**Dates – April 4-20**
We have done a ton of research and are really trying to come up with a great itinerary for our first trip in Japan, but struggling with a couple of things:
In Tokyo:
* Planning on breaking up our time in Tokyo by designating different neighborhoods for each day. Let me know if the order below looks good or if there’s a different order/things you’d recommend doing on the first full day. We are staying in Shinjuku, so it just felt like the natural starting neighborhood.
* Is the Tokyo Imperial Palace worth a visit? If so, what day/neighborhood does it fit best into?
Osaka/Kyoto:
* We are looking at doing a day trip from either Kyoto or Osaka, likely to Nara, but are open to other suggestions as well. Is Nara the best day trip from either of these cities, or is there something else we should have on our radar?
* A little overwhelmed with shrines/temples in Kyoto. There’s SO many. Any recommendations on which are absolute MUSTS would be much appreciated.
Fourth City to Visit:
* One of the biggest priorities is a great view of Mt. Fuji. Understanding those can be tough to come by, we’ve planned a visit through Lake Kawaguchiko and to Hakone on the way back. Is this overkill/recommended? Or would nixing Hakone and doing Hiroshima or elsewhere instead be more recommended. This has been our biggest struggle.
* Option 2 of this trip would be to remove Hakone and do Hiroshima/Miyajima between Kyoto and Osaka instead of hitting Hakone at the end. Would this be a better schedule?
* Option 3 – If not Hakone or Hiroshima, is there any city or location you’d recommend adding to the locked in itinerary of Tokyo, Kawaguchiko, Kyoto, Osaka?
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**Day 0/1 (Thursday/Friday April 4-5) – Travel to TOKYO**
* Arriving to Haneda at 15:55 on Friday, April 5
* Plan is to get to the Hotel Groove in Shinjuku, drop bags, and just meander a bit until dinner, try to fight the jet lag, and get to bed
**Day 2 (Saturday April 6) – TOKYO**
* Neighborhoods: Shinjuku
* Tokyo Metropolitan building
* Kabukicho
* Hanazona Shrine
* Shinjuku Gyoen
* Omoide Yokocho
* Golden Gai
**Day 3 (Sunday April 7) – TOKYO**
* Neighborhoods: Shibuya, Harajuku
* Meiji Shrine
* Harajuku
* Takeshita Street
* Yoyogi Park
* Shibuya Crossing
* Shibuya Sky at sunset
**Day 4 (Monday April 8) – TOKYO**
* Neighborhood: Asakusa
* Senso-ji Temple
* Is Tokyo Skytree worth including here? Have read some very mixed reviews. We definitely want to do Shibuya Sky, so not sure it’s worth doing both.
* Any other suggestions for this day appreciated
* Michelin star dinner on our last night
**Day 5 (Tuesday April 9) – TOKYO to KAWAGUCHIKO**
* Early morning train to Kawaguchiko
* Hotel: La Vista Fuji Kawaguchiko
* Bike around lake
* Sakura festival
* Fuji Panoramic Ropeway
* Possibly Chuerito Pagoda sunset
* The main reason for coming here is to hopefully get a good view of Mt. Fuji, so that’s the priority. Will stop by as many of the great viewpoints as possible on this day and in the next morning.
**Day 6 (Wednesday April 10) – KAWAGUCHIKO to KYOTO**
* Sunrise at Chuerito Pagoda
* Explore Fujiyoshida, Yamanashi
* Afternoon train to Kyoto, staying in Gion, plan is to just explore Gion and grab dinner that evening
**Day 7 (Thursday April 11) – KYOTO**
* Morning at Kiyomizudera Temple
* Sannenzaka Path
* Kodaiji Temple
* Maruyama Park
* Yasaka-Jinja Shrine
* Chion Temple
**Day 8 (Friday April 12) – KYOTO**
* Early morning at Fushimi Inari
* Tofukuji Temple
* Kinkakaju Temple
* Nishiki Market
**Day 9 (Saturday April 13) – KYOTO**
* Arashiyama Bamboo Forest
* Tenruji Temple
* Potentially monkey park visit
* Okochi Sanso Villa
* Gioji Temple
**Day 10 (Sunday April 14) – KYOTO to OSAKA**
* Dontonbori
* Umeda Sky Building
* Evening food tour with Arigato Japan in Osaka
* We love to do a food tour on each of our trips, and Osaka seemed like the best place to do so
**Day 11 (Monday April 15) – OSAKA**
* Osaka Castle
* Kuromon Ichiba Market
* Namba Yasaka Jinja
**Day 12 (Tuesday April 16) – OSAKA/NARA**
* This day is still up in the air. We are considering doing a day trip to Nara here as the temples and parks look lovely, but there is some concern that we will not have our fill in Osaka yet. Would love to get recommendations whether this is better served here or during our time in Kyoto since there is an extra day there (though we figured we’d want that in Kyoto), or if we should remove the day trip entirely and just spend another full day in Osaka.
**Day 13 (Wednesday April 17) – OSAKA to HAKONE**
* Depending on what time we arrive, would love to get ideas on how to break up this portion
* Hakone Shrine
**Day 14 (Thursday April 18) – HAKONE**
* Full Hakone loop with Hakone Free Pass
* Open air museum
* Hakone Ropeway
* Lake Ashinoko
**Day 15 (Friday April 19) – Hakone to Tokyo**
* After staying in Shinjuku on the first portion in Tokyo and with a flight out of Narita this time, we are looking at staying in a new neighborhood for this night to get a different feel. Any recommendations on where we should consider to stay and explore?
* One final fancy dinner
**Day 16 (Saturday April 20) – Departure Day**
* Breakfast and one last walk through neighborhood we are staying in
* Flight home at 17:50 from Narita
by T16ER