A week is enough time to see several of the classic road trip areas around Tokyo without feeling rushed. Here’s one way to structure a 7-day self-drive itinerary, which you can adjust based on your interests and pace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rather than fixed daily distances, think of a week as roughly three stages: a couple of days near Mt. Fuji and Hakone, a few days exploring the coast or mountains further out, and a final stretch heading back toward Tokyo. Exact pacing will depend on how much time you want at each stop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Start by picking up your car and heading toward the Fuji Five Lakes area<\/a>, spending a night near the lakes if possible to catch early morning views. From there, it’s a short drive to Hakone<\/a> for onsen, museums, and views across Lake Ashi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Continue south to the Izu Peninsula<\/a> for a change of scenery, trading mountains for coastline, seafood, and more hot spring towns along the water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With a week to work with, you can either take a slower route back through the mountains, or extend further toward Nagano<\/a> if you’d rather prioritize alpine scenery over the coast. Choose based on which landscape interests you more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Leave enough time on your last day to return your rental car without rushing, especially if you’re catching a flight. Building in a buffer for traffic or an unplanned stop is generally a good idea on any final travel day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Booking accommodation in advance for popular onsen towns is worth doing, especially during weekends and peak seasons. It also helps to keep at least one day loosely planned in case you want to linger somewhere longer than expected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If a week feels like too much or too little, see our 14-day<\/a> or shorter weekend route<\/a> guides for other options, or our cost guide<\/a> for budgeting help.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A week is enough time to see several of the classic road trip areas around Tokyo without feeling rushed. Here’s one way to structure a 7-day self-drive itinerary, which you can adjust based on your interests and pace. A Sample 7-Day Structure Rather than fixed daily distances, think of a week as roughly three stages: […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":45,"template":"","travel_area":[],"travel_type":[12],"travel_season":[],"class_list":["post-44","mg_travel","type-mg_travel","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","travel_type-road-trip"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/monthly-go.com\/en\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/mg_travel\/44","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\/44\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":71,"href":"https:\/\/monthly-go.com\/en\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/mg_travel\/44\/revisions\/71"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/monthly-go.com\/en\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/monthly-go.com\/en\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"travel_area","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/monthly-go.com\/en\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/travel_area?post=44"},{"taxonomy":"travel_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/monthly-go.com\/en\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/travel_type?post=44"},{"taxonomy":"travel_season","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/monthly-go.com\/en\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/travel_season?post=44"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Days 3-4: The Izu Peninsula<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Days 5-6: Head Back Inland or Further Out<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Day 7: Return to Tokyo<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Tips for a One-Week Trip<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Want More or Less Time?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n