I went on an 11 day trip with my mom recently and hopefully, this post can help someone else with their trip planning!
A few quick notes: I experienced major culture shock upon arrival. I posted it on here and before it was taken down by the mods, a bunch of people commented and I want to thank everyone that did because it really helped calm my nerves. I did a bunch of research beforehand but this was our first international trip and I was planning everything, so a bit of anxiety came with that. I also got sick toward the end of my trip so it also played a factor in my experience.
I don’t particularly enjoy reading long paragraphs so I’ll write my general thoughts on each place we visited.
Day 1: Arrival at Narita, Friday
* I spent maybe an hour at the airport because I needed to pick up my pocket wifi (unlocked phone) and needed help buying train tickets.
* Arrived at our hotel at around 5PM in Ginza and walked around for food. We walked around on and eventually stumbled into a restaurant where the waitress recommended us some dishes. On the way out, we went through the wrong exit and one of the employees chased us down. It was quite embarrassing at the moment but in hindsight, I can now sit back and laugh about it.
Day 2: Costco/Ginza, Saturday
* Tsukiji Market – We got to Tsukiji market around 7AM and the market only had a few people. By the time we left 30 minutes later, it was pretty packed with lines going down the street.
* Kawasaki – Since it was early, none of the stores in Ginza were open yet so we decided to go to Costco in Kawasaki* (1 hr trip away). This was the first time we used the local bus and we hadn’t gotten our IC cards yet (sold out in Toyko Station). We only had a 2000 yen bill but the bus only takes 1000 yen. Luckily, the bus driver was super nice and asked one of the passengers for change so we could get on.
* Ginza – To our surprise, the streets were packed in the evening and closed off to cars until 6PM. Uniqlo is also 40% cheaper there compared to in the US so we bought a lot of stuff there. We finally picked up a Pasmo passport card at Ginza station and loaded up.
Day 3: Shinjuku/Shibuya, Sunday
* Meiji Jingu – We woke up around 6AM and headed out to Meiji Jingu. It was absolutely beautiful and closer to the train station than I realized.
* Takeshita Street – Not really our vibe but the little stores were interesting to see. Not much to say here. We spent maybe 30 minutes here.
* Shibuya – We walked right into a tall building in Shibuya Square? and spent a good amount of time in there, as it was sprinkling a bit outside. There’s a viewing area on the 12th floor and we saw Shibuya Crossing from above. We tried to go outside but there were so many umbrellas, I kept getting hit in the face with them.
* Shinjuku – Went to see the red light district (per request from my mom). We were pretty exhausted at this point though so this was the only place we went to before heading back to the hotel at 5PM.
Day 4: North Tokyo, Monday
* Asakusa – We got to Senso-ji around 9AM and there was a decent crowd already. The stores again weren’t open yet so we stopped by and got melonpan (yummy!). Spent almost 2 hours in Asakusa looking at stores/restaurants. I really liked this area compared to the previous days.
* Kappabashi Dougu St – All kitchenware and we spent about an hour here. There’s no food though so we had to go back to Asakusa for food. Still pretty cool to see and within walking distance from Senso-ji
* Ueno – Unfortunately, we skipped the park because our feet were killing us. We did walk around the shopping area and had the best seafood restaurant in this corner spot. It was way more food than I could handle but one of the best seafood spots we had on our entire trip.
* Akihabara – We ended the night here to see all the pretty lights. Unfortunately, we only spent 30 minutes here because it was crazy windy and we were extremely tired. There wasn’t much to see here for us personally, but maybe we weren’t their target audience.
Day 5: Kawazu/Yokohama, Tuesday
* Kawazu – Sadly, most of the trees already begun to sprout leaves with a few flowers left. We spent 4 hours here because I booked the train for later. It was nice to relax here but there wasn’t much food so we were starving.
* Yokohama – Nothing much to say here. We just visited Cinatown because it was really windy again. The area itself was pretty cool and the lights at night were pretty. It was a nice rest day from all the Japanese food we’ve been eating.
Day 6: Kyoto, Wednesday
* Shinkansen – We saw Mt Fuji on a clear day! We weren’t sure it was Mt Fuji at first so I had to Google it but it was it!
* Kyoto arrival – We just stayed at a nearby cafe until it was time to check in and stayed in all day. Our feet were killing us and our bodies were aching. Clearly, we are not physically fit people.
