My partner and I are going to Japan for the first time for 21 days between 23rd May and 12th June 2024. We’re flying into Osaka and out of Tokyo. We have a rough travel plan, but haven’t booked anything yet (outside of the flights) so everything below is flexible. As this is our first time in Japan we want to do the main touristy bits however we are also outdoorsy so tried to add in some time outside of the major cities. We also don’t like having too strict an itinerary and like to have some flexibility in our plans to do spontaneous things as we go. Bearing this all in mind, it would be great to know any thoughts on this (rough) itinerary. Thanks in advance.
**Days 1 – 6: Osaka**
Realise this is quite a few days in Osaka but we plan to explore the city for a couple of days and then use it as a base for day trips around the region. We plan to get the JR Kansai-Hiroshima Area Pass to cover the day trips as this looks to be good value.
• Day 1: Arrive in Osaka at 4:30pm. Set up sim card and go to hotel. Explore area around hotel in evening.
• Day 2: Wander around the city and recover from jet lag. Maybe do Osaka castle, wander round Dotombori in the evening.
• Day 3: Day trip to Himeji and Kobe. Get to Himeji early and go round the castle. Plan to get to Kobe by early afternoon. We will activate our rail passes on this day.
• Day 4: Osaka day. Round 1 Stadium, cooking class. Do anything we didn’t do on day 2.
• Day 5: Hiroshima day trip. May also do Miyajima as well depending on how we feel.
• Day 6: Leave Osaka for Kyoto.
**Days 6 – 10: Kyoto**
• Day 6: Arrive in Kyoto. Get to hotel and explore the city centre (maybe Nishiki market for lunch, Nijo castle, etc).
• Day 7: Southern/Eastern Kyoto day (Fushima Inari Shrine, Kiyomizudera, Higashiyama, etc).
• Day 8: Nara day trip.
• Day 9: Western Kyoto day (Arashiyama, etc)
• Day 10: Northern Kyoto day (Kinkakuji, etc). We will take the train to Kanazawa in the afternoon/evening.
**Days 10 – 11: Kanazawa**
• Day 10: Arrive in Kanazawa. Easy evening exploring around hotel.
• Day 11: Explore Kanazawa (Omichi market, Kenrokuen Garden, etc).
**Days 12 – 13: Takayama**
• Day 12: Leave Kanazawa to Takayama via Shirakawa-go using the Nouhi bus. Plan to leave early and get to Shirakawa-go by around 10am. Plan to spend 3-4 hours in Shirakawa-go before getting the Nouhi bus to Takayama, arriving by mid/late afternoon. Spend evening exploring the city (maybe sake tasting tour).
• Day 13: Explore Takayama (Go to morning markets, Hida Folk village, etc).
**Day 14: Kamikochi**
• Plan to get early bus from Takayama to Kamikochi (via Hirayu Onsen). Had originally planned to do one of the longer day hikes but looks like we’d require proper hiking gear (boots, etc) so will likely just do one of the easier day loops. We will then spend the night in Hirayu Onsen in a ryoken.
**Days 15 – 21: Tokyo**
• Day 15: Leave Hirayu Onsen on bus to Matsumoto. Explore Matsumoto in late morning/early afternoon before getting train to Tokyo in the afternoon/evening.
• Day 16: Meiji-jingu Shrine, Shibuya, Harajuku, etc.
• Day 17: Senso-Ji temple, national museum, skytree, etc.
• Day 18: Toyosu Market, Teamlab Planets, Tokyo Tower, etc.
• Day 19: Day trip to either Hakone or Lake Kawaguchi. Basically we want to see Mt Fuji so think we’ll go with Lake Kawaguchi but need to decide.
• Day 20: Do whatever we missed on days 16, 17 and 18.
• Day 21: Leave Tokyo. Our flight is at 1pm so would go out for breakfast before heading to the airport.
**Questions**
• We’re slightly concerned there’s too much travelling involved in our plan. We’re both active people so are happy with walking lots but just slightly worried with the amount of moving around. Does this itinerary seem reasonable and do we currently have too many/too few days in any places?
• We are looking at forwarding our luggage (and just keeping a small rucksack with us) when leaving Kanazawa and picking up in Tokyo. This would give us 4 days without our bags. Does this seem reasonable?
• Does the route we’re taking from Kamikochi to Tokyo (via Matsumoto) seem reasonable? I’ve looked into this and in my head it seems like a reasonable plan however conscious that I haven’t seen many others suggest that route. Is there a reason why?
• For anyone who has used the Nouhi buses before, how are they? The other option we’d thought of for the Kanazawa to Matsumoto part of the trip was to get a car but realise this is quite a bit more expensive. Would it be worth the cost in terms of giving us greater flexibility and allowing us to explore more areas?
• We were also looking at going to a baseball game while in Japan. Where we go for this will largely depend on whether there is a game on while we are in each city, however are there any specific cities/teams that we should look to go to if we can?
by limited_attention1