My girlfriend and I will be traveling in Japan from 03/17-04/02. I have been pouring over our itinerary for the last few weeks and I am finally ready for opinions from this thread. Osaka and Hiroshima seem very light so please give me some suggestions.
Also, due to the JR Pass price increase and the length of time we will be in the country it doesn’t seem to be be worth it to get the JR Pass. Using the online toons, I have calculated it to be \~¥66.190. I am considering pre-booking the Shinkansen tickets using SmartEX, my biggest worry is missing a train and being unable to rebook it the same day. I have read on this thread that it isn’t a big deal to get same day tickets unless you are booking around the holidays. I know that I am traveling around peak travel season for Japan, would this cause any issue in same day booking? What about the trip to Nara Park?
Thanks for any and all advice
Tokyo
* Day 1 03/17
* Arrive in Tokyo at 3:10 PM
* IC Card at Airport?
* Check into hotel in Shinjuku
* Day 2 03/18:
* 10 AM 3 Hour Tokyo walking tour (Tip Based)
* Lunch
* Harry Harajuku Terrace Hedgehog Cafe
* Explore Area around hotel
* Dinner
* Day 3 03/19:
* 7:30 AM breakfast
* Sanrio Puroland (Opens 9am)
* Night walking tour of Shinjuku (Tip Based)
* Day 4 03/20
* Day trip to Hakone
* Day 5 03/21
* 7 AM Breakfast
* Shibuya Crossing
* Imperial Palace and Garden
* Ochanomizu Guitar Street
* Senso-Ji
* Tokyo Sky Tree or Tokyo Tower
Kyoto
* Day 6 03/22
* Travel Day (sleep in)
* Check out 10AM
* Travel to Kyoto
* Use Luggage Forwarding Service
* Lunch in Gion
* Kiyomizu-dera
* Ninenzaka
* Check in at hotel Gion
* Dinner
* Day 7 03/23
* 7AM breakfast
* Kōdai-ji Temple
* Maruyama Park
* Nanzenji Temple
* Philosophers Path
* Higashiyama Jisho-ji
* Lunch and Dinner throughout the day
* Day 8 03/24
* 6AM Breakfast
* Bamboo Forest
* Tenryu-ji
* Lunch
* Arashiyama Monkey Park Iwatayama
* Kinkaku-ji
* Day 9 03/25
* Fushimi Inari Shrine (Sunrise)
* Free Day Suggestions:
* Fushimi-Momoyama Castle
* Nishiki Market
* Nijo Castle
* Imperial Palace
* Nara
* Anything we missed on Previous Day
Osaka
* Day 10 03/26
* Sleep in Day
* Check out 10AM
* Travel to Osaka
* Check in at Hotel in Namba (3PM)
* Explore Dotonbori
* teamLab Osaka
* Day 11 03/27
* Osaka Castle Park
* Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan
* Tempozan Giant Ferris Wheel
* Shin Sekai
* Day 12 03/28
* Nara Park Day Trip
* Afternoon/Evening fun in Osaka
* Day 13 03/29
* Himeji Day Trip (Considering other day trips or if just spending the day in Osaka)
* Afternoon/Evening fun in Osaka
Hiroshima
* Day 14 03/30
* Early(ish) Train to Hiroshima
* Peace Park
* Day 15 03/31
* Itsukushima/Miyajima
Tokyo
* Day 16 04/01
* Check Out 10 AM
* Travel back to Tokyo
* Check in 3pm
* Day 17 04/02
* Fly Back home
\*EDIT: Spelling\*
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by TheProphet126