Hello, everyone!
My wife and I are getting ready for our first trip to Japan. We are very excited about all the things to do and see, but I would like to check if it’s a decent (and realistic) enough plan. We will be visiting Japan between the 15th and 30th of May, hopefully after the Golden Week tourism surge. Any and all recommendations, or additional info you may provide is more than welcome! Budget is not that high a concern, but time certainly is, please keep that in mind for any recommended changes.
Day 1 – Early morning arrival. (Gonna be adjusting our sleep schedule beforehand so jet-lag doesn’t hit too hard, seems to have worked on previous holidays!). Mid-day visit to Asakusa and Senso-ji. Wanted to visit as early in the week as possible to avoid the festival later on the weekend. Check in at our hotel near Ichigaya station. Maybe rest a bit and explore the area around, or grab some dinner in Shinjuku.
Day 2 – Go say hi to Hachiko and explore Shibuya for a bit, head to Harajuku and a visit to the Meiji Shrine. Visit Shinjuku Gyoen if there’s time, and head to Kabucki-cho to end the day, Grab Dinner around Golden Gai
Day 3 – Tokio Imperial Palace gadens and Ueno park, planning a visit to the National Museum. End the day with a stroll around Yanaka
Day 4 – Shopping day around Akihabara and Ochanomizu, would like to spend around half of the day or so. Plan to then head to asakusa and hop on a ferry to Odaiba, maybe walk around the parks and catch the Tokio bay sunset.
Days 5 – Road trip! Leaving central Tokio and renting a motorbike on Yokohama to go around Hakone and Mt. Fuji. Speed limit seems to be pretty low there, so we are aware riding through these routes will mostly take all day, but both my wife and I have experience with long motorbike rides (riding much faster and for many more kilometres). This day would be spent cruising along the Yokohama and Kanagawa coast, visiting mainly Enoshima, Kotoku-in and the Yokohama port.
Day 6 – From Yokohama to Hakone: Will be getting up early to leave Yokohama and start the longest part of our road trip. Visiting the Izu Skyline, Shuzenji and Toi, coming around to Ose Cape, and heading to Hakone. Spending this night and the next on a traditional ryokan.
Day 7 – Second part of our Mt. Fuji road trip, 5 lakes area. Most notable spots would be the Hakone shrine, and checkpoint, Arakurayama park, Lake Kawaguchi and Iyashinosato village. Night in Hakone again.
*-If you think there are any worthwile stops along these areas, on days 5-7, I’d be thrilled to include them!-*
Day 8 – We return the motorbike at the rental place and head back to Tokio, leaving this day open for pending visits or maybe repeat anything we might want to. Possibly do a bit more of shopping and heading to the station to take the night bus to Osaka
Day 9 – Leave bags at the hotel and go for a quick visit to Shinsekai, and maybe Osaka Castle. Rest for a bit and check Dotonbori at night
Day 10 – Sleep until late to recharge a bit, and head to the Osaka aquarium. Do some last-minute Osaka visits and head to Kioto for a late hotel check-in.
Day 11 – We have booked some kimono rentals for the day, and we plan on just roaming around the east area of Kioto, mainly visit Kiyomizu-dera, Koda-ji, Yasaka and some more shrines and museums along the way. Have to return to the kimono rental place around 17:00. Plan to head on to pontocho for an evening stroll and dinner, hope we can check the Kamo Waterways at night.
Day 12 – Train to Nara, we will be moving mainly around the park area, visiting the nearby temples and shrines. Would like to also visit Naramachi street and get to know more about the local crafts and art. Will be spending half a day or so, so we can be back at Kioto before it gets fully dark. If time allows it, a quick evening-night visit to Fushimi Inari (hopefully avoiding the biggest crowds there).
Day 13 – Moving on to Uji, will be visiting the city itself and Byodo-in. We also have a visit to the local Matcha factory. (I am hopeful the Nintendo museum will be open by then, but who knows if tickets will even be available, so I’m not holding my breath). Return to Kioto and night on the town, grab some food, take in the sights from the Kioto station rooftop and head back to rest.
Day 14 – Kioto east again! This time we will be heading to Ginkakuji, and take a walk down Philosopher’s Path, check the local shrines and places that just piques our curiosity. Continue to the Heian Shrine and the Kioto imperial palace gardens. Last night to say goodbye to the city and do some last-minute, pending stuff
Day 15 – Early train back to Tokio. Just making one last stop before catching our plane home early next day, buy souvenirs or late photos. Make sure that we have everything packed and ready to go.
And that would be pretty much it, I feel like it’s really packed, but still missing stuff. So much to see, so little time! Thanks to whoever has taken their time to read through all this, and even bigger thanks if you see any way we can improve our holidays.
by ZenasBlues
