Hi 🙂
Traveling to Japan with my wife for 10 days between March 21-31. Couple of mentions before I go into the schedule:
• I have never travelled abroad, this is my first international trip.
• Prepared for the crowd since it is peak Sakura season (we’re from India so I would hope we’re sufficiently used to crowds.)
• We have a few other friends joining, and it is their first time to Japan too
Our itinerary is s pretty basic first-time-to-Japan one, covering Tokyo -> Osaka+Kyoto -> Tokyo but i’d like to check if the itinerary makes sense, that we don’t have some overpacked days and to get any ideas and recommendations anyone would have.
Any tips regarding transport within Tokyo, between Osaka-Kyoto etc would be great too.
21 March:
• 17.30 Arriving to Narita – go to Minato city where we are staying most of our Tokyo nights
• Nothing major planned for this evening, just get the pasmo, an e-sim, cash and check in to hotel and maybe check out the nearby places depending on how tired we are
22 March:
• Senso-ji, Asakusa, Ginza for some shopping and exploration (not covering too much on this day as one set of friends would only reach the next day and there are things they want to cover as well)
23 March:
• AM: Exploring Shibuya
• Shibuya sky, Hachiko statue, Shibuya scramble, Mega DonQ, Pokemon Center
• Shinkansen to Osaka around 5/6 PM (should we pre-book?)
• Check in to hotel, in Namba where we will be staying throughout our Osaka days. (heard that we would have to take subway and change lines to get from Osaka to Kyoto and Nara in the next days, do we need to take a pass to make things easier?)
24 March:
• Exploring Osaka
• (Have booked Kimono rental for this day. It can be cancelled, so is there any other day that would be better for the Kimono instead? )
• Umeda Sky building & Hep five Ferris wheel (either worth it?), Osaka Aquarium, Dotonbori, Kuromon Ichiba, Shinsaibashisuji – basically grab street food etc. Any recommendations would be great! 🙂
• PS: doing Osaka castle along with our day trip to Nara on 26th, does it make more sense to move Osaka castle to this day as well?
25 March:
• Visit Kyoto
• Fushimi Inari Taisha (what is the earliest we can get there by public transport? Would it be possible to get there before the crowd?)
• Kiyomiu dera, Nishiki market, Philosopher’s Path (worth it?), Kinkaku-ji, Arashiyama (what all to do in Arashiyama exactly?)
• Back to Namba
26 March:
• Visit Nara
• Nara park, Todai ji, back to Osaka
• Osaka Castle, Namba Yasaka Shrine, Namba Parks, explore Namba, DonQ etc
27 March:
• leave early to Tokyo on Shinkansen (will we need to book?) and check into same hotel in Minato City
• explore Harajuku, Omotesando (what else can we do in Harajuku and nearby?)
28 March:
• teamLab Borderless booked for 12
• Maybe visit Tokyo Tower before that
• After teamLab, Art Aquarium Museum and then head to Akihabara
• Yodobashi Akiba, Maid café, checking out some anime/electronics stores (any recommendations?)
29 March:
• Day trip to Fuji – (rental car)
• (Not climbing Fuji, just checking out iconic places nearby. I do realize it might not be visible depending on the weather)
• Chureito Pagoda, maybe Lake Fujikawaguchiko, Oshino Hakkai (would end up doing 2 out of these 3 probably)
• Return to Tokyo and explore Shinjuku in evening/night
• Shijuku Golden Gaai, Omoide Yokocho, Kabukicho(worth it?)
30 March:
• Day trip to Kamakura maybe? (nothing booked, any tips appreciated – not sure how tired people are going to be, so have left the day pretty blank)
31 March:
• Chill day to go to wherever in Tokyo and shop for souvenirs and do anything we missed, might go to the parks as well for Sakura.
• Would probably go to Akihabara and Ginza, anything else that was a must visit but we missed?
1 April:
• Return flight early morning from Narita
In conclusion, I want to soak in the culture, unique things, and simply wander about and take in the place. Like most people, this is just a rough idea to follow so we know what location we should be in each day, but apart from booked activities, the rest is pretty much open. We want to do what we’ll be able to without the trip seeming like it’s just a list of activities to be completed! 🙂
Any recommendations of stuff we shouldn’t miss? Anything that seems weird, isn’t worth it, should be changed around? Any general tips?
Thanks in advance! 🙂
by awesomewhat
