My fiance and I are going to Japan for the first time this October. I’m just starting to finalize the itinerary for us and think I have it down to a pretty good idea of our general path. We’re big into nature, food, history, and gardens (with a healthy dose of night life as long as I’m in bed by 10). We’ll definitely throw in some anime, but we are very casual fans at best. Our main goal is really to see everything we can, and try all the new foods we can get our hands on.
We’ll be using the train between these locations, aside from our final trip from Nagasaki – Tokyo where we’ll fly. We are not planning on getting a JR pass as it is about half the price to just get individual tickets.
I get this is relatively bare bones by way of activities, so if you have anything that we absolutely must do, I’d welcome any recommendations as well.
**Tokyo 7 days – Shinjuku**
* After a lot of back and forth between Shibuya and Shinjuku, I settled on Shinjuku
* My top priority is connectivity, my second is ensuring I can leave the hotel without immediately fighting through a crowd
* We’re looking at The Knot, does this fit the latter criteria?
* We’re not day by day planners but we do have a list of things we want to see/do
* Ghibli Museum is high on the list. I already have a reminder set for the 9th of September (local time) to get tickets.
* I’ve heard a lot of people struggle to purchase with a Visa, do I need a Mastercard or Amex? I don’t have one currently but can get one to make this work
**Hakone 1 day (overnight stay)**
* Settle down a bit after the hustle of Tokyo
* Sight see, walk around, generally enjoy the outdoors
* Is it worth it to do a ryokan stay here in addition to Kameoka? If we’re only there for a night I worry about limited time
**Kyoto 5 days**
* Overnight trip to Kameoka for a ryokan
* Booked at Kyo Yunohana Resort Suisen
* Overall probably the most excited about Kyoto for the history
* Planning on all the typical first time in Kyoto activies: Fushimi Inari, Nijo Castle, Iwatayama, Kurama-dera etc
**Osaka 2 days**
* Potential day trip to Kobe
* Is two days in Osaka efficient? I’ve heard mixed reviews.
* Osaka Castle
* Maybe a food tour? Not big tour people in general but seems like it might be a good place for it
* Has anyone done one? Would you recommend it?
**Hiroshima 2 days**
* Day trip to Tomonouro
* Oysters, oysters and more oysters
* Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park
* Atomic Bomb Dome
**Nagasaki 4 days**
* Day trip to Fukuoka
* Temples, Shrines, Meganebashi Bridge
* Nagasaki Museum of History
**Tokyo 1 day**
* Haven’t decided where we’ll stay yet
* grab souvenirs/gifts for family
* Cry because our trip has ended
Some questions in addition to whats above:
1. We’re both just bringing a carry on – should we still plan to use luggage forwarding services? (we’ll buy a duffle bag to bring home if we need additional space)
2. Is this too much moving around? Theres a lot of traveling towards the back half of the trip – some longer than others – does this look generally overwhelming? I can cut a city and add time elsewhere
by newtorsalamander