Hey everyone! I am 18M travelling to Tokyo by myself before starting a study abroad program for two months in Tokyo. I land in Haneda on Thursday (May 23rd) morning at 7am. I have never solo travelled before.
My main interest is japanese history and old culture. I have some interest in manga and anime but not much. I love walking and walking more than 20k steps every day hasn’t been an issue for me on past trips. I’m a minor in Japan so I don;t think I’ll be clubbing or anything and I do pretty well with Jetlag (international student) so hopefully I’lll have lots of energy! I hope this itinerary is all good – i’m more unsure about the last three days because all these guides say that shibuya, shinjuku, and those areas are the heart of Tokyo but I’m on a pretty tight budget so shopping in designer stores isn’t happening, and all of the more Japanese stuff that you can find in Kyoto too I’ll be getting there in the two months that I have. (so all the Uniqlo stuff and thrifting etc)
Here is my itinerary so far. Is it too ambitious? I’m scared it might be just a little. Also i haven’t properly checked the order of everything for kamakura and that one might be too much. For the last two days, i didn’t know what activities to put so i will fill them with things that might get missed out on previous days however I am open to Shibuya and Shinjuku recs!
Also would love some restaurant recs. I don’t plan on eating anywhere fancy in Tokyo but any nice restaurants would be nice – i do mostly plan on stopping wherever looks good.
I should also add I speak a little bit of Japanese (done my first year of Japanese at university).
# Day 1: Asakusa
Land at 7am
* Go to hotel, leave baggage, big breakfast nearby (after not eating on the plane – jetlag beater)
* Walk Up Asakusa Culture Tourism Centre, to observation deck.
* Walk to Sensoji, up Nakamise street. Visit Sensoji
* Visit gardens nearby
* back to hotel to check in, leave bag, eat lunch
* 7 lucky gods walk (minus sensoji)
* Early night after dinner, night time walk along Sumida-gawa
# Day 2: Ueno Park, Yanaka
* Ueno Park, (many shrines and zoo)
* Lunch
* Tokyo National Museum
* Nezu Shrine
* Explore Yanaka (if time)
# Day 3: Day trip to Kamakura & Enoshima
* Hotel/Konbini breakfast
* Train to Kamakura
* Walk to Hokokuji Temple and Bamboo forest, stop at teahouse
* Walk back to Tsurugaoka Hachimangu, visit
* Street food lunch near Kamakura station
* Hase-dera
* Kotoku-in
* Train to Enoshima, see shrine, sea candle. Explore streets
* Back to Tokyo! Area near station for dinner and explore
# Day 4: Shibuya
* Meiji Jingu Shrine and Yoyogi park
* Togo shrine
* Lunch
* Omotesando and Harajuku walk (not interested in shopping but i think it’ll still be cool)
* One piece store in Shibuya
* Don Quijote (maybe souvenir shopping)
* Dinner in Shibuya, famous crossing and then Omoide Yokocho
# Day 5: Yasukuni and Shinjuku
* Yasukuni Shrine and accompanying museum
* Walk to Suga shrine, visit and walk around area
* Lunch
* Shinjuku Gyoen
* TMG building
* Missed stuff from past days?
# Day 6: Central Tokyo
* Tsukiji market, walk around Ginza
* Lunch
* Head to Nihombashi (really just to see the plaque of the bridge)
* Kanda Shrine
* Akihabara (won’t spend very long)
* Catchup! (any other activities from the last few days that were missed out on)
* Dinner again, walk around city for last night in Tokyo
Any advice whatsoever is hugely appreciated!!
by ArseneLepain
