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Ten days is a fantastic length for a first trip to Japan — enough to pair the classic cities with a couple of deeper stops without rushing. Here’s a balanced 10-day itinerary.
At a glance
- Days 1–3: Tokyo
- Day 4: Hakone or Nikko (nature/onsen)
- Days 5–7: Kyoto (+ Nara)
- Day 8: Osaka
- Day 9: Hiroshima & Miyajima
- Day 10: Back to Tokyo / departure
Tokyo (Days 1–3)
Ease in with Asakusa, Shibuya, Shinjuku, and a day trip. See our Tokyo guide; grab a Suica/Pasmo and an eSIM.
Nature break (Day 4)
Add hot springs and Mt. Fuji views in Hakone, or shrines and waterfalls in Nikko.
Kyoto, Nara & Osaka (Days 5–8)
Ride the shinkansen to Kyoto for temples and geisha districts, day-trip to Nara, then eat your way through Osaka.
Hiroshima & Miyajima (Day 9)
The Peace Park and the floating torii — see our Hiroshima & Miyajima guide.
Tips
- Price out the JR Pass — with this much long-distance travel it may pay off.
- Use luggage forwarding between cities; book hotels early on Booking.com .
- Shorter trip? See our 7-day and 5-day itineraries; longer? the 14-day.
Budgeting for 10 days
- A mid-range 10-day trip covering Tokyo, Hakone/Nikko, Kyoto, Nara, Osaka, and Hiroshima typically runs JPY 250,000-400,000 per person excluding flights, factoring hotels, food, local transport, and a few paid attractions.
- Long-distance transport is the biggest lever here — with a Hiroshima leg added, price out the 7 or 14-day JR Pass carefully, since this itinerary’s distance profile is exactly the kind that can make the nationwide pass worthwhile.
- Luggage forwarding between each multi-night base runs roughly JPY 2,000-3,000 per bag per hop and is worth the cost on a trip with this many city changes.
Common mistakes on a 10-day itinerary
- Under-allocating time to Hiroshima and Miyajima — treating it as a single rushed day from Kyoto often means missing the low-tide floating torii walk or the Peace Museum’s full impact; if possible, an overnight makes this leg far less rushed.
- Packing Days 5-7 in Kyoto too tightly around Nara — Kyoto alone has enough for 2-3 full days; treat the Nara add-on as a half-day, not a full day carved from Kyoto time.
- Not confirming the JR Pass exchange process before travel — passes now require online purchase and a specific pickup process at designated stations; leave time on Day 1 to sort this out if you’re using one.
Adjusting the pace to your travel style
This 10-day structure assumes a first-timer wanting breadth across regions; if you’d rather go deeper into fewer places, swap the Hiroshima day for an extra Kyoto day or a detour to Kanazawa, which is closer to the standard Tokyo-Kyoto corridor and easier to fit without adding a long return leg.
What to eat along the way
A 10-day route touching this many regions is also a great food tour if you eat locally at each stop: Tokyo’s sushi and ramen, a kaiseki dinner at your Hakone or Nikko ryokan, Kyoto’s tofu and kaiseki cuisine, Osaka’s street food, and Hiroshima’s distinct layered okonomiyaki style each give a genuinely different regional flavor rather than repeating the same dishes city to city.