Hi all,
After having postponed this for quite a while, I’ll finally be going to Japan in October, and I’m lucky to be able to take all the (reasonable) time I need, so I tried to come up with an itinerary of roughly five weeks. I’ll be travelling alone (41/m) which should be no big deal I guess. I mostly know where I’ll be going and what to see, but it’s not fully planned out yet – which I know I shouldn’t do anyway to keep some flexibility. If anything strikes you as totally impossible, unfeasible, or if there’s anything I missed that I absolutely should see, I’ll be all ears.
So, here’s what I have so far:
* **Mon, 09/30: Arrival in Tokyo**
* Arrive at Haneda in the evening, pick up e-SIM (or Portable Wifi) and Suica card, make my way to hotel in Shinjuku
* See Shibuya Crossing, have dinner, and not much else because jetlag, most likely
* lodging in Shinjuku
* **Tue, 10/01: Tokyo**
* Visit Shinjuku-Gyoen, Metropolitan Building viewing deck, Meiji Shrine
* Omoide Yokocho and/or Golden Gai in the evening
* **Wed, 10/02: Kamakura/Yokohama**
* Day trip to Kamakura, see Hachimangu Shrine, Hasedera and the Daibutsu
* Later in the day go to Yokohama, see the Cup Noodle Museum and Minato Mirai, dinner somewhere in Chinatown, then back to Tokyo
* **Thu, 10/03: Nikko**
* Day trip to Nikko, see the temples and the Tokugawa tombs, back to Tokyo
* **Fri, 10/04: Hakone**
* Travel to Hakone, take the ropeway, see Owakudani, hike to Lake Ashinoko, relax at an Onsen, stay in a Ryokan
* **Sat, 10/05: Nagano**
* Travel to Nagano via Tokyo, see Zenkoji and the Ninpo Museum
* **Sun, 10/06: Matsumoto**
* Day trip to Matsumoto, see the castle, then back to Nagano
* **Mon, 10/07: Nagano/Takayama**
* Some more sightseeing in Nagano (Tokugashi shrines, maybe?), then travel to Takayama later in the day
* **Tue, 10/08: Takayama**
* Explore the old town and Hida Folk Village
* **Wed, 10/09: Takayama**
* ~~Suntory~~ Matsuri Time!
* **Thu, 10/10: Shirakawa-Go**
* Travel to Shirakawa-Go in the morning, explore the village, then travel to Kanazawa later in the day
* **Fri, 10/11 and Sat, 10/12: Kanazawa**
* See Kenrokuen and the Castle Park (assuming that it’ll be open again by then), Omicho Market, Nagamachi, Higashichaya and Ninjadera
* Travel to Kyoto later in the day
* **Sun, 10/13 – Tue, 10/15: Kyoto**
* See Fushimi Inari (very early in the day), Kinkakuji, Kiyomizudera, Ryoanji, Gion, maybe the Philosopher’s Path and Saihoji (is it worth the effort to even get in?)
* **Wed, 10/16 and Thu, 10/17: Koyasan**
* Travel from Kyoto to Koyasan, see the temples and the cemetery, spend some time doing nothing for a change, stay at a temple, then leisurely travel to Osaka later the next day and have dinner of some sorts
* **Fri, 10/18: Osaka**
* Explore Dotonbori, see the castle (from the outside only, probably)
* **Sat, 10/19: Kobe**
* Day trip to Kobe, have beef for lunch, see Meriken Park, Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art, sample Sake in Nada, maybe Mount Rokko if time allows, back to Osaka
* **Sun, 10/20: Nara**
* Day trip to Nara, see Todaiji and get eaten by deer, back to Osaka for dinner
* **Mon, 10/21: Himeji**
* Day trip to Himeji, see the castle, back to Osaka
* **Tue, 10/22: Kurashiki/Okayama**
* Travel from Osaka to Kurashiki, see the old town in the morning, then travel to Okayama to see Korakuen and maybe the castle, stay in Okayama
* **Wed, 10/23: Teshima/Naoshima**
* Take the ferry to Teshima, see the museum, then by ferry to Naoshima to see the Polka Dot Pumpkin and other art, then catch a ferry to Takamatsu
* **Thu, 10/24: Takamatsu/Matsuyama**
* See Ritsurin before travelling to Matsuyama, visit Dogo Onsen and maybe the castle, then take the high speed ferry to Hiroshima
* **Fri, 10/25: Hiroshima**
* See Peace Park and the museum, take it a bit more slowly
* **Sat, 10/26: Miyajima**
* Travel to Miyajima, see the shrine with the water torii, go to Mount Misen (by ropeway or on foot, depending on how I feel that day), in the evening see the village when no day trip tourists are around, spend the night on the island
* **Sun, 10/27: Shimonoseki**
* Travel back to Hiroshima, have lunch, then continue on to Shimonoseki, see the Kaikyokan aquarium, eat (and hopefully survive) fugu
* **Mon, 10/28 and Tue, 10/29: Fukuoka**
* See Karato Market, then travel from Shimonoseki to Fukuoka
* See Shofukuchi temple, Momochi seaside park, sample food at the Yatai stalls
* **Wed, 10/30 and Thu, 10/31: Nagasaki**
* Travel to Nagasaki, see Deijima, Mount Inasa, Peace Park, Prefectural Art Museum
* **Fri, 11/01: Osaka**
* Travel back to Osaka to see things I’ve missed, have dinner, spend the night
* **Sat, 11/02 – Tue, 11/05: Tokyo**
* Go back from Osaka to Tokyo, this time set Ueno as home base
* Sushi breakfast at Tsukiji market
* See Nakamise street and Sensoji, Imperial Palace Gardens, Ginza, Harajuku, Akihabara, Yanaka
* If time allows, maybe Odaiba as well
* Shop for omiyage for the folks back home
* **Wed, 06/11: Back home**
* Make my way back to Haneda to head home
​
Now, as for some questions I’m pondering:
* 10/08 and 10/10: Is there a point in visiting both Hida Folk Village in Takayama as well as Shirakawa-Go? They strike me as somewhat interchangeable, though I might be wrong. If that’s the case, keep Shirakawa-Go and allot the time in Takayama to see something else?
* 10/16 and 10/17: I’m not religious and not particularly spiritual either, so is Koyasan a must-see then, considering that I’ve got quite a number of temples and shrines on my list already? I might appreciate a slow day though, to recharge
* 10/27: Shimonoseki is there mainly for the fugu. However, I’ve heard that it’s not all that special, and if it really isn’t I might skip Shimonoseki and head directly to Fukuoka instead
* 10/27 – 10/31: I’m considering ditching that whole segment. If Fukuoka and Nagasaki are definitely worth seeing, I will (who knows if and when I’ll be going back?), otherwise I’d head back from Miyajima directly to Tokyo, maybe with a stop-over in Osaka
None of the dates are fixed, not even the start and end dates, except for 10/09 in Takayama because of the Matsuri. I’m also not extremely interested in theme parks, which is why there’s no Disney or Universal Studios on the list.
I know this is a long itinerary and a lot of text, sorry about that, but I hope it makes at least some sort of sense as it is. 😅
by Le_Zwibbel
