Tokyo and Kyoto in 10 days: a first-timer's Japan route
Tokyo and Kyoto is the classic first Japan trip, and for good reason: one is the neon-lit megacity, the other is temples, shrines and machiya streets that feel centuries away from it. Ten days is enough to do both properly without racing the clock. Split the nights 5 in Tokyo, 4 in Kyoto, with a Nara day trip slotted in from your Kyoto base.
Why the split leans towards Tokyo
Tokyo is not one city but a cluster of very different neighbourhoods — Shibuya, Asakusa, Akihabara, Shinjuku — and getting between them, even on the excellent metro, eats time. Kyoto's sights are more concentrated: Higashiyama, Arashiyama and the northern temples each reward a focused half-day rather than constant crisscrossing. Five nights in Tokyo lets you see the city without exhausting yourself before the trip's second half even starts.
| Day | Where | What |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tokyo | Arrive (Narita or Haneda), settle into Shinjuku or Shibuya, easy first evening |
| 2 | Tokyo | Shibuya Crossing, Harajuku's Takeshita Street, Meiji Shrine |
| 3 | Tokyo | Asakusa and Senso-ji at breakfast time, Tokyo Skytree, Akihabara in the evening |
| 4 | Tokyo | teamLab digital art, Tsukiji Outer Market for lunch, Odaiba or Ginza |
| 5 | Tokyo | Day trip to Nikko or Kamakura, or a slower day catching what you missed |
| 6 | Shinkansen to Kyoto | ~2h15 on the Tokaido Shinkansen; afternoon in Gion, Kiyomizu-dera at golden hour |
| 7 | Kyoto | Fushimi Inari at dawn (before the tour buses), Nishiki Market lunch |
| 8 | Kyoto | Arashiyama bamboo grove early, Kinkaku-ji, Nijo Castle |
| 9 | Nara (day trip) | ~45 minutes from Kyoto by train; Todai-ji, the deer park, Nara Park |
| 10 | Kyoto | Final morning, depart via Kansai Airport or Shinkansen back to Tokyo |
The Shinkansen, solved
Tokyo Station (or Shinagawa) to Kyoto Station runs on the Tokaido Shinkansen line, with three train types sharing the same track. Nozomi is fastest at around 2 hours 15 minutes but isn't covered by the Japan Rail Pass. Hikari takes closer to 2 hours 40 minutes, stops a little more, and is pass-eligible. For a Tokyo–Kyoto–Tokyo trip like this one, work out whether a rail pass actually beats buying point-to-point tickets — pass pricing has risen enough in recent years that it's no longer the automatic win it used to be for short, two-city routes. Reserve seats where you can, especially in cherry blossom or autumn-leaf season, and if you're travelling with big suitcases, look into a same-day luggage forwarding service (takkyubin) so you're not wrestling cases through ticket gates.
What to book ahead
- teamLab (Tokyo) — the Borderless and Planets digital art museums run timed entry and regularly sell out weeks ahead, especially weekends.
- Ghibli Museum — tickets are released on a fixed monthly schedule and go within hours; if it's a must, build your dates around the release date, not the other way round.
- Nintendo Museum (Kyoto) — a newer, hugely popular addition that runs on a lottery-style advance booking system rather than walk-up sales.
- Sumo tournaments — Tokyo hosts three a year (January, May, September); if your dates overlap, book seats as soon as they're released.
- Popular restaurants — anything with a reputation, from sushi counters to izakaya with limited seating, is worth booking a few days ahead once you're in the country.
Flying open-jaw saves a day
Rather than looping back to Tokyo, fly into Narita or Haneda and out of Kansai International (KIX), which sits close to Kyoto and Osaka. It turns the trip into a straight line instead of a there-and-back, and it means your last Kyoto morning doesn't have to end with a Shinkansen dash across the country.