How to plan the ultimate Japan honeymoon itinerary

Tracey
46 minutes ago
7 min read

A couple wearing kimono and carrying paper umbrellas walk down a traditional Japanese street

Awww. If you've landed on this page, you're probably either newly married or getting married soon and thinking about Japan as a romantic getaway... and that's so adorable! The Mr and I met in Japan, had our first dates in Japan and have been making couple's trips on a regular basis ever since, so we have plenty of tips on how to make a honeymoon in Japan extra-special. Here's our guide to planning the perfect romantic, stress-free itinerary.

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Is Japan a good place for a honeymoon?

Japan is a great place for a honeymoon, in our opinion. It's got amazing food, luxury hotels and intimate traditional accommodation, endless culture and history to explore, world cities just a quick train ride away from ancient mountain villages, stunning scenery, excellent beaches and every type of weather you could want, from tropical to snowy.

Having said that, if your idea of honeymoon heaven is a hammock on a private beach in a fancy couples-only resort with on-tap cocktails, we wouldn't recommend Japan this time: save it for your anniversary trip instead! A good compromise, though, if you think all that sightseeing might be too hectic, would be to tack a few days - or even a week - in Okinawa (in the warmer months) or a Japanese onsen resort (in the colder months) on to the end of your trip.

Do you need to book a Japan honeymoon package?

No, I honestly don't think you do. I completely understand that Japan can be intimidating for the uninitiated and you might be nervous about planning everything yourself, but a Japan honeymoon package will really just save you the (ultimately very quick and easy) process of booking flights, hotels and trains, while costing you flexibility and quite a lot of money too. To be fair, if it's going to be your first time in Japan, you should be willing to invest some time planning the logistics and itinerary and pre-booking any activities you want to do, just to make sure that your honeymoon is stress-free. You can definitely wing it in Japan, but with tourism absolutely booming, attractions and activities book out quickly, as do hotels.

If taking care of accommodation, transport and an itinerary are too much for you to handle (with a wedding coming up and all), you could think about doing a Japan cruise, possibly with a day or two either end in Tokyo or Kyoto, for example. Our Japan cruise guide gives you the heads up on everything you need to know about cruising in Japan.

Otherwise, get in touch with us if you need advice or help planning your Japan honeymoon!

How much will a honeymoon in Japan cost?

The price of a Japan honeymoon will depend on when you go, how long you stay, how much of the country you want to see and whether you want to splurge or save on accommodation. No two trips are the same, so it's impossible to say exactly how much your Japan honeymoon will cost, but we have a free budget planning sheet for download to help you keep track of what you're going to be spending your money on. Here are some of the variables:

Flights

Flights in March/April can literally be twice as expensive as they are in February, for example, and direct flights are more expensive than ones with a stopover somewhere. In our European experience at least, flights to Japan never get any cheaper as time goes on, so don't count on any last-minute bargains. We always book 10 months out or as soon as the price is tolerable.

Domestic transport

Local transport in Japan is pretty cheap - you can travel around Tokyo all day by train and subway for less than 1000 yen. But long-distance transport, be it Shinkansen or plane, can be pricey. Flying from Tokyo to Okinawa, for example, costs anywhere from 20,000 yen off-season to 300,000 yen in the summer. If you're doing the "Golden Route", you can expect to pay around 14,000 for a one-way Shinkansen ticket from Tokyo to Osaka. Our tip here: book flights from your home country that arrive into Tokyo and leave from Osaka. We do this all the time, it doesn't usually cost more and it saves us the return journey to Tokyo.

Accommodation

You'll find accommodation in Japan for every budget, from decent business hotels (7000-10,000 yen per night for a double room) to luxury ryokan with meals and private onsen included. Accommodation prices fluctuate with the season, especially in domestic tourism destinations such as Kyoto and Okinawa, but here, too, we always lock in our accommodation as soon as possible because we've rarely seen a Japanese hotel price drop. Most accommodation booking websites these days allow free cancellation up to a few days before your arrival date, so you can stay flexible and rebook if you see something better for a better price at a later date. Read our guide to booking hotels in Japan to make sure you know what you're getting.

