Three Tokyo nights, two at a Hakone inn and four in Kyoto, with Green Car travel.
Stay three nights in Tokyo, two in Hakone and four in Kyoto: two full Tokyo days, one full Hakone day and three full Kyoto days, with transfers on days four and six. Arrive in Tokyo and leave through Kansai Airport. Reserve the two-night Hakone stay first, since the room, bath and included meals shape both evenings.
This plan gives art and gardens their own outings while leaving afternoons to enjoy a more expensive room. Tokyo combines central shops with the Omotesando museum area; Kyoto pairs palace rooms and tea, an eastern temple morning and a western garden day. Osaka sightseeing, Hiroshima and the Japanese Alps need a longer route.
Hamarikyu’s pond takes in seawater from Tokyo Bay, so its level changes with the tide. The paths connect islands and bridges, with open waterside views beside Shiodome’s high buildings. Give this garden the morning, then return to nearby Ginza for lunch, shops and department-store food floors.
The Nezu Museum puts its collection and hillside garden behind the shopping streets of Minami-Aoyama. The garden’s small paths take you away from the main road, while the indoor galleries give the visit a second focus. The tea houses are normally closed to visitors, so the garden visit is a walk. Its iris beds are a spring feature; they won’t be flowering during an autumn trip.
Green Car has wider seating and fewer seats across than Ordinary class on the Tokaido Shinkansen. You’ll have longer to enjoy it on Odawara–Kyoto than on Tokyo–Odawara. Compare the two fares separately: upgrading the longer ride still leaves you with the same local train connections through Hakone.
The terraces face the Hayakawa valley, with steep wooded slopes below. Choose this inn for valley scenery; they don’t face Fuji. Miyanoshita’s mountain-railway stop makes the museum outing possible without moving to another inn or hiring a car.
At Ippodo’s Teramachi store, staff prepare gyokuro and sencha for the main-counter tasting, a standing visit lasting about thirty to sixty minutes. Kaboku is the separate tearoom, serving tea with a confection; ask when ordering if you’d like an introduction to brewing. Choose the reserved tasting or a seated tea-shop pause.
April–May and October–November are good months for this mix of gardens and city streets. Blossom and autumn colour dates need early Hakone reservations, especially if you want a particular room. You won’t have to squeeze a boat trip and ropeway into the second Hakone day: the museum visit leaves an afternoon for the inn. That also gives you a workable plan if wind interrupts the lake circuit. For a summer trip, shorten the longer city walks in humid afternoon weather; June can be rainy.
Best for
Think twice if
Choose a longer route for Osaka, Hiroshima or Takayama. A first visit centred on theme parks or hiking needs a different set of full days.
StartBooker answer
Stay three nights in Tokyo, two in Hakone and four in Kyoto, then leave through Kansai Airport. Spend the full city days on gardens, art, palace rooms and a Kyoto tea tasting. Choose a Hakone room for its beds, private bath and included meals; the Ginyu example serves both dinners in the room. Reserved shinkansen seats connect Tokyo, Odawara and Kyoto, with local trains to Miyanoshita. Green Car is optional, and the longer Odawara–Kyoto ride is the better place to try it if you want only one upgrade.
Use Ginza or Marunouchi for the Tokyo hotel, Miyanoshita for the named Hakone inn, and Shijo or Kawaramachi for Kyoto dinners. Here’s what each base gives the route.
3 stops · swipe
1
Central shopping, department-store food floors and a Tokyo garden day
Ginza puts food floors and restaurants nearby, with Hamarikyu to the south. Marunouchi shortens the departure walk to Tokyo Station. Keep all three nights in one hotel.
Watch out: The Nezu day is in Minami-Aoyama, so include the cross-city train journey.
Read the Tokyo guide →
2
Private room baths, in-room meals and the mountain railway
At Hakone Ginyu, meals arrive in your room’s dining space, and every room has a private outdoor bath. Ask for one of its three Western bedrooms if you prefer raised beds.
Watch out: Room prices are per person and depend on the room category and date band.
