[Itinerary Check] 14 days (2nd Draft)

11 comments

1. That’s an impractically large number of things to do in one day in Osaka: it’s a big and interesting city. Nara also looks a bit over-crowded.

   Osaka and Hiroshima Castles are post-war reconstructions made out of concrete. If if you want to see an actual castle, stop over in Himeji while travelling to or from Hiroshima: it has an authentic wooden castle, which is excellent.

2. Rather than nominate exact locations, I now try to have one or two key things each day and build up a list of other potential things to do in the same area. When I talk to my partner we agree on the big ones, and then wing the others depending in the day and our interest.

   I try and include more things than are possible, and that gets me out of the idea of trying to complete the list, and just focus on having fun

   I now approach a holiday by creating a google map for it and adding all the sites I am interested in. This then lets me see areas that I want to focus on and what else is nearby.

   It is always the mechanics of traveling that can be tricky, and I find that the map is very handy

   Here is one that I put together for Japan.

   [https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1_UIG_Pe8_Hbg53uYWuQvLIKEbbe-62Bf&usp=sharing](https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1_UIG_Pe8_Hbg53uYWuQvLIKEbbe-62Bf&usp=sharing)

   On Day1 – there is the huge Nanzenji complex at the start of the philosophers path, and there is also the quick in-out Sanjusabgendo temple. Yasaka Shrine is also at the top end of gion. There are many places to see in Kyoto.

   On Day 6 Fushimi Inari and the museum in Hiroshima seems tricky

   My other suggestion is that most days are hitting the biggest/most famous sites. They will also be the busiest.

   My only advice for Tokyo is to read up on the Yushukan museum at Yasukuni shrine. It is a massive contrast to the museum in Hiroshima and is interesting for Australians interested in WW2 history.

3. My only suggestion would be to spend a day or two in Tokyo before heading off to Kyoto/Osaka.

   I’ve done Melb to Tokyo few times, it’s a long flight & depending on which airport you land at, it’s a long train ride to get to the train stations that the Shinkansen leaves from and then it’s another… 2-3 hours to Kyoto? Your first day is just gonna be stressful from all the travelling and transfers you have to make.

   My flight was once delayed by 3-4 hours leaving Tullamarine, so we landed at Narita about 9pm instead of 5pm and by the time we got to where we were staying was about 10:30/11 at night.

   Also trains in Tokyo don’t run late like Melbourne does – they stop running at midnight, found that out the hard way lol

   Regarding things to do in Tokyo, it really depends what time of year you’re going and do you want to do the cheesy tourist stuff (which is fun) or the off the beaten path type stuff?

   If you like Tonkatsu, my fave place is Isen Honten, it’s near Ueno park, museums and also the Black Markets. Get to Isen early as it opens at 11am and there’s always a line.

   You could also check out Harajuku, Shibuya, Shinjuku, Akihabara etc. I like going to those suburbs just after sunset because of all the lights. Makes for good photos.

   Also mount Misen and fushimi Inari (which is in Kyoto btw, not Hiroshima), if you plan to walk both, they take a lot longer than expected. If you go during the on season for mount Misen, it has a cable car you can take, but if you want to walk make it the first thing you do otherwise you could end up walking back in the dark.

4. My biggest thing is why Hiroshima and Osaka castle but no Himeji. In my opinion, real castle are cooler than reconstruction.

   To be honest, I would rather not go to Mount Kasuga, probably eat dinner in Nara, then take the train to Fushimi-Inari. You can do it at the end of the day and there will be less people. Then it depend if you want to hike all the way up, but it is still lit up. Next morning I would start the day early and try to be at Himeji castle when it open, eat lunch in the shinkansen to Hiroshima and go see the Peace museum in afternoon. You can check the peace park and bomb dome after the museum as they do not have an opening hour.

5. You have too much stuff per day.
   Day 7 Hiroshima is next too impossible to pull off considering you’re going to the castle.

   Osaka you probably could if you Skip the aquarium but it’s like, do you want to enjoy what you’re seeing? Or just wanna say “I’ve been there”.

6. I think you should give the peace museum its own day with other “backup” activities for when you’re finished. It’s a very somber and important place so I always encourage anyone who goes to take their time and not feel rushed, etc.

7. I would recommend you to swap day 3 Osaka with day 1 or day 0.

   Doesn’t make sense to travel to Osaka in day 3 only to travel back to Kyoto in day 4, you would waste alot of time travelling to and fro.

   day 0 and 1 could be spent in Osaka with day 1 in the evening leaving early for Kyoto.

   The sea Aquarium isnt worth it.

   As for the rest seems fine, but the places you want to visit seems a bit packed to do in a day.

   Its up to you to do your research how to get from place to place but looking at your plan you would probably only be able to spend a max of 2 hours at each location.

