I’m currently trying to plan a last-minute trip for my mom and I to visit Japan. We have all of our hotels and plane tickets booked already but I’m not too sure about the itinerary so far. I tried to look at other people’s posts to create this so any advice would be appreciated 🙂
* Day 1: Tokyo (staying in Ginza)
* Arrive to NRT and recover from jetlag
* Day 2: Central Tokyo/Ginza
* Tsujiki Outer Market
* Ginza Shopping
* Hama-rikyo Gardens (not sure if I want to stop by here)
* Akihabara
* Day 3: West Tokyo
* Harajuku
* Meiji Shrine
* Takeshita Street in Harajuku
* Daiso Harajuku
* Shibuya – Center Gai (just stopping by, skip?)
* Shinjuku
* Kabukicho (my mom would like to see this)
* Omoide Yokocho?
* Day 4: North Tokyo
* Ueno Park
* Ameya-Yokocho Market (street shopping)
* Asakusa
* Senso-ji Temple
* Nakamise Shopping
* Day 5: Open Day, Hakone?
* Day 6: Kyoto (Staying near Nishiki Market in Kyoto)
* Travel from Tokyo to Kyoto via shinkansen
* Explore local area
* Day 7: West Kyoto
* Arashiyama Bamboo Grove
* Tenryu-ji Temple
* Day 8: Central Kyoto
* Kyoto Imperial Palace? (not too interested in palace/castles)
* Teramachi and Shinkyogoku Shopping Streets
* Nishiki Market
* Gion District – Hanamikoji Street, Pontocho
* Day 9: Osaka Day Trip
* Kuromon Ichiba Market
* Dontonbori, Shinsaibashi Shopping Arcade, street foods
* Namba – Yokocho
* Day 10: Nara Day trip
* Fushimi Inari
* Nara Park and Todai-ji Temple
* Day 11: East Kyoto
* Kiyomizu-dera
* Higashiyama – district, Yasaka Shrine?
* Ninenzaka and Sannenzaka – Kodai-ji
I’m trying to leave space out for each day to just walk around the local area and explore each place. Please let me know if you have any suggestions for places that I should skip or any places you feel are more worth it. It’s my first time traveling outside the country in almost 10 years so I’m a bit nervous about it. Please let me know if you have any suggestions or comments about my itinerary!
Upon arrival, I’ll have a Suica card on my phone since I have an iPhone but I’ll need to get a physical one for my mom since she has an Android. My phone also only supports e-sim but it’s currently locked due to a payment plan so I’m either going to use a hotspot from my mom’s phone or a pocket wifi, I’m not sure which is more convenient for our situation. I’m leaning toward a hotspot so that I don’t have to return the pocket wifi. I’m also aware that a JR pass for our trip wouldn’t be needed since our trip would cost way less than what the card costs. Please let me know if I’m missing any other things to take into account!
Note: My mom and I are more interested in shrines than castles. We’re also not huge shopping fans, souvenirs are okay though 🙂