One loop around Tokyo, no backtracking: out to Hakone, across the bay by ferry, round the north and back into Ikebukuro.
Shibuya, Shinjuku and Asakusa, then Akihabara and the old lanes of Yanaka. Give Meiji Jingu and Harajuku a morning.
🚃1h25Odakyu Romancecar, Shinjuku → Hakone-YumotoHakone for Owakudani and Lake Ashi, then Kamakura's Great Buddha and Enoshima.
⛴40 minTokyo Bay Ferry, Kurihama → Kanaya · Kamakura to Kurihama is about 30 min on the JR Yokosuka Line, then a short bus to the portNokogiriyama, a short walk from Kanaya port, then up to Narita for Naritasan and the canal town of Sawara.
🚃2hJR Kashima Line, Sawara → Kashima-Jingu, then the Oarai-Kashima Line to Mito · the Kashima Line runs only every 1–2 hoursKashima Jingu on the way north, then Mito for Kairakuen and a day at Hitachi Seaside Park.
🚃3hJR Mito Line to Oyama, Shinkansen to Utsunomiya, then the JR Nikko Line to NikkoNikko Toshogu [UNESCO], Kegon Falls and Lake Chuzenji, then Ashikaga Flower Park on the way west.
🚃3h30JR Ryomo Line, Ashikaga → Takasaki, about 1h20 · then the Agatsuma Line and a 25-min bus to KusatsuKusatsu's Yubatake and a yumomi show, then Ikaho's stone steps and Tomioka Silk Mill [UNESCO] on the way back to Takasaki.
🚃2hTakasaki → Kumagaya, then the Chichibu Railway to Chichibu, about 1h10Chichibu and the Nagatoro gorge by boat, then Kawagoe's storehouse street on the way in: Chichibu Railway to Yorii, Tobu Tojo Line to Kawagoe.
🚃HomeTobu Tojo Line, Kawagoe → Ikebukuro · about 30 min
Only have 7 days? Base yourself in Tokyo and day-trip: Kamakura, Nikko and Kawagoe all work from the city. Add one night in Hakone.
Times are typical. JR passes don't cover the Odakyu, Tobu, Chichibu Railway or Oarai-Kashima lines, or the ferry. Check timetables before you book, especially on the Kashima and Agatsuma lines.
Kanto's festival year has two peaks. In May, Nikko Toshogu holds its 1,000-samurai procession (May 18) and Asakusa's Sanja Matsuri fills the third weekend; the Kanda Matsuri parade runs in odd-numbered years. Summer is fireworks, led by the Sumida River display on the last Saturday of July. Then come the float festivals: Kawagoe on the third weekend of October and the Chichibu Night Festival on December 2–3, both UNESCO-listed.
One of the World's Largest Cities: about 37 million people live in Greater Tokyo (Tokyo plus Kanagawa, Saitama and Chiba). The UN's 2025 ranking, which counts only the continuous built-up area, puts Tokyo third on Earth after Jakarta and Dhaka. Every neighbourhood is its own world.
Tokyo Runs Late: Kabukicho and many Golden Gai bars keep going long after the last train, which leaves around midnight.
