Hello. My wife and I will be heading to Japan in a couple of weeks for a wedding. The bride is Japanese, the groom is family. This is our first time in Japan. We will be there for 16 days. I tend to like nature and garden type things. My wife likes cool buildings and interesting craftsmanship. I do speak some Japanese, not great, but enough for some simple conversations. We would appreciate some help fleshing out and organizing our itinerary.
**Day 1** – Arrive in Tokyo
We arrive at Narita airport around 5PM. Take the train into Tokyo. We have a hotel for 3 nights near Senso-ji. Probably just head to the hotel and maybe walk around a bit if we can stay awake.
**Day 2** – Nikko Day trip
* Train to Nikko from Akakusa.
* Toshogu Shrine
* Kanmangafuchi Abyss
* Other stuff?
* Head back to Tokyo
**Day 3** – Tokyo
Not sure what order to do stuff in or what other things we should try to do here. We aren’t really shopping/city people.
* TeamLab Planets
* Skytree – Maybe eat up there
* Shinjuku gyoen
* Some neighborhood/shopping district walking around. Maybe Shinjuku since we’re there.
**Day 4** – Hakone
Could Do a little more in Tokyo before we head out, or head straight to Hakone.
* Hakone Tozan Railway – Sounds like it’s going to be rainy/overcast for a lot of the time we’re in Japan. Is this still worth it?
* Ryokan/Onsen – Check in 3pm – Check out 10am
* Other suggestions before checking into the Ryokan?
**Day 5** – Travel to Kyoto
Could spend some time in Hakone before heading to Kyoto.
* Shinkansen to Kyoto. Right side seats.
* Check in at Machiya.
This whole Kyoto section is a little fuzzy because of the Wedding. We have accommodations for 5 nights. The wedding is on Day 7. But we’re expecting that we’ll be doing a lot of the sights with family and other wedding guests.
**Day 6** – Kyoto – Pre wedding events or whatever
**Day 7** – Wedding
**Day 8 through ??** – More Kyoto Sightseeing
In no particular order
* Fushimi Inari Shrine
* Kinkakuji (gold pavilion temple)
* Ginkakuji (silver pavilion temple)
* Arashiyama
* Bamboo Forest
* Old buildings
Once we finish in Kyoto, the plan is to hit the surrounding areas. Not really sure what order to go in here. Also, could use some recommendations to flesh out these locations as well as add some additional locations in case we have extra time after Kyoto before our flight out of Osaka.
**Day ??** – Nara
* Nara Park (Deer)
* Temples ect
**Day ??** – Osaka
* Osaka Castle
**Day ??** – Kobe
* Beef?
**Day ??** – Himeji
* Himeji Castle
* Kokoen Garden
**Day 16** – Flight Home
Travel back to Osaka from wherever we are and get back on a plane.
Depart Osaka 2:30PM
1 comment
Day 4, straight to Hakone, there is plenty to do for a full day in Hakone, even 2 days. I would not check in to the hotel too early, take your time to visit attractions. You won’t be in the onsen for hours, so you do not need to be there super early. I would still consider doing the loop with the boat ride on lake Ashi, check out Owakudani and many people liked the Open Air Museum.
Day 8, obviously you won’t do all that in a single day, but those cover most of the classic area, maybe you are just missing stuff around Higashiyama.
Just for reference, Kobe beef is produced in the south of Hyogo prefecture, this mean that it is as local to eat it in Himeji that it is in Kobe. It’s also available in every big city like Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka and it’s also not the only high quality wagyu available in Japan. Kobe is also know for their Chinatown and sake district.