3
Palace rooms, tea, hillside streets and western gardens
Shijo and Kawaramachi suit restaurant evenings and Kamo River walks. Higashiyama brings eastern temples closer; Kyoto Station simplifies departure. Four nights give you three full days in one hotel.
Watch out: A Shijo hotel still needs a separate journey to Kyoto Station for HARUKA.
Read the Kyoto guide →Tokyo fills the first three nights, Hakone the next two, and Kyoto the final four. Each transfer day includes lunch and the hotel connection; the last morning reaches Kansai Airport from Kyoto.
If arrival leaves an afternoon, explore Ginza or Marunouchi near your hotel after dropping bags. With a late flight or lengthy formalities, go straight to the hotel and eat nearby. For the airport journey, Keikyu’s Haneda Terminal 3–Shinagawa train takes about 15–20 minutes, with paper tickets at ¥330 and IC fares at ¥327. For Ginza, take the Yamanote Line toward Tokyo to Shimbashi, then the Ginza Line toward Asakusa one stop to Ginza. Marunouchi hotels are reached via Tokyo Station. These onward journeys cost extra. Haneda Tokyo Access has terminal directions. Budget about ¥1,000–2,500 before drinks for bento or sushi from a department-store food floor, and save the hotel’s Japanese address for help finding the entrance.
Base: Tokyo
Start after Hamarikyu opens at 9 a.m. and give the garden about two hours. Adult entry costs ¥300 at the gate; Tokyo Parks has the entrance map. Follow the pond paths before returning to Ginza for lunch, allowing about ¥800–1,500 for a rice bowl or noodles. Leave two to three afternoon hours for the shops or galleries you want to see. Take a break at the hotel before a restaurant evening. If you’re reserving a special dinner, choose the restaurant and menu around Ginza so this day stays in the same part of Tokyo. Hamarikyu closes 29 December–1 January. If it is closed on both full Tokyo days, omit the garden and keep the local walks or hotel time.
Base: Tokyo
Visit the Nezu Museum for about two hours, including the galleries and garden. Adult online admission is ¥1,400 for collection exhibitions or from ¥1,600 for special exhibitions; buy on nezu-muse.or.jp. Nezu normally closes Mondays, moving the closure to Tuesday after a Monday holiday, and between exhibitions, including October 13–23, 2026. Set the order of Days 2–3 against its calendar before buying dated admission. During a changeover, Tokyo National Museum can replace Nezu only if its own calendar is open; if neither fits, retain the shops and neighbourhood walk. Walk from Omotesando Station in about eight minutes, then browse Minami-Aoyama. For lunch, try noodles nearby or a Harajuku crepe during a later walk. Follow the suitcase dispatch schedule below before leaving for the museum.
Base: Tokyo
Reserve a Hikari or Kodama stopping at Odawara on SmartEX. From Tokyo Station, the ride takes about 30–45 minutes; the regular-season Green Car fare is ¥4,380. Continue via Hakone-Yumoto, then take the mountain railway about 25–30 minutes to Miyanoshita. Allow two to three hours from the Tokyo room to Hakone Ginyu. Have soba or yuba near Hakone-Yumoto if the connections leave time; otherwise continue to the inn within your agreed dinner arrival. The inn’s check-in begins at 2 p.m.; use its directions for the three-minute station walk, then spend the afternoon in your room before the first included dinner.
Base: Hakone
Give the sculpture gardens about two hours this morning, leaving the afternoon free for your room or a spa treatment reserved directly with Hakone Ginyu before arrival. The Hakone Open-Air Museum is two minutes on foot from Chokoku-no-Mori Station, reached by mountain railway. Adult tickets cost ¥1,800 online at hakone-oam.or.jp or ¥2,000 at the counter. For lunch, return to Miyanoshita: Watanabe Bakery’s beef-stew bread bowl is one option near Fujiya Hotel and the village’s small shops. Afterwards, use the terrace and private bath without another outing before your second dinner is served in the room.
