Day Trip to Nikko

Nikko is a 2.5h train trip north of Tokyo from Asakusa station. You can buy tickets from the tourist information booths that you find around the station on the ground floor (the Lonely Planet had us looking for the basement of some building that didn't exist and if it did, was not easy to find).

The area of Nikko we visited was the world heritage site that has several shrines, temples and mausolems including that of Tokogowa Ieyasu (founder of the Tokogowa Shogunate that ruled Japan from 1600 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868).

In my opinion, we visited at the best time of the year as the mountain side was brilliant hues of gold, bronze and copper.