A Stress-free Nikko Trip

Nikko is an easy day trip from Tokyo, has several sights designated as UNESCO World Heritage, and is surrounded by hills and lakes. A perfect storm, you might think. Yet it would be a shame to miss it, just because of its huge crowding potential. So, after having been there, here are my tips for a stress-free Nikko trip.

I’ve just returned from my our main holiday this year, an autumnal trip to Japan, and before I tackle a gargantuan post on our route and on beautiful sports reachable by public transport in Tohoku, I am going to write on Nikko first.

There is no doubt that Nikko isn’t anything but fabulous, and if you are flying into Tokyo, Nikko makes a great trip out into nature -a and some UNESCO world Heritage sites mostly associated with the Edo Period.

We visited on a Saturday in peak autumn leaves season, and no, we did not have a crowd-free trip. But there were some things we did well, which left to a relatively stress-free trip, so here’ s how I would visit Nikko next time.

Things to Consider for a stress-free Nikko trip

Nikko is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, one of 26 in Japan, and one of the closest to Tokyo. Tokyo has just one site, the Tokyo NAtional Museum of Western Art, being part of UNESCO’s Le Corbusier ensemble.

So, Nikko gets busy, incredibly busy. The weekend we visited, a Saturday with good weather during autumn leaves season, the crowds were big, especially at Nikko Toshogu Shrine. As a result, there were large traffic jams in town, and trains to Tokyo and Utsunomiya were incredibly crowded.

But I think you shouldn’t skip Nikko because of crowds. Nikko is at nearly 600m, so you may experience snow in winter. Spring brings cherry blossom, if not at the main sights which is mainly cedar and pine forest, then at the scenic Nikko-Kaido, a 15km road section between Utsunomiya lines with Cherry trees

Spring and summer are cooler than in Tokyo, and offer more hiking, plus summer festivals in Imaichi and Kinugawa ONsen (Ryuo Matsuri). Autumn brings stunning colours and is perhaps the busiest time for Nikko, especially on weekends, but you get plenty of group tours passing through, so plan your visit wisely. Below is a route suggestion to minimise crowds, but the bottom line is: visit Toshogu Shrine first and as early as you can!

What to See: Morning

My top advice is to start early. If you would like to venture out into the countryside, you will definitely need two days, so this post is on the sights in the town of Nikko. For nature and onsen, I would venture North on the Tobu-Kinugawa and Aizu Lines and pick an onsen town – Kinugawa is the obvious one, but its onsen hotels look rather 1980’s construction sin, but the facilities are good. There is a string of onsen towns on the railway lines all the way to Aizu-Wakamatsu – another lovely town to visit, but more on that later.

Arrive as early as you can at Tobu-Nikko or JR Nikko and make your way to Toshogu Shrine. The easiest is a direct bus Shinkyo Bridge, and almost every bus leaving the train station forecourt will stop there. You can pay cash or with your IC card, no need to pre-buy anything.

Nikko Tosho-gu

Shinkyo Bridge ridge while it’s fairly empty, then climb up to Toshogu Shrine – don’t get side tracked by Rinno-ji, you will visit here later. Just head to the Five-Storied Pagoda, a famous landmark shrouded in dense forest.

The ticket office is there and opens at 8am. As the day goes on, the ticket office may reduce the tickets they are selling, because it gets incredibly crowded, and as a result, you may have to queue for a ticket for ages instead of sightseeing. So, go to Toshogu first. It’s also the one with the most climbing, so go there while you are rested. The entry fee is 1600JPY, or 2400 with the Treasury.

Soon after passing the gate, you will see the Shinkyusha sub shrine with the famous Three Monkeys to your left, then monumental stairs leading to the Yomeimon Gate and the “main” shrine building.

Go right to enter the Kairo Corridor, admire the minuscule but famous “sleeping cat” carving without crowds and make your way to the “Inner Shrine” with the Mausoleum of Tokugawa Ieasu, complete with a wish-granting tree and strong omikuji and omamori business.

If you aren’t that good with stairs, better skip the Inner Shrine and go as far as the Sleeping Cat, then turn around and find a sunny spot somewhere.

You can enter many of the on-site buildings, but to be honest, the Gesamtkunstwerk of the whole Shrine complex, from the Five-Storied Pagoda to the main compound is what is so impressive here.

You can view parts of Toshogu for free, like the Five-Storied Pagoda, and although the entry fee is more than most of Kyoto’s famous temples, don’t skip it. The architecture becomes really ornate beyond the Omotemon Gate only, which is a paid area, and if it weren’t for the crowds, you could easily spend two hours seeing everything at Toshogu.

Nikko Futarasan-jinja

Frm Toshogu Shrine, there are several paths and small roads to Futarasan-jinja, a very large shrine with a totally different tone. It has been here much earlier, from the early Heian Period, and was founded by a Buddhist Scholar when Syncretism was still very much practised in Japan.

The shrine suffered greatly during the Sengoku and benefitted when Toshogu-jinja was built in the neighbourhood and the shrine rebuilt. The pretty Shinkyo Bridge is a historical approach to the shrine, and parts of the shrine are on Lake Chuzen-ji and Mount Nantai. It’s part of the Nikko UNESCO Ensemble as well.

In terms of architecture, it looks pretty much like the standard lacquer red Japanese shrine, but it has cute rabbit statues and is in a gorgeous setting of cedar trees, I think most group tours skip it, but it’s on the walking route- you may as well take a look.

Rinnoji Taiyu-in

If you have the energy, walk on a few hundred metres into the forest and see the Mausoleum of Tokugawa Iemitsu (3rd Tokugawa Shogun) at Taiyu-in, officially belonging to Rinno-ji temple.

