Golden Route — Tokyo, Mt. Fuji & Kyoto

Met at the airport and taken into the city, with nothing scheduled beyond checking in. The first evening is for adjusting rather than sightseeing — Shibuya after dark is the traditional first taste, and the crossing is a five-minute walk from dinner in any direction. Overnight in Tokyo.

Morning at Senso-ji and the Asakusa lanes, which are at their best before the arcade fills. Midday under the cedars of Meiji Jingu, a different Tokyo entirely and only a few stops away. The afternoon is open — Ueno's museums, Ginza, or the Tsukiji outer market if you would rather eat your way through it. In the evening, the alleyways behind Shinjuku, where the bars seat six people at a time.

Out to the mountains by fast train and then the local mountain railway that switchbacks up the valley. The afternoon is the Hakone loop: the ropeway over the sulphur vents at Owakudani, and Lake Ashi below it, where Fuji appears across the water when the cloud lifts — most reliably early in the day. The night is at an onsen ryokan, with a bath before dinner and dinner served in the traditional order.

South by shinkansen to the old capital, which takes the morning. The afternoon is for Fushimi Inari — the trick is to keep walking: past the first few hundred torii the tour groups turn back and the mountain path becomes quiet. Evening in the Pontocho lanes or along the Kamo river, where the restaurants put out platforms in the warmer months. Overnight in Kyoto.

Kinkaku-ji at opening, when the gold reflects off still water and before the coaches arrive. Then west to Arashiyama for the bamboo grove and Tenryu-ji's garden, which is the older and better of the two. Late afternoon back east, finishing in Gion as the lanterns come on — the lanes below Yasaka Shrine are the ones worth walking slowly. Overnight in Kyoto.

A short train south to Nara for the morning: Todai-ji, where the Great Buddha sits in the largest wooden building most people will ever enter, and the deer that have the run of the park around it. Afternoon at Kasuga Taisha's stone lanterns or the old merchant lanes of Naramachi, then back to Kyoto for the last evening. Overnight in Kyoto.

A last morning in the old capital — a temple you missed, or Nishiki Market for something to take home — before the transfer for your onward flight.