My husband and I are travelling to Japan for 14 days in September, it'll be our first time there and I wanted to know if the amount of time we've allocated to each destination is enough or if we're trying to do much in the given timeframe.
Sept 16-Flight Day
· Fly from Toronto to Narita landing at 4:30PM
· Transfer to Haneda and spend the night near Haneda
Sept 17-Hiroshima
· Take an early flight from Haneda (we would forward our luggage from Haneda to Kyoto-our second destination) to Hiroshima landing at approx. 8:30AM
· Visit Peace Memorial Park including the Peace Memorial Musuem
· Visit the Atomic Bomb Dome
· Visit Hiroshima Castle
· Try Hiroshima okonomiyaki
· Take the train to Kyoto
Sept 18- Kyoto
· Visit Kiyomizudera Temple
· Wander around Gion
· See the Hokanji Temple Pagoda
Sept 19- Kyoto
· Hike Fushimi Inari Taisha
· Visit Nishiki Market
· Visit Pontocho Alley
Sept 20- Kyoto
· Visit Arashiyama Bamboo Grove
· Visit Tenryuji Temple
· Visit Arashiyama Money Park
· Visit Kinkaku-ji Golden Temple
· Take an evening train to Osaka
Sept 21-Osaka
· Visit Sumiyoshi-Taisha
· Visit Shitennoji
· View Osaka Castle
· Spend the evening in Dotonbori exploring and eating
Sept 22-Osaka
· Go back to Dotonbori for shopping, visit Don Quixote
· Visit Shinsaibashi shopping street
· Visit Namba Yasaka Shrine
Sept 23-Day trip to Nara
· Take the train to Nara
· Explore Nara Deer Park
· Visit Kofuku-ji Temple
· Visit Todai-ji Temple
· Visit Kasuga-Taisha
· Take the train back to Osaka
Sept 24-Tokyo
· Take the early train to Tokyo
· Visit Meiji Shrine
· Visit Yoyogi Park
· Explore Harajuku (walk down Takeshita Dori)
· View Shibuya Crossing
Sept 25- Tokyo
· Visit Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden
· Visit Gotokuji Temple
· Wander around
· Explore Golden Gai & “Piss Alley” in the evening
Sept 26-Day trip to Kawaguchiko
· Take the bus to Kawaguchiko
· Chureito Pagoda
· Stroll around the lake
· ?Visit hot springs?
Sept 27-Tokyo
· Visit Senso-ji Temple and explore/shop in surrounding areas
· Visit Tokyo Skytree
· Explore Ginza
· Explore Akihabara
Sept 28- Tokyo
· Teamlab Borderless
· Free time to do whatever was missed/shop around
Sept 20-Fly out from Haneda to Toronto
My itinerary might seem
all over the place, the reason we're flying out to Hiroshima first thing is to
avoid taking multiple bullet trains, this way overall, we're only taking trains
one way (from Hiroshima towards Kyoto/Osaka/Tokyo) rather than roundtrip (Tokyo
and back to Tokyo) to save money. We chose Kyoto for our second destination to
take advantage of our jet lag since everything opens early and closes early in
Kyoto.
Should I take out a day from Tokyo and instead add one more day to either Kyoto or Osaka? We're more into culture/history and like to enjoy nightlife but I do want to do a bit of shopping in Tokyo. Also unsure if we should spend a night in Kawaguchiko to experience the hot springs or keep it day trip so we're flexible to move it in case weather is bad. Open to any other suggestions!
by hramin