Here, the crowds considerably thin out, and you can enjoy the hill with its temples and shrines at a much slower pace. Taiyu-in is more black, red and gold buildings in a similar vein to Toshogu Shrine, but with much fewer crowds, since it’s a fair stroll and there is a separate entry fee.

So if you prefer a Toshogu Shrine-type but didn’t quite make it before it got busy, this is your chance. I did not visit because we simply were running out of time – the walk is a pleasant one, through a cedar forest.

Lunch

The main street connecting The two train stations of Nikko and Shinkyo Bridge is the obvious tourist spot to return for lunch, but I much preferred the somewhat quieter stretch of road towards Chuzen-ji.

We wanted to visit the Kanaya Hotel Historic House anyway, so we had a break at the Cottage Inn and Bakery run by Kanaya Hotel. Or head to Pizza Linne next door.

The main drag has a very aesthetic looking restaurant called Meguri Coffee in an old souvenir shop, and it’s vegan, a rare sight in Japan.

What to See: Afternoon

After your lunch, consider some less busy sights, like the Nikko Tamozawa Imperial Villa Memorial Park or a small hike through the Jizo-lined Kanmangafuchi Abyss. If you want to see the main sights, now is the time to go to Rinno-ji while hopefully, the crowds have moved on to Toshogu Shrine!

Rinno-ji Temple

Rinnoji Temple is a massive complex and the third of Nikko’s UnESCO World Heritage sites, and belongs to the ancient Tendai School of Buddhism. The main building is the newly renovated Sanbutsudo, the Three Buddha Hall, an impressive sight in its fresh red colours.

We skipped it and went to the Treasure Museum instead, mostly to admire its small traditional strolling garden, which is a great spot for autumn leaves, and has relatively few visitors. The museum is also a nice place to sit and rest for a bit.

There’s definitely a different pace to the tour groups and streams of visitors outside. Now, what would be really lovely here would be a small cafe!

We spent most of the time admiring the garden and taking lots of photographs of the stunning foliage. The gardens are a well-known autumn foliage spot, but it appears it hasn’t transpired to the majority of visitors yet.

Matsuyashiki Villa and Garden

You now have the choice of walking back the busy, shop-lined main road to the station, or take small detour to Matsuyashiki Villa and Gardens. This is a private garden open seasonally, and it is basically unknown, so it will be a great crowd-free cherry blossom or autumn leaves viewing spot. Just check opening times on their web site before heading there.

Alternatively, stroll along the main road which is lines with souvenir shops, cafes, and restaurants. Lunch time did not look bad there, but when we visited, there were long queues forming as early as 17.00 for many of the restaurants. If you love ceramics, some shops will sell pretty pottery from nearby Mashiko. Other than that, it’s your typical touristy strip, so we didn’t spend much time there, but walked through it rather fast.

Getting to Nikko

Nikko is well served by a variety of trains from Tokyo, and you can get there in under two hours. The most well-known is Tobu Railways from Asakusa Station. The Limited Express will get you to Nikko in under two hours, and you can book special Limited Express like the Spacia X or the Kegon for a small extra fee. The “normal” local train will take roughly an hour longer.

When we arrived, the SpaciaX was on the opposite platform, so, in mild train enthusiast fashion, I strolled over and asked to take a look. It’s nice, but I probably wouldn’t move heaven and earth to secure a seat, especially since there are so many options to get to Nikko.

On Japan Rail, you can go from Shinjuku, or Tokyo Station and change onto a local JR Line in Utsunomiya. If you have the JR Pass, this is the standard route for you.

Or, you do like us and incorporate Nikko into a greater tour and travel by the insanely scenic Aizu Railway on the Aizu Mount Express – a beautiful comfy train offering spectacular views for over two hours – then change onto a local Tobu train at Kinugawa Onsen.

Where to Stay

Well… I found prices in Nikko at the time we wanted to travel so prohibitive that we ended up not staying in Nikko. One could argue whether we should have just moved on to Tokyo in the evening, but actually, our guesthouse in Utsunomiya was one of the nicest -and cheapest- on the whole trip and we had a very lovely meal in Utsunomiya, so I am not regretting the detour via this non-touristy city.

We travelled down from Aizu-Wakamatsu, stored our bags in a coin locker at Tobu-Nikko Station and took a local train to Utsunomiya at night, and stayed in a private room at Guesthouse Kincha near Utsunomiya Station. Not only was this our cheapest accommodation on the trip ( 40Euro) but also one of the cosiest. Highly recommend it, anything similar in Imaichi (115min from Nikko) would have cost double that.

Nikko is touristy, and if you wish to stay, I recommend staying either somewhere you can walk to the major attractions easily. close to the Imperial Villa at the Turtle Inn or its Annex, or splurge on the old-fashioned classic Kanaya Hotel. This makes you independent from buses in Nikko, which are often crowded or are not running on schedule because of the snarled-up traffic. . Another listing I really liked but did not book in the end is a small rural Inn called “Cozy Inn” about 15km from Nikko’s major sights, with the owner offering shuttles to Shin-Imaichi Station.

The Small Print

I visited Nikko as part of a greater Tohoku trip in November 2025, during peak autumn leaves season. I organised and paid for this trip myself, as usual, no sponsored content here. All routes and prices are correct at the time of writing (January 2026).

This post contains some affiliate links to accommodations. I did stay at one of the accommodations suggested, see above. If you use these links to make a booking, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to yourself. Thank you for reading, and if you have any Nikko tips and experiences and are happy to share them, please let me know! If you like this post, please pin and share it.