Namba or Umeda
- Dotonbori after dark, Kuromon Market in the morning, USJ on a weekday
- Fly home from Kansai Airport: 50 minutes from Namba
4. Hakone and Mount Fuji
Onsen, ropeways and the mountain, ninety minutes from Tokyo.
Hakone is the classic first-trip onsen stop: a loop of mountain railway, cable car, ropeway over a volcanic valley, a pirate-ship cruise on Lake Ashi and a bus back, with Mount Fuji appearing over the shoulder of the lake on a clear day. The Hakone Open-Air Museum is one of the best sculpture parks anywhere. And the ryokan — Gora Kadan, Hakone Ginyu, Yama no Chaya, dozens of others — are where most Australians have their first kaiseki dinner and their first hot-spring bath, which is the point of going.
Fuji itself is best seen, not climbed, unless you are there in July–early September and want the overnight ascent. The Fuji Five Lakes (Kawaguchiko) on the mountain’s north side are the other approach, with the Chureito Pagoda view and the best chance of a reflection at dawn. Winter has the clearest air; summer often hides the mountain entirely.
Best for, and how to fit it in
- One night in a ryokan is the standard; two if you want the loop unhurried
- The Hakone Free Pass covers every mode of the loop
- Book ryokan three to six months ahead
- Alternative Fuji views: Kawaguchiko, or the Shinkansen window between Shin-Yokohama and Shizuoka
5. Hiroshima and Miyajima
The most moving day in Japan, and one of its loveliest islands.
The Peace Memorial Park and Museum are not easy and they are essential: the A-Bomb Dome, the Children’s Peace Monument with its paper cranes, the museum’s unsparing record of 6 August 1945, and the city that rebuilt around them into one of Japan’s greenest and most open-hearted. Give it a full morning. Then the ferry to Miyajima, forty minutes away, where the great orange torii of Itsukushima Shrine stands in the sea, deer wander the streets, and the ropeway climbs Mount Misen for a view over the Inland Sea.
Hiroshima also has the best okonomiyaki in the country (the layered Hiroshima style, in the Okonomimura building) and, for those with time, the Shimanami Kaido cycle route across the islands to Shikoku starting from nearby Onomichi. It is two hours from Kyoto by Shinkansen and easily done as an overnight or a long day.
Best for, and how to fit it in
- One night in Hiroshima, or one on Miyajima for the torii at dusk without the day-trippers
- The morning at the Peace Park, the afternoon on the island
- Check the tide tables: the torii is best at high tide, walkable at low
- A JR West pass makes this leg pay
6. Kanazawa and the Japanese Alps
The Kyoto that was never crowded, and the mountains behind it.
Kanazawa, two and a half hours from Tokyo on the Hokuriku Shinkansen, is a former samurai capital with Kenroku-en (one of Japan’s three great gardens), an intact geisha district in Higashi Chaya, a samurai quarter, the extraordinary Omicho fish market and the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art — and a fraction of Kyoto’s visitors. Its seafood, from the Sea of Japan, is the best in the country outside Hokkaido.
From Kanazawa the road runs into the Alps: Shirakawa-go’s thatched gassho-zukuri farmhouses, Takayama’s preserved merchant streets and morning markets, and on to Matsumoto’s black castle and the alpine valley of Kamikochi. This Tokyo–Kanazawa–Takayama–Kyoto route is what we recommend to anyone on a second trip, and increasingly on a first: it has everything the Golden Route has, with the crowds removed.
Best for, and how to fit it in
- Two nights Kanazawa, two Takayama, one Shirakawa-go if you can
- Best in October for colour and January–February under snow
- Kamikochi is open mid-April to mid-November only
- Connects to Kyoto in two hours via the Thunderbird express
7. Nara
Japan’s first capital, the Great Buddha, and 1,200 deer.
Nara is the easiest and best day trip from Kyoto or Osaka: 45 minutes on the train, then a walk through a park where sacred deer bow for crackers, to Todai-ji and the largest bronze Buddha in the world inside the largest wooden building, and on to Kasuga Taisha with its three thousand stone and bronze lanterns under the trees. The Naramachi merchant quarter has good lunch. Most people are back in Kyoto for dinner and glad they went.
If you have a spare night, staying in Nara after the day-trippers leave is one of the quieter pleasures of the Kansai region, and the temples of the Nishinokyo district (Toshodai-ji, Yakushi-ji) and the hill town of Asuka reward a second day.
Best for, and how to fit it in
- A full day from Kyoto or Osaka
- Arrive by 9 to have the park before the school groups
- Deer crackers are AUD 2; the deer are not always polite
- Kasuga Taisha’s lantern festivals in early February and mid-August are magical
8. Hokkaido
Powder in winter, lavender in summer, and the best seafood in Japan.
