Two things decide a short trip: how much free time your arrival and departure times really leave you — something no guide can work out for you — and which area is the best base for you.
Tell us when you arrive and when you leave. We will tell you how many hours you really get to enjoy the city, day by day, once the transfers and your own breaks are set aside.
These are free hours, not a list of sights. We do not know your flight, the queues, opening times or how long it takes to get from one place to another.
Rank what matters most to you, from one to three things, and tick anything you want to avoid. We compare the areas the guide describes and explain why each one fits, catch included.
It sorts what the guide says; it does not score neighbourhoods. It does not look at hotels, today’s prices, safety or accessibility, and it only knows the areas the guide describes.
Every rating comes from what the guide’s table says in words, and the sentence is shown next to it. What the guide does not say is not scored.
Who each one is for and what the catch is, in the guide’s own words.
Arriving late or leaving early: the trains and all the buses start here.
The catch: The shrines are a bus ride or a half-hour walk uphill, and the area is plain and quiet at night.
Inns and the historic hotel close to the bridge, a short walk to the shrines before the crowds.
The catch: Few places to eat in the evening; most restaurants close early.
The lake, the falls and the mountains at the door, and cool air in summer.
The catch: Cold most of the year, a long bus ride from the station, and a slow road down on autumn weekends.
Large hot-spring hotels along a river gorge, a short train ride from Nikko.
The catch: A resort of big hotels, some of them closed and empty, away from the shrines and the lake.
How much daylight there is in Nikko each month
Sunrise and sunset in Nikko, on its own clock and with the seasonal time change already applied. It is what decides how much fits into a day, and it swings far more than people expect.
The longest day is in June — 14 h 39 min of daylight — and the shortest in December, with 9 h 40 min. That is a 4 h 59 min swing between them.
1–2 days in May / October / November come to roughly 10 h 15 min to 28 h 12 min of daylight, depending on the month you pick and how long you stay.
| Month | Sunrise | Sunset | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 06:52 | 16:47 | 9 h 54 min |
| February | 06:30 | 17:20 | 10 h 50 min |
| March | 05:53 | 17:47 | 11 h 54 min |
| April | 05:08 | 18:14 | 13 h 6 min |
| May | 04:34 | 18:40 | 14 h 6 min |
| June | 04:21 | 19:01 | 14 h 39 min |
| July | 04:33 | 19:00 | 14 h 27 min |
| August | 04:57 | 18:34 | 13 h 36 min |
| September | 05:22 | 17:51 | 12 h 28 min |
| October | 05:47 | 17:06 | 11 h 19 min |
| November | 06:18 | 16:33 | 10 h 15 min |
| December | 06:45 | 16:26 | 9 h 40 min |
Worked out for Nikko from its position and its time zone (Asia/Tokyo). The times are approximate — the sun shifts a couple of minutes from one year to the next — and they leave out twilight, which adds some light before and after. Each month is worked out from its 15th, the day that looks most like the month as a whole.
Give it the days you have just worked out and Joru builds the whole trip: what to see each day, in what order, and how long it takes to get between them. With real places and real forecasts, not invented ones.
Free for one destination of up to three days, on Android and iPhone.