Base: Hakone
Check out by the inn’s 11:00 deadline after breakfast, then descend to Odawara and board a Hikari that stops there. The Kyoto ride takes about 2h–2h20; a regular-season Green Car seat costs ¥16,970 on SmartEX. Allow three to four hours from the Hakone room to central Kyoto, including local trains and the hotel connection. Buy an ekiben, a station boxed meal, at Odawara for lunch, then leave bags at your Kyoto hotel. Walk Shijo and the Kamo River for an hour before dinner. Udon or a set meal nearby makes an easy first evening; collect the case sent from Tokyo before unpacking for four nights.
Base: Kyoto
Give Nijo Castle about two hours for the grounds and Ninomaru Palace. Combined adult admission is ¥1,300. Match the visit to the separate palace and grounds calendars: Ninomaru’s year-end closure can span your whole Kyoto stay. If the palace is unavailable throughout, visit the grounds only when open, or spend that morning beside the Kamo River. After a castle visit, take the Tozai subway east from Nijojo-mae to Kyoto Shiyakusho-mae for Teramachi. Have noodles or a set lunch before heading to Ippodo. Its main-counter gyokuro and sencha tasting costs ¥2,750 per person, lasts about 30–60 minutes and is standing. Use the confirmed tasting time; the store closes on the second Wednesday each month. If no tasting fits your dates, choose Kaboku when open or give the afternoon to Teramachi browsing. Afterwards, browse the tea shop or return to the hotel before dinner.
Base: Kyoto
Start at Kiyomizu-dera for about two hours around the main hall and paths. Allow about ¥500 for admission; Kyoto’s current event listing supplies the price, and kiyomizudera.or.jp has the visitor map. From Gion-Shijo, board a southbound Keihan train that stops at Kiyomizu-Gojo, then allow about twenty-five minutes for the uphill walk to the temple. Continue through Sannenzaka and Ninenzaka for one to two hours, with stops in the small shops you want to browse. Have tofu or noodles for lunch before returning to your room. Wear shoes with good grip on the hillside’s stone paving.
Base: Kyoto
From Kyoto Station, JR reaches Saga-Arashiyama in about twenty minutes for ¥240. Walk about thirteen minutes to Tenryu-ji and allow two hours for the garden and buildings. The adult garden ticket costs ¥500, with another ¥300 for the buildings, which can be unavailable for ceremonies, including October 29–30, 2026. On those dates, keep the visit to the garden; use Tenryu-ji’s current notices when choosing interiors. Leave the grounds for lunch in Arashiyama, where tofu is a familiar choice. Spend another hour beside the river before returning to the hotel. Browse for a train snack or gift, then keep the final Kyoto evening for dinner near your room.
Base: Kyoto
Travel to Kyoto Station for HARUKA, then allow about 80–100 minutes on the train to Kansai Airport. The ¥2,200 one-way ticket is for eligible foreign Temporary Visitors and must be bought before entering Japan; use JR-West’s HARUKA ticket page for the passport and seat instructions. For online ticket collection, bring the physical payment card, passport, reservation number and chosen four-digit PIN. Work back from your flight’s check-in and security deadlines, allowing the hotel transfer and terminal walk. The station serves the Terminal 1 area; Terminal 2 needs the free Aeroplaza shuttle plus waiting time. If the first suitable train cannot comfortably reach your flight, replace the final Kyoto night with an airport-area stay. Eat breakfast before leaving, or buy an onigiri snack at the station. Keep the airport train reservation and flight details together on your phone, with a copy of the terminal information available without needing a connection.
Base: Kyoto
The fare examples are SmartEX reserved seats. Hakone’s local mountain railway is extra, and the hotel-to-hotel durations include those connections.
2 transfers
Tokyo Hakone
Tokyo → Odawara by stopping Hikari/Kodama: about 30–45 minutes. Regular-season SmartEX Green Car ¥4,380; local trains continue via Hakone-Yumoto to Miyanoshita.
Booking note: Book on SmartEX and buy Hakone local fares separately. The inn is about three minutes from Miyanoshita Station.
Hakone Kyoto
Miyanoshita → Hakone-Yumoto → Odawara, then a stopping Hikari to Kyoto: about 2h–2h20 on the shinkansen, regular-season SmartEX Green Car ¥16,970.
Booking note: Choose a Hikari stopping at Odawara; Nozomi skips it. Include the local trains and Kyoto hotel connection.
