16 days. (Osaka, Kyoto, Tokyo). Is this a good division of time ? Or are we spending too long anywhere?

14 comments

1. Japanese people regard street karting as obnoxious, so don’t do that.

   I’d suggest staying overnight in Hiroshima rather than going to Kobe. There’s a huge amount to see in Hiroshima, and Kobe looks dull.

2. Only day trip to Hiroshima looks weird. It’s not anywhere close to Osaka so you will have to take long distance Shinkansen. Also, if you’re planning to visit Itsukushima (Miyajima), it’s a huge rush to do in one day. Hence it will take a considerable sum of money. Maybe visit Himeji instead. 

   Also, bamboo forest in Kyoto is often seen as grossly overrated. Maybe visit one of the groves in Kamakura and not waste your whole day on Arashiyama one.

3. Skip bamboo forest. Way better things to see In Kyoto.

4. While you’re in Kobe I’d recommend staying a night in Arima Onsen! I went two weeks ago and it was amazing.

5. never seen bamboo before?

   I’ve heard it’s pretty lame

6. Fushimi inari and bamboo forest could be done in the same day! I would recommend going really early though and like someone else mentioned bamboo forest could be skipped. Would recommend spending an afternoon in Gion. And I’ve done Osaka to Hiroshima twice before it’s not an issue with a jr pass and an easy one day trip so I think it’s fine. If you decide to move bamboo forest I would recommend from Nara checking out koyasan it’s very close. 

7. I’d swap hakone for Mount Fuji. Also agree with others the bamboo forest is overrated, not worth an entire day.

8. I’d do a bit more in Kyoto. Southern higashiyama and gion needs at least half a day if not a full day
   .

9. Hey, my wife and I recently did a very similar trip, just a bit longer. We did 4 days in Osaka, 1 day in Kobe, 1 day in Hiroshima, 1 day in Kyoto, 1 day in Hakone, and then ~10 days in Tokyo and some surrounding areas there.

   Things we loved:

   – Osaka. Could easily have spent some more time here just walking around exploring and trying food, one of our favourite places.
   – Hiroshima. We did 1 day and felt it was enough. I see a lot of people saying a day trip isn’t enough but we felt satisfied. Would have been happy to spend another day for sure though.
   – Kobe. I enjoyed our 1 day in Kobe, but it wasn’t really anything special. But we did the garden mountain hike thing and had a nice kobe beef dinner, it was an enjoyable day. Glad we went but wouldn’t spend 2 days here.
   – Hakone. Beautiful area and we stayed at a nice ryokan here. I do wish we had spent another day here since we spent most of our time in the ryokan and it seemed like a nice place to explore.
   – Kyoto. We only spent a day here and wish we had done one or two more. We walked around in kimonos (wife’s request) and checked out some shrines. Had some amazing ramen here! Devoting a whole day each to fushimi inari and bamboo forest seems like a lot, though.

   Things we liked:

   – Tokyo. I think we spent a bit too long here but overall still a very enjoyable city and obviously endless things to see and do. Glad we visited and explored it for sure but I think we’d leave it out of our next trip or only go for a few days. But definitely worth checking out!
   – Disney Sea. Much better than Disney Land but still not amazing. It was really cool visually and has a few cool rides, but the hour plus waits aren’t worth the extremely short rides.

   Things we hated:

   – Universal. Insanely busy, nothing very interesting. There was a fun Grudge themed ride, the Flying Dinosaur ride was good but we were in line for like 2 hours… Super Nintendo World was cool visually but could barely move a muscle in there.
   – Disney Land. Long lines, underwhelming rides.
   – Team Labs. Boring and a waste of time/money in my opinion, but I know some people like it.

   If we were going again and following your itinerary knowing what we know now, here is what I’d change personally –

   Day 6, skip Super Nintendo World and find something else to do or spend some more time exploring Osaka.

   Day 7/10, condense into one day and add the other day to exploring Kyoto, Hakone, or Tokyo (Tokyo wasn’t my favourite overall but only having 2 or 3 days to explore it doesn’t do it justice I think)

   Day 14, scrap both things. There’s some fun day trips you can do around Tokyo, and plenty of interesting districts to check out. A few things we enjoyed were Kawagoe, Nikko, and Asakusa (my personal favourite area in Tokyo).

   Have fun! Our trip was a blast!

10. 10 nights in Kansai vs. only 4 nights in Tokyo looks pretty skewed. I’d probably aim more towards 50/50. Don’t think there’s much need for a day trip to Kobe. Echo what people have said about go-karting.

11. Please do not do the go-karting, especially in Shibuya: they’re dangerous and noxious. When they first started (maybe 8 years ago?) some people were bemused by them. Now everyone I know loathes them.

12. I had almost this exact itinerary only I stayed two days in Hakone (closer to Gora) at a hotel with private onsen. Getting there was more of a headache than I expected so pretty much the entire day was gone by the time I checked out, traveled from Kyoto, checked in, figured food out. I’d maybe add a day if you’re able to. I found some good food and beer in Gora and after the mostly flat, dense cities the mountains were a really refreshing break. Getting around locally in Hakone/Gora also takes some planning.

    The day trips to Hiroshima and Kobe are easy, keep those. If theres anything in Ginza you’re interested in I think that’s a natural thing to pair with TeamLabs. The train right outside the museum will take you directly to Shimbashi Station and you can walk up Ginza-dori from there. It was also a cool ride past some interesting building, and easy to get from Ginza to wherever you’re staying after.

    Also hate to pile on but those karts really are obnoxious and every time I saw them I was glad I was solo and not with a group that convinced me to do them. So ridiculous.

13. From someone living in Osaka.
    Too long in Osaka. Stay a day extra in Hiroshima or something.
    Also, don’t do the carts.

14. It really depends on your interests. Personally, I would:

    * Skip:
    * Team Labs
    * Go-Karting
    * Kyoto Bamboo forest.
    * Nara
    * Spend a bit more time in Tokyo. You can literally spend a day in each district and not even explore half of it.
    * Book a Ryokan in Hakone.
    * Eat, drink and stay in Osaka more. It’s called Japan’s National Kitchen for a reason 🙂

    Any reason for the unlikeliness to re-visit? Was Japan a bucket list thing to tick off the list?