   ​

   For the Second part of your Question.

   Tokyo is a city thus the tourist locations you might want to visit such as Harajuku, Shibuya, Kabukicho, Roppingi, yoyogi park, are all easily accessible.

   If you are not much of a city person and don’t like shopping, all these places can be done in the first 2 days.

   If you prefer nature I would suggest taking a day trip out to Hakone or Mt fuji for a day or 2.

8. What is the peak lookout?

9. >* Higashiyama District
   >* Kiyomizudera
   >* Kodaiji Temple
   >* Philosopher’s Path
   >* Ginkakuji

   Looks good, but I’d probably do it in reverse order and get to Ginkakuji when 8t opens to avoid crowds. Kiyomuzudera gets ridiculously crowded too, but if you’re walking there it’s not as bad as taking a taxi and getting stuck in traffic.

   >**Day 2**
   >
   >* Kinkakuji
   >* Travel via train to Arashiyama

   You don’t need a train to get to Arashiyama, you could feasibly taxi it to save time.

   >* Tenryuji Temple
   >* Arashiyama Bamboo Forest
   >* Togetsukyo Bridge/Monkey Park (MAYBE)

   All of these are really nice. The monkey park is pretty awesome but you have to be fine hiking a lot of uphill.

   You might want to consider the Sagano Romantic Train if you want something more leisurely.

   >* Travel via train to Osaka
   >* Umeda Sky Building
   >* Osaka Castle
   >* Aquarium (MAYBE)
   >* Shinsekai
   >* Dotonbori
   >* Travel back to Kyoto at night

   I’d personally recommend switching the Umeda Sky building to night time as the view from up there at night is really fantastic. Dotonbori is nice at all times of the day.

   >* Travel to Kibuneguchi station via train
   >* Hike from Kibuneguchi station to Kibune
   >* Kifune Shrine
   >* Hike from Kibune to Kurama
   >* Above Ground Root Forest
   >* Kurama Dera Buddhist Temple
   >* Kurama Onsen
   >* Travel back to Kyoto via train

   Yep, that’s a day. I’ve done it before. It’s fantastic.

   >* Travel via train to Nara
   >* National Museum (MAYBE)
   >* Nara Park
   >* Todaiji Temple/Nandaimon Gate
   >* Nigatsudo Hall
   >* Walk through mount Kasuga
   >* Peak lookout
   >* Bus back to Nara station
   >* Travel back to Kyoto

   You might want to allocate more time just walking around Nara. There is a heck of a lot to see there.

   >**Day 6** (staying in Hiroshima)
   >
   >* Fushimi Inari Shrine

   Again you might want to go first thing in the morning to avoid crowds. Depending on your fitness level this can be an easy or a serious hike.

   >**Days 8-14** (staying in Tokyo)
   >
   >* Tokyo stuff unsure how to go about it

   6 days in Tokyo seems like a lot of days if you don’t have specific things you want to see. I recommend the Tokyo Edo museum and of course Asakusa, but other than just sort of walking around seeing the big city sites I’d personally spend more time in the Japanese countryside which is amazing.

   Whenever I go to Japan I try to space out the urban and countryside mix. Go to an onsen, hike the Japanese alps, stay in a minshuku or ryokan… Those have always been my best memories of Japan.

   My very personal preference recommendation would be to cut out Hiroshima as it’s a long way out of the way and maybe go to Kinosaki or Kiso Valley or Takayama and get some nature sightseeing in on your way to Tokyo.

10. We decided to pick an area of Tokyo, set up base and just explore a different part each day and factor time in for just wandering around & some of those unplanned joys. We stayed in Sumida in an apartment and realised we were not only near transport and the Skytree etc but across the road was a sumo stable (cool!) and some old school shopping streets. We could walk across the river and explore Asakusa one day, travel to Meiji shrine & Harajuku the next, the Edo Tokyo museum and Hokusai museum after that. We had some things to tick off but it was the unexpected delights I remember most. And definitely stay in Tokyo….it is a fabulous contrast to Kyoto & Osaka. And super accessible for non-Japanese speakers after the Olympics.

11. Travel to miyajima by train…. HIGH FIVE! 🤣 I always dislike it when people decide to take the ferry from hiroshima city to itsukushima, they’re missing out on the fun of travelling on a local train, no English anywhere and not knowing if you missed the station. (don’t panic it’s 12 stops and there’s a train every 5 minutes, it’s exciting) oh and if you have the jr pass the ferry at miyajima-guchi is valid. https://www.flashpackingjapan.com/hiroshima-travel/hiroshima-to-miyajima-ferry-with-jr-pass

    Also I would throw in the elementary school in Hiroshima city, it’s near to the bombs hypocentre. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honkawa_Elementary_School_Peace_Museum