SmartEX lists the fare for your train and date when you reserve.
The city-hotel allowance is per shared room, while the Hakone tariff is per guest with meals. The rail and admission figures below are per adult. Flights, drinks, shopping and any private car or guide are separate. For Kyoto, calculate the taxable nightly lodging charge for each guest. Include room-related service fees, exclude meals and consumption tax, and divide a shared-room charge between paying occupants when no individual rate is supplied. The five rates are ¥200 under ¥6,000; ¥400 for ¥6,000–19,999; ¥1,000 for ¥20,000–49,999; ¥4,000 for ¥50,000–99,999; and ¥10,000 at ¥100,000 or above. A four-night stay can therefore add substantially to an expensive room: ask whether the full quote already includes that charge. Tokyo accommodation tax is also extra, with new rules from 1 April 2027. The Ginyu tariff below includes its listed consumption, service and bathing charges; use the inn’s published tariff for your travel year, including the already available 2027 calendar.
Booking tips
Compare central Shijo and Kawaramachi hotels with the Kyoto Station area. Use the exact room size and the total price including the applicable accommodation tax.
The three markers show the overnight bases. Kyoto Station connects the final stay to Kansai Airport; it is a separate journey from a central Kyoto hotel.
Kyoto
¥5,640 more per adult for both regular-season SmartEX journeys in this plan. Green Car totals ¥21,350 against Ordinary reserved at ¥15,710. Choose it for the longer Odawara–Kyoto ride if you want to spend on only one upgrade. Local trains are the same.
Eligible travellers can, but the seven-day Ordinary pass bought online at japanrailpass.net costs ¥50,000, against ¥15,710 for these two regular-season Ordinary reserved SmartEX journeys. The ¥70,000 online Green pass also exceeds these two Green Car fares. This route has no long side trips to close either difference.
Only if you book that layout. Hakone Ginyu has three Western-bedroom rooms and seventeen Japanese rooms. Reserve the specific room type, especially if a futon on tatami is difficult for you. Private outdoor hot-spring baths are in all twenty rooms.
Yes: give Day 5 to the lake circuit instead of the sculptures. From Miyanoshita, continue by train to Gora, cable car to Sounzan, ropeway to Togendai and boat to Moto-Hakone. Take a platform 1 bus toward Hakone-Yumoto via Miyanoshita back to the inn. An Odawara three-calendar-day Freepass costs ¥6,400. Allow five to six hours as a planning allowance, selecting the final boat and return bus to fit dinner. Ropeway maintenance or wind can disrupt this plan; retain the museum and room afternoon when the circuit is unavailable. Read the Owakudani restrictions before choosing it: the relevant ropeway section excludes riders with specified respiratory or heart conditions, pacemakers or those feeling unwell.
No. You taste gyokuro and sencha while standing at the shop’s main counter. For a seated visit, use Kaboku and ask about hands-on brewing when ordering. Ippodo’s regular workshops are currently suspended.
No. Museum admission is also needed for the garden and café, and both close during exhibition changeovers. Tokyo National Museum is a different outing in Ueno: allow its galleries their own visit and move the shopping afternoon there, rather than combining it with Omotesando.
No, unless you need a different transfer for mobility or luggage. The two shinkansen rides join Tokyo, Odawara and Kyoto directly. Hakone still needs local trains to Miyanoshita. If those station connections are difficult, ask the inn about an appropriate final transfer before arranging a car.
No. Ninomaru and Honmaru have their own admission and closure calendars. The combined ¥1,300 Nijo ticket covers the grounds and Ninomaru Palace; Honmaru needs separate admission. Choose a day when the room you want to visit is open before hiring a guide.
Reviewed by StartBooker
Last checked 2026-10-05
Updated
How this route was checked: Hakone Ginyu supplied room tariffs and facilities; JR, SmartEX and Yamato informed rail and luggage planning. Attraction calendars and Ippodo’s tasting conditions were checked alongside independent travel coverage from AFAR and Japan Guide. The chief editor physically reviewed all four named photographs.
68 references reviewed
Some photos provided by Pexels.
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