#Fri March 8th: Tokyo
– Land at HND at 5AM, aim to clear customs by 7AM
– Go to Roppongi Hills and drop my bags/check-in at the hotel (Grand Hyatt Tokyo)
– Meet up with my brother who arrived the day before
– Take the train to Shibuya. I was thinking of looking at the scramble crossing from Mag’s Park. I also wanted to check out some of the stores like Tower Records, Don Quijote, etc.
#Sat March 9th: Tokyo
– We were going to leave this day open ended, perhaps Shinjuku or Ginza. My brother is much less of a planner when traveling, so he wanted some open ended days.
#Sun March 10th: Tokyo
## Morning
– Fukagawa Edo Museum
– Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo
– Perhaps Kiyosumi Park if the Cherry blossoms are cooperative
## Afternoon
– Sensō-ji
– Sumo Practice and Dinner, this seems like a little bit like a tourist trap, but we are in fact tourists.
# Mon March 11th: Tokyo
– Wake up super early and get a taxi to Toyosu Market for the Tuna Auction. We don’t have tickets for the observation platform unfortunately, but we’re hoping to see the auction anyway.
– Daiwa Sushi or similar for breakfast.
– teamLab Planets
– Statue of Liberty
– Unicorn Gundam Statue
# Tuesday March 12th: Tokyo->Hakone
– Check out of hotel and take the train to Hakone. Check into the Hotel (Hyatt Regency Hakone Resort and Spa).
– Hakone Gōra Park
– Hakone Open-Air Museum
– I would like to try out the Onsen and Spa stuff here.
# Wednesday March 13th: Hakone->Kyoto
– Check out the hotel, head to Odawara Station to take the train to Kyoto.
– Originally I was going to do the Studio Ghibli Park this day along the way, but unfortunately it’s closed for maintenance on the 13th.
– Check into the hotel in Kyoto (Hyatt Regency Kyoto)
– We’re doing a dinner tour of Kyoto at 6:30pm.
# Thur March 14th: Kyoto
– Kyoto Imperial Palace
– Kyoto International Manga Museum
– Kyoto Railway Museum
– Haven’t decided on a lunch or dinner spot for this day. We’ll probably just play it by ear.
# Fri March 15th: Kyoto
– Guided tour of some temples and shrines, we’re still working which out with the tour guide.
– Walking Geisha guided tour in the evening.
# Sat March 16th: Kyoto->Osaka
– Check out of the hotel and head to Kyoto station, ride to Shin-Osaka station.
– I was planning to either check into our hotel (Hotel Granvia Osaka, right above the station) or if they won’t let us, store luggage in the station.
– Head to Universal Studios Japan, I’m particularly interested in the Super Mario World.
– End the day at Universal Citywalk?
# Sun March 17th: Osaka
– Guided Tour in the morning.
– In the afternoon, return to Sin-Osaka Station, check out of the hotel and take the train to Arima Onsen Station.
– Check into Arima Onsen Gekkoen Korokan and enjoy dinner.
# Mon March 18th: Kobe? Arima?
This is the day I’m least sure about. Originally I wanted to get a reservation at a Kobe beef steakhouse, but I’ve been unable to. If anyone has any insight onto how I can and what’s good, I would greatly appreciate it.
– Rokko Garden Terrace
– Mt. Rokko Garden Tenran Observatory
– Kobe Beef Maybe???
– Shin-Kobe Station->Hiroshima Station
– Check-in to Hilton Hiroshima
# Tue March 19th: Hiroshima
– Guided tour of Atomic Bomb/Peace Sites and Itsukushima
# Wed March 20th: Hiroshima->Tokyo
– Check out of Hotel
– Take Shinkansen from Hiroshima to Tokyo, check into Hyatt Regency Tokyo Bay.
– I was planning on having my checked luggage shipped from here to the airport, and just using my carry-on forward.
# Thu March 21st: Tokyo
– This is a day that we can revisit things that we missed or want to see again in Tokyo.
# Fri March 22nd: Tokyo
– Tokyo DisneySea! I thought it would be good to have a pretty self contained attraction for this day, though I know the lines are probably going to be killer. I want to leave the park by 6PM and take the train to the airport.
– I fly out at 10:55PM out of HND this day.
# Questions:
– Out of the things I listed, is there anything I 100% need to get tickets for in advance?
– Since I don’t plan to ride JR Rail constantly, I assume the JR Railpass is not worth it?
– Anything I should skip or rearrange?
by ACAFWD