Japan’s northern island is a separate trip, or a separate half of one. In winter it is Niseko, Furano, Rusutsu and Kiroro — the deepest, driest snow on earth, with a large Australian presence, English-language ski schools and onsen at the bottom of every run — plus the Sapporo Snow Festival in early February and the drift ice off the Okhotsk coast. In summer it is the lavender fields of Furano and Biei, the flower farms, Daisetsuzan’s hiking, the Shiretoko peninsula’s bears and waterfalls, and 24°C days while the rest of Japan swelters.
Sapporo is a relaxed city with a good beer museum and the best crab, uni and salmon you will eat; Otaru’s canal and glassworks are an hour away; Hakodate in the south has one of Japan’s three great night views and a morning market that is worth the early rise.
Best for, and how to fit it in
- Five to seven nights; fly Tokyo–Sapporo (90 min) or take the Shinkansen to Hakodate
- A car is genuinely useful here outside the ski resorts
- Winter: January–February. Summer: July–August for lavender
- No rainy season, no typhoons of note
9. Nikko
Shoguns, cedar avenues and waterfalls, two hours north of Tokyo.
Nikko holds the mausoleum of Tokugawa Ieyasu, the shogun who unified Japan, in the most lavishly decorated shrine complex in the country: Toshogu’s carved gates, the sleeping cat, the three wise monkeys, all under an avenue of 400-year-old cedars. Up the hairpin road are Lake Chuzenji, the 97-metre Kegon Falls and the Senjogahara marshes, and the Yumoto onsen at the top. Autumn colour arrives here in late October and early November, a fortnight before Kyoto.
It works as a long day from Tokyo but is far better as an overnight in a Chuzenji or Kinugawa ryokan, with the shrines in the quiet early morning before the coaches.
Best for, and how to fit it in
- One night; the Tobu Nikko Pass covers trains and buses
- Early November for colour, late May for fresh green
- The shrines open at 8 — be there
- Combine with Kinugawa or Yumoto for an onsen night
10. Okinawa
A different country: coral reefs, Ryukyu castles and a sub-tropical winter.
Okinawa was an independent kingdom until 1879 and still feels like one: its own language, cuisine (goya, Okinawa soba, awamori spirit), music and architecture, and a chain of islands running toward Taiwan with some of the clearest water in Asia. Naha has the reconstructed Shuri Castle and the Kokusai-dori strip; the main island’s north has the Churaumi Aquarium and quiet beaches; the outer islands — Ishigaki, Taketomi, Miyako, the Kerama group — are where the reefs, the manta rays and the beaches that rival Fiji are.
It is Japan’s winter-sun destination (20°C in January) and its beach summer (April–October, typhoons July–September). Three hours from Tokyo by air. For Australians it is rarely a first-trip choice; for a second trip in winter, or a beach week after a city fortnight, it is superb.
Best for, and how to fit it in
- Four to seven nights; fly from Tokyo or Osaka
- Kerama Islands for the best day-trip snorkelling from Naha
- Ishigaki for a genuine island week
- April–June and October for the best weather
11. Kyushu: Fukuoka, Beppu and Yufuin, Kumamoto, Nagasaki
Onsen, volcanoes, ramen and the friendliest south.
Kyushu is the island most first-timers skip and most second-timers rank highest. Fukuoka has the yatai street stalls along the Nakasu river and the original tonkotsu ramen; Beppu is Japan’s onsen capital with its steaming “hells” and sand baths; Yufuin is the pretty ryokan town in the hills above it; Kumamoto has a great castle and Mount Aso’s vast caldera beyond; Nagasaki holds its own Peace Park, the Dutch trading island of Dejima, a Chinatown and Glover Garden looking over one of Japan’s most beautiful harbours. Kagoshima at the southern tip faces an active volcano across the bay.
The Kyushu Shinkansen and a JR Kyushu pass make the loop easy, and the whole island is warmer, cheaper and slower than Honshu.
Best for, and how to fit it in
- Six to eight nights for the loop; three for Fukuoka–Beppu alone
- Fly into Fukuoka direct from some Asian hubs, or Shinkansen from Osaka (2.5 h)
- Best October–November and March–May
- Kurokawa Onsen is the ryokan village worth the detour
12. Setouchi: Naoshima, Onomichi and the Inland Sea
Art islands, cycling bridges and the Japan of small ferries.
The Seto Inland Sea between Honshu and Shikoku is Japan’s Mediterranean: calm water, hundreds of islands, citrus groves and fishing towns. Naoshima and its neighbours Teshima and Inujima have been turned into an open-air contemporary art museum by the Benesse foundation — Tadao Ando’s Chichu Museum, Yayoi Kusama’s pumpkins, whole houses given to artists — and the Setouchi Triennale every three years (next in 2028) fills them. Onomichi is a hillside temple town and the start of the 70 km Shimanami Kaido cycleway across six islands to Shikoku. Kurashiki, nearby, has a canal quarter of white-walled Edo warehouses.
This is slow Japan, two to three days between Kyoto and Hiroshima that most itineraries rush past. Okayama is the gateway.
