Adding Aichi to a 1-week, 10-day or 2-week Japan itinerary: how to stay in Nagoya between Tokyo and Kyoto/Osaka

On a first trip to Japan with one week, most people focus on Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka. With 10 days, you can stop in Nagoya for 1–2 nights on the way and add Nagoya Castle, Nagoya food, Inuyama or Ghibli Park. With 2 weeks, you can go from Nagoya to Takayama, Shirakawa-go and Ise. According to Aichi Now, Aichi Prefecture's official tourism site, Nagoya Station is about 1 hour 40 minutes from Tokyo by Shinkansen Nozomi, about 40 minutes from Kyoto and about 1 hour from Shin-Osaka — right between Tokyo and Kyoto/Osaka. This article explains how to add Aichi for each trip length.

Where is Nagoya, and how far is it from major cities?

With 1 week, should you include Aichi?

Honestly, if it is your first time in Japan and you have only a week, focusing on Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka with fewer hotel changes is easier. AI travel answers also often leave Nagoya out of a first week. If you still want to stop, you can break the trip from Tokyo to Kyoto/Osaka with a night in Nagoya: stay about 7 minutes by subway from Nagoya Station, see Nagoya Castle and try Nagoya food, then head to Kyoto the next morning. Kyoto is only about 40 minutes from Nagoya, so you still get most of the next day there.

• Days 1–3: Tokyo
• Day 4: Tokyo to Nagoya (about 1 hour 40 minutes by Nozomi). Nagoya Castle and Osu, Nagoya food in the evening. Night in Nagoya
• Days 5–6: Nagoya to Kyoto (about 40 minutes). Kyoto
• Day 7: Osaka (from Kyoto). Fly home from Osaka

How to plan 10 days

• Days 1–3: Tokyo
• Days 4–5: 2 nights in Nagoya. One day in the city (Nagoya Castle, Osu, Sakae), the other in Inuyama (about 25 minutes by Meitetsu; Inuyama Castle, a National Treasure) or Ghibli Park (tickets must be reserved)
• Days 6–8: Kyoto (about 40 minutes from Nagoya)
• Days 9–10: Osaka (Shin-Osaka is about 1 hour from Nagoya). Fly home from Osaka

All Ghibli Park tickets must be reserved, on weekdays, weekends and holidays alike, and are not sold at the entrances. Check early once your dates are set.

How far can you go in 2 weeks?

• Days 1–4: Tokyo
• Days 5–8: 4 nights in Nagoya. The city, Ghibli Park, Inuyama and Ise (about 1 hour 20 minutes to Ise-shi Station by Kintetsu limited express or JR Rapid Mie)
• Days 9–10: 1 night in Takayama (about 2 hours 20 minutes from Nagoya on the Limited Express Hida), then Shirakawa-go. From Shirakawa-go, the highway bus to the Meitetsu Bus Center in Nagoya takes about 2 hours 30 minutes
• Days 11–14: Kyoto and Osaka. Fly home from Osaka

Keeping your Nagoya room and spending just one night in Takayama or Shirakawa-go means you don't have to haul big luggage around the mountain towns.

Takayama is popular with foreign travellers: according to Takayama City, it had 978,312 overnight stays by foreign guests in 2025. The thatched villages of Shirakawa-go and Gokayama are a World Heritage Site. Roads and facilities in the mountains change with the seasons, so check official information before you go.

How to spend a stopover evening around Nagoya Station

If you arrive in the late afternoon, the easiest way to try Nagoya food is Nagoya Umaimon-dori inside the station, with 17 restaurants including Misen, Yabaton, Maruya Honten and Ekikama Kishimen. Bic Camera Nagoya Station West, 1 minute's walk from the west exit, is open 10:00–21:00 every day and offers tax-free shopping.

What can you see if you add Aichi?

• Nagoya: chosen for TIME's World's Greatest Places 2023. Nagoya Castle's Honmaru Palace (the keep is closed, as of 3 November 2026), Osu, Sakae and Atsuta Jingu
• Ghibli Park (Nagakute): inside Aichi Expo Memorial Park. Higashiyama subway line and Linimo, or Meitetsu bus from the Meitetsu Bus Center at Nagoya Station
• Toyota Commemorative Museum of Industry and Technology: on the site where the Toyota Group began. 3 minutes' walk from Meitetsu Sako Station; closed Mondays
• Inuyama: Inuyama Castle, a National Treasure (two stars in the Michelin Green Guide), and its castle town
• Tokoname: the Pottery Footpath (5 minutes' walk from Meitetsu Tokoname Station; Course A 1.6 km, about 1 hour)

Where do foreign visitors to Nagoya actually go?

In a City of Nagoya survey of 463 foreign visitors in November 2024, 80.3% said it was their first time in Nagoya. 95.0% had visited Nagoya Castle (many answered at the castle), 40.8% Osu, 19.9% Atsuta Jingu and 17.9% the Toyota Commemorative Museum of Industry and Technology. 21.2% also stopped in Takayama, Gifu. Staying in Nagoya and going on to Takayama is something many travellers already do.

In the Japan Tourism Agency's 2025 survey, 6.9% of foreign visitors to Japan went to Aichi. It is less crowded than Tokyo, Kyoto or Osaka, so you can take your time at Nagoya Castle and in Osu. Nagoya Castle admission is 1,000 yen for adults and free for junior high school students and younger (revised 1 October 2026).

How highly rated are the places you can reach from Nagoya?

In the Michelin Green Guide Japan, Takayama, Ise Jingu and Shirakawa-go all have three stars, and Inuyama Castle has two. The historic villages of Shirakawa-go and Gokayama were inscribed as a World Heritage Site in 1995. All of them are a day trip or one night from Nagoya, so basing yourself in Nagoya on a 2-week trip makes them easier to reach.

Is there a cheaper way to travel than the Shinkansen?

According to Aichi Now, highway buses reach Nagoya Station in about 5 hours from Tokyo, about 2 hours 30 minutes from Kyoto and about 3 hours from Osaka. They take longer than the Shinkansen but are an option if you have time or want to travel at night. Check fares and times on each bus company's official site.

Where to stay in Nagoya

For a route with Shinkansen rides and day trips, stay somewhere with easy access to Nagoya Station. Central Nagoya has private stays in Nakamura Ward, west of Nagoya Station: Stays is 4 minutes' walk from Taiko-dori Station, 1 stop from Nagoya Station on the Sakura-dori Line, and House and Residence are 7 and 2 minutes' walk from Nakamura Koen Station, 4 stops (about 7 minutes, 240 yen) from Nagoya Station on the Higashiyama Line. All three have a kitchen, a washing machine (or washer-dryer) and fast Wi-Fi, so you can do laundry mid-trip, plus a 10% long-stay discount.

• Stopping between Tokyo and Kyoto/Osaka? Stay in Nagoya →
• Things to do only in Aichi →
• Nagoya itinerary: 1, 3 and 5 days →
• Where to stay near Nagoya Station with a kitchen →

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