Hello! My partner and I will be flying in from a Hong Kong stopover, departing on the morning of the 13th and hopefully arriving in Japan in the afternoon.
We were initially considering flying in to HND/NRT like most people, but given the places we want to visit, we’re now considering landing at Fukuoka instead and then making our way eastward and flying out from Tokyo in the end.
We’re just hoping to get insights on a couple of questions we had;
1. Is it a good idea to land in the westside and then head east?
2. Would this be considered too much travelling for the time period?
We were hoping to get a few second opinions to see if this presents any logistical issues that we may not have spotted ourselves – thanks in advance for any insight anyone can provide!
Nov 13 – day 1: Fly in HKG -> FUK
* Aiming to just re-acclimate with the country, get something to eat, unwind and check-in to a hotel for the night.
Nov 14-15 – day 2-3: Travel to Miyajima and then Hiroshima via Shinkansen (approx. 4 hours)
* Miyajima Torii gate
* Peace park
* Peace memorial museum
* Genbaku dome
* Mazda museum
* Hoping to cover these things while staying two nights and then head out on the morning of the 16th.
Nov 16-21 – day 4-9: Travel out towards the Kobe/Osaka/Kyoto area via Shinkansen (approx. 1hr 30min)
Kobe
* Earthquake museum
* Kitano district
* Chinatown
* Harborland
Osaka
* Dotonbori
* A few retro game stores in Namba
* A few toy stores in Umeda for gifts for young relatives
Kyoto
* Chion-ji Handmade market
* Gion
Nov 22-23 – day 10-11:
OPTION 1: Travel to Nagoya in the morning via Shinkansen (approx. 35min)
* Ghibli Park
* Toyota museum
* Stay in Nagoya a night – although we may skip this if we can’t get tickets to Ghibli Park (it’s the main reason why we want to head this direction).
OPTION 2: If we elect to travel out of Kobe/Osaka/Kyoto to Kanazawa directly, it will be approx 2hrs via Shinkansen
Nov 24 – day 12: Kanazawa day trip
* Higashi Chaya district
* Omicho market
* Nishi Chaya district
Notes:
* Considering switching to driving at this point
* Given the amount of driving required to the next destination (Lake Kawaguchiko), would consider staying a night in Kanazawa and heading out first thing in the morning
Nov 25 – day 13: Travel to Lake Kawaguchiko
* Herb Hall
* Panorama ropeway
* Music forest museum
* Arakurayama Sengen Park
Notes:
* Will stay at a Ryokan
Nov 26 – day 14: Travel to Tokyo via car (approx. 2hrs) – considering going to more outer places first before returning the car
* Kawagoe
* Spoon Sports (Suginami city)
* Daikoku Futo PA – thinking of returning the car after this
* teamLab planets
* Autobacs Shinonome
* Muji hotel
* Akihabara – Yodobashi and other tech stores
* Miffy cafe/Miffy style
* Asakusa – Suzukien
* Tokyo Tower
* Yanaka (Ginza)
Nov 29 – day 17: Fly out from Tokyo
by 4039g