Hello everyone !
It’s been a while since I’ve been browsing posts on this sub and watching various YouTube videos, and I’ve finally decided to go to Japan for 18 days with my partner! It’s a childhood dream come true.
We’ve spent weeks fine-tuning our itinerary and have a few questions for you.
We booked two tickets from April 29 to May 17 as they were reasonably priced. Of course, it’s Golden Week, and I’ve heard that all tourist spots will be very crowded.
We decided to stay the first week in Tokyo since it’s said to be less crowded due to workers returning home. Again, I’m not sure if that’s true, hence my post here.
We’re a couple in our thirties who enjoy partying and are food enthusiasts. So far, on Google Maps, we’ve bookmarked over 65 restaurants and more than 60 places to visit.
Hotel luxury isn’t a priority for us, as long as it’s clean and close to a metro/train station. We want to cut down on hotel expenses to overspend on food. We think a budget of $100 to $180 CAD per night would be reasonable. Feel free to recommend hotels that left an impression on you.
We used the JR Pass calculator and concluded that it wouldn’t be necessary. We’ll buy our Shinkansen tickets online or at the ticket machine and the rest will be paid with our IC cards. We’ve also got two e-sims with Airalo due to a good promotion.
# Itinerary:
**April 29 – May 5: Tokyo**
We have a lot planned for this city, so I won’t list everything. And to reassure you, no, we’re not going to Disneyland during Golden Week.
We’ll probably stay at the same hotel for this week, looking for something near Tokyo Station or Shinjuku. I’m not sure which is better.
On our last day in Tokyo, should we send our luggage (1 carry-on each) with Yamato directly to Kyoto, considering what follows?
**May 5 – May 6: Kanazawa – Shirakawago**
This is a place we wanted to visit before the unfortunate incident earlier this year. We saw that some museums and locations were temporarily closed, but we think they might reopen by May. We’re not sure if it’s a good idea to go, but here’s our plan:
*Depart around 6 am from Tokyo, arriving around 9 am in Kanazawa:*
* D.T Suzuki Museum
* 21st Century Museum
* Kenroku-en Garden
* Higashi Chaya District
*Depart around 12 pm for Shirakawa-go, arriving around 2 pm:*
* Visit the village for about 2 hours.
Return to Kanazawa to eat and spend the night. We haven’t looked at where we could stay there. If we can’t find anything interesting, we’ll take the train to Kyoto instead of waiting until the next day. Takayama is not in our plans.
**May 6 – May 8: Kyoto**
*Depart around 8 am and arrive around 11 am in Kyoto:*
Hotel near Gion or near Arashiyama?
Is the 2-day pass worth it?
*Day 1:*
* Nishiki Market
* Gion
*Day 2:*
* Fushimi Inari
* Eikando Temple
* Kinkakuji
*In the evening, a friend from Canada will join us for the rest of the trip, from now on hotel reservations will be for 3 people.*
*Day 3:*
* Early morning at Arashiyama Bamboo Forest
* Walk along the Katsura River
* Daihikaku Senkōji Temple, greet the guardian doggo
* Iwatayama Monkey Park.
* Around 12 pm, take the train for the Yamazaki Tour (1 hour drive). Then, head to Osaka.
**May 8 – May 10: Osaka**
*Depart around 3 pm from Yamazaki Distillery and arrive around 3:30 pm in Osaka:*
We don’t think the 2-day pass is worth it; we’ll just use our IC cards for transport.
*Day 1:*
* Shin Sekai exploring
* Dotonbori fun
*Day 2:*
* Kuromon Fish Market.
* We wanted to go to Universal Studios for Super Mario/Harry Potter, but apparently, getting the express ticket is complicated and costs about $200, if I understood correctly. If it’s that expensive, we thought we’d abandon the plan and visit Katsuo-ji Temple instead
* Umeda Sky Building
* Izakaya Toyo, and other izakayas on Dotonbori.
* Also, Is Universal Citywalk worth visiting?
*Day 3:*
*Send our luggage to Tokyo.*
* Osaka Castle
* Head to Nara to explore the deer park
* Todai-ji Temple
* Try the famous mochi, and take the train to Hakone.
We’re retracing our steps because of Golden Week, we reversed our route to avoid tourist crowds. We don’t mind losing a few hours on the train if it helps us avoid tourist traffic.
**May 10 – May 11: Hakone**
We’re taking the Hakone Pass due to the activities planned for the next day.
We plan to arrive in Hakone in the afternoon. Since we’re three people, we decided to splurge on a quality ryokan to relax and detox from Osaka. We’d like to have dinner and breakfast at the ryokan. If you have recommendations for a specific ryokan within a budget of $700 to $1000, please let us know.
The next day, we’ll go for the classic tourist tour: Hakone Shrine, Hakone Sightseeing Cruise, Owakudani, Open Air Museum, and return to Tokyo in the afternoon.
**May 11 – May 12: Tokyo**
Sleep in a capsule hotel for one night. Any recommendations? I would have liked the Zen Tokyo Hotel, but there are no availabilities.
**May 12 – May 13: Okinawa**
We’re not sure if it makes sense, but we’d like to do a day trip to Okinawa to enjoy the beach and culture. We found flights that depart at 8 am in the morning, and the return would be at 7:30 pm the next day, giving us the option to enjoy almost two days of beach/pool.
We don’t mind renting a car if necessary, as it’s the recommended way to get around.
**May 13 – May 17: Tokyo**
We return to Tokyo late at night, and the rest of the trip will be exploration and day trips from Tokyo.
1. Does this make sense to you? I imagine there are many things to change and rearrange.
2. I know the days in Osaka and Kyoto might seem empty to you, but we have many places and restaurants to visit that I haven’t included in the itinerary to avoid making this post too long.
3. Do you think we’re spending too much time in Tokyo? Adjusting our itinerary to accommodate our friend, who will be joining us midway through the trip, led us to subtract a day from Osaka and allocate it to Tokyo, given it’s the city he is most eager to explore.
4. What would you have done differently? We’re very open to your ideas, and we gladly welcome your critiques. It’s our first trip to Japan, and we want it to be the trip of our lives.
Thanks in advance, and we look forward to reading your responses! 🗼
