Hi! This will be my first time traveling to Japan and this is a solo trip and I would appreciate an itinerary check – that being said i do have four full days that i have no idea what to fill with. I will also not be purchasing the JR pass as I did the math and I would need to like take $90 more in transit to make it worth it.
Bolded Days will be my free days that I would appreciate suggestions for!
Preferences: Experiences, nature, trying new food
Day 1: Land at Haneda at 1640 – im planning to take the shinkansen to Osaka and to start my trip and move from west to east japan. i estimated that i will probably arrive at my Osaka accomodation around 2000-2100 depending on immigration, which train i get on, collecting my wifi (already paid and ordered) and stuff like that so i was planning to just grab an ekiben at the station for dinner and walk around my hotel if i cant sleep (5 min walk from dotonbori)
Day 2: Nara in the morning, feed the deer, visit Kasuga Taisha, some small shops in Nara, Sanjo Dori st. Go back to Osaka and do some shopping, people watching, Amerika-Mura, head to dotonbori walk around and find a place for dinner
Day 3: I will be going to Himeji Castle (after a lot of contemplation i decided that i will be skipping Osaka Castle) and planning to spend about 3-4 hours in the area with the castle and a few small shops/cafes. I will be stopping in Kobe on the way back from Himeji for lunch in Kobe (havent decided on a place yet but want to try Kobe beef while in Kobe as an experience). For the later half of the day I wanted to either stop and shop in Umeda or Den Den Town (i am a manga collector but i will also have time in akihabara so i might skip out on den den town if time does not allow) and get dinner in dotonbori again.
Day 4: Osaka – Kyoto Travel day
Since my hotel stores luggage, I will store my luggage for the morning and visit Tennoji Park/Keitakuen garden before leaving Osaka. I will be then taking the shinkansen to Kyoto and drop off my luggage at my accommodation. I wanted to go to Nishiki Market and check out the food stalls and eat till my stomach hurts. There is also the Kyoto International Manga Museum I though about checking out if time allows. If not I’ll skip it and go to Gion District and see Yasaka Shrine, Hanamikoji St, Kiyomizu-dera and grab dinner either in Gion or near my hotel (5 min walk from Kyoto Station)
Day 5: Arashiyama Bamboo Forest (going pretty early to avoid too many people), Kinkaku-Ji if time allows. Travel to Philosophers Path, Ginkaku-Ji, Kyoto Imperial Palace. FInd a tattoo-friendly onsen (was looking at Funaoka), dinner, walk around hotel area. Planning to buy a one day subway and bus pass from a convenience store to use this day.
Day 6: Fushimi Inari, once again going early. Planning to spend some time in Uji afterwards to get matcha for my family and colleagues. Byodo-in Omotesando, Asagiribashi bridge, Tsuen (oldest tea house in Japan). Once again find a tattoo friendly onsen and get dinner afterwards.
**Day 7**: Last full day in Kyoto, i have no idea what to do during this day, thought about day tours but havent seen many good reviews on a lot so im kinda not leaning towards doing one… any suggestions would be great. I love seeing temples and shrines, not super big about city life since ill be in Tokyo for the remainder of the trip.
Day 8: Kyoto – Tokyo Travel day
Take the shinkansen to Tokyo, and check into hotel (Shinjuku area). Planning on visiting some stores near my hotel and some bookmarked places – ending the night in Omoide Yokocho? or Golden Gai, havent decided if one is better than the other. Ideally would like to go to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building and go to the observation deck before closing hours.
Day 9: Shibuya/Harajuku
Planning on hitting Suga Shrine (Your Name) and the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium (Haikyu!!) in the morning and then making my way to Shibuya scramble and wandering around, saying hi to the Hachiko Statue. i have a few stores bookmarked but nothing super specific. After im done hanging out in Shibuya i plan to go to Harajuku – check out Takeshita Street and walk around again. If you guys have any memorable stops in either Shibuya or Harajuku i would love to know them. This is my main shopping day in Tokyo.
