[itinerary check] 14 Days in September 2022

15 comments

1. Seems pretty cramped to me, but if you can fit in the schedule then definitely go for it. I think you have it figured out.

   Note that there’s no guarantee of a full reopening by Sept.

2. You are doing a lot every day. I would cut out at least 1 city from your list, maybe even 2 cities. Take time to relax and enjoy Japan, don’t make the trip a checklist of “gotta see this, gotta see that”.

3. – Shinjuku Gyoen is WAY nicer than trashy Yoyogi Park.

   – Teamlab Borderless may be closed by September. Look into it, because I know they’re closing sometime in the near future.

   – The Tsukiji Market no longer exists. They moved to Toyosu. However, there are still some good seafood restaurants and shops in Tsukiji. I haven’t heard many opinions about Toyosu.

   – Ryoanji is temporarily closed, but may be open in September. Look into it.

   – Days 5 & 6 will be tiring.

   – Day 9 sounds rushed.

   ​

   I’d either split up Days 5 and 6 into 3 days, or I’d split Day 9 into 2 days. Otherwise it looks good, but busy.

4. Nice looking itinerary! Similar to the trip i’m planning for late this year haha!

   If you’re worried about days that might get too crowded, you could consider instead of flying in and out of Tokyo to instead fly into Tokyo and fly out of Kansai International (Osaka)! Rearranging your Tokyo days to all be together and Osaka being last, you’d get at least 2-3 hours extra that would be spent on the shinkansen going back to Tokyo on your current itineray.

   If I were to add a day anyway it’d probably be in Tokyo or Kyoto. I feel like your Kobe/Hiroshima/Osaka days are doable, but Himeji is on the way so if you want to see the castle and gardens it might be smart to add an extra half day there!

5. Give yourself lots more time to “breathe”.

6. Yoyogi park is great for cherry blossom, during the weekend to watch people play music and dance, to go exercise, to meet your friends to picnic. Otherwise, it’s just a park not a garden. So for sure I would say Shinjuku Gyoen. On a side not, my favorite garden in Tokyo is Koishikawa korakuen.

   You likely want to do Meiji shrine first thing in the morning as it open earlier. Can easily finish the day at Mori Tower, just check the schedule as one day of the week close earlier.

   Borderless will close August 31. It is possible there will be a new exhibition to replace it, but we do not know yet.

   Tsukiji market, what do you mean “getting up this early” ? If you want to see the tuna auction, that is not in Toyosu as the wholesale market of Tsukiji have been close for years now. And unless what other people say, Tsukiji market still have the outer market.

   Ryoan-ji to Arashiyama is close to 7km, so you sure you want to walk it ?

   Kiyomizu-dera, just go when you are in Higahiyama. And day 6, I would likely remove Ginkaku-ji and Philosopher’s path. Fushimi Inari and Higashiyama is already a lot.

   I think that the JR Pass is not optimized at all, you could save the one way ticket to Kyoto is you were to make the whole Kansai trip one day shorter. Instead, I would really consider flying in Tokyo and out of Osaka.

   Yes, Robot Restaurant is close now, but there have not been any official announcement, so it might re-open when international tourism resume.

   ​

   There might be a lot in this itinerary, so just try to enjoy what you are doing, do not rush to do everything at all cost. Just put priorities and drop stuff if you feel it’s getting rushed.

7. I don’t think Kyoto is feasible unless you’re just taking a picture of each place and moving on. Just did it and there are so many interesting places that just pop up on your walks. Definitely need more time

8. Day4

   Tsukiji Market has been relocated to Toyosu. However, souvenirs and meals can be enjoyed enough for tourists. To watch the tuna auction, you need to go to Toyosu.

   In addition, the Ghibli Museum is far from the Shinkansen station, so you can’t take your time to see it. When you visit the Ghibli Museum, the Shinkansen check-in is in the evening, and when you arrive at Kyoto, it’s already dark.

   If you want to visit Gion or Yasaka Shrine during the day, you have to leave Tokyo by afternoon.

