Japan is the most rewarding and most demanding country in Asia. Three nights in Singapore on the way home turns a wonderful, exhausting trip into a balanced one — and it usually costs less than flying direct.
This is the reverse of our usual advice, and Japan is the reason.
Most multi-centres put the city first and the beach last. Japan inverts it, because Japan itself is the demanding half — you'll walk fifteen kilometres a day, navigate a rail network in a language you don't read, and be up at six for the temples. Singapore afterwards is where you stop: English-speaking, effortless, a hotel pool and hawker centres. Coming home via Singapore also breaks a thirteen-hour flight into two, which matters more on the return leg than the outbound.
Fourteen nights: Tokyo, the bullet train to Kyoto, then home via Singapore. Open-jaw, so nothing is retraced.
1The largest metropolitan area on earth, and a collection of towns rather than a city. Five nights is the minimum.
Where you stay: Shinjuku for transport links, Asakusa for old Tokyo and better value, Ginza for calm.
Getting there: 13 hours direct to Haneda, which is far closer to the centre than Narita.
2A thousand years of capital, two thousand temples, and everything worth seeing is best at seven in the morning.
Where you stay: Higashiyama to walk to the temples before breakfast, or downtown for restaurants.
Getting there: 2h 15m by bullet train from Tokyo. A rail pass pays off across this itinerary.
3The decompression leg. Everything is easy, everyone speaks English, and the food is superb and cheap.
Where you stay: Chinatown or Kampong Glam for value and character; Marina Bay for the icon.
Getting there: 7 hours from Osaka or Tokyo to Singapore, then 13 hours home.
Everything below is quoted up front. Nothing appears after you've paid a deposit.
Guide prices per person, two sharing, outside school holidays. The hotel standard is the biggest single variable.
| Standard | What that means | Guide price pp |
|---|---|---|
| 4-star | Good business hotels in Japan, comfortable Singapore hotel | £2,999 |
| 4-star plus | Upgraded Tokyo and Kyoto hotels, one night in a ryokan with kaiseki dinner | £3,899 |
| 5-star | Landmark hotels throughout, ryokan at Hakone, Marina Bay Sands | £5,999 |
Japanese hotel rooms are small by British standards at every price point — that's normal, not a downgrade. The upgrade we'd push is one night in a traditional ryokan with a kaiseki dinner and an onsen; it's the single most memorable night of most Japan trips.
Late March to early April for cherry blossom, and October to November for autumn colour and the clearest skies.
Blossom timing shifts year to year and firms up only a fortnight ahead, so book flexible fares if that's the aim. Autumn is our pick: warm days, low humidity, spectacular colour in Kyoto through the second half of November, and the best odds of seeing Fuji. Summer is hot and very humid with a June rainy season. Winter is cold, bright, quiet and much cheaper. Singapore is 27–32°C every day of the year.
We'll build the rail routing, cost the pass properly, and write the payment plan out in full.
On this itinerary, usually yes — Tokyo to Kyoto and back would nearly cover it on its own. We cost it both ways before booking.
Less than people fear. Station signage is bilingual, translation apps work well, and people go out of their way to help.
You can have a beach — Bali or Langkawi work too. Singapore is the easiest possible landing after Japan and needs no further internal travel.
Ten, split five and five. Anything less and the thirteen-hour flight starts to look poor value.
Similar shapes, and the ones people most often weigh up alongside it.
Same approach, different shape. All reshapeable around your dates.
12 nights · Nov–Mar · from £1,849pp
12 nights · Apr–Oct · from £1,749pp
13 nights · Nov–Mar · from £1,649pp
13 nights · Nov–Mar · from £2,099pp
13 nights · Dec–Mar · from £1,599pp
14 nights · Apr–Oct · from £1,849pp