Best for, and how to fit it in
- Two nights Naoshima, one Onomichi, or two in Kurashiki as a base
- Naoshima closes on Mondays; book the Benesse House hotel a year ahead
- The Shimanami Kaido is a full day by e-bike
- Combines naturally with Hiroshima and Miyajima
How they combine
A first trip of 10–12 days
Tokyo (3–4) → Hakone (1) → Kyoto (3–4) with a Nara day → Osaka (1–2), flying in to Tokyo and out of Osaka. Add Hiroshima and Miyajima (1–2) if you have twelve days. This is the Golden Route and it is golden for a reason.
A second trip
Tokyo (2) → Nikko (1) → Kanazawa (2) → Shirakawa-go and Takayama (2) → Kyoto (3) → Naoshima (2) → Hiroshima (1), or swap the second half for a Kyushu loop. Or a winter trip: Tokyo, Nagano’s snow monkeys, and a week in Hokkaido.
Three weeks
The Golden Route plus the Alps and Hiroshima, then fly to Hokkaido or Okinawa for the last five nights depending on the season. Japan rewards length more than most countries because the transitions are so easy.
Six more, for the third trip
Kamakura, an hour from Tokyo: the Great Buddha, Hase-dera’s hydrangeas, a beach and a dozen Zen temples in a small town. Koyasan, the mountain monastery complex south of Osaka, where you sleep in a temple, eat the monks’ vegetarian cuisine and walk the Okunoin cemetery under cedars at night. The Kumano Kodo, the pilgrimage trails through the Kii peninsula, twinned with the Camino de Santiago and walkable in three to five days with luggage transfer. Kinosaki Onsen, the seven-bathhouse town on the Sea of Japan where guests wander between baths in yukata and clogs. Matsumoto, for the black castle and the gateway to Kamikochi. Yakushima, the rain-soaked cedar island south of Kyushu that inspired Princess Mononoke, for serious walkers. And Sado Island off Niigata, with its gold mines, taiko drummers and a coastline of tub-boats, for people who want the Japan that tourism has not reached.
What to leave for later
None of the places above is a mistake, but some are misjudged. Mount Fuji is better looked at than climbed unless you are fit and it is July. Tokyo Disney is Disney, and a day there is a day not in Tokyo. The Robot Restaurant is closed and its imitators are not worth it. Kobe is a pleasant city with famous beef that you can eat in Kyoto. Nagoya is a transit stop with a good castle. Golden Week is not a place but it is the thing most worth avoiding. And a trip that tries to include Hokkaido, Kyushu and the Golden Route in two weeks will see a great deal of the inside of trains.
Fewer places, longer stays, and a route the Shinkansen already runs: that is the whole art of a Japan itinerary, and it is why the twelve above are ranked rather than simply listed.
The things to do in Japan page groups these by interest, the Japan tours page shows the itinerary shapes we start from, and the best time to visit guide tells you which of these places shine in which month.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best places to visit in Japan for a first trip?
Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka and Hakone, with Nara as a day trip from Kyoto and Hiroshima with Miyajima if you have twelve days or more. This is the Golden Route and it covers the modern city, the cultural capital, the food city, an onsen night and Mount Fuji.
How many days do you need in Japan?
Ten to twelve for the classic Tokyo–Kyoto–Osaka route with a Hakone night. Fourteen to eighteen adds Hiroshima and the Japanese Alps. A week is enough for Tokyo and Kyoto only.
Is Kyoto or Tokyo better?
They do different jobs. Tokyo is the modern megacity and the food capital; Kyoto is the temples, gardens and traditional culture. Almost every first trip should include both; they are two and a quarter hours apart by Shinkansen.
What is the most beautiful place in Japan?
Kyoto in autumn colour, Miyajima’s torii at high tide, Kamikochi in the Alps in October and the Shirakawa-go farmhouses under snow are the four that come up most. Beauty in Japan is seasonal; the same place changes completely across the year.
Is Hiroshima worth visiting?
Yes. The Peace Memorial Park and Museum are among the most important sites in Asia, the city is green and welcoming, and Miyajima island is forty minutes away. It is two hours from Kyoto by Shinkansen and easily done as an overnight.
Where should I go in Japan besides Tokyo and Kyoto?
Kanazawa and the Japanese Alps (Takayama, Shirakawa-go) for traditional Japan without crowds; Hiroshima and Miyajima; Hokkaido for snow or summer; Kyushu for onsen and volcanoes; the Setouchi art islands for slow travel.
Which part of Japan is best for families?
Tokyo (Disney, teamLab, the Ghibli Museum), Osaka (Universal Studios), Nara (the deer), Hakone (the ropeway and pirate ship) and, in winter, Hokkaido for snow. Japan is one of the easiest countries in Asia for children because it is safe, clean and punctual.
Should I visit Hokkaido or Okinawa?
Hokkaido for winter skiing or a cool summer with flower fields and seafood; Okinawa for beaches, reefs and a warm winter. Both are separate trips from the main cities and best given five nights or more.
Ready to plan the trip?
Blog attracts, things to do informs, tours convert. The next step is the things-to-do page, then the tours page when you are ready.