Hello everyone, hope all is going well for you all. Since my trip to Japan is rapidly approaching, I was wondering if I could get some advice and general feedback on the itinerary that I have created. This trip will be for a total of 9 weeks. For the first half (this itinerary) there will be four of us traveling together while the last half will be just my wife and I. This trip starts March 22nd. Our group age range is from 19 to 28. None of us have been to Japan before. We are honestly hoping to experience anything and everything that Japan has to offer us at a moderate pace. I tried to plan a trip that consisted of days were we could wander around and explore things at our own pace without being in a rush.
Day 1 Tokyo. Land in Tokyo at 1620. Head to hotel, grab dinner, and get some rest.
Day 2 Tokyo. Head to Meiji Jingu and Yoyogi Park in the morning. Afterwards head to Shibuya. Taco Bell for lunch. Check out Shibuya Scramble, Sky, Pokémon Center, and Nintendo Store. In the evening head to Omoide Yokocho for dinner and then explore Kabukicho.
Day 3 Tokyo. All day at DisneySea
Day 4 Tokyo. Asakusa in the early morning. Explore Senso-ji Temple, Nalamise dori Street. Then head to Sumida Park and walk around. Hopefully Pokémon Cafe for lunch and then spend the rest of the day in Akihabara.
Day 5 Tokyo. Imperial Palace in morning > Yasakuni Jinja > Tokyo Daijingu > Tokyo Ramen Street for lunch > TeamLab Borderless > Tokyo Tower.
Day 6 Tokyo to Hakone. Tokyo to Hakone. Relax at hotel.
Day 7 Hakone. Hakone Loop with a stop at Ryuguden Onsen. Is the Hakone Open Air Museum worth it?
Day 8 Hakone to Gifu. JDM car rental in morning around Mt. Fuji > train to Gifu city > relax at hotel
Day 9 Gifu to Gero. Being picked up in Gifu city for a nature experience and stay at ryokan.
Day 10 Gero to Kyoto. Be back in Gifu city at 1600 > train to Kyoto > dinner at Pontocho Alley (we are staying in Gion and any of these Kyoto days can be switched with each other)
Day 11 Kyoto. Arashiyama in early morning (skipping bamboo forest) > Kinkaku-ji > Hanamikoji Street and Yasaka Jinja at night.
Day 12 Kyoto. Day trip to Yoshino to view cherry blossoms.
Day 13 Kyoto. Nara Park and Toda-ji in the morning > Uji in the afternoon.
Day 14 Kyoto. Kiyomizu-dera for sunrise > Starbucks > kimono rental and walk around area (Hokan-ji, Ninenzaka, Sanrenzaka Path, Kodaiji) > 1630 Miyako Odori > wander around at night for temple illuminations
Day 15 Kyoto. Fushimi Inari in early morning > afternoon exploring Keage Incline, Nanzen-ji Temple, Eikando Temple, Philosophers Path, Higashiyama Jisho-ji.
Day 16 Kyoto to Hongu. Early morning train/bus to Hongu for start of Kumano Kodo.
Day 17 Kumano Kodo. Already have everything booked and planned.
Day 18 Kumano Kodo. Already have everything booked and planned.
Day 19 Kumano Kodo to Osaka. Nachisan > Osaka. If not completely tired check out Umeda Sky Building. If too tired rest at hotel.
Day 20 Osaka. Back Street Coffee for breakfast > Osaka castle (might skip Osaka castle) > Shin Sekui > Namba Yasaka > evening in Dotonbori
Day 21 Osaka. Leave early morning to Himeji Castle > after Himeji castle go to Naruto x Boruto Park > Spaghetti Factory in Kobe > Osaka. This day concerns me as being extremely long and tiring, but someone in our group really wants to see the theme park and I figured this would be the only time to fit it in.
Day 22 Osaka to Ishigaki. Morning flight to Ishigaki > relax rest of day
Day 23 Ishigaki to Yonaguni. Early morning flight followed by scuba diving.
Day 24 Yonaguni. Morning scuba diving followed by an afternoon exploring island.
Day 25. Yonaguni to Ishigaki. Fly back to Ishigaki > relax rest of day.
Day 26 Ishigaki. Rent car and drive around the island. Snorkel, hike, etc. Stargaze at night. Still doing research on spots to check out so open to any recommendations about Ishigaki.
Day 27 Ishigaki. Early ferry to Iriomote > mangrove kayak > waterfall hike > ferry back to Ishigake.
Day 28 Ishigaki to Osaka to Hiroshima. Late flight to Osaka. Nothing planned in morning while in Ishigaki. Arrive in Osaka at 2200. Overnight bus to Hiroshima.
Day 29 Hiroshima. Early arrival to Hiroshima > go to hotel and refresh (booked it for the night before so we can have an early check in. Confirmed this with hotel) > Peace Memoral Park and Museum > back to hotel for nap > Costco for dinner > Carp Baseball game
Day 30 Hiroshima. Day trip to Miyajima.
Day 31 Hiroshima to Fukuoka. Overnight bus to Fukuoka. Nothing planned for the whole day prior to leaving to Fukuoka so open to any recommendations. Could do Peace Memorial Park this day if too tired on day 29.
Day 32 Fukuoka. Arrive in Fukuoka in morning > drop of bags at hotel > explore Fukuoka
Day 33 Fukuoka. Not sure about this day. We are either going to do a day trip to Nagasaki (Peace Park, Sanno Shrine, Mt. Inasayama) or devote this day to Fukuoka again.
Day 34 Fukuoka to Kagoshima. Half of our group heads home. My wife and I will continue on to Kagoshima.
I will post the second half of the trip itinerary later. Still finalizing some stuff on that end. The only day that concerns me is day 21. Seems way too busy but I don’t know what to do about it. Also, I still haven’t completed my Fukuoka portion of this itinerary so I am 100% open to recommendations about that portion. Thank you all so much!
by bf309