Three nights in the largest city on earth, three in the old imperial capital, and a bullet train between them. Built self-guided, because Japan runs on rails so good that a guide would mostly be someone to follow.
FromUS$520per person, twin share — six nights' hotel across Tokyo and Kyoto. Budget separately for flights, the Shinkansen, meals and the handful of temples that charge. See what's included
Fly into Haneda (HND) if you can and Narita (NRT) if you cannot — Haneda is far closer to the city. Depart from Kansai (KIX), about 75 minutes from Kyoto by the Haruka express. Tell us your departure city and we will price the flights with the tour.
Confirmation
Tell us your dates and a hotel tier → we confirm both hotels within 24 hours → a deposit holds them → vouchers and your written city plan by email before you fly. Departs any day.Before we confirm we check your dates against anything the itinerary is built round — museums, markets and monuments keep weekly closing days, and we would rather move a day than spend one at a locked gate.
Two honest notes. First, this is self-guided by design. Japan's trains are the most legible on earth, signage is bilingual, and most of what you have come to see is free to walk into. You get a written plan with the lines and fares instead; ask if you would rather have a guide and we will arrange one. Second, the hotel rates behind this price are room-only. Breakfast is rarely included in Japan, and we would rather show you a true room rate than a padded one.
The trip at a glance
Tokyo
Days 1–3
01
Tokyo
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Arrive Tokyo AT LEISURE
Into Haneda or Narita, then the train in. Transfers are not included — from Haneda the monorail or Keikyu line takes about 30 minutes; from Narita allow an hour and a half.
Settle around Shinjuku — the busiest railway station on earth, and the most useful address in Tokyo.
In the evening, Shibuya Crossing: watch it once from the walkway above, then walk through it at street level.
Get an IC card (Suica or Pasmo) at any station on day one. It works on every train, bus and convenience store in the country.
Overnight in Tokyo.
02
Tokyo
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Asakusa, Harajuku & Tsukiji AT LEISURE
Start early at Tsukiji Outer Market — tamagoyaki, sea urchin, and knives sharp enough to worry customs. Go before ten.
Senso-ji in Asakusa, Tokyo's oldest temple, founded in 628. Free, with the Nakamise stalls running 250 metres to its gate.
Across town to Meiji Jingu — a Shinto shrine in 170 acres of donated forest, and the quietest place in central Tokyo. Also free.
Harajuku and Omotesando are next door when you want noise again.
Overnight in Tokyo.
Add to this day — approximate gate prices
Senso-ji, AsakusaFreeTokyo's oldest temple, and no ticket at any hour.
Meiji JinguFreeFree, and nothing inside the grounds charges.
Tsukiji Outer MarketFree to walkYou will spend on breakfast, not on entry. Go before ten.
Or let us book it — per person, in US dollars
Morning
Tsukiji Outer Market with a local guide
The market lanes and the temple beside them with someone who knows which stall does what; you buy the bites as you go.
Tell us which you want when you confirm. Gate tickets travel with your documents; anything we book goes into your price at the figure shown, and the voucher comes from us. Prices as at 10 September 2026.
03
Tokyo
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Tokyo — your choice AT LEISURE
teamLab — room-scale interactive light installations, and one of the few things in Tokyo you must book ahead. Tell us and we will hold tickets.
Or take the day out to Hakone: hot springs, a pirate ship on Lake Ashi, and on a clear winter day Mount Fuji standing behind it. Ninety minutes from Shinjuku.
January is statistically the clearest month for seeing Fuji — cold, dry air and little haze. If Fuji matters to you, this is the season for it.
Overnight in Tokyo.
Add to this day — approximate gate prices
teamLab Borderless¥3,600–5,600Book aheadPriced by date, and the single thing in Tokyo you cannot turn up for. Worth every yen.
Hakone Free Pass, 2 days¥7,100 from ShinjukuCovers eight transport lines, the pirate ship and the ropeway. Cheaper at ¥6,000 if you start from Odawara.
Or let us book it — per person, in US dollars
Day trip
Mount Fuji from the lakes, in a day
Lake Kawaguchi, the spring ponds at Oshino Hakkai, the pagoda at Arakura Sengen and Lake Yamanaka — the classic viewpoints, by coach from central Tokyo.
About 10 hours · early start · pickup in central Tokyo
Tell us which you want when you confirm. Gate tickets travel with your documents; anything we book goes into your price at the figure shown, and the voucher comes from us. Prices as at 10 September 2026.
Kyoto
Days 4–7
04
Kyoto
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Tokyo → Kyoto AT LEISURE
The Shinkansen takes about 2 hours 15 minutes on the Nozomi. Not included — we quote it with your booking, and we will tell you whether a rail pass is worth it for your dates, because for this itinerary it usually is not.
Into Kyoto, capital for a thousand years and spared the wartime bombing — which is exactly why 1,600 temples are still standing.
Late afternoon at Fushimi Inari Taisha, thousands of vermilion torii winding up the mountain. Free, and open all night — go at dusk and most of the crowd has gone.
Overnight in Kyoto.
05
Kyoto
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Kinkaku-ji, Arashiyama & Gion AT LEISURE
Kinkaku-ji, the Golden Pavilion, standing over its own reflection. Small admission, and worth being there at opening. With snow on the roof it is the best sight in Japan.
West to the Arashiyama bamboo grove — free, and genuinely empty if you arrive before eight.
Evening in Gion, the geisha district, as the lanterns come on. Do not photograph geiko or maiko without asking — there are fines for harassment on the private lanes, and they are enforced.
