Hi Everyone, this sub has been a great resource for planning my first long haul trip that I’ve been saving for!
I’m hoping to experience the beauty of Japan and spend some time with my photography with a mix of city streets, shrines, and parks. Hopefully what I’ve pulled together has a lot of great sights but I’d appreciate any more ideas or changes 🙂 I’m not looking for nightlife so I’ll be keeping my timezone quite early. Generally my points of interest are at the beginning and end of days, the stops in the middle are more flexible.
My main questions are:
* How best to deal with the jet lag from UK/EU. I’ll be flying departing UK at 9AM so I don’t think sleeping on the flight is viable.
* I haven’t been able to get my credit card working to book the Shinkansen, should I sort these tickets Day 1 since it’s Spring break?
* Any recommendations for luggage delivery companies from Tokyo>Kyoto>Osaka>Tokyo? Maybe that’s too much and I should take my luggage myself on the final leg?
* Anything I need to keep in mind if I rent a car for a day to explore the 5 lakes? Hopefully coming from the UK it won’t be too difficult to drive in Japan. (I have experience in Europe)
**21/03 – Flight from UK to Tokyo (next day arrival)**
**22/03 – Land and get a taste of the shrines and temples**
* Drop bags at hotel in Shinjuku around midday
* Meiji Jingu Shrine
* Senso Ji temple
**23/03 – Up early to beat the crowds and hit some of the parks**
* Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden
* Ueno Park
* Tokyo Skytree at night (booked)
**24/03 – A mix of cherry blossoms in the morning and evening. Plus a few other locations close by**
* Chidorigafuchi Park
* Tokyo tower
* Teamlab borderless
* Meguro River festival (night)
* Send luggage to kyoto
**25/03 – Travel to Hakone for a change of pace and sight of Fuji**
* Romance car to hakone (booked)
* Check in Hakone
* Open air museum
* Onshi-Hakone Park
* Hopefully explore a bit around the area for some views of Fuji
**26/03 – Travel to Kyoto with some general street exploration around downtown**
* Haya River
* Shinkansen to Kyoto **(NOT booked)**
* Check in downtown Kyoto
* Pontocho Alley
**27/03 – Bit of a lighter day so I might need to do some exploring**
* Arashiyama
* Kinkaku-Ji
* Ninnaji
**28/03 – Some more shrines and river views**
* Philosophers path
* Ginkaku-Ji
* Hei-an Shrine
* Higashiyama Jisho-ji
* Nijo Castle Sakura festival (Evening)
**29/03 – Hoping to beat to crowds today**
* Sannenzaka (Super early)
* Kaege Incline
* Kodai-Ji
* Kiyomizu-dera (Special night viewing)
* Send luggage to Osaka
**30/03 – If I’m lucky I’ll be there early enough to get some shots of the bamboo forests. Day is a bit packed around Nara so some of these may drop out**
* Fushimi Inari very early morning hike
* Travel to Osaka via Nara **(NOT booked)**
* Nakatanidou
* Noborioji park
* Todai-ji
* Kasuga Taisha
* Travel to and check in Osaka
* Sky building (Evening view booked)
**31/03 – Getting a flavour for Osaka**
* Kuromon Market
* Hozen-Ji
* Namba
* Shinsekai
* Dontobori
**01/04 – Quite a few Sakura sights that should be in full bloom that I want to see**
* Osaka Castle early morning
* Tsurumi Ryokuchi Park
* Kema Sakaranomiya Park
* Sumiyoshi Taisha
* TeamLab Botanical Gardens
* Send my luggage Tokyo?
**02/04 – Back to Tokyo**
* Shinkansen train **(NOT booked)**
* Check in Tokyo
* Shibuya sky afternoon
* Asakusa
**03/04 – Free day for anything in Tokyo I didn’t get to. And maybe a 2nd attempt at Fuji if it wasn’t clear when I was in Hakone**
* Rental car for a day trip around 5 lakes near Fuji?
**04/04**
* Fly back
by a_unique_username