Hello!
We’re visiting Japan for the first time between 2/18 – 2/26 (7 full days excluding travel) from California. I have a sneaking suspicion our itinerary is too packed, so looking for advice on what to skip (and for any tips/recommendations)!
**Trip Goals:** The core “mission” of the trip is to get a decent cross-section of different aspects of what Japan has to offer, from the modern or touristy to the more historical or cultural. It’s our first time, so I stuck to most of the common spots on most itineraries I religiously studied but completely open to changes!
**Type of Traveler:** We typically keep a decent pace and are used to walking a lot on trips, but still want enough time to appreciate and soak it all in. We plan a lot (like everyone else on this sub) but like to keep things semi-fluid (excluding spots requiring advance purchase). We like having a lot of backups and would rather cut things out on the fly than sit around Googling what to do. I’m also assuming starting the day early will be easier than staying out late given the time difference, so we tried to plan around that.
**About Us:**
*Things we love*: Pokemon, animals, pop culture, cartoons, food, cocktails, city life & views, shopping, people watching, gay culture, dessert & baked goods
*Things we like*: Nature, gardens, museums, art
*Things we don’t like as much*: Sports, seafood, clubbing
Huge thanks to everyone on this sub for already amazing ideas & feedback on other itineraries! Without further ado, here is our early draft for an itinerary:
**Sunday 2/18: Flight**
* Land at Haneda at 3pm
* Check-in at Tokyu Stay Shibuya Shin-Minamiguchi (planning on taking the Limo bus)
* No real plans. Probably grab dinner and then sleep.
**Monday 2/19: Harajuku & Shibuya**
* **Yoyogi Park/ Meiji Jingu / Meiji Jingo Gyoen**: Start around 8am and casually walk through the park and check out the shrine while waiting for Harajuku to start coming alive.
* **Takeshita St / Omotesando / Cat Street:** Grab breakfast along the way and shop/browse around Harajuku. The idea is to do Takeshita, head to Omotesando, and then walk Cat Street into Shibuya. No real plans on which shops – just whatever looks interesting, but probably at least Sailor Moon, Kiddy Land, and maybe Gyre. Can cut parts of this depending on timing & if we get sick of browsing shops.
* **Shibuya Scramble Crossing**
* **Shibuya Sky**
* **Pokemon Center / Nintendo / Mega DonQi / Daiso**: Depending on how busy each store is & how sick of shopping we are
* **Dinner and Drinks:** Maybe Nonbei Yokocho or some other bars and then knock out
**Tuesday 2/20:** Tokyo Station / Ginza
* **Tokyo Station / Tokyo Character Street**: Take the train to Tokyo Station and check out shops (maybe stop by Pokemon Center)
* **Ginza:** Check out Uniqlo, Nissan Crossing, maybe Tokyu Plaza, etc.
* **Hayao Miyazaki Clock / Hamarikyu Gardens**
* **Tokyo Tower**
**Wednesday 2/21:** Ikebukuro / Shinjuku
* **Samoyed Cafe AL**: Might have to cut because reservations look to be booked already
* **Ghibli Museum / Inokashira Park / Shirohige’s Cream Puff Factory**
* Train to Shinjuku, maybe check out the 2D cafe but probably not since I don’t really want to lock into a specific time to finish in Ikeburkuro. And maybe check out the Tokyo Metropolitan Government building deck and/or Shinjuku Gyoen National Gardens depending on what time we get back, but probably not (but let me know if these are must-sees).
* Check out **Cross Space’s billboard** & walk around the town
* **Kabukicho / Godzilla Head**
* Check out nightlife (**Golden Gai** / **Omoide Yokocho** if we don’t do Nonbei Yokocho on Monday) and hopefully **Ni-Chome** (we’re a gay couple)**.** Maybe 8bit Cafe and/or Park Hyatt’s bar but will probably be short on time.
**Thursday 2/22:** Hakone Loop
* Check out of Tokyu Stay & take a day bag (either have our luggage shipped to Friday’s hotel or put it in a locker).
* *Unclear on the best plan here*. We want to take the Shinkansen/bullet train at least once. I read that the romance car has nice views on the way into Hakone though. Current plan is to do Romance Car -> Hakone and then do Odwara Castle Friday morning before taking the Shinkansen back. But I’m wondering if we should just do Shinkansen to Odawara on Thurs, do the castle Thurs morning, and then romance car (or Shinkansen) back Friday to give Friday more breathing room (but also don’t want to make Thursday too rushed either).
* **Tozan Railway -> Hakone Open-Air Museum / Hakone Gora Park**
* **Ropeway** \-> **Owakudani**. Grab eggs & check out the volcanic activity.
* **Togendai Boats -> Hakone-Machi.** Check out the Hakone Checkpoint, Onshi-Hakone Park, and walk to the Hakone Shrine.
* Maybe stop by Amasake Tea House depending on time
* Check into Hakone Airu for the night and soak in the in-room Onsen
**Friday 2/23:** Leave Hakone / Yanaka Ginza / Ueno Park
* Check out of Hakone Airu.
* Depending on final plan for 2/22, either head to **Odwara Castle** and head back via Shinkansen or just head straight back to Tokyo
* **Tokyo National Museum / Ueno Park / Nezu Shrine:** Somewhat undecided on whether to do Ueno Park -> Yanaka Ginza or vice versa, but current plan would be to do a short trip to **Tokyo National Museum** and check out just the Japanese Art section. Then mosey through **Ueno Park** to the **Nezu Shrine**
* Walk to **Yanaka Ginza** and check out shops and soak in an older Tokyo vibe.
* Check into OMO3 Asakusa
* Highly unlikely, but maaaayyybe Akihabara but I have a feeling this day is already over-packed (might squeeze this into Tuesday or Saturday instead)
**Saturday 2/24:** Asakusa / Skytree / Odaiba
* **Senso-ji / Nakamise-dori:** Check out Sensoji & Hikan Inari-jinja (we like foxes), then head over to Nakamise-dori / Kaminarimon once the shops start opening. Check out the Asakusa Culture Tourist information view & Sanrio Gift Gate
* **Tokyo Skytree:** Shop a little & check out Donguri Republic / Pokemon Center and maybe the view
* **Sumida Park / Tokyo Cruise:** This part of the trip has some backtracking but I couldn’t figure out a better path. Walk by the river a little & then take the ferry to Odaiba.
* **Odaiba:** Check out the Statue of Liberty, Odaiba Beach, maybe the Toyosu Market, and teamLab Planets if we can get tickets.
* **Undecided:** Depending on how long the day takes, maybe try to get tickets to Kabuki-za or check out Akihabara if we haven’t yet? Or maybe revisit some of our favorite or missed spots from past days one more time.
**Sunday 2/25:** Undecided
* Trying to leave this day open for either **DisneySea**, but more likely for anything we couldn’t squeeze in to the earlier days or wanted to see again.
**Monday 2/26:** Return home
* Flight departs from Haneda around 1pm
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Any tips? Overpacked days (probably all of them), things we missed or should check out, things that feel repetitive, or any other thoughts to maximize our trip without going overboard? Thank you for reading!
by AngelaVickers