Itinerary Check: 11-Day Anniversary Trip in November (Tokyo, Kyoto, Nara, Hakone)

Would love to get our November 11-day itinerary checked out. My husband and I are both in our 30s and will be celebrating our first wedding anniversary. We’re avid travelers and are excited to visit Japan for the first time! What we’re into:

* Everything food-related: trying the specialties of each locale, visiting markets, dining at hole-in-the-wall eateries to fine dining establishments, cooking classes, and so on
* Everything drink-related: cocktail bars, breweries, wine bars, tastings
* *Some* cultural sites and sight-seeing: the main attractions, really cool (usually modern) art museums, or weird Atlas Obscura-type / under-appreciated places that get overlooked
* Beautiful nature wandering (not extreme hikers though)
* Spas and relaxation
* Shopping at vintage designer stores, boutiques with designers you can’t easily find in the US, home goods stores, galleries, fragrance houses, flea markets, etc.  

**Day 1: October 31 – Tokyo**

* Arrive at Narita Airport at 4PM 
* Check into our hotel in Ginza
* Either wander around Ginza or another neighborhood (maybe Roppongi?) and grab dinner and a drink. We’ll want to take it easy the first night and go to bed before midnight, but would love recommendations for a great spot in Tokyo to do some people watching on Halloween. 

**Day 2 – November 1 – Tokyo**

Keeping this day fairly low-key as we adjust to the time zone. 

* Tsukiji Market
* Wander and shop around Ginza
* Explore Asakusa + Kuramae 

**Day 3 – November 2 – Tokyo**

* Breakfast in Daikanyama, explore the neighborhood + Naka-Meguro
* Sakurai Tea Experience
* Omotesando Street
* Cat Street
* Shibuya Crossing
* Shibuya Sky
* Drinks at The Bellwood

**Day 4 – November 3 – Tokyo**

* TeamLab Borderless (opening time)
* Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden
* Bop around Shinjuku, snacking and drinking
* 6PM Cooking Class in Shinjuku
* Drinks at Bar Benfiddich (if we can manage to snag reservations) 

**Day 5 – November 4 – Kyoto**

* Take an earlier morning train to Kyoto
* Drop our things off at our hotel in Nakagyo Ward
* Wander around the neighborhood and grab lunch at Nishiki Market 
* Visit Gion, relax at one of the teahouses, explore, and shop 
* Wedding anniversary dinner somewhere really nice (thinking Itoh?) 
* Fushimi Inari at night

**Day 6 – November 5 – Kyoto**

* 10AM – 11:30AM: Paper-making class (the first anniversary is paper after all!)
* Kinkaku-ji
* Ryoan-ji (if there’s time) 
* Arashiyama Bamboo Forest
* Visit Gion at night 

**Day 7 – November 6 – Kyoto**

* Philosopher’s Path
* Higashiyama Jisho-ji (if there’s time) 
* Kiyomizu-dera
* 4PM – 5:30PM: Japanese Whiskey Tasting

**Day 8 – November 7 – Day trip to Nara** 

* Take an earlier morning train to Nara
* Toda-ji
* Nara Park
* Lunch at Maguro Koya
* Yoshiki-en Garden
* Mochi pounding

We’re also open to doing our day trip to Osaka instead if, based on our interests, people think we’ll like it more than Nara. 

**Day 9 – November 8 – Hakone**

Days 9 and 10 are going to depend on a couple of factors, so some items on the itinerary may end up switching between the two depending on whether the ropeway/cable car is in service and which ryokan we stay at. I have us currently booked at Yamo no Chaya, but may move us instead to Takumino Yado Yoshimatsu when their reservation book opens up for November. They are in different locations in Hakone, so the first day may focus on attractions that are closer to the ryokan we choose to stay at. If anyone has experience with either or both ryokans or recommends one location over another, please let me know. 

* Take an early morning train from Kyoto to Hakone
* Take a taxi (does this need to be scheduled?) to the ryokan and drop off our stuff 
* Hakone Ropeway  
* Stop at Owakudani 
* Continue to Togendai and catch the next pirate boat cruise on Lake Ashi
* Return to the ryoakan and enjoy our private onsen. Dinner will be served there

**Day 10 – November 9 – Hakone / Tokyo**

* One last onsen and our included breakfast at the ryokan
* \[If there’s time\] Sengokuhara Susuki Grass Fields
* Open Air Museum
* Explore the Hakone-Yumoto Shotengai. Highlights I’ve saved: Gora Brewery Public House, Chimoto, Hiyori, Hakone Teramisu
* Take the Romance Car back to Tokyo
* Check into our hotel in Ginza
* Dinner and drinks in Monzen-Nakacho, bar hopping along Tatsumi Shindo

**Day 11 – November 10 – Tokyo**

* Can visit one or two more neighborhoods on this day before our flight at 6:10PM. Maybe Kiyosumi-Shirakawa, Kagurazaka, or Shimokitazawa. Open to recommendations!  

by CoupleGlum