Day 7: Central Kyoto, Thursday
* Nishiki Market – We got there at 10AM and nothing was open so we stopped by at a cafe until 11AM and headed back. It was nice to see all the restaurants open but the food was for sure not worth it.
* Kyoto – We got lost in the surrounding area and went shopping. We planned to go to Gion at night but we were too tired. I regretted my hotel decision at this point because it was too far away from the main area so walking sucked. This was also my first day of being sick
Day 8: East Kyoto, Friday
* Kiyomizudera – This was a lot bigger than what I expected. We spent a full 2-3 hours here simply due to the size of the temple. It was absolutely amazing to see how grand the temple is.
* Kyoto – We walked in the surrounding area and hit up more temples in the area. They were all really nice to see and the area was very charming. We again planned to go to Gion but skipped because I was sick and tired.
Day 9: West Kyoto, Saturday
* Otagi Nenbutsuji Temple – I loved this temple! It was very cute. There were so many little statues covered in moss.
* Adashino Nenbutsuji – This temple has it’s own bamboo forest if y’all want to get some pics w/o people in it.
* Gioji Temple – This temple was kind of a disappointment. We visited during winter time so the trees were all leafless and the moss was pretty dry. The expectations I had in my head were not what I saw.
* Tenryu-ji – We skipped entering the temple because at this point, we spent almost $50 USD at all the temples + goshuin we collected and our feet were killing us. The temple outside is nice enough as it is but we weren’t willing to spend another 1000 yen per person to go inside.
* Kimono forest – Right at the train station and pretty cool to see. I would’ve loved to see it at night but again, I was sick and tired so we headed back around 3PM to our hotel.
* Due to my sickness, we skipped the park and anything south of the train station. Despite my condition, this was probably my most favorite day of the trip due to all the temples we went to. I don’t remember all of them but these are the ones I did remember the names of. FYI, the goshuin in Kyoto were 50/50 in single-leaf paper vs writing into the book directly and about 500 yen per goshuin.
Day 10: Osaka, Sunday
* I really wanted to skip Osaka due to my fatigue. I was coughing so badly every night and hadn’t been getting a good night’s sleep since I first got sick. We decided to go for a few hours anyway to Dontonbori and it was pretty underwhelming. I’m not sure if it was me or if it was the fatigue but I was not in the mood to travel at all. We got back to the hotel and I ordered UberEats and rested.
Day 11: Fushimi Inari/Uji, Monday
* Initially, I planned to go to Nara but due to time restrictions, we didn’t go. I decided to go to Uji instead of Nara for a quick stop before our early flight the next day.
* Fushimi Inari – We did not walk the entire thing. We only walked through the first set of gates and back. We arrived around 10AM and again, it was fully packed. The shrine itself was still amazing to see but there’s not much else to do in the area.
* Uji – We stopped by Uji to buy some matcha and go to Tsuji Rihei Honten. I did not realize how bitter their soft serve/ice cream would be and was choking on every bite. It was completely my fault but I really enjoyed the experience! We stopped by Byodo-In and this was arguably the most beautiful temple out of all the ones we visited. We spent close to 2 hours here just taking it all in.
Overall thoughts:
I want to thank Reddit and everyone who posted before about any Itineraries/Trip Reports because they helped me plan my trip here. There were a few tips and tricks people posted here and there, which were also nice and helpful.
My style of traveling is more breadth than depth, hence why we visited so many areas in 1 day. I did not experience being “shrined-out” or whatever the term is. Some of the temples in West Kyoto were not worth visiting imo, mainly due to the winter times and lack of foliage. My only regret is not buying more souvenirs.
Budget:
For 2 people excluding accommodations and flights, we spent close to $2k USD. We had a variety of foods from 7-11 to $100 meals and bought a lot of Uniqlo.
Interesting Notes:
* Cold medicine there contains caffeine? I don’t know if this is common in other places but I was shocked.
* Every single bathroom was super clean and your best bet for public toilets is department stores and train stations.
* Tokyo station is bigger than I thought. I got lost for 40 minutes the first time.
* We got kicked out of a restaurant once because they required drinking
* The air was so dry despite using the humidifiers in the hotels + wearing a mask every day
* I don’t know where I got it that not finishing your food in Japan is “rude” but we asked a restaurant owner there and she told us it’s completely fine to not finish our food. We stopped stuffing ourselves after that.
Edit: put the wrong city for Costco
by discombobulatedturtl