Overnight in Kyoto.
Add to this day — approximate gate prices
Kinkaku-ji, the Golden Pavilion¥500The cheapest great sight in Japan. Be there at opening.
Arashiyama bamboo groveFreeFree, and genuinely empty before eight. Both facts matter.
Gion at duskFreeWalk it, do not photograph the geiko without asking — the private lanes carry enforced fines.
Or let us book it — per person, in US dollars
Half day
Arashiyama with a guide: bamboo, monkeys and Tenryu-ji
The grove, the monkey park on the hill, the Zen garden at Tenryu-ji and a bowl of matcha, in a small group.
3 to 4 hours · morning · meet at Arashiyama Station
Tell us which you want when you confirm. Gate tickets travel with your documents; anything we book goes into your price at the figure shown, and the voucher comes from us. Prices as at 10 September 2026.
06
Kyoto
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Nara, or a free day AT LEISURE
Nara is 45 minutes away — Japan's first permanent capital, with 1,200 free-roaming deer that bow for crackers, and the world's largest bronze Buddha inside Todai-ji.
Or stay in Kyoto: Nishiki Market, the Philosopher's Path, Kiyomizu-dera, or the Nijo Castle nightingale floors that squeak by design to betray intruders.
Overnight in Kyoto.
Add to this day — approximate gate prices
Todai-ji, Nara¥800The world's largest bronze Buddha. A ¥1,000 set ticket adds the museum.
Nara Park & the deerFreeThe park itself costs nothing. Todai-ji, listed above, is the ticket.
Or let us book it — per person, in US dollars
Morning
Nara before the crowds, small group
Kofuku-ji, the deer of Nara Park, Kasuga’s lanterns and Todai-ji’s Buddha with a guide, in a group of twelve at most.
About 4½ hours · early start · meet in Nara, or pickup from Kyoto Station for more
Tell us which you want when you confirm. Gate tickets travel with your documents; anything we book goes into your price at the figure shown, and the voucher comes from us. Prices as at 10 September 2026.
07
Departure
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Kyoto → onward AT LEISURE
Kyoto Station is a piece of architecture in its own right — a 470-metre glass canyon by Hiroshi Hara. Give the roof terrace ten minutes before you go.
The Haruka express runs Kyoto to Kansai Airport in about 75 minutes. Book a reserved seat if you are travelling with luggage.
Restaurants worth trying
No meals are in the price on this trip, so all of them are yours to choose. Here is where we would eat. We do not arrange any of these and you would pay for them yourself. They are simply places we rate, near where the trip goes. Tick any you like and they appear on the map.
Suggested, not included. Opening hours and prices are theirs, not ours — and a place that is busy at eight will be busy whether or not you booked through us.
Hotels & price
Three nights in Tokyo and three in Kyoto, twin share, both near a major station — which in Japan matters more than any other feature of a hotel. Every property is independently rated 8.0 or better by recent guests. These stays are room-only. Japanese hotels rarely include breakfast, and we would rather be straight with you about that than quietly imply otherwise.
Comfort · 3★
3-star hotel in each city
from US$520 per person · single supplement +US$390
Deluxe · 4★
4-star hotel in each cityFour-star hotels: a clear step up in room and address from Comfort.
from US$690 per person · single supplement +US$520
Ryokan / 5★ · traditional inn with dinner
on request per person
You will know exactly where you are staying before you pay a balance. We name the property in your confirmation, in writing, as soon as the room is held — and if it is ever unavailable for your dates we substitute at the same tier or better, never below it.
All prices are per person, twin share, in US dollars — the figure on each tab is what you pay us. The tiers differ by hotel only. These are website estimates, confirmed against live availability for your actual dates. Two tiers, not our usual three — a ryokan tier is quoted live rather than listed, because ryokan are priced per person with dinner included and a nightly room rate would misrepresent them.
Hotel tier
Per person, twin share
Single supplement
Comfort — 3★, twin share
from US$520
+US$390
Deluxe — 4★, twin share
from US$690
+US$520
Ryokan / 5★ — traditional inn with dinner
on request
on request
Seasonal pricing.January is the cheapest month in Japan and these rates come from it — cold, dry, bright, and the clearest month of the year for seeing Mount Fuji. Avoid the New Year period itself, when the whole country travels and prices spike. The two genuine peaks are cherry blossom in late March and early April and autumn leaves in November; both cost substantially more and Kyoto sells out months ahead. Golden Week in early May is the one week we would talk you out of entirely.
Included
3 nights in Tokyo and 3 nights in Kyoto, twin share · a day-by-day self-guided plan naming the exact lines, stations and fares · our booking help for the two things that genuinely sell out — teamLab and, in season, the Shinkansen
Not included
International flights · the Shinkansen between Tokyo and Kyoto — excluded, and quoted for you at booking · breakfast, which Japanese hotels almost never bundle — a convenience-store breakfast is a few hundred yen and genuinely good · airport transfers · meals · temple admissions where they apply, though Senso-ji, Meiji Jingu, Fushimi Inari and the bamboo grove are all free · the teamLab ticket · travel insurance
How the flexi tour works. Choose any departure date and a hotel tier → we confirm availability and the exact price within 24 hours → pay a deposit to hold it → your final documents and vouchers arrive by email a week before you fly. There is no group to join and no fixed departure day.
Start your booking
Tell us who you are and when you want to go.
We’ll reply within 24 hours with the price and what’s available.
A deposit holds it, and comes back in full if we can’t get your dates.
✓
That is with us
If you do not hear from us, email
info@dltravel.net and we will pick it up.