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Shibuya CrossingShibuya CrossingAt peak times up to about 3,000 people cross with each change of the lights. Shibuya Sky, on the roof of the 230-metre Shibuya Scramble Square, looks straight down on it.Watch it from above at Shibuya Sky, then walk it yourself.📍 Google Maps
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Senso-jiSenso-jiFounded in 628, according to the temple, after two fishermen pulled a statue of Kannon from the Sumida River. You enter through the Kaminarimon (Thunder Gate) and walk up Nakamise, about 250 m of snack and souvenir stalls.Tokyo's oldest temple. Go early morning or after dark to beat the crowds.📍 Google Maps
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Omoide Yokocho & Golden GaiOmoide Yokocho & Golden GaiOmoide Yokocho grew out of a postwar black market beside Shinjuku Station. Golden Gai, on the other side of the station, packs about 200 tiny bars into six narrow alleys; many charge a seat fee.Shinjuku's tiny lantern-lit bar and yakitori alleys.📍 Google Maps
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Meiji JinguMeiji JinguDedicated in 1920 to Emperor Meiji and Empress Shoken. Its forest was planted by hand from about 100,000 trees donated from all over Japan.Forest shrine a few steps from Harajuku's busiest street.📍 Google Maps
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AkihabaraAkihabaraGrew from a postwar radio-parts market into Tokyo's electronics district, and then its anime and games hub. The main street, Chuo-dori, is closed to cars on most Sunday afternoons.Electronics, retro games and anime shops stacked floor by floor.📍 Google Maps
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YanakaYanakaMuch of Yanaka escaped the fires after the 1923 earthquake and the 1945 air raids, so its temples, wooden houses and Yanaka Ginza shopping street still feel like an older Tokyo.Old-Tokyo lanes and family-run shops, far fewer tour groups.📍 Google Maps
The Great Buddha Has No Roof: Begun in 1252 and hollow enough to walk inside — its hall was destroyed by storms and a tsunami in the 1300s–1400s and never rebuilt. It's been sitting outdoors ever since.
Fuji From Hakone: on clear mornings Mt. Fuji rises over Lake Ashi. One of the easiest Fuji views to reach from Tokyo.
The Upside-Down Pillar: One pillar on Yomeimon Gate has its pattern carved upside down. The story goes that a perfect building invites its own collapse, so the builders left one flaw on purpose.
Over 150 Years Old: Ashikaga Flower Park's great wisteria covers nearly 1,000 square metres of trellis, blooming from late April into early May. One of Japan's most photographed sights.
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Nikko Toshogu [UNESCO]UNESCO shrine: Yomeimon gate, the sleeping cat and the three wise monkeys.📍 Google Maps
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Ashikaga Flower ParkGiant wisteria, late April to early May. Stay for the night illumination.📍 Google Maps
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Yunishigawa OnsenRemote valley onsen tied to the Heike clan legend; snow-hut festival late Jan to Feb.📍 Google Maps
Millions of Blue Flowers: Hitachi Seaside Park from late April into early May — nemophila blanket the hillside in an unbroken blue. Same hill turns red-orange in October when the kochia peaks.
One of Japan's Three Great Gardens: Kairakuen was laid out in 1842 with thousands of plum trees across over 100 varieties — one of only three gardens in Japan to hold this designation.
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Kashima JinguAncient shrine in deep forest, with sacred deer in the shrine's deer park.📍 Google Maps
Voted Japan's #1 Onsen Town: Kusatsu has Japan's largest natural hot spring flow, and the Yubatake at its centre is the town's showpiece. The water runs at around pH 2. Steam through wooden buildings at night is one of Kantō's most atmospheric scenes.
Minakami Rafting: Whitewater on the Tone River through spring and summer, biggest during the spring snowmelt, set against the Jōetsu mountain range. One of the best outdoor day trips from Tokyo.
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Netsunoyu Yumomi ShowWomen cool the spring water by stirring it with long wooden paddles.📍 Google Maps
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Takaragawa OnsenHuge riverside outdoor baths; bathing wraps provided, plus a women-only bath.📍 Google Maps
Little Edo, Close to Tokyo: Kawagoe's kurazukuri storehouses were built as fireproof clay buildings after the great fire of 1893, and still line the main street. A bell tower has marked the hours here since the early Edo period; today's tower, rebuilt in 1894, rings four times a day.
One of Japan's Three Great Float Festivals: Chichibu Yomatsuri on December 2–3 — massive lantern-lit floats and winter fireworks on the night of the 3rd, one of the most dramatic festival nights in the Kantō calendar.
DisneySea is One-Of-A-Kind: The only Disney park in the world built around a nautical theme — unique to Japan and found nowhere else on Earth.
Chiba Lotte Marines: Roki Sasaki became a star here, including a perfect game in 2022, before joining the Dodgers.
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Naritasan ShinshojiTemple founded in 940, eel restaurants on the approach. Easy on a Narita layover.📍 Google Maps
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Nojimazaki LighthouseSouthern tip of the Boso Peninsula, near Tateyama's summer beaches.📍 Google Maps