   Kyoto at night is even more fantastic. Yasaka Shrine can be visited even at midnight, and Gion will be lively.

9. Day 9 is basically impossible. You don’t have time for all that unless you spend five minutes at Miyajima only. In fact most of your itinerary is too rushed/packed.

10. Arashiyama alone will take up half your day alot of the stuff you listed ur not going to be enjoying it. your just running to one place then the other especally in kyoto. alot of those temples closed around 6pm if I remember correctly

11. Have you think of using jr pass more efficienly?

    You paid once from tokyo to kyoto at day 4 which is 13K yen

    My advice: move your schedule. So use your jr pass on day 4 you go to kyoto / osaka straight away in the morning, and at day 10 you go back to tokyo. So at tokyo you can use suica or pasmo. You can go to tokyo in the afternoon on day 10 to maximize your stay in osaka

    IMO the itenary, Day 6-10 seems quite full, so I suggest you to make priority list. Which one you absolutely have to go and which one that it is ok not to go

    Day 2, 3, 11, 12 and 13 are very empty. do a list just in case if you got bored, move forward your schedule in tokyo or osaka and you can add more places to visit.
    You definitely can cram more places in tokyo

    IMO, you can get a day or two if you rearrange your schedule in tokyo

    Tbh for me, temples and castles theme wear out really fast when you see a lot of them everyday and kyoto now is my least fav place to visit

12. Instead of using JR pass… consider stacking multiple JR regional passes for the region you are going at. Or if you are attached to the 7 day pass, start using it on day 5 EARLY to maximize, then take the absolute last train from Kansai back to Tokyo on Day 12 instead.
    List out all the Tokyo sights and group them for the number of days you plan to be in Tokyo.

    Also interesting that you opt to go all the way to Hiroshima and skip Kamakura instead. Though Kamakura could be a last minute change of itin for the last Tokyo leg.

    Day 4 Ghibli is in Mikita and not close to the main train stations in Tokyo to get to Kyoto, it takes time to get out to Mikata, and time spent AT the museum. But if you are planning to arrive in Kyoto in the evening that is ok.
    Day 8 Arima onsen is not THAT close to Kobe. If you do plan to go there you need to plan at least 2 hours from your day.
    Day 8/9 Going to Hiroshima for only one night is going to be difficult – I don’t recall off hand how fast your JR pass could get you to and from Hiroshima, but this looks rushed.

13. I just checked the Tokyo leg of the trip since I know the area better than the rest, and it looks really packed. A bit too packed.

    Day 2, for example. If you are planning to walk over Rainbow Bridge at sundown it will leave very little time for the whole Shibuya/Shinjuku area. Especially if you plan on going shopping there, since the store might be closed when you get there.

    I understand you wanting to cram as much as possible in when it is your first trip, but if you put too much on the schedule, it might feel like a chore getting to point A to B the whole day. I did that mistake. I would suggest one or two specific activities each day, and just explore the rest of the day. Maybe dedicate half a day (or a whole day) on one area, and have a list of things you wanna do in that area. And to what you feel like the most when getting to said area.

    Another suggestion would be to make a map (google maps is fine!) and pin all activities you wanna do in each area. And then re-organize your days in Tokyo to minimize travel times and maximize strolling around and enjoy the area.

14. I remember having planned our trip to Japan a few years back, 18 days. Back then I stuffed quite a bit in our itinerary as well, not as much as you have planned. We still cut out some stuff during the actual trip, because it got very tiring. And we got lost a few times too.

    If you haven’t yet I recommend planning the travel time (or at least keeping it in mind) between each spot you want to visit. And how long you want to spend at each spot. Look up opening times of the spots you want to visit.

15. Day 10- just doing miyajima and peace memorial was a full day when i went

    You need to space things out a bit, Japan has a great mass transit system but it’s very easy to underestimate the time it does take

    What worked a bit better for me on the second trip was plan two things per day and then have time to just so at whatever i happened upon