After reading this entire subreddit and watching (almost) every Youtube video on Japan walking tours, my wife and I spent an amazing 3 weeks in Japan in May 2025. Stop scrolling and use this itinerary for your own walking tour.
Shinjuku City, Tokyo: Beautiful city. Highlights include an early morning walk through Meiji Jingu and Yoyogi Park, in one of the most pedestrian-friendly big cities. However, this trip was focused mostly on nature walks so our stay in Tokyo was short.
Hakone: We took the Romance Car from Tokyo to Hakone and spent an amazing two nights at a historic Ryokan. Highlights include the very quiet evenings, Gora Park, the Open Air Museum, and a very early morning walk in Onshi-Hakone Park to view Mt Fuji, before taking the touristy Pirate Ship, and Ropeway (which were fabulous). For being super touristy, this place was gorgeous. We used the gender-separated public onsen, which was amazing.
Nakasendo Trail: We spent 4 days walking between post towns Nakasugawa, Magome, Tsumago, Nagiso, Kiso-Fukushima, and Narai. The forest walks and waterfalls were spectacular, but the best views were near the small villages surrounded by rice fields and the beautiful Japanese countryside. Typical morning walks were only 4-5 hours, with slow lunches, and a soak in the onsen after a quiet dinner. We packed very light for this trip and had no trouble with our 12lb day packs. The trails were very quiet, and food and drink options were plentiful with a bit of planning.
Kanazawa: One of the prettiest gardens in all of Japan is Kenrokuen and we walked every part of that garden. This was a large city, and so our stay was short.
Kyoto: We spent 4 days in Kyoto, and for being a large city it was incredible. A top highlight was a quiet bike ride right along the Kamo River to the botanical garden…, one of our favorite bike rides anywhere, and eating lunch at the very busy Nishiki Market. We walked through a dozen amazing gardens, parks, and shrines, and enjoyed delicious food at many small restaurants.
Kumono Kodo: We spent 5 days on a 75 km pilgrimage walk on a gorgeous forest path, walking between very old moss-covered shrines and quiet mountain streams. Reservations are organized by the Tanabe City Kumono Tourism Bureau, and you must plan many months in advance in order to choose the best locations right near the trail. If you want to be surrounded by some of the best scenery in rural Japan, start planning your trip now. All of the Japanese people (and most of the other visitors) we met along the way were friendly, happy, and kind. We took a few wrong turns, hiked in a downpour, and once had trouble finding an ATM, but enjoyed every minute of it! Thanks Reddit.
by propenal