Japan
Japan itinerary: 12 days in Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka
- 12 days
- 10 nights
- 4 stays
- sample itinerary
Twelve days on the classic first loop: Tokyo, the shinkansen to Kyoto, a short hop to Osaka, and back to Tokyo for the end — flying Japan Airlines direct from Bangalore to Narita.
It is a sample itinerary — a starting point, not a timetable. The hotels, flights and trains are real, and timetables change, so check them before you book. Open it in the planner and it becomes a trip of your own, starting a month from today.
Where it stays
- Tokyoibis Styles Tokyo Ginza2 nights
- KyotoThe Blossom Kyoto3 nights
- Osakaibis Osaka Umeda2 nights
- Tokyoibis Styles Tokyo Ginza3 nights
Day by day
Day1
Bangalore → Tokyo
Flight · Japan Airlines JL 754 · 02:15–14:25
Lands at Narita, well outside the city — allow an hour or more into Ginza.
Stay: ibis Styles Tokyo Ginza, Tokyo
2 nights
Arrive, settle in and walk around Ginza
Keep arrival day light. Allow for immigration, luggage and the Narita transfer; skip the walk if the flight is delayed.
Day2
Asakusa, Senso-ji and Ueno
Start around Senso-ji and Nakamise, then take local transport to Ueno Park. Choose one museum if time allows; check its opening day.
Day3
Tokyo → Kyoto
Train · Shinkansen Nozomi 21 · 09:30–11:44
Stay: The Blossom Kyoto, Kyoto
3 nights
Kyoto arrival and a gentle Gion walk
Leave luggage at the hotel after the train. Walk public streets around Yasaka Shrine and Gion; respect photography restrictions and private lanes.
Day4
Kiyomizu-dera and southern Higashiyama
Group the hillside temple and nearby lanes into one walking day. Start early, wear shoes suitable for slopes and check temple admission details.
Day5
Arashiyama riverside and temple district
Keep the day in western Kyoto rather than crossing town between sights. Choose a temple and a riverside walk; allow for crowds around the bamboo grove.
Day6
Kyoto → Osaka
Train · Shinkansen Nozomi 17 · 10:46–11:00
Fourteen minutes to Shin-Osaka.
Stay: ibis Osaka Umeda, Osaka
2 nights
Osaka arrival, Namba and Dotonbori
The shinkansen reaches Shin-Osaka, not Umeda. Allow a local transfer and a luggage stop before heading to Namba for an evening canal walk.
Day7
Osaka Castle park and Umeda
Use the morning for the castle park; entry to the museum is a separate choice. Return to Umeda for dinner near the hotel rather than adding another distant district.
Day8
Osaka → Tokyo
Train · Shinkansen Nozomi 328 · 10:00–12:27
Stay: ibis Styles Tokyo Ginza, Tokyo
3 nights
Return to Tokyo and explore Marunouchi
After the train and hotel luggage stop, keep the afternoon around Tokyo Station and Marunouchi. Leave room for a late arrival.
Day9
Meiji Jingu, Harajuku and Shibuya
Group these neighbouring western Tokyo districts together. Visit the shrine respectfully; reserve any timed observation-deck visit separately.
Day10
A flexible Tokyo day: museum or neighbourhood walk
Use this final full day for a missed museum, shopping or a slower Ginza walk. Check closures and avoid a distant excursion if there is little energy left.
Day11
Tokyo → Bangalore
Flight · Japan Airlines JL 753 · 18:55–00:50 (next day)
From Narita, landing in Bangalore just after midnight.
Check out and transfer to Narita
Leave only a short local outing before collecting luggage. Check the airline check-in deadline and current airport transport; protect the airport transfer from sightseeing delays.
Day12
Arrive home after midnight
Day 12 is the home-arrival day, not an extra sightseeing day in Japan. Arrange onward transport after the overnight flight.
How to use these twelve days
This is a twelve-calendar-day trip including arrival and departure: ten hotel nights in Japan, an evening flight out on day eleven, and arrival in Bangalore on day twelve. The suggested outings are optional and are copied into the editable plan with the hotels and journeys.
The city groupings below are planning suggestions. Check opening days, accessibility and any timed-entry reservations before fixing your dates. Kyoto has two full sightseeing days here; choosing Arashiyama leaves Fushimi for a future visit or a swap, rather than squeezing both into the same day.
How the route fits together
Tokyo sits at both ends, so the long flights start and finish at the same hotel, and the middle of the trip is spent west of it: three nights in Kyoto, two in Osaka. All three cities are on the Tokaido Shinkansen line.
The shinkansen
In this plan, Tokyo to Kyoto is 09:30 to 11:44 on the Nozomi; Kyoto to Osaka takes fourteen minutes; Osaka back to Tokyo is 10:00 to 12:27. All three are morning departures, which leaves the afternoon for the city you arrive in.
Getting in from Narita
The flight from Bangalore lands at Narita in the afternoon. Narita is well outside central Tokyo, so allow an hour or more to reach a hotel in Ginza — and the same again on the way out for the evening flight home.
Before you book
The times in this plan are indicative. Timetables change, so check the current ones before you book.
Check the entry requirements for your own passport with an official source before you go. They are deliberately not written here: they change, and a wrong one would be worse than none.
What the planner does with it
Open the plan and the planner reads the whole trip. Every night has a bed and every move has a journey, so it has nothing to flag. Change a date and it will tell you what breaks — a night with nowhere to sleep, or two cities with nothing booked to carry you between them.