The shape of the trip
A west-to-east arc across Japan that winds down from neon to hot springs, bookended by Hong Kong twice — once as a one-night stopover on the way out, once as a proper finale on the way home. You'll hit peak autumn colour in Kyoto, Miyajima and the countryside, and arrive in Kinosaki just as snow-crab season opens.
Zürich → Hong Kong. Departs Thu 12 Nov, 22:30. Arrives Hong Kong Fri 13 Nov, 17:35 (≈12h flight). Overnight at the airport — see hotels below.
→ Hotel: Regal Airport Hotel is 2–5 min on foot via an enclosed bridge straight from Terminal 1 arrivals — no train, no cost, no need to leave the building.
Hong Kong → Tokyo Narita. Departs Sat 14 Nov, 09:20. Arrives Narita 14:25 (≈4h flight). This lands at Narita (NRT), not Haneda — allow ~60–90 min into central Tokyo.
→ Hotel: Narita Express (N'EX) to Tokyo Station, ~55 min, ¥3,070 (~CHF 18, reserved seat) — then a ~10-min taxi to Waypoint Tsukiji, ~¥1,500 (~CHF 9). Cheaper option: Keisei Skyliner to Nippori (~40 min, ¥2,520/~CHF 15), change to the JR Yamanote Line to Shimbashi (~10 min, ¥200), then a 10-min walk or short taxi — saves ~CHF 8 but adds a change.
Hong Kong → Zürich. Departs Sun 29 Nov, 23:30. Arrives Zürich the morning of Mon 30 Nov.
Green ✓ Booked = confirmed and paid for. Everything else is still a shortlist — hotel picks and booking links are in each destination's tab, and more booking details (Booking.com links, more options per city) are coming next.
A few things sell out or need advance reservation: the ANA Blue Hangar Tour at Haneda, the Samurai Kembu show in Kyoto, your Kinosaki ryokan with crab kaiseki, Shinkansen seat reservations, and a table at Ozone in Hong Kong. See the Essentials tab for the full checklist.
Tokyo
Base yourself somewhere with character, then work the backstreets and shitamachi rather than the postcard squares. The good Tokyo is one alley off the famous one.
Waypoint Tsukiji Hotel
Booked · Sat 14–Wed 18Clean, well-run business-design hotel right by the Tsukiji Outer Market — handy for an early grazing breakfast and an easy hop to Ginza, Shimbashi's gado-shita izakaya, and the Toei/Hibiya lines.
→ Getting there: Narita Express (N'EX) to Tokyo Station, ~55 min, ¥3,070 (~CHF 18) — then a ~10-min taxi, ~¥1,500 (~CHF 9). Cheaper option: Keisei Skyliner to Nippori (~40 min, ¥2,520/~CHF 15), change to the JR Yamanote Line to Shimbashi (~10 min, ¥200), then a 10-min walk or short taxi.
ANA Blue Hangar Tour · Haneda
A free guided walk into ANA's maintenance hangar — 777s, 787s and 767s up close, engines and all. Hugely popular, books out fast; reserve online as early as you can (narration is mostly Japanese but it's all visual). Easier to book than JAL's equivalent Sky Museum tour, which is also excellent.
- SOAK — the sequence Miyashita Park rooftop; Shibuya skyline, relaxed.
- Andaz Tokyo Rooftop Bar — 52nd floor of Toranomon Hills, Tokyo Tower glowing below; less of a queue than the observation decks.
- Gen Yamamoto (Azabu) — not a rooftop, but a tiny seasonal cocktail counter that's one of the best drinks in the world. Reserve.
- Bar Trench / Bar Benfiddich — destination craft cocktails for a quieter night.
- Gado-shita izakaya under the Yūrakuchō tracks — the real after-work Tokyo.
- Tonki, Meguro — heritage tonkatsu, counter theatre.
- Monjayaki on Tsukishima's Monja Street — a proper Tokyo local dish you cook yourself.
- A neighbourhood edomae sushi counter or handmade soba-ya — ask your hotel to book a non-tourist one.
Kyoto
Kyoto in late November is the peak of the maples — and the most crowded it gets. The trick is timing: famous temples at dawn or after dark, quiet ones in between.
Shinkansen Tokyo → Kyoto, about 2h15 on the Nozomi. Reserve seats. Sit on the right-hand (D/E) side for Mt Fuji roughly 40–45 minutes out of Tokyo.
