Kamakura

What the guides say about Kamakura

A fourth day changes things, because it buys you the one thing three days can't, a trip out of the city. Kamakura is an hour south, with the Great Buddha, hillside temples linked by hiking trails and a coastal tram. Hakone is the classic mountain-and-onsen loop with Fuji views. Nikko is the most spectacular shrine complex in the country. The day trips from Tokyo guide weighs all three against each other, and with five or more days the 7-day itinerary shows how a day trip fits into a fuller trip without crowding it.

Kamakura is a milder choice but a good one. The temple gardens at Engaku-ji and Tokei-ji turn from late November into early December, and the crowds are lighter than in spring. The Kamakura day trip guide plans the route from the JR Yokosuka line, and the day trips guide covers both in context, plus the Hakone option if you'd rather see Fuji from a mountain than from a city park.

Kamakura was Japan's capital for roughly 150 years in the medieval period, and it's spent the centuries since turning into a seaside temple town an hour from central Tokyo. The JR Yokosuka line runs there direct from Tokyo Station, and the Shonan-Shinjuku line does the same from Shinjuku and Shibuya, both in about an hour and both on a Suica.