Hi all! My sister and I are going to go to Japan near the end of June and I was hoping to get some criticism on our itinerary! The main question I’m concerned with is, are there any red flags in our plan? We’re mainly looking to have a mix of day trips and free-form days with maybe one or two focuses with the rest of the day reserved for exploring the area. The biggest aspect I wanted advice about is our **planned day trips to Gujo Hachiman and Shirakawa-Go**. I haven’t booked any buses yet as I wanted to hear what others had to say first. This is our first trip together, so any advice would be greatly appreciated!!
Although I put times for every day, nothing is really strict unless prebooking (I.E. Gujo Hachiman and Shirakawa Go buses.) We’re very flexible travelers.
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**Day 1**
15:00 – Land in Osaka, Kansai Airport
18:00 – Arrive at Yodoyabashi Station to get to our hotel (Kansai -> Namba Station -> Yodoyabashi)
After checking in, maybe walk around, find place to eat. Mainly relax and hopefully not be too jet-lagged.
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**Day 2**
8:00 – Train to Namba, then to Kinetsu-Nara Station (Probably grab quick breakfast before)
9:00 – Nara Park! Todaiji, Isuien Garden, Yoshikien Garden
13:00 – Lunch, wander around and see if anything else in Nara we want to do before leaving
15:00 – Head to Namba, explore Dotonbori potentially? (One of us doesn’t drink so not sure how long we’ll be there)
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**Day 3**
11-12:00 – Check out of Osaka hotel, Osaka station to Kyoto station to Marutamachi Station
~1:30 – Arrive at Kyoto accomodation, drop off luggage (hopefully)
2:30 – Head to either Gion district or Higashiyama district. Explore, take it easy.
This day is mainly a rest/explore freely day due to traveling
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**Day 4 – DAY TRIP** – Gujo Hachiman
6:30 – Marutamachi Station to Kyoto Station to Nagoya Station
8:00 – Arrive at Nagoya Station, grab quick food at convenience store, head to Meitetsu Bus Center
~8:40 – Depart from Meitetsu on Gifu Bus
~10:30 – Arrive at Gujo Hachiman. Explore until 15:30
16:10 – Depart from Gujo Hachiman, Arrive at Nagoya Station at 18:05 (Find something to eat?)
20:00 – Arrive back at Marutamachi and sleep/take it easy
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**Day 5**
7:30 – Train to Inari Station
8:00 – **Fushimi Inari**
11-12:00 – Lunch, afterwards either Higashi Hongan-ji + Shosei-en OR Nijo Castle (Still not sure)
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**Day 6**
8:30 – Train to Arashiyama
Spend the day walking around Arashiyama. Aiming to hit Gio-ji temple and Otagi temple. Head back whenever we’re tired. Heard there is a bus straight to Otagi, but I’ve also heard that walking was very doable, so not sure.
I doubt we’ll have time, but maybe Shimogamo Shrine or Kyoto Botanical Garden after?
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**Day 7**
11-12:00 – Check out of Kyoto, train to Kanazawa (Google Maps says that there is service cancellation under the Thunderbird Express Line for HANAYOME NOREN, but looking that up shows only a tourist train? Would we be okay getting to Kanazawa?)
~15:00 – Arrive at Kanazawa. Check in to hotel, explore, walk around, free roam
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**Day 8**
Fairly lax day, walk around with focus on seeing Kenrokuen Garden, Samurai District,
Higashiyama Tea District
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**Day 9 – DAY TRIP** – Shirakawa Go
8:00 – Depart from Kanazawa Station on Nohi Bus
9:30 – Arrive at Shirakawa Go, Explore, lunch, etc
16:00 – Depart from Shirakawa Go to Kanazawa on Nohi Bus
17:30 – Arrive at Kanazawa, chill, eat, walk around
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**Day 10**
11-12:00 – Kanazawa Station to Tokyo Station.
I’m not too worried about this day and after. We’re going to spend roughly 6 days in Tokyo, meeting up with some friends who will be there around the same time.
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If you have any general advice or specific tips (Especially about the day trips to Gujo Hachiman and Shirakawa Go), I would greatly appreciate it! Does this seem fairly reasonable? This is also my first time planning a trip so I’m hoping it will go somewhat smoothly. While I do understand that going on these two day trips (Nara too I guess) means that we’ll miss out on exploring Osaka and Kyoto (Mainly Kyoto, I want to see so many temples!!), my sister and I both chose a place in Japan that we really wanted to see no matter what, that being Gujo and Shirakawa Go.
by secretgaz1000