One loop by train: in at Maibara for Hikone, round through Kyoto, Ise, Nara, Osaka and Koyasan, and out from Shin-Kobe.
Hikone Castle and Genkyu-en garden, five minutes by train from Maibara, where the Shinkansen stops. Take the boat to Chikubushima if you have the afternoon.
🚃50 minJR special rapid, Hikone → KyotoFushimi Inari at dawn, Kiyomizu-dera [UNESCO] and Gion, Arashiyama, and Kinkaku-ji [UNESCO]. Four days is not too many.
🚃~2hKintetsu limited express, Kyoto → Ise-shi · direct trainsThe Outer Shrine, then the Inner Shrine, Akafuku mochi on Oharai-machi, and Meoto Iwa or an ama hut near Toba.
🚃~2hKintetsu limited express, Ise-shi → Yamato-Saidaiji, then 5 min to NaraTodai-ji [UNESCO], the deer park and Kasuga Taisha [UNESCO] in one long day. Stay a second night to add Horyu-ji.
🚃40 minKintetsu, Nara → Osaka-NambaDotonbori after dark, Kuromon Market, Osaka Castle and Shinsekai. Universal Studios needs a day of its own.
🚃1h35Nankai limited express and cable car, Namba → KoyasanA night in a Koyasan temple, with Okunoin [UNESCO] at dusk and morning prayers. The Kumano Kodo needs 2–3 more days.
🚃2h30Back down to Namba, then the Hanshin line to Kobe-Sannomiya, about 45 minKobe beef, Kitano-cho and the night view from Mt. Rokko, plus a day trip to Himeji Castle [UNESCO], about 40 min west.
🚄HomeShinkansen from Shin-Kobe · Tokyo ~2h45 · Hakata ~2h15
Only have 7 days? Three days in Kyoto with a half day in Nara, two in Osaka, a night on Koyasan, and Kobe on the way out.
Times are typical. Kintetsu and Nankai limited expresses need a reserved seat; book the day before in busy seasons.
Japan's imperial court sat in Kansai for more than a thousand years: around Asuka and Nara from the late 6th century, then from Kyoto from 794 until the court moved to Tokyo in 1869. That is why so much of Japan's oldest architecture is here. Horyu-ji has the world's oldest surviving wooden buildings, and Todai-ji one of its largest.
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Fushimi InariFushimi InariHead shrine of the roughly 30,000 Inari shrines across Japan. The torii are donated by businesses and families, with the donor's name on the back. The loop to the 233 m summit takes 2–3 hours; most people turn back at the Yotsutsuji viewpoint, about halfway. Open 24 hours.Thousands of torii up Mt. Inari. Go before 7am; 2–3 hours to the top and back.📍 Google Maps
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Kinkaku-jiKinkaku-jiBuilt in 1397 as the retirement villa of shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, and made a Zen temple after his death. A trainee monk burned it down in 1950; the pavilion you see was rebuilt in 1955. [UNESCO]The Golden Pavilion reflected in its pond; busiest late morning.📍 Google Maps
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Arashiyama Bamboo GroveArashiyama Bamboo GroveA short path through tall bamboo next to Tenryu-ji, the area's great Zen temple and a World Heritage site. Go before 8am: by mid-morning it is shoulder to shoulder.Walk it early, then visit Tenryu-ji [UNESCO] next door.📍 Google Maps
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Kiyomizu-deraKiyomizu-deraFounded in 778. The main hall's wooden stage stands about 13 m above the slope on tall wooden pillars, with no nails used in the frame. Below it, the Otowa waterfall gives the temple its name: "pure water". [UNESCO]Wooden stage over the hillside, with views across the city.📍 Google Maps
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GionGionKyoto's best-known geisha district. Since April 2024 some private lanes off Hanami-koji are closed to tourists. Never block or photograph maiko and geiko without asking; the Shirakawa canal is the quietest walk.Geisha district streets. Some private lanes are closed to tourists; don't photograph maiko without asking.📍 Google Maps
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Nanzen-ji SuirokakuNanzen-ji SuirokakuA red-brick aqueduct built in 1890 for the Lake Biwa Canal, which brought water, and later Japan's first commercial hydroelectric power, to Kyoto. It still carries water through the temple grounds.1890 brick aqueduct still carrying Lake Biwa water through a Zen temple.📍 Google Maps
Dotonbori: The Glico running man sign since 1935. Takoyaki turned by hand at the stalls. Busy late into the night, any night of the week — kuidaore is not a slogan here.
Kuromon & Castle: Kuromon Ichiba — a market dating back to the early 1800s, now very tourist-focused. Osaka Castle's current tower is a 1931 concrete reconstruction of the keep begun in 1583, with a lift inside, which either ruins it or doesn't.
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Universal Studios JapanSuper Nintendo World often needs a timed entry ticket or Express Pass; book ahead.📍 Google Maps
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Sumiyoshi TaishaOne of Japan's oldest shrine styles, with a steep arched bridge. 10 min by Nankai from Namba.📍 Google Maps
Todai-ji: Its Great Buddha Hall is one of the world's largest wooden buildings — 57 metres wide, nearly 50 metres tall. The bronze Buddha inside is nearly 15 metres tall and was dedicated in 752 AD. Rebuilt in 1709 at roughly two-thirds the size of the original.
