Hello!!
After a ton of delay, my husband and I are super excited to be headed to Japan end of April!! We didn’t realize it was Golden Week until after we booked and worst, we are starting in Osaka instead of Tokyo which is opposite all the advice I’ve read about Golden Week. A little worried but still hoping things will work out for the best 🙂
We are late 30’s and anticipate 20k steps a day as is usual on our vacations, and love anime and theme parks. Any advice on our itinerary below (esp, our questions!), or recommendations for things to see/eat that we haven’t considered is very much appreciated!!
**April 30 Day 1 – Fly into Osaka:**
* Arrive in KIX around 5:45PM
* Airport bus ([https://www.kate.co.jp/en/busstop](https://www.kate.co.jp/en/busstop)) to Hotel near Osaka station; Arrive by 8:30PM (accounting for time to deplane, to grab luggage and bus ride)
* If we have energy, head for food….will restaurants still be open past 9PM?
* If we are tired or if the only option, grab food from convenience store.
**May 1 Day 2 – Universal Studios:**
* Arrive at 7AM since I’ve read they sometimes open earlier than posted hours ( Official Hours: 8AM – 9PM)
* Purchased entry ticket but express passes are two expensive.
* Plan to use app to try and get Super Nintendo World timed entry as soon as we arrive.
* Stay all day/until exhausted!
**May 2 Day 3 – Nara:**
* Depart hotel around 9/10AM since Universal Studios will have been exhausting
* Head to Nara Deer Park
* Visit Todaiji Temple
* Along the way, check out
* Mochi Pounding at Nakatanidou
* Lunch (recommendations?)
* Head back to Osaka after lunch (12-3PM)
* Rest at hotel
* Dotonbori in the evening for dinner and exploring
* Return to hotel and confirm luggage forwarding to Tokyo hotel
**May 3 Day 4 – Kyoto:**
* Depart hotel around 6AM to Fushimi Inari Shrine
* 7AMish Arrival, main gates briefly + bamboo side path ([https://www.travelcaffeine.com/secret-bamboo-forest-fushimi-inari-shrine/](https://www.travelcaffeine.com/secret-bamboo-forest-fushimi-inari-shrine/))
* Eat!!
* 10 Yen Coin Pancake
* Thisis Shizen (Ice Cream)
* Unagi Sora
* Explore Hokanji Temple
* In Kimono rental (Yume Kyoto Kodaiji Shop or other recs?)
* Nishki Market, if time
**May 4 Day 5 – Osaka to Tokyo**
* Breakfast near Osaka station (recommendations?)
* 10AM to 1PM, get on Nozomi Bullet Train to Tokyo (not booked yet..risky I know as many ppl may be heading back to Tokyo as Golden Week comes to an end).
* Check into hotel in Ginza
* Head to Unicorn Gundam around 5:30PM to see in daylight and evening lights
**May 5 Day 6 Sushi Day & Yokohama:**
* 4:30AM Wake-Up, taxi at 5AM to Sushi Dai for Omakase (Opens at 6AM)
* Seated between 6-9AM hopefully
* Nap between 9:30-11:30AM?
* Jugetsudo Tea Ceremony ([http://www.doedo.jp/experience10.html](http://www.doedo.jp/experience10.html))..seems like we need to email concierge to reserve – is anyone familiar with this?
* Hoping for a 1PM reservation for the 45min ceremony
* Head to Yokohama Cup Noodle Museum around 2-3PM for a few hours
* Wait for sunset to ride Cosmoworld Ferris Wheel at night
* If we still have energy, check out Chinatown nearby
**May 6 Day 7 Tsukiji & Sanrio Puroland:**
* 7AM Tsukiji Fish Market
* 9AM Head to Sanrio Puroland (10-5PM)
* If we still have energy, Omoide Yokocho for dinner and to browse
**May 7 Day 8 Mount Haruna:**
* Rent car for 9 hours to check out Initial D mountains, and visit D’z Garage and surrounding area.
* Tokyo to Mount Haruna is 2.5 hours on google so about 4 hours to explore
**May 8 Day 9 Team Labs Borderless, Shibuya, Harajuku:**
* Team Labs Borderless 10AM Entry booked
* Explore Harajuku
* Explore Shibuya (must-do: Kiddyland, Nanaya Aoyama (ice cream), Nintendo Store & Pokemon Centre at Shibuya Parco)
* Shibuya Sky between 4:30-6PM to catch sunset (need to get tickets)
* Menchirashi for Udon Noodles (or other recommendations in this area?)
**May 9 Day 10 – Disneyland:**
* 7AM Check-out of Ginza hotel and taxi to Disney area hotel
* Leave luggage with Disney hotel
* All day at Disneyland; (Open 9AM – 9PM)
**May 10 Day 11:**
* Depart Disney area hotel at 9:30AM for Nihonbashi Kaisen Donburi Tsujihan Nihonbashi (opens at 11AM)
* Catch-All day for last minute souvenir shopping, to re-vist any close by areas missed, etc.
* After 5PM Disney Sea (half-price ticket)?
**May 11 Day 12 – Fly Home =(**
* Breakfast (?
* Head to Narita around Noon
* Check out Traveler’s Company and other shops at Narita
* Check-In 2PM
* Flight Out 5PM
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**Advice Needed – Transit**
* We have both downloaded Suica to our iPhones and deposited ¥1000 without issue.
* What is the best transit pass or combination of passes for our intinerary? Would any of these cover our trips to Yokohama and Purioland?
* [Tokyo Metro 24HR Ticket (Â¥600)](https://www.tokyometro.jp/en/ticket/1day/index.html)
* [Greater Tokyo Pass (Â¥7200)](https://greater-tokyo-pass.jp/en/ticket/)
* [Tokyo Subway 24 (Â¥800), 48 (Â¥1200), 72 (Â¥1500) Hours](https://www.tokyometro.jp/lang_en/ticket/value/travel/index.html)
* On google maps, it doesnt indicate when we are transferring from one transit company to the other so it’s hard to know if we are paying at the beginning for the whole trip including transfers or need to pay for different parts of the trip separately. Ex: [https://maps.app.goo.gl/X5iiRVdD7sLzDrxFA](https://maps.app.goo.gl/X5iiRVdD7sLzDrxFA) Is there any easy way to figure this out?
**Advice Needed – General**
* Should I see Nara and Kyoto the days they are scheduled or switch them up? I think Nara will be less crowded in the mornings then Fushimi and want a later morning after Universal Studios. However the Thurs may be quieter than Friday at Fushimi with crowds…
* On Day 5, should we skip breakfast and head to Tokyo as early as possible? Check-In isn’t until 3PM but our hotel will likely hold our luggage for us so we can brunch/lunch in Tokyo.
* To avoid Friday crowds, we planned on Disneyland the same day we check into our Disney area hotel and check out of Ginza – is this too chaotic? We could do Disneyland Friday instead so that Thurs would be slow morning, check-out, check-in and then possibly Disney Sea after 5PM. Does this make more sense?
* For luggage forwarding Yamato still in business? On google it showed it as closed but might also be that one location. Which luggage forwarding services have you had success with?
* For meals/dinners, while we understand the risk of waiting in potentially long lines everywhere, we’re also hesitant to make restaurant reservations in order to avoid the stress of sticking to a timeline, getting lost en route, having trouble finding the restaurant and walking around in circles. Thoughts?? Will it be too chaotic to not attempt to lock in some good meals and avoid waiting hours every night?
Thanks in advance for any/all advice or recommendations!!
by pswanderlust