The options for daytrips from Tokyo are plentiful. As are the people going on them. There are places well worth seeing within a couple of hours of Tokyo. Plan it right and you’ll avoid the generic tourist spots, and see the hidden gems most don’t get to.
Here are our recommendations for what daytrips to take from Tokyo – and what to avoid.
Coach tours from Tokyo to Mount Fuji generally provide a commercial and superficial experience. Rather than having time to hike serene mountain slopes, passengers find themselves shunted from one tourist shop to another, with brief interludes to stop and take pictures of overcrowded destinations. Taking a shinkansen and hiring a car is a much better option to explore this region. However, in our opinion, Mount Fuji is more impressive when viewed from afar, to appreciate its perfect symmetry, and only then when weather conditions permit (it is normally shrouded in cloud).
Kawazu Waterfalls:
Step off the Golden Route locations that get all the attention (Tokyo, Osaka, Nara, Kyoto, Hiroshima) and you quickly discover a Japan that feels more real, more verdant, and more intimate. Visit the utterly beautiful Kyushu; the paddy fields, traditional villages and steeply rising conifer-clad slopes of the Japanese Alps; the gushing gorges, folkloric traditions and samurai towns of Akita; the lesser visited tropical islands of Okinawa; the fresh seafood and the volcanic heights of Hokkaido; and the unknown coastal coves and fishing villages of Izu Peninsula’s West Coast.
LiNGER longer in Japan – contact us below to plan your holiday or sabbatical in Japan.