Tokyo’s location makes it a convenient starting point for a wide range of road trips. Within a few hours’ drive you can reach mountain scenery, hot spring towns, coastal roads, and national parks, which is why many first-time self-drive visitors choose to base themselves in or near the city before heading out. Here are a few of the most popular routes to consider.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The area around Mt. Fuji, including the Fuji Five Lakes, is one of the most rewarding short drives from Tokyo, with classic mountain views, lakeside towns, and access to hiking trails. See our full Tokyo to Mt. Fuji by Car<\/a> guide for route notes and things to see along the way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hakone is a favorite weekend destination thanks to its onsen (hot spring) ryokan, mountain scenery, and views of Mt. Fuji across Lake Ashi on clear days. It also works well as a slower-paced alternative to a packed sightseeing schedule. Read more in our Tokyo to Hakone by Car<\/a> guide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Izu Peninsula offers a coastal alternative, with ocean views, seafood, and its own hot spring towns along a more relaxed driving route south of Tokyo. It’s a good choice if you’d rather see the coastline than the mountains. Details are in our Izu Peninsula Road Trip<\/a> guide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nagano prefecture takes a bit longer to reach but rewards the drive with alpine scenery, historic towns, and, depending on the season, ski resorts or hiking trails. It’s a solid choice if you want to get further from the city and into the mountains. See our Tokyo to Nagano by Car<\/a> guide for more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Several of these areas can be linked together if you have more time. For example, Mt. Fuji and Hakone are close enough to combine into a single loop, and a longer itinerary could extend from Izu up through Fuji and into Nagano. Our 7-day<\/a> and 14-day<\/a> itinerary guides show how routes like these can fit together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Whichever route you choose, it’s worth reviewing the basics of driving in Japan, including licensing requirements and expressway tolls, before you set off. Our driving in Japan guide<\/a> and general road trip guide<\/a> are good places to start.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Tokyo’s location makes it a convenient starting point for a wide range of road trips. Within a few hours’ drive you can reach mountain scenery, hot spring towns, coastal roads, and national parks, which is why many first-time self-drive visitors choose to base themselves in or near the city before heading out. Here are a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12,"template":"","travel_area":[3],"travel_type":[12],"travel_season":[],"class_list":["post-11","mg_travel","type-mg_travel","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","travel_area-tokyo","travel_type-road-trip"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/monthly-go.com\/en\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/mg_travel\/11","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/monthly-go.com\/en\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/mg_travel"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/monthly-go.com\/en\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/mg_travel"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/monthly-go.com\/en\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/monthly-go.com\/en\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/mg_travel\/11\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":63,"href":"https:\/\/monthly-go.com\/en\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/mg_travel\/11\/revisions\/63"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/monthly-go.com\/en\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/monthly-go.com\/en\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"travel_area","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/monthly-go.com\/en\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/travel_area?post=11"},{"taxonomy":"travel_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/monthly-go.com\/en\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/travel_type?post=11"},{"taxonomy":"travel_season","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/monthly-go.com\/en\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/travel_season?post=11"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Tokyo to Hakone<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Tokyo to the Izu Peninsula<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Tokyo to Nagano<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Combining Routes Into a Longer Trip<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Before You Go<\/h2>\n\n\n\n