Planning a two-week trip to Japan: where to start
Dates, flights, route, places to stay, paperwork: the order of decisions for two weeks in Japan from the US, and what each choice does to the budget.
You've dreamed about Japan for years. You've opened twenty tabs: flights, hotels, itinerary blogs, reviews that contradict each other. And every new page reopens a decision you thought was made. At the end of the evening, nothing is booked.
The trip isn't what's complicated. The order of decisions is. Your dates set the price of the flights, the flights set the cities you land in and leave from, and the route sets the hotels.
What really gets in the way
- Booking the hotel before the flight. Then the perfect flight lands in another city, on another day.
- Wanting to see everything. A packed route, three hotel changes too many, and the trip turns into a race.
- Not seeing the total. Each booking looks reasonable on its own; it's the sum that hurts.
The hard part isn't finding good places. It's making the decisions in the right order while keeping an eye on the budget.
With a plan, everything falls into place
Here is the trip laid out by VoilaPlan, for two people and two weeks in April: each step with its time and budget.
What the plan changes: you know what to book first, and every choice shows its effect on the total right away.
The five steps, in order
1. Dates and budget first
Start from the day you take off and work backwards. Spring and fall are the most popular seasons, for the cherry blossoms and the fall colors, and the most expensive. Blossom dates shift from year to year and from city to city, so look at the forecasts before you lock anything in.
Going in mid-April, once the blossom peak has passed, often means slightly lower prices and fewer crowds. Keep an eye on Golden Week, a run of Japanese public holidays from late April into early May, when trains and hotels fill up: check this year's dates before you choose yours.
Set a budget for each item right away: flights, places to stay, daily spending. That's what will settle the choices that follow.
2. Flights, the biggest item
- A nonstop flight: the shortest and the most expensive. You land less tired. Nonstops leave from several major US hubs; from many cities, you'll connect anyway.
- A one-stop flight: often a few hundred dollars less for two, for a few more hours of travel.
- Waiting for a price drop: possible if your dates are flexible, with a fare alert. Nothing is guaranteed.
Book the flights before the hotels: they set your dates and your arrival and departure cities. Remember the date line: flying west, you usually land the day after you leave.
3. The route
For a first trip, Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka give you the essentials in two weeks, at the cost of three hotel changes. Staying in Tokyo with day trips is more restful, but less varied.
List what you want to see, split your nights between cities, then map out the train rides. Leave time to wander with no plan at all.
4. Places to stay
City-center hotels are convenient, with rooms that are often small. Hostels and guesthouses cost less. One night in a ryokan, a traditional Japanese inn, is worth it at least once.
5. Paperwork and practical details
Plan for travel insurance, too: check what your credit card or health plan already covers abroad before you buy more. And sort out internet access for the trip, with an eSIM or a pocket Wi-Fi: you'll look at maps and train times constantly.
How long, and what budget?
In the plan drawn above, for two people, the total comes close to $4,600: flights are more than a third of it, places to stay nearly a third, and daily spending the rest. Switching from a nonstop to a one-stop flight saves about $500.
Common questions
How far ahead should I book?
Several months ahead for spring and fall, the busiest seasons. Start with the flights: everything else depends on them.
Isn't Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka in two weeks too much?
It's the classic route for a first trip. If you'd rather pack your bags less often, stay in one city and take day trips.
Do I need a visa?
It depends on your citizenship and how long you stay, and the rules can change: check the official requirements on the US State Department and Japanese embassy websites before you book.
What next?
Write your trip in one sentence in VoilaPlan: it lays out the steps in the right order, several ways to handle each one, and tracks the total against your budget all the way to departure.