→ Hotel: Ace Hotel Kyoto is by Karasuma-Oike. From Kyoto Station, take the Karasuma subway line 2 stops to Karasuma-Oike (~5 min, ¥260/~CHF 1.50), then a 2-min walk. Or just walk the whole way (~20 min) if you want to stretch your legs after the train.
Ace Hotel Kyoto
Top pickKengo Kuma's reimagining of the old telephone exchange — playful, design-forward, and a building you'll happily hang around in. Stumptown coffee, Mr Maurice's and the PIOPIKO bar all on site.
From ~CHF 330 ●●●○Nazuna Kyoto (machiya)
AuthenticStay inside a restored wooden machiya — private, atmospheric, some with their own cypress bath. The closest thing to living in old Kyoto.
From ~CHF 300 ●●●○The Mitsui / Park Hyatt Kyoto
SplurgeTwo stunners: The Mitsui has a private thermal onsen by Nijō Castle; the Park Hyatt sits among the lanes below Kōdai-ji with the city at its feet.
From ~CHF 700 ●●●●Samurai Kembu Theater · Higashiyama
Skip the dinner-show gimmicks. Kembu is a 700-year-old sword dance — blade and folding fan moving to recited poetry — performed in an intimate basement theatre near Sanjō. An hour, English narration, and you can handle a sword and try a movement afterward. Booking advised.
- Pontochō — lantern-lit riverside alley; choose a place with prices posted, not a tout.
- Kyoto Brewing Co. taproom — excellent local craft beer, no frills.
- L'Escamoteur / Bee's Knees — characterful cocktail bars near the river.
- Nishiki Market by day for grazing — go early before the squeeze.
Hiroshima & Miyajima
One sobering, essential night in the city; one magical night on Miyajima itself — so you get the floating torii after the day-trippers have gone and the island is yours.
Kyoto → Hiroshima, about 1h40 on the Nozomi.
→ Hotel: The Sheraton Grand Hiroshima sits right on top of the station's South Exit — a 2-min walk, no train or bus needed.
Hiroshima · night 1
Sheraton Grand Hiroshima (right at the station, polished and easy) or a central business hotel near the Peace Park. You only need a convenient base.
From ~CHF 160 ●●○○Miyajima · night 2
Do thisIwasō — an 1850s ryokan in the Maple Valley with its own onsen and kaiseki; the island's classic. Alternatives: Kurayado Iroha or Kinsuikan on the waterfront. Staying over is the whole point — the lit torii at night, near-empty lanes, deer in the lamplight.
From ~CHF 350 ●●●●There's a small ¥100 island visitor tax collected at the ferry terminal, separate from any rail pass. The five-storey pagoda is under roof renovation through Dec 2026 — everything else is open.
Kinosaki Onsen
The countryside antidote. A 1,300-year-old hot-spring town on the Sea of Japan where the whole place works like one big ryokan — you stroll between seven bathhouses in yukata and geta, lanterns on the canal, snow crab on the table.
Miyajima → Hiroshima → Shin-Osaka on the Shinkansen (~1.5h), then the limited express "Kounotori/Kinosaki" up through northern Hyōgo (~2.5–3h). About 5 hours all in — a scenic, relaxed transfer into deep countryside. Travel light; forward the big bags ahead (see Essentials).
→ Hotel: Nishimuraya Honkan is a flat 5-min walk from Kinosaki Onsen Station — the whole town is walkable. No taxi needed; most ryokan can also send someone to meet the train if you call ahead with your arrival time.
- Sotoyu meguri — your ryokan gives you a yukata, geta and a free pass to all seven public baths. Hop between them along the willow-lined Ōtani canal.
- Snow crab opens late November — you're right at the start of matsuba crab season; ryokan dinners become full crab kaiseki (sashimi, grilled, hot-pot).
- Autumn on Mt Daishiyama — the ropeway climbs through red leaves to Onsen-ji temple and a Sea-of-Japan view.
- It caters to visitors but never feels like a trap — the click of geta on stone at night is the real thing.
Nishimuraya Honkan
Top pickThe town's grand old inn — impeccable service, private gardens, museum-grade tatami rooms and a crab kaiseki to remember. The full ryokan ceremony.
From ~CHF 450 ●●●●Morizuya · Mikiya · Tsukimotoya
Mid-rangeLovely family-run inns right on the water, several with private baths, all including yukata + the bath pass + a crab dinner in November.
