One day from Tokyo is enough for Toshogu and the shrines in the morning and Kegon Falls and Lake Chuzenji in the afternoon, by train and bus or on a tour. Two days is better: stay a night at the lake, in Yumoto or by the shrines, walk Senjogahara the next morning and see Toshogu before the coaches arrive.
Take an early Tobu limited express from Asakusa, about 1 hour 50 minutes to Tobu-Nikko, and aim to arrive by 9am. Take the World Heritage route bus or walk the 2 kilometres up the main street to the Shinkyo Bridge, and give Toshogu, Rinnoji and Futarasan the morning, about three hours.
After lunch in town, take the bus up the Irohazaka to Chuzenji Onsen, about 50 minutes, and spend an hour or two at Kegon Falls and the lake shore before the bus back down and a train to Tokyo in the evening. In October and early November, reverse it or skip the lake on a weekend: the mountain road jams.
If you want both the shrines and the lake without the changes and the bus queue, a coach or private day does exactly this route and has you back in Tokyo by evening. The Ginza coach gives Toshogu the most guided time; a private car lets you add Ryuzu Falls or the Jizo of Kanmangafuchi.
Which Nikko tour should you book? Every day trip from Tokyo compared
The best-selling coach day from Ginza: Toshogu with a guide, Kegon Falls and Lake Chuzenji.
Departs from Ginza, Tokyo · 10.5 hours
✓ Free cancellation up to 24 hours before
A private car with an English-speaking driver-guide from Tokyo, priced per person.
Departs from Tokyo (hotel pick-up) · 10 hours
✓ Free cancellation up to 24 hours before
A private car and English-speaking driver from Tokyo for up to six, reaching Ryuzu Falls, Yudaki Falls and Lake Yunoko as well as the shrines.
Departs from Tokyo (hotel pick-up) · 10 hours
✓ Free cancellation up to 24 hours before
Our take on each: Nikko day trip from Tokyo: Toshogu, Kegon Falls and Lake Chuzenji · Nikko private tour with an English-speaking driver-guide · Private Nikko tour from Tokyo to Ryuzu Falls and Lake Yunoko.
Day one: arrive at midday, see the Shinkyo Bridge and the Kanmangafuchi Jizo, then take the bus up to Lake Chuzenji for Kegon Falls and the boat, and sleep by the lake or at Yumoto with an onsen before dinner.
Day two: walk from Yumoto past Yudaki Falls and across Senjogahara to Ryuzu Falls in the morning, about three hours downhill, or ride an e-bike round the lake, then bus down to the shrines for the afternoon, when the morning coaches are leaving.
Three hours on e-bikes from Kegon Falls along Lake Chuzenji to the Senjogahara marsh, four riders at most.
Departs from Lake Chuzenji · 3 hours
✓ Free cancellation up to 24 hours before
Our take on each: Lake Chuzenji and Kegon Falls e-bike tour.
Hotels to look at
Eastern shore, Lake Chuzenji · 5 stars · 94 rooms
On the shore of Lake Chuzenji
The luxury choice on Lake Chuzenji: 94 rooms and suites facing the lake or Mount Nantai, with indoor and open-air hot-spring baths.
From £569 a night
Chugushi, Lake Chuzenji · 3 stars
A small inn by the lake, good value
A small inn steps from Lake Chuzenji with a hot-spring bath, kaiseki dinners and lake-view twins; good value up the mountain.
From £110 a night
Yumoto village, Yumoto Onsen · Ryokan
Milky sulphur baths at Yumoto
A long-established inn at the source of Yumoto’s milky sulphur springs, with indoor and open-air baths; for onsen lovers and hikers.
From £139 a night
Day one: shrines in the afternoon and a night by them, so you can be at Toshogu when it opens the next morning, before the coaches from Tokyo. Day two: Kinugawa Onsen for Edo Wonderland or the river boat, and a ryokan night with your own bath, or the train back to Tokyo from Kinugawa-Onsen.
A day in a rebuilt Edo-period town: ninja and oiran shows, samurai lessons and costume.
Departs from Kinugawa Onsen · Valid 1 day
✓ Free cancellation up to 24 hours before
Our take on each: Edo Wonderland tickets (Nikko Edomura).
Hotels to look at
Sannai, Nikko town · Ryokan
Inside the shrine precinct, five minutes from Toshogu
An old-style hot-spring hotel inside the shrine precinct, five minutes on foot from Toshogu; the closest you can sleep to the shrines.
From £100 a night
Shinkyo Bridge, Nikko town · 4 stars · 63 rooms
The 1873 hotel by the Shinkyo Bridge
Japan’s oldest classic resort hotel, opened in 1873 above the Shinkyo Bridge; for travellers who want history, French cooking and the shrines on foot.
From £83 a night
Kinugawa river, Kinugawa Onsen · 4 stars · 48 rooms
Hoshino Resorts' ryokan in Kinugawa
Hoshino Resorts’ ryokan on the Kinugawa: 48 rooms dressed in local crafts, some with an outdoor bath; for couples who want a polished onsen night.
From £317 a night
Add a full day of walking: Mount Nantai from Futarasan's lakeside shrine in summer, the Kirifuri plateau and falls, or the lakeside paths to Senjugahama by boat. Or slow down in Kinugawa with an afternoon at Tobu World Square's miniatures and a night at a riverside villa with its own hot-spring bath.
Hotels to look at
Kinugawa Onsen · Villa · 16 rooms
Villas with their own flowing hot-spring bath
Sixteen two-storey villas on the Kinugawa river, each with its own flowing hot-spring bath and a kitchen; private onsen for a family or group at a fair price per head.
From £175 a night
For Toshogu and one stop at the lake, yes. To walk Senjogahara or see Yumoto, and to see the shrines without the crowds, stay a night.
On a weekday, the shrines first while you are fresh. On autumn weekends, go up to the lake early before the road jams, and do the shrines in the afternoon.
By the shrines for an early start at Toshogu, at Lake Chuzenji or Yumoto for the mountains and the walks, or in Kinugawa Onsen for a ryokan with your own bath.
Sources: tobu.co.jp, japan-guide.com, getyourguide.com. Checked October 2026.