Deer & Kasuga: About 1,465 sika deer (a record count in 2025), sacred messengers of Kasuga Taisha and a national Natural Monument since 1957. They genuinely bow for rice crackers. Kasuga Taisha's roughly 3,000 lanterns are lit at the Mantoro fire festivals — February and August.
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Todai-ji [UNESCO]The Great Buddha Hall. Squeeze through the hole in the pillar for luck.📍 Google Maps
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Nara Park DeerBuy shika senbei and they'll bow. Hand crackers over quickly; they can nip.📍 Google Maps
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Kasuga Taisha [UNESCO]Forest shrine of some 3,000 lanterns, all lit in February and August.📍 Google Maps
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Muro-jiMountain temple that welcomed women when Koyasan did not; mossy steps, tiny pagoda.📍 Google Maps
Kobe Beef: A protected designation — Tajima cattle raised in Hyogo, with a meat quality score of 4 or 5 and marbling of 6 or more. Annual certified yields are small by design. Much of the "Kobe beef" on menus abroad isn't.
Kitano-cho & Arima: Kitano-cho's hillside still holds a cluster of ijinkan — foreign merchants' houses from after the port opened in 1868. Arima Onsen is one of Japan's three oldest hot springs, famous for having both gold (iron-rich) and silver (carbonated) springs.
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Kitano-cho IjinkanHillside of foreign merchants' houses from around 1900, including the Weathercock House.📍 Google Maps
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Himeji Castle [UNESCO]The "White Heron" castle, Japan's finest original. About 40 min from Kobe.📍 Google Maps
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Takeda Castle"Castle above the clouds": see it from Ritsuunkyo at dawn, Sep–Nov. Closed Jan–Feb.📍 Google Maps
Ise Jingu: 125 shrines, centred on two main sanctuaries. The main halls are rebuilt to the same cypress design every 20 years — Shikinen Sengu — a tradition begun in 690 AD; the next rebuild is due in 2033. The hinoki cypress approach is one of the quietest places in Japan.
Ama Divers: Women divers of the Shima Peninsula working without breathing equipment — a practice documented for many centuries, now kept alive by a small, ageing community. Oharai-machi has fed pilgrims outside the shrine gates since the Edo period; Akafuku has sold its mochi there since 1707.
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Naiku (Inner Shrine)Japan's holiest shrine, dedicated to Amaterasu, across the Uji Bridge.📍 Google Maps
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Oharai-machi & Okage YokochoHistoric pilgrim street, plus a 1993 Edo-style recreation. Try Akafuku mochi.📍 Google Maps
Hikone Castle: Completed in 1622; its keep was finished around 1607. One of only 12 original tenshu surviving without major reconstruction — and one of five designated National Treasure castles, alongside Himeji, Matsumoto, Inuyama and Matsue.
Lake Biwa: Several million years old — one of the world's most ancient lakes — with dozens of endemic species found nowhere else. Most Kansai itineraries skip Shiga. That is the mistake people fix on the next trip.
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Hikone CastleNational Treasure keep from around 1607; stroll Genkyu-en garden below it.📍 Google Maps
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ChikubushimaSacred island shrine by boat. Throw a clay disc through the torii for luck.📍 Google Maps
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Shirahige ShrineVermilion torii standing in Lake Biwa; best at sunrise. Mind the road crossing.📍 Google Maps
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Enryaku-ji [UNESCO]Temple complex in the cedars of Mt. Hiei, by cable car from Sakamoto.📍 Google Maps
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Miho MuseumI. M. Pei's mountain museum reached through a tunnel. Closed in winter and between exhibitions.📍 Google Maps
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Azuchi Castle RuinsSite of Nobunaga's 1579 castle, which pioneered the tall keep. Steep stone stairway.📍 Google Maps
Koyasan: Founded 816 AD by Kukai on a high mountain plateau. Okunoin — 2km through ancient cryptomeria, 200,000+ grave markers — ends at his mausoleum, where by tradition monks have brought him meals twice a day since 835 AD. About 50 temples take guests.
Kumano Kodo: [UNESCO] Pilgrimage trails walked by retired emperors from the 10th century, leading to three Kumano Grand Shrines. Nachi Falls at 133 metres is Japan's tallest single-drop waterfall, with Nachi Taisha facing it from the same hillside.
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Okunoin [UNESCO]2km through giant cedars and 200,000 graves to Kukai's mausoleum. Magical at dusk.📍 Google Maps
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Koyasan Temple StaySleep at a temple: vegetarian shojin meals and dawn prayers. Book ahead.📍 Google Maps
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Kumano Kodo Nakahechi [UNESCO]The classic pilgrim route, 2–3 days from Takijiri to Hongu. Luggage transfers available.📍 Google Maps
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Kumano Hongu Taisha [UNESCO]Head shrine of Kumano, with Japan's largest torii at Oyunohara nearby.📍 Google Maps
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Nachi Falls & Seiganto-ji [UNESCO]133-metre falls framed by a red three-storey pagoda — the classic photo.📍 Google Maps