Soak First, Sightsee Second
7 days: Tokyo → Hakone → Kyoto. Every stop below is backed by 13 roundups of Japanese comment-section consensus — including which famous stops locals tell you to skip, and where they go instead.
Read before you go
Day 1-2 · Tokyo
Everything locals say about Tokyo →Day 3-4 · Hakone
Everything locals say about Hakone →Day 5-7 · Kyoto
Everything locals say about Kyoto →If eating is the point
Not on the main route above, but these are the ones Japanese comment sections argue about hardest.
If it's anime, arcades and theme parks
What locals say the otaku districts have become, and whether the parks are worth a whole day.
If you're doing it cheap
The cheap sleeps and cheap chains Japanese people actually rate — not the tourist-facing ones.
More of what locals said about this route
Roundups that didn't fit a day above, but are about the same stops on Tokyo → Hakone → Kyoto.
Every route is assembled from our own translated roundups of Japanese YouTube comment sections — nothing here is invented. Opening hours and prices change, so we link out to maps and to the original videos instead of stating them.
Some links on this page are affiliate links — if you book through one, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Which places appear here is decided by the source comments only.