A Nikko itinerary: the shrines, or the lake

Nikko is close enough to Tokyo to tempt a day trip, and large enough to punish the person who wants the shrines and the lake before dinner. Toshogu and the world heritage temples are one day. Lake Chuzenji and Kegon Falls sit up the Irohazaka road, and that bus is a different day, especially when the leaves are why you came.

The straightforward train is Tobu from Asakusa. A limited express takes about two hours and needs a reserved seat on top of the base fare. A slower service costs less and takes longer. JR can do the journey with a change if tickets you already hold cover the JR part. Tobu is the calmer choice from the east side of Tokyo when they do not. If you buy a pass, compare it with the buses you will actually ride. A pass that includes a lake you have decided to skip is a souvenir.

Pick a half of Nikko

If the shrines are the point, stay in the town. Shinkyo bridge, Rinno-ji, Toshogu, Futarasan. That is a full walk from a morning train, and it is a complete day. The buildings are dense and the paths between them are short. The mistake is treating them as a warm-up for the lake.

• Shrines only: a day trip is fair, including a busy weekend, if you start early and leave the mountain alone.
• The lake as well: only on a quiet weekday, and only if you accept a long day and a wait on the Irohazaka road.
• The lake as the point: sleep up there. The Nikko tourism office recommends it for the foliage weeks, so you are outside before the buses arrive.

In leaf season a bus the timetable calls short can take much longer. That is a reason to have chosen, not a reason to stand in the road. The foliage forecast puts the famous city gardens in November and early December. The high ground around Nikko turns earlier. October is an honest month to be up there, and a poor month to expect Kyoto to match it.

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The return is part of the visit

The last limited express you can still sit down on is the real closing time. A day that adds a waterfall after the shrines often ends standing on a dark train, which is a high price for one more photograph. Eat in Nikko before you board, or eat near the hotel after. Do not put a Tokyo dinner an hour after a lake you have not left.

If you stay the night above the lake, the next morning is the visit. Fewer people, and a bus down when you are finished rather than when the light fails. The shrines can be the day after, or the day you skip. Nikko is not a list you have to clear.

Tell the booking which Nikko you mean. A room in the shrine town and a sunrise at Chuzenji are separated by the same road that jammed in the afternoon. The nights decide where you wake. Here they decide the altitude.