**Day 10**:
**Day 11:** Two full days in the shinjuku area and i dont know what to do with them. i also looked into day tours like i did for my free day in kyoto but none of them have great reviews once again. I was thinking of either doing a trip to Setagaya for half a day or Kamakura for a full day. I considered Nikko but i think ill plan for that on my next trip back to japan so i can book a hotel there and get a full experience in a ryokan. If you have suggestions, please let me know! but preferably nothing that revolves around shopping, looking more for experiences and sights to see.
Day 12: Shinjuku to Asakusa Travel + Akihabara
I split the Tokyo portion of my trip in half, figured I would spend half of it in the big city part of Tokyo and the other half in “Old Tokyo”. Planning on just leaving Shinjuku when I wake up and leaving my luggage at my new hotel in Asakusa before venturing out to Akihabara. I have Kanda Shrine, Mandarake Complex, Animate, Radio Kaikan, the Gachapon Hall bookmarked. I know i’ll be in Mandarake for a while so I dont have that much bookmarked in Akihabara.
Day 13: Tsukiji Outer Market is going to be my first stop for the day. Planning on going to teamLab Planets afterwards (i read it usually takes about 3 hours to get through all of it) After that I plan to check out Asakusa. Kaminarimon, Nakamise Shopping street, Sensoji, Hozomon Gate, If time allows I want to see some of Ueno, probably hit up Ueno Park.
**Day 14**: This is my last full day in Japan. I have it completely open for anything that I missed due to time allowance, if I didnt miss anything I will probably just make it another shopping day for purchases that I want to bring back home and I wasnt sure if i would have the room for it by the end of the trip. Most likely would end up going back to Akihabara for any figures i left behind…
Day 15: My plane home leaves at 1525 (3:25pm) and its a 40 minute train ride to the airport. I was honestly planning on just grabbing breakfast/lunch at a cafe nearby and going straight to the airport as I dont know how long it’d take to get through and have really bad anxiety about missing a flight. ideally id be at the airport by noon. if thats crazy let me know otherwise if theres any stops inside Haneda let me know so i wont go crazy in the airport waiting to board LOL.
I definitely thought about spending some time in Roppongi, but im 23 and not really interested in clubbing or partying – meeting people i’d enjoy but not in a nightclub… I am NOT interested in any theme parks like disney or USJ, etc i also dont play any nintendo games so i dont think id go to nintendo world. budget for experiences is around $100 USD, if its really good/worth it $150 USD is doable. I have already budgeted my meal costs ( and have taken into account the many cafes i will probably visit and snacks and drinks i will purchase from 7/11 ), and have set aside a sum for shopping. i have already paid for my flight, all my hotel stays, and have money to purchase my shinkasen tickets for Osaka to Tokyo, Osaka to Kyoto and Kyoto to Tokyo. I understand i will need to pick up a welcome suica at the airport (not sure how much i should put on it?) i know that i can use the suica at convenience stores as well and not just transportation and that the suica can be used in osaka and kyoto as well as opposed to the ICOCA? cards in osaka. i work night shift as an RN so the jetlag wont affect me that much, i’d normally be up anyways. I do not speak japanese, i can understand simple phrases and food, and can read borrowed chinese characters – from what i have heard from friends who know no other language than english and have gone to japan – this wont be an issue really? i made sure that my hotels all had english and/or chinese speaking staff in case of any emergencies and of course have google translate on my phone to use.
some other questions
* how much cash should i bring to exchange to yen once i arrive? have heard mixed opinions on exchanging at the airport vs at an exchange building in the cities as well. i do know that cash is king and that ill be safe for the most part in tokyo, but im starting the trip in osaka technically and then going to kyoto.
* opinions on purchasing subway passes while in Tokyo vs. just using my suica to pay per ride
* is a bus tour to mt.fuji worth it for anyone who has gone on one? i hear there are a lot of companies that do them so it can be hard to find which one you actually purchased it for or even horror stories of being left behind.. saw multiple reviews for different companies saying that happened
by wcrthless