From ~CHF 260 ●●●○Alpine villages: swap in Takayama + Shirakawa-gō (thatched UNESCO farmhouses in the Japan Alps) — but it reroutes via Nagoya. Temple stay: Kōyasan — sleep in a monastery (shukubo), morning prayers, the lantern-lit Okunoin cemetery — and it's an easy hop down to Osaka.
Osaka
A one-night food finale that also sets you up for the airport. Japan's kuidaore ("eat till you drop") city — and the eating is best one street back from the famous neon.
Kinosaki → Osaka by limited express (~2.5–3h), arriving Shin-Osaka or Osaka Station.
→ Hotel: If staying near Namba, take the Midosuji subway line from Shin-Osaka/Osaka Station south to Namba (~15 min, ¥280/~CHF 1.60). For Umeda, you're already there — Osaka Station and Umeda are the same hub.
Next morning, Namba → Kansai Airport (KIX) on the Nankai Line (Airport Express ~45 min, ¥930/~CHF 5.50, or the faster Rapi:t ~38 min, ¥1,450/~CHF 8.50), then a short KIX → HKG hop (~3h45, Cathay Pacific or HK Express) — this one's not booked yet, still to confirm.
Near Namba or Umeda
Stay near Namba for direct airport access and the food. Design splurge: W Osaka (a black Tadao Ando monolith). Otherwise a sharp mid-range by the station does the job for one night.
From ~CHF 150 ●●○○- See Dōtonbori's Glico-sign neon once — then turn off it.
- Eat in the backstreets: Hōzenji Yokochō (a lantern alley of tiny counters), Shinsekai for kushikatsu, or Ura-Namba / Fukushima for local izakaya.
- Osaka specialties: takoyaki, Osaka-style okonomiyaki, kushikatsu — street-stall, not sit-down-tourist.
Itami Sky Park
If there's daylight to spare, the observation park at Osaka-Itami (ITM) runs right along the runway threshold — one of Japan's best plane-spotting spots, jets passing low overhead. A great late-afternoon detour.
Hong Kong · the finale
This is your second Hong Kong of the trip — the first was just an airport overnight on the way out. This time it's the real thing: harbour, dim sum, and some of the best urban hiking and rooftop bars on earth. Late November is the perfect season here — warm, dry, clear.
KIX → HKG lands afternoon of Thu 26 Nov. Airport Express into Kowloon/Central is ~24 min. You'll fly home from here — LX139, 23:30 on Sun 29 Nov, landing Zürich the morning of the 30th.
→ Hotel: Airport Express to Hong Kong Station (Central), ~24 min, HK$110/~CHF 13. For The Upper House (Admiralty), it's then one stop on the MTR Island Line to Admiralty (~3 min, HK$5), or a 10-min taxi (~HK$80/~CHF 9.50) — either is easier than walking with bags. Rosewood or The Murray/Hyatt Centric guests: ask your hotel concierge about the free Airport Express shuttle bus, several nearby hotels are on the route.
The Upper House
Top pickNo signage, no lobby fuss — a serene, design-led sanctuary over Pacific Place with huge windows and harbour views. The antidote to Hong Kong's intensity.
From ~CHF 480 ●●●●Rosewood Hong Kong
HarbourfrontDramatic, art-filled, right on the water with the island skyline framed in your window — and excellent bars (DarkSide, the Asaya rooftop).
From ~CHF 550 ●●●●The Murray / Hyatt Centric
Style & valueThe Murray — Norman Foster modernism with the Popinjays rooftop. Hyatt Centric Victoria Harbour — the Cruise rooftop + an infinity pool, at a friendlier price.
From ~CHF 250 ●●●○- Ozone — 118F of the ICC, the world's highest bar; do the arrival night here.
- Popinjays — The Murray, elegant Central skyline.
- Cruise — Hyatt Centric, North Point; both IFC and ICC towers in frame.
- SìpSip (Causeway Bay) & Cardinal Point (Central) — cooler, lower-key, golden hour.
- Yum cha / dim sum — a morning institution; go where the trolleys are loud.
- Roast goose, wonton noodles, clay-pot rice — the Cantonese trinity.
- Cha chaan teng — milk tea, pineapple bun, the everyday HK café.
- Dai pai dong — open-air street kitchens; wok-fire and cheap beer.
For old-school plane lovers: the former Kai Tak runway (now a cruise terminal & park) is where airliners once threaded the famous "checkerboard" turn between apartment blocks — worth a look for the history. HKG itself is a spotting heavyweight.