Activities and tours

A lot of sightseeing attractions in Japan are free and, compared to other countries, I don't find the ones you pay for in Japan especially expensive. How much you spend will depend on whether you want to go to the high-ticket attractions like Disneyland, are booking guided tours or are just taking in the cultural highlights. You can easily spend a day sightseeing around Tokyo and paying zero for admission, or the same day can be spent on a customised, guided tour to Kamakura for 90,000 yen.

Dining

Japan, of course, has some of the finest dining in the world but also some of the yummiest, cheapest street food. People are always surprised when I tell them this but you can eat very well in Japan for 2000 - 3000 yen per day. But it's your honeymoon and you might want to push the boat out a bit further, in which case you can expect to pay upwards of 5000 yen per person for dinner at a good sushi restaurant or teppanyaki.

How to plan your Japan honeymoon

We've been planning Japan trips for ourselves, family and friends for 30+ years and planning a honeymoon is different only in that it's even more exciting! We definitely advise organising as much as possible as far in advance as possible. As we've mentioned before, tourism to Japan is booming and we have experienced ourselves over the last 3-4 years how much quicker everything gets booked up. Luckily, it's also gotten so much easier to book everything too. We have a whole post dedicated to planning and organising a trip to Japan, but here are the main questions you'll have to ask yourself:

When and for how long do you want to go? (read our guide to the best times of year for a honeymoon in Japan) → now you can book your flights
What cities do you want to visit and how long do you want to stay in each? → now you can book your accommodation and domestic flights/Shinkansen
What activities do you want to cross off your bucket-list? → now you can book all of your tickets and tours

Japan honeymoon itinerary

Everybody has their own time-frame, budget and interests, so one cookie-cutter itinerary definitely does not fit all. We honestly don't think it makes sense to do more than make a few suggestions here, but feel free to get in touch if you need help putting an itinerary together for your Japan honeymoon. Here are some general tips for putting together your itinerary, drawing on our own decades of experience:

For trips of up to a week, stay in one city. There's more than enough to keep you busy for 7 days in Tokyo or Osaka/Kyoto without having to travel between the two. The Shinkansen is pretty speedy but, altogether with checking in and out of hotels, travelling to and from the Shinkansen, etc., it's easily going to cost you 4-5 hours - and double that if you have to go back to the city you flew into for your flight back home. We would fly into and stay in Tokyo if seeing Mount Fuji or going to Tokyo Disneyland is an absolute must; fly into and stay in Osaka or Kyoto (one or the other; not both) if you can live without Fuji and Disney and would rather have cultural & historical highlights like Kyoto's temples, Uji, Himeji castle and Nara (and maybe also USJ!). Check out our Tokyo 3-day itinerary if you're going down the Tokyo route.
For trips of 8 days to 2 weeks, you can easily fit two or three centres. I would stay at least 5 days in Tokyo (3-4 days to see Tokyo's highlights without feeling too rushed plus some extra days for romantic day trips from Tokyo to Kamakura, Nikko, Hakone / Fuji 5-Lakes, etc.) before heading down to Kansai for the rest of the time, exploring Kyoto, Kobe, Osaka, Himeji, Nara, Uji, Lake Biwa, Wakayama, and so on, maybe with an overnight stay in Hiroshima and/or Miyajima. In this case you could take advantage of the special JR Osaka- Hiroshima area Shinkansen pass or fly back to Tokyo directly from Hiroshima if necessary.
If you've got more than 2 weeks to spend in Japan, you could think about adding in a trip to Okinawa, Fukuoka, or Hokkaido: these are all long-distance destinations from central Japan, though, and realistically will involve a flight or two. Instead, I could suggest doing the Golden route (Tokyo-Osaka/Kyoto) and stopping off for a few days en route in the gorgeous onsen resort of Hakone, one of the beautiful old post towns along the Nakasendo trail, or the historical towns of Takayama or Kanazawa.
Cold weather honeymoon in Japan? Your itinerary has to include a stay in an onsen town. If you insist on snow (and it will be magical!), your best best is travelling north to the Tohoku region or Hokkaido. Otherwise, you could consider a resort nearer Tokyo with Fuji views, such as Hakone or Fujikawaguchiko.