Trip Dates are 11/21-12/8.
Hello Everyone! We will be traveling to Japan in late fall this year as a group of 4. This is our first time visiting Japan. We all tend to be fairly active travelers and want to experience a balance of nature, cultural and city related activities. We want to visit many of the famous and well known places but would like to venture into less traveled places as well given time. Nothing is set in stone other than overall trip dates.
**Day 0 (Nov 22) – Travel Day**
Travel day from USA. Arrive in Hiroshima LATE. Debating staying near hotel or getting the trip to the city over with.
**Day 1** **(Nov 23) – Hiroshima/Miyajima**
AM – Take it easy in the morning. Do what we feel up to. Peace memorial park and museum. Walk past Hiroshima castle. Shukkeien gardens. Okonomiyaki for lunch.
PM – Head to Miyajima. Get as much done as we feel up to. Stay the night in Miyajima.
**Day 2 (Nov 24) – Miyajima->Osaka**
AM – Finish up in Miyajima if we were not able to the day before. Otherwise head to Osaka as soon as we can. Options for stops along the way: Himeji castle, Korakuen gardens, Kurashiki Bikan Historical quarter, Kobe.
PM – Arrive in Osaka. Eat Food. Get hotel in Namba.
**Day 3 (Nov 25) – Osaka and Nara Day trip.**
AM – Early morning to Nara. Todaiji and deer at the minimum. Flex return time to Osaka depending on where we want to spend more time at this point.
PM – Return to Osaka. Explore Dontobori. More food. Maybe Osaka Aquarium, Osaka Castle, TeamLab Botanical?
**Day 4 (Nov 26) Koyasan**
AM – Depart Osaka for Koyasan.
PM – Spend afternoon exploring Koyasan. Spend the night in temple lodging.
**Day 5 (Nov 27) Koyasan -> Kyoto (3 nights, take taxis!)**
AM – Early morning to see morning meditation and fire ritual. Eat breakfast. Depart ASAP for Kyoto.
PM – Philosopher’s Path. Evening in Gion and Pontocho park.
**Day 6 (Nov 28) Kyoto**
AM – Arashiyama bamboo grove (arrive before sunrise), Explore nearby gardens. Tenryuji. Otagi nenbutsuji and cocoon shop. Sagano Romantic. Monkey Park. (These are all ideas but we definitely need to prioritize and drop some of these)
PM – Head to Kinkaku-ji after lunch, then move onto Fushimi-inari. Start up the mountain during daylight then watch the sunset. Continue on as far as we feel up to after dark. Dinner.
**Day 7 (Nov 29) Kyoto**
AM – Gion district early in the morning to beat the crowds. (Kimono rental???) Nishiki Market late morning/noon.
PM – Kyoto National Garden and Imperial Palace. Kiyo-mizudera for sunset. Dinner and maybe more lit up temples?
**Day 8 (Nov 30) Kyoto->Hakone**
AM – A few hours to wrap up in Kyoto. Need to leave around 11 to allow time for check in and enjoyment of ryokan. Toji Temple, last minute shopping and Kyoto station.
PM – Travel to Hakone, Mishima sky walk on the way if its a clear day, check into ryokan and enjoy onsen and kaiseki dinner.
**Day 9 (Dec 1) Hakone**
Enjoy onsen in the morning before check out. Open Air Museum. Pirate ships. Depart for Tokyo, are thinking of staying in Ueno area. Spend afternoon in Ueno near hotel if time permits. Senso-ji and Asakusa area at night?
**Day 10-15 (Dec 2-7) Tokyo**
2 days I will be working. These will act as flex/rest days for everyone else. Night life, culture classes and/or shopping in the evening. Below are in no particular order and subject to change as we research and discuss.
1. Day trip to Nikko
2. Meiji jingu shrine, gingkos, Folk art museum, Observation deck (Shibuya sky or Tokyo metropolitan government building) Walk through Shibuya crossing (at night?)
3. Team Lab planets and or borderless first thing in the morning then to Imperial palace and gardens. Some type of cultural experience/class in afternoon. Akihabara at night.
4. Koishegawa gardens, more Ueno and shopping. Tea ceremony?
Throughout we will eat a lot!
**Day 16 (Dec 8) Departure**
Flight leaves late morning.
Questions
How is this itinerary looking overall? Is there a balanced amount of time in each area and reasonable time for intercity transit? The one big change we are considering making is swapping a Tokyo night for another day in Kyoto. In that scenario we would leave first thing on final Kyoto day to arrive in Hakone to do museum, ships etc. before ryokan check in. We would then leave Hakone immediately after check out to maximize Tokyo time. We would also probably lose Nikko.
Any recommendations for our Kyoto days? We will pay for cabs to save time. While we are energetic travelers I feel they are crammed (Day 6 in particular seems a mess) and don’t allow for much roaming and flexibility. I feel a fresh set of eyes may be able to come up with a more reasonable schedule in the time we have. We are trying to dodge the crowds of peak fall foliage season.
For Day 2; What side trips should we prioritize for our trip from Hiroshima->Osaka? What would be reasonable to accomplish?
We appreciate any advice!